Sermons
July 17th, 2022 by Pastor Solley071722AM Faithful Stewards #2
Sub. Stewardship
Theme: Faithful in what God has given us.
Text: 1 Cor 4:1-5
“Faithful Stewards” 1 Cor 4:1-5
Introduction
We continue this morning with the subject of stewards and stewardship. A steward in one who is placed in charge of something or someone that belongs to another. Stewardship is how one cares for what they have been placed in charge of. In the Bible Pharaoh made Joseph over all his possessions, his house, his lands and his people in Egypt. Pharaoh was then pleased with the stewardship of Joseph. King Darius made Daniel steward over all his kingdom in Daniel chapter six. The king was then pleased with the stewardship of Daniel. According to 1 Peter chapter five the pastor is steward of the local church. How pleased God is with his stewardship will come out at the judgment seat of Christ. A steward is one placed in charge of something or someone that belongs to another and stewardship is how well one preforms that duty.
I. Stewardship is a very serious thing: 1 Cor 4:1-5 Serious because of who stewards are, what they have been placed in charge of, what God requires of stewards and who those stewards will give account to of that stewardship.
A. We are the stewards, you and I are the stewards: 1 Cor 4:1 This is speaking specifically to born again believers. – 1 Cor 3:23 , 4:1 We are the stewards and this is speaking specifically to New Testament believers in Jesus Christ. The Bible does address unbelievers in this epistle but not in the first four chapters. We are the stewards, you and I. That should make stewardship serious to us.
B. For what we have been given charge of: 1 Cor 4:1 The Bible says the mysteries of God. – 1 Cor 4:1 – That makes this stewardship of ours very broad. So many things are counted as mysteries of God in the Bible. Life is a mystery, death is a mystery, the gospel is mystery, the Word of God is a mystery, the church is a mystery, Godliness is a mystery, His glory is a mystery, Christ is a mystery. All those and more are identified as mysteries in the Bible and so our stewardship becomes very broad and very serious. – 1 Cor 4:1
C. For what God requires of stewards: 1 Cor 4:2 Faithfulness. God requires a steward be found faithful. – 1 Cor 4:2 Because of who the steward is to be faithful to makes this a serious matter. God requires us to be faithful. Why did God remove Saul from the throne of Israel? A lack of faithfulness. Why did God take the one talent from the one who hid it is the earth in Matthew 25? His was not faithful in what God had placed him in charge of. God requires stewards to be faithful and that makes stewardship a very serious thing.
D. And then the one we will give an account to or be judged by: 1 Cor 4:3-4 We will give an account to God concerning our stewardship and our faithfulness. Paul cared little about what people thought of him. – 1 Cor 4:3 – But he cared greatly about what God thought of his stewardship because God would be the one who would judge him. – 1 Cor 4:4 – This accounting of our stewardship before God makes it a very serious thing.
II. Last week we looked at one area of stewardship and what God is going to call for all to give an account of: That area is life itself. God and God alone is the giver of life. The Bible says in Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. That applies to all of us this morning. I had earthly parents as all of you and I was blessed with good and Godly parents. They called me their son and I called them mom and dad but they did not give me physical life, God did.
A. Because God gave me physical life God will call for me to give an account of that life: That includes all people of all races.
1. The first thing God will call for one to give an account of is what they have done with Jesus Christ and His offer of salvation: Has one rejected Jesus Christ, ignored Jesus Christ, mocked Jesus Christ, or confessed Jesus Christ as their personal savior?
a. To reject Christ and the free pardon of sin through His shed blood condemns one to an eternal hell in the Lake of Fire.
b. That is the first thing that God is going to require, “Ye must be born again.”
2. Those who die in sin will then give an account of their actions at the Great White Throne Judgment before they are cast into hell: God will hold the lost accountable for every sin they committed in their lifetime. – Rev 21:8
B. For the redeemed that is not the only area of stewardship God will call for us to give an account of: Receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal savior meets that first requirement. But that is not the only requirement, not the only area of stewardship.
III. This morning I want to begin to look at areas of stewardship for the born again believer in Christ: Have you met that first requirement of a steward, are you born again? Amen. Then there are many other areas in which God calls for us to be faithful. When people hear the word steward and stewardship they most often think of money but there are many more areas of stewardship as well.
PROP: Let us consider this morning stewardship after we have been born again. TS. What does God require us to be faithful in, what will we give an account of before God.
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I. Another area of stewardship is once again life, but it is not physical life, it is spiritual life: Remember once again who it is that Paul is writing to, who it is the Bible is addressing specifically in relation to stewardship. – 1 Cor 3:23 , 4:1 – Go back as well to the introduction to this epistle. – 1 Cor 1:1-2 – It is clearly the Christian that is being addressed here, those who are spiritually alive.
A. Just as all of us received physical life from God and are accountable to God for our life, we receive our spiritual life from Jesus Christ and become accountable for what we do with that life: For some here this morning that spiritual life began early in your earthly life, for others later, and perhaps for some not as of yet, but we get that life, our spiritual life, eternal life from Jesus Christ and from Jesus Christ alone. – John 1:12-13
1. You were not born a Christian: John 1:13
2. You did not work your way into being a Christian: John 1:13
3. No one else made you a Christian: John 1:13
4. You became a Christian because you were granted forgiveness by God and given eternal life, spiritual life because of what you did with the Lord Jesus Christ: John 1:13
5. As was pointed out last week, if you are saved you know you are saved and where your life comes from: 1 John 5:10-12
6. Just as God gave physical life God the Father through the Son gives spiritual life: This is a very basic point but also one that many do not embrace because it is not taught as it should be at times. God through Christ has given us spiritual life
B. That means God has ownership of my spiritual life: 1 Cor 6:19-20 ; 1 Peter 1:18-20 God has ownership of my spiritual life, your spiritual life. That then leads to this question.
1. Which is the greater, my spiritual life or my physical life? Which one rules the other, which life supersedes the other, which is the greater, my spiritual life or my physical life? My spiritual life is the greater, my spiritual life supersedes my physical life.
a. Which life is eternal, my spiritual life or my physical life? That makes my spiritual life greater.
b. Which life has God made an eternal home for, my spiritual life or my physical life? That makes my spiritual life greater.
2. It is the spiritual life that rules the physical life and that makes the spiritual life greater: That is true of lost people as well as saved people. It is the spiritual life that rules the physical.
a. Look at the actions of lost people and how they are becoming more and more evil. Why? Because they are being ruled by a spiritual life and that life belongs to Satan. Their spirit is dead to God and being ruled by Satan and his demons.
b. That is why the actions, desires, thoughts of a saved person change. After salvation the Holy Spirit begins to rule in our lives and He changes us and that brings about changes in our physical life.
c. Can you see that the spiritual life is greater than the physical life. God gives both and the spiritual supersedes the physical.
3. How many areas of my life then does God own and are just a gift to me, something He has given me charge over? All areas of life belong to God and I have just been made a steward of them.
4. Because I have been made a steward of my life, both physical and spiritual, I will be called to give an account for my life one day before God, I will account for my stewardship: Every part of my life and yours belong to God, we are just stewards of the life God has given to us. A long time proving a basic point, but something so many Christians seem to be missing today.
C. Another area of stewardship is once again life, but it is not physical life, it is spiritual life: The spiritual supersedes the physical.
II. So now the question is not what have I done with Jesus in relation to salvation but what have I done and what am I doing for Jesus Christ after salvation, what am I doing with my spiritual life? Here is my stewardship. – 1 Cor 3:10-16 – Lord willing we will look at specific areas of life as we go along in these messages but it all begins right here. – 1 Cor 3:10-11 – I am to be building my life, you are to building your life on one foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. All that I build is to be first placed on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Cor 3:11
A. The sooner we grasp this truth and the longer we hold onto this truth the better life will be: You are not your own, and all is to built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
1. There are young people here this morning who can’t wait to be their own boss: They can’t wait to get out on their own, make their own decision, live their own life. Your life is not your own. If you are saved it belongs to Jesus Christ and if you are lost it belongs to the devil, you are never going to be your own boss because your life is not your own.
2. I talk to older saints who often say “I don’t know why I am still here, why doesn’t God just take me home: Your life is not your own, you belong to Christ and your life is His.
3. I talk to people when they are dealing with serious illness and they ask why there is no healing at this time? Your life is not your own, you belong to Christ and your life is His.
4. I talk to people dealing with tragic loss and they ask why God would allow them to go through such troubles waters? Your life is not your own, you belong to Christ and your life is His.
5. The sooner we grasp this truth and the longer we hold onto this truth the better life will be:
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B. It is the will of God and the requirement of God that His stewards lose their lives in His: Col 3:1-4 Verses three and four is where God wants His stewards to be. – Col 3:3-4 – Our lives hid in His. – Gal 2:20 – As a steward Paul reached this place in His life.
1. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who owns us, changes take place: They are not changes we work up, not changes that become a burden to us, but changes brought about because we have given all of self to Christ.
2. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who owns us, we are given living hope in a dark and dying world: 1 Peter 1:3 The word lively in this verse means alive, I can have a hope that is alive when my life is hid in Jesus Christ.
a. For the most part hope had died in the lives of people today. If my hope is in the world my hope had already died.
b. But my hope today is in Jesus Christ because He is the Lord of my life today.
(1) Where is hope for the younger generations today? Hope can be found in Jesus Christ.
(2) Where is the hope for older people today? Hope can be found in Jesus Christ.
(3) Where is the hope for the sick today? Hope can be found in Jesus Christ.
(4) Where is the hope for the one who has lost their job? Hope can be found in Jesus Christ.
c. When you life is hid in His you have a living hope.
3. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who owns us, a peace will come upon us that overshadows all: Phil 4:6-7 A peace that is not shaken no matter the circumstances of life. I had an aged Christian tell me one time that this peace could not be experienced in this world. I can only think that they had never surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ.
4. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who owns us, we are given new priorities in life:
1 Peter 4:2-4 There is a way that we used to live or would live if we were not saved. – 1 Peter 4:3 – But we no longer want to live for the flesh, we want to live for the Savior.
a. Lost people think the Christian can’t do the things listed in verse three. – 1 Peter 4:3
b. A saved person knows we don’t want to do those things, that we have new priorities. – 1 Peter 4:2
5. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who own us, we are given new attitudes:
1 Peter 4:12-14 There would be very few people here this morning that would say they like fiery trial, that they like sufferings, that they like to be reproached, very few. I cannot say I would be one of them. But when our lives are hid in His and we turn all over to Him.
a. We can be in the fiery trial and still praise Him for His will in our lives.
b. We can suffer and still keep going for Him.
c. We can even be reproached and take glory in the Lord and not need to strike back.
6. When our lives are hid in His, when we turn over all areas of life to the one who owns us, we become real Christians: I say that because the word Christian means like Christ. We become more Christ like when our lives are hid in His.
ILL. Think of these men in the Bible, all of them are in heaven I believer, and tell me which ones had lives his in God’s?
Abraham or Lot?
Jacob or Esau?
Joseph or his brothers?
Saul or David?
Paul or Demas?
C. So now the question is not what have I done with Jesus in relation to salvation but what have I done and what am I doing for Jesus Christ after salvation, what am I doing with my spiritual life? Here is my stewardship. – 1 Cor 3:10-16
III. This part of stewardship, having our lives hid in His, becomes a decision just like salvation with one notable difference:
A. Salvation is a one time decision: We need to be born again and when we are that new birth is like a physical birth in that it only happens once.
1. Your birthday does not change every year: No matters what takes place in your life, no matter how many years pass by, your physical birthday never changes.
2. You are born again only once: No matter what takes place in your life, no matter how many time you may slip and fail the Lord, no matter how many times you return to a walk with the Lord, no matter how man years pass by, your spiritual birthday never changes.
3. Salvation is a one moment in time decision that lasts for all eternity: John 10:27-30
B. But for my life to be hid in His, to turn all over to Jesus Christ who owns my life, is a decision that takes place many times over: I will not say daily, although at times it becomes that, but today it is not hard for my life to be hid in His. Tomorrow it may be.
1. But I must decide who I am going to give my life to: Rom 6:11-18 I must decide who it is I will serve, who it is that I will turn my life over to.
2. I must decide how much of me I am willing to turn over to Jesus Christ: Rom 12:1-2
3. Why not just turn all over to the one who owns me? It will make a better life.
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C. A faithful steward will turn over all areas of life to Jesus Christ:
ILL. Let me say as well that there are times when these decisions will stand out because it changes our life just as salvation does.
I remember as a twelve year old turning my life over to Christ and that shaped me coming teen years.
I remember preparing to marry and giving all to Christ so He could guide me in a way I had never walked before.
I remember surrendering to preach, saying Jesus you have my life, use me if you are willing.
D. But how few are the Christians willing to give all to Jesus Christ, to turn over their lives to Him: That is a statement, not a question for most would there would be changes this world could notice.
1. This Church would change if we were all given to Christ as we should be, as we are required to be:
2. Families would change if all were given to Christ as we should be, as we are required to be:
3. Marriages would change if husband and wife were given to Christ as we should be, as we are required to be:
4. America would change if we were all given to Christ as we should be, as we are required to be:
E. But are we willing to be the faithful steward God requires us to be?
Conclusion
I. Another area of stewardship is once again life, but it is not physical life, it is spiritual life: Remember once again who it is that Paul is writing to, who it is the Bible is addressing specifically in relation to stewardship. – 1 Cor 3:23 , 4:1 – Go back as well to the introduction to this epistle. – 1 Cor 1:1-2 – It is clearly the Christian that is being addressed here, those who are spiritually alive.
II. So now the question is not what have I done with Jesus in relation to salvation but what have I done and what am I doing for Jesus Christ after salvation, what am I doing with my spiritual life? Here is my stewardship. – 1 Cor 3:10-16 – Lord willing we will look at specific areas of life as we go along in these messages but it all begins right here. – 1 Cor 3:10-11 – I am to be building my life, you are to building your life on one foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. All that I build is to be first placed on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Cor 3:11
III. This part of stewardship, having our lives hid in His, becomes a decision just like salvation with one notable difference: