True stewardship involves being a faithful manager of all that God has entrusted to us, not just money, but also His name, His Word, the Holy Spirit, our physical life, our abilities, and our talents. The sermon emphasizes that God rewards only faithful Christians who use these entrusted resources for His glory and the benefit of others. It critiques the common practice of preachers focusing excessively on financial appeals, advocating instead for a focus on the gospel and the spiritual resources God provides to believers, urging listeners to honor Christ by faithfully stewarding His name, His Word, and His Spirit.
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Luke chapter sixteen. And verse one. And he, that is the Lord Jesus, also said unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, though keep in mind the Lord is speaking, and he is talking about a rich man. which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he, the rich man, called him, said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee?
Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward. Now the unjust steward talks. He talks to himself. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? For my Lord take the way for me the stewardship. I cannot dig. Heavenly too old or too lazy. To beg, I am ashamed. He didn't want to be embarrassed. I am resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
So he called every one of his Lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owes thou unto my Lord? And he said unto him, Take, thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty, that's half. Then said he to another, and how much oath thou one, and he said, A hundred measures of wheat, and he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore, twenty percent. and the Lord commended the unjust steward.
I want you to remember the Lord here is not the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's the master of the steward who was unfaithful. The Lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are in their generation wiser and the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitation. 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. If I, therefore, if therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous man, who will commit to you, or cost you the true riches? Trust the true riches. who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve to masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and man.
Now, some things in this chapter, the parable, the very difficult to understand, but there are three outstanding things, I'm sure. The first one is the wisdom in providing for the future. That's quite evident on the surface of this parable. Second thing is the importance of using money rightly by prudent management. Then third, the importance of faithfulness in the least affairs of business life attest to character. I read in this last night that it's quite remarkable the things we read in connection with a steward.
I know that many, many preachers have spoken on stewardship. They warn this passage thin by talking about stewards. Well, I'm not going to beg for money this morning. I'll assure you I never have, and I'm not going to do this morning. I just want to point out some of the remarkable things in this parable. Who is a steward? You have stewards that are saved. You have stewards that are lost. A steward is one entrusted with the management of something belonging to another man.
And you're having connection with stewards. He's a custodian. He's a trustee. He's a manager. He is an agent. That's what a steward is. And I say again, this is a great text. I don't know how many million or billion dollars have been raised through this text, but they love to get at it and raise money. But there are other implications relative to this passage. In other words, supposing you give all your money to the Lord and you didn't give him yourself. Would the Lord accept that?
No. He wants you to give, that's true, but He wants you to give yourself to the Lord. Then He'll accept other things and will reward you for the sake. I want to notice how the Lord in this case, and I say it again, He seeks not yours, your money. He seeks you. The Lord is seeking men and women who will carry out his mind and his will. I stopped to think in my lifetime.
I've learned a few things. In other words, preachers preaching so much about money and not about things more important. Preaching, if they preach Christ as much as they do, preach money, I think souls would get saved. And blessed is he who will give as unto the Lord and not as unto men. And so you have a preacher today and he does not expound the Bible. If he did expound the Bible, All I can say is there'd be some good to accomplish.
Preaching, not the Bible, but preaching about the debts of the church. Pleased, if a man all he did was preach about money and money, why, simply means that a lot of people would be pleased and not said. If he were to emphasize a need of the new birth like he should, there are a lot of people who would get saved. And here you find many preachers today, and they're preaching on other subjects, save the Lord Jesus Christ. People would get saved if they were to plead for people to get saved instead of pleading and begging and coaxing people for money.
We never do do that in this chapel. We've never asked anyone for their pledge. We've never asked anyone for a tithe. We have sought to preach the gospel of the grace of God. And so God is teaching us a lesson about true stewardship. How wonderful to think of true stewardship. We don't ask people, I've already mentioned that, we don't ask people for any money. The only offering that is taken at this chapel is taken at the communion service where we're sure, at least we hope we are sure, that all present are Christians.
And so that's where an offering is taken, but not at other meetings. How wonderful it is to have this opportunity. to give that unto the Lord in the place and at the meeting where He is honored, He is glorified, and only He will accept from a Christian what the Christian has to give. My needs have been met by the free-will offerings of the Lord's people for fifty-five years. I've never received a salary. I've never asked anybody for a dime, and yet my knees have been met.
And certainly when God's been so faithful to me, I can speak faithfully about the subject of giving. And I deplore the fact of how money is used to preachers, why it may be for themselves, but for many other reasons. preaching by the purse for some people and the preachers want to get the purse of the people what's in it then I want to say this I will not allow my preaching to be controlled by my purse in other words some preachers will preach hoping they'll get a raise in their salary or something like that or if They're afraid to come out with a truth, lest they lose their job.
I'm not a bit afraid of losing my job. I've been here thirty-two years. No one hired me, and no one can fire me. That's not so inclusive. Preachers are hired, and they'll walk the straight line, or they get fired. And so often money is the subject. Now we want to get into the subject of the steward, and it's a very interesting subject. I might say that the subject of finance in the church is a two-way street. The churches should give, as well as the congregation.
What should a church do? A true church that God will honor and satisfy the people is where that church gives a true fellowship, a solid fellowship of spiritual teaching ministry to people. If you preach the Bible and your soul gets fed, the people recognize that and they don't mind giving. If a preacher will preach Christ, and warn the hearts of God's people, you don't have to ask them to give.
They give because they get something that satisfies their heart. And this is where through that fellowship and also internally stewardship comes in. I want to say this, that the true Christian, and you've got to be a true Christian, to be a true steward. And God is only interested in true stewardship. He's not going to accept money from unconverted people. And God has entrusted every true Christian He has entrusted every person with their certain things that He will receive.
God has trusted you with His name. Think of that. If you're a born-again Christian, God has entrusted you as a steward of His name. The Bible tells us that. He tells us He's given unto us His name. The Lord Jesus said, I have given them thy name. And the moment you got saved, the Lord had entrusted you with His name. And how are you sizing up their name? You are a steward of the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God has entrusted you with that. Many people in this world would not want my name. I would want my name associated with it. And they're dealing in money. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches of the Bible says. His honor, God's honor, and the honor of Christ is associated with every true Christian, and remember that his honor is at stake when you become a Christian. God's honor. Recent personalities in the pulpit have degraded the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Lord will not hold him innocent. The Lord will not hold him guiltless, who taketh his name in vain. What is the word vain? What does it mean? It means vanity, and God will not hold that person guiltless if he takes God's name in vain. Now we hear people talk and use profane languages. That's the only thing that God hates about people being vain. Well, my Bible said, and I went over it last night in Webster's Dictionary, the word vain means without value.
It means being fruitless. It means conceited. It means empty. It means useless. It means futile. And if you're a born-again Christian, how easy it is for us to, in other words, give us unto the Lord that which is due. But you can take his name in vain. Anybody can take the name of the Lord Jesus in vain and doing so, God says, I'll not fool you yet. Many people can take His name in vain.
You sing hymns. You talk about things about the Lord, and you're not obeying Him. You're taking His name in vain. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ, far as God sees you, is without value. And the characters I refer to, I believe what they've been saying over the years is without any value in the sight of God. It's vain. It's fruitless. And its conceit is empty. It's a serious thing to be able to take the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And every born-again Christian take that name, that precious name, and take it at its value. And what a joy and what a thrill it is. The honor of his name. Stewardship then is our, they're carrying out what God has entrusted to us. Then that word faithful come in, faithful stewardship. How faithful Are you, through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? I wonder if that's for you to answer.
Are you faithful in reading God's Word? Are you faithful in learning God's Word? Are you faithful in obeying God's Word? He said, I've given them thy Word. And the lovely text in this connection, let a man so account of us as other ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards and a man being found faithful. Faithfulness is always associated with stewardship. How faithful are you to this blessed, blessed book, the Bible?
Faithfulness to His Word. Faithfulness to His will. Faithfulness to His worth. You are a steward of that wonderful, wonderful name. And I want to know how faithful you are to that stewardship. He's giving you that name. I was faithful steward of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. As I say, I wouldn't want my name associated with a lot of people who say things, even from the Bible, and yet they degrade this grace and degrade the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A young couple gets married. the young lady takes the name of her husband she can degrade that name or she can honor that name in her life some women have disgraced and degraded the name they got at the altar but others have honored that name god wants us to honor the name we receive when we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Oh, to honor, to glorify, to magnify the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, I think of institutions in the world today and what people are listening to. I think of modernism. I think of those who don't believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. There are those who don't believe in the virgin birth. They don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They don't believe in the second coming. They don't believe in the lips of heaven and the lips of hell. They don't believe in the new birth. They believe that works save you. I don't want my name associated with any of them.
There's only one book I want to be associated with and control my life by, and that's the Bible. It's the inspired word of the living God. And yet we're living it in a very loose world. And I trust you realize the value of that name. He's entrusted to us his name. I want to say this. If you are a born again Christian, Christ has put his name in your heart. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, and those vessels are our bodies.
And the moment you got saved, you became a Christian, Christ one. And so from that moment on, it's up to you to honor, to exalt, to cherish that name, the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have His Word and you have something else as a trust, and that is, and I'm going to quote this, He has given unto you and me the Holy Spirit. He has entrusted me and you of your Christians with His Holy Spirit.
That's hard to take in that I'm a steward of the Holy Spirit of God. I am a steward of the Holy Spirit of God. That's quite a remark. Are we pleasing the Holy Spirit or are we grieving it? Are we quenching it? Are we using him? Are we abusing him? I use those words with the holy reverence. Do I need the Holy Spirit of God?
I surely do. I need them when I pray. I need them when I study my Bible. I need them every time I preach. No man can go alone. You have the Holy Spirit that God has given you, and you are a steward to that Holy Spirit. That's something, isn't it? Every time I preach, I think about that. No man can go alone. I cannot depend upon myself in my preaching.
If I do, I fall upon my face every time in failures. Yes, we need to know something of the Holy Spirit in our praying and in our preaching. and I say this, I'm afraid to do something without Him. I'm afraid to do something without the help of the Holy Spirit. It's a sad thing. If you're trying to do it, you're doomed to failure.
God wants us to be sure We are giving the Holy Spirit his proper place in our lives. We want to be good stewards of the personality and the power of the Holy Spirit. We're reading about an unjust steward. How sad and tragic if I'm treating the Holy Spirit of God unjust? He stands at one side while I try to do something in my own strength, in my own power.
There's no greater thrill for any preacher than to know he's preaching with the help of the Holy Spirit of God. And that the only time hearts will be touched and God's people be blessed is when the word goes forth in the power of the Holy Spirit of God. We are stewards of the Holy Spirit which God has given unto us. Then there's another stewardship, and that is, His life. They've included us, and our own physical life.
We are stewards of the light that He gives us, and my body. is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and He is the one who should control what I do with my body. We are stewards to that effect. Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your intelligent service. When God saves you, He gave you a life. a life to live for his glory. He gave you the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart.
And you are the steward of the body he gave you, and of the Holy Spirit that dwells within you. Am I using it? Am I not abusing it? Is he my master? and I am his servant, as every man has received the gift, even so minister the same, on one to another as good stewards of the man of full grace of God. Here we are stewards one to another.
The Spirit of God is in you. If you are a Christian, the Spirit of God is in me. Do we minister grace one to another? Sometimes Christians wait to get everything from the platform. But as a happy group of Christians, we can minister grace one to another. God has made us stewards of each other. He's given us abilities that we may help and bless others. Then there's another thing. They are stewards also of talents that God has given us.
God has given us talents. Every Christian has a talent of some kind. I don't know what it is, but God has given talents. And over in Corinthians we have a whole list of gifts that God has given to his people. And at the end, he adds one little word. Helps. Yes, you have a talent. What may your talent be? Maybe you're a preacher. Wonderful. God has given many that talent.
I wish we had more. Another talent is music. Some can sing. That's wonderful, too. Singing in the Holy Spirit. Others are musicians. They can play a piano. That's their talents. Others, they can visit Christians. Those in the hospital, that's a lovely talent. It's necessary to visit God's people when they're sick, to visit sinners.
Your home is a talent. It's a good place to invite people into, to witness to your home. And the Bible speaks about hospitality. That's a wonderful tell. My mother used to invite preachers into their home up there. I wish she hadn't at that time. I would imagine what a preacher observing me. But mother used to invite preachers into our home, feed them. And some of those women I got saved.
I sat at their feet. Yes, it's true you can invite people into your home. That's a lovely talent. Well, the more you can witness to Christ, that's a talent, tell others you're saved. That's a good talent. It says here, and God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondary prophets, thirdly teachers, After that, miracles, then gifts of healing, helps governments, diversities of tongues. That little word helps.
Pick up your newspaper and you'll see a long list of help. People wanting help. And you know to have a box full of good tools. is a talent too. We've got men here that can use some tools around here. That's a good talent. And so God has given us these things, these little things, talents. I remember one time being in Newport News and a big ship was to be launched. This didn't happen at Newport News, but it happened somewhere else that I could just picture it in my mind when I saw that big ship at Newport News.
They greased the waves. And when they were ready, the boat was arrived. Some went out and they had a bottle of whiskey. And they christened that ship and down she went. There was another shipyard. Time came for that big ship to be lost. and the note was struck and it didn't move. And a boy about twelve, he went over and he pushed, tried to push it. Everybody laughed. But you know, a mysterious thing happened. When he pushed it, the old vessel started.
Now whether he had the ability or those few pounds of fifty or sixty pounds, bid it, or whether that would have done it anyway, no one knows, but he tries. Yes, those little things, little in your, those little things we mentioned them in our text, little things. You're going to tell us. You may be a good Sunday school teacher, we need them. And I want to say this, you go back to your car. Is that car yours? If you're a true Christian, it's not.
It belongs to him. We've got Christians with cars who take those cars and visit other people and bring them to the chapel over my lifetime. One of the main things I've noticed is getting people to bring people to church. They're using their cars for the Lord, not just for themselves and for pleasure. That car belongs to the Lord. At least I try to make mind that. I don't suppose I've driven a hundred miles this year in my car for pleasure.
I've used my car for the Lord. And so whatever you have, belongs to the Lord. I hope you're there in music. I'm going to tell you an incident that really happened. A number of years ago, before I came to Albany, I had some visits up in, I got to Georgia up in Atlanta, and I met a man by the name of Branch Mosley. He lived in Atlanta. and he was general operating the General Motors in the truck division. Branch was a lovely fellow, just a sparkling personality.
And I was having meetings in Marietta at the time, and his wife got saved. She was a lovely person. But Branch, to show his appreciation, he gave me a car. But another brother got in on it, the deal. And so I got that car. And when I got home, I thought, well, Branch is not a Christian. The other man lost. So I sat down and I wrote Branch a letter.
I said, Branch, I think you're a wonderful fellow. I appreciate your kindness. You've got a big heart. You do anything for you. But I said, Branch, you're not going to get any reward for that car. And they get to me. You're not a Christian. Branch, you're a Christ rejector. And only when you come to know Christ as your Savior will you get any reward from the Lord. Only Christians get reward if they're faithful stewards of the things I've been mentioning.
So I wrote that letter and I said, Blanche, it's sad. I think of a man like Castro, Hitler. It's even sad to think of them going to hell forever. But I said to think of a man like you, with your wonderful personality, your kindness, your bigness of heart. I said, it makes me shudder to think that you would go to hell in spite of all your kindness, because that's what will happen. God only rewards Christians who are going to find him rewarding sinners for anything.
It must have jolted him. Branch knows me. I met him. I had heard a little in the breeze that Branch had gotten saved. I had the chance of meeting him. I said, Branch, I hear you've accepted Christ as your Savior. He says, indeed I have. Thanks for the car. I want to say this. that God can only reward. Christians who are doing His mind and will in their lives, little things, you've got to tell it.
But God expects you to use it. We are stewards of these things. Stewards. Things for which we're responsible. In other words, We're looked upon as custodians, something God has given to us. He wants us to take an interest in. We're managers. We're agents. To be a Christian is a responsibility. If I say money comes into this, and if God has given you money, that money is not yours.
it belongs to the Lord. And you better watch out how you use your love. I have in my own experience known people who had money and they lived to the time when they had none. They didn't use what God gave to His glory and to the benefit of men's will. We are stewards of these things. God can make you a pauper overnight. He could.
But in sovereign grace, if He saved you, He's given you gifts. He's given you abilities. He's given you something. You can't tell me there's not something you can do for anybody. You tell me that you're a Christian and you don't have a love for souls going to hell. You can't tell me that your mind or conscience is not touched now and again about doing something for the Lord. You have a talent. Some are good talents when it comes to cooking. I appreciate that.
They're good cooks. But you've got a talent and you be exercised about how you use it. I want to say this, if you're not a Christian, there is similar responsibility resting on you. Between being a Christ rejecter, which he was, Max Moses. He was a Christ-rejector, and yet he was so kind to me. But it took on new meaning when he became a Christ-acceptor. All of us, if you're not a Christian, God will save you.
He will put away all your sins. He'll give you everlasting life. and you'll be able to do something for the Lord. One night a month, we read letters about missionaries. When I listen to some of those letters, frail women, and they go thousands of miles away with all the inconvenience, far away places full of the habitation of cruelty. and in their frail bodies, both man and wife, labor away in adverse circumstances. They have been gripped by the fact that they are a steward.
God's given them something to do, and they're doing it, and God will reward. This is what the Bible has to say about stewardship. I deplore the abuse that's made of stewardship with men getting up and begging and begging and begging and begging and begging for money. Instead of preaching Christ, instead of preaching the Bible, they're just beggars instead of preachers of the gospel. Shall we pray?
Our Father in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we come into thy presence. We ask thy blessing upon thy precious, holy, yet solemn word. Thou has given us so much. We have given thee so little. May it please thee, Father, to stir our hearts. There are things we can do. We wouldn't go so far to say we can't. We can. May it please, Father, to exercise all our hearts as the beings, true, faithful stewards of the grace of God.