STEWARDSHIP, Matthew 25:14 - 30, 2/5/2023, NV

Introduction

Many Believers have a mistaken view of how to steward our finances.

What we think we own, we really don’t. All that we own is really God’s.

What Satan wants to do is make us think we can do whatever

we want with it, independently of God. A key element in carrying out

God’s kingdom agenda is our stewardship of what He has given to us.

We need to learn how to be good stewards, or managers, of

what we have. Stewardship can be defined as protecting and

expanding the assets and resources of another. It is only through the

biblical principles of stewardship that we will attain to a life of

financial victory. If we choose to view our finances apart from God’s

ownership, we will fail to actualize the financial blessings that He has

tied to His precepts.

In fact, not only will we fail to actualize the blessings, but we will

suffer loss. Many of us in Believers status today have missed the point

of God’s gift of money. While we recognize that He has given it to

us, we do not realize its’ purpose. We often spend it, consume it or

waste it rather than maximizing it for its fullest potential.

God has a purpose when it comes to our finances. An excellent

summary statement of the purpose God has for money is found in the

book of Deuteronomy where we read, “But you shall remember the

Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth,

that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers,

as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:18)

God provides for His servants financially in order to confirm His covenant with them. Now, keep in mind that doesn’t

mean that we will be “wealthy” by the world’s standards. God is not

our cosmic slot machine. In the preceding verse, wealth is defined as

having enough to eat, a place to live, herds, flocks and

enough to be sufficiently satisfied.

SERMON POINTS: 1. THE COVENANT AND STEWARDSHIP

• God provides for His servants financially in order to confirm His

covenant with them.

(Deuteronomy 8:18) But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it

is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his

covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. 

Matthew 25:14 - 15 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling

into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them

his goods. 15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another

two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability;

and straightway took his journey. 

• God’s covenant refers to His kingdom—the visible demonstration of

the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life.

• The kingdom includes three aspects: God is the King, we are His

subjects, we have rules to follow, which are biblical principles and

truths, and God’s realm includes the whole world.

(Psalm 24:1) The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the

world, and they that dwell therein. 

• God’s covenant is always intended to bless the person in the

covenant in order for that person to be a blessing to others.

(Genesis 12:2)And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless

thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a

blessing: 

2. A STEWARD IS ENTRUSTED WITH RESOURCES TO MANAGE

Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to

another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 

• Stewardship means God owns it all. The nobleman gave the

servants a portion of money from his account. The servants

didn’t contribute anything. God created it all, so it’s all His.

( Revelation 4:11) Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and

honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for

thy pleasure they are and were created. 

• Since God owns everything, everything we claim to own is only ours

relatively speaking. It is not ours absolutely speaking.

• The clearer you see God’s hand in everything, the less problem you

will have accepting His ownership and honoring that ownership.

3. GOD DOESN’T SHARE OWNERSHIP

• God does not share His ownership with anyone.

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our

likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and

over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and

over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

• Stewardship is treating the things we have as being on loan from the

Lord. It is God who gives the power to increase your finances.

(Deuteronomy 8: 17–18) And thou say in thine heart, My power and

the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18  But thou shalt

remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to

get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto

thy fathers, as it is this day. 

• A steward may not own what he has been given, but he is

responsible for his management of it. (Genesis 1:26)

• We all have an equal measure of “life potential”—our time, talents,

and treasure.

Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to

another one; to every man according to his several ability; and

straightway took his journey. 

• When the King comes back, He will only measure His servants

against what He gave them. So Jesus Christ will not compare you to

anyone else. You will only be evaluated against what He gave you.

4. INVEST WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU

• We need to invest, not just spend. God wants us to invest what we

have been given for the advancement of His kingdom.

• We are to be content without being passive. We are to be at ease

where we are while simultaneously working diligently and trusting

God to enable us to maximize our potential. (Proverbs 30:8; Philippians 4:11–12)

• “…our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20) and that is where

we will ultimately reside. So invest your life with an eternal

perspective.

5. EVALUATING A STEWARD

• Jesus Christ will come again and call His people to account for their

stewardship.

2 Corinthians 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat

of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body,

according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and

reckoneth with them.

• Christ will judge His people—not for salvation but for rewards based

on our work as stewards. (2 Corinthians 5:10–11a)

• The Bible says whatever you have been given, make sure you give

God His portion first. Be sure to honor Jesus Christ first so that He

might have “first place in everything.”

(Colossians 1:18 NIV) And he is the head of the body, the church; he is

the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in

everything he might have the supremacy. 

• God wants your pattern to be that of using His resources to promote

His kingdom of heaven on earth. When you put Him first, you will reap

the rewards of His favor.

SERMON ILLUSTRATIONS:

COVENANT: U.S. citizens live underneath a covenant document

called The Constitution. This document is the umbrella under which

the “kingdom” of the U.S.A. operates. The Constitution outlines rules

and regulations, including freedoms, for the citizens living within its

realm of influence.

STEWARDSHIP: Owning a home illustrates stewardship. People will

often claim to own their homes when in all actuality they are merely

stewards of what the bank owns. This is because if you have not yet

finished paying for the home that you say that you own, the bank is

the rightful owners of that home. We are just a steward over what

someone else owns. (see Genesis 1:26)

INVESTING: When you go to a financial planner, he is going to talk to

you about what you want to happen twenty, thirty or even forty years

from now. He is going to advise you to save now so that you will

have something to live on in the future when you can no longer work.

He is going to force your perspective to be future-oriented. What

biblical principles of stewardship are trying to get you to do are no

different. These principles are here to set you up for your retirement.

You see, your ultimate retirement will be in heaven, and it will be a lot

longer than your retirement on earth. What you do here on earth will

play a large part in what you will enjoy and do while in heaven.

When you invest in advancing the kingdom on earth, what you are

doing is forwarding ahead that which has eternal value attached to it.

You are thinking with a future-oriented mindset. You are laying

up for yourself “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust

destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal ….” (Matthew 6:20)

STEWARDSHIP EVALUATION: Many people go through some version

of an annual review at work. Why do companies hold this review?

Because the owner wants to know how well his employees have

produced. For eight hours a day, forty hours a week, those employees

are on the owner’s time. They are his stewards. They are on his

agenda, accepting his money to produce work. The review will

give the owner a chance to find out how productive the employees

have been for the company. “The issue is not whether you will accept

your stewardship but what you will do with it. The question is, what

kind of business will you do with the Lord’s property?”

“So the question is, Are you giving God’s kingdom a quality return on

the resources He has blessed you with? Or is God getting leftovers?”

“The issue of stewardship is not perfection. It is an issue of pattern.