THE FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANT

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.” (Psalm 110:3, KJV)

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.” (Psalm 36:5, NIV)

Last week, we looked at the topic “The blessedness of the faithful, and some of the key words used were “continue, remain, abide, persevere” etc

“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:2, NKJV)

What is required of stewards? Above all, they must prove faithful, reliable, trustworthy

As stated, God doesn’t demand success, but He does demand Faithfulness

The most essential quality of a servant or steward is obedient loyalty to his master

The Corinthians valued eloquence and pretentious human wisdom. Paul rejected this standard for evaluating leaders.

He and all leaders should be evaluated only by the standard of fidelity to Christ—their trustworthiness in handling the mysteries entrusted to them.

By far the most important quality of a good steward is faithfulness, trustworthiness. He is entrusted with his master’s household and possessions; and without faithfulness he will ruin both.

Above all, God wants His ministers, His servant-stewards, to be trustworthy.

God desires that His spiritual ministers be consistently obedient to His Word, unwavering in their commitment to be faithful.

He does not require brilliance or cleverness or creativeness or popularity.

He can use servants with those qualities, but only trustworthiness is absolutely essential. It is required.

Paul sent Timothy to minister to the Corinthians because that young man was “beloved and faithful”

“For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.” (1 Corinthians 4:17, NKJV)

. Paul knew that he was completely dependable to preach and teach God’s Word. He did not have to worry about Timothy’s adulterating the gospel or giving up in confusion.

He was faithful to God’s calling, just as Paul himself, “by the mercy of the Lord [was] trustworthy”

). In the book of Colossians Paul mentions two other co-laborers who were outstanding in trustworthiness.

“as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,” (Colossians 1:7, NKJV)

“Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.” (Colossians 4:7, NKJV)

Servanthood and stewardship are inseparable from faithfulness.

An unfaithful servant or an untrustworthy steward is a self-contradiction.

““Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45–51, NKJV)

Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes

When the Lord returns, the only absolute requirement by which He will judge His servants is faithfulness: were they true to their Lord’s commands?

God supplies His Word, His Spirit, His gifts, and His power. All that the minister can supply is his faithfulness in using those resources.

The work is demanding but is basically simple: taking God’s Word and feeding it faithfully to His people

—The simple basic requirement is to serve people with the gifts that God has given you

“And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.” (Nehemiah 13:13, NKJV)

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10, NIV)

There is to be no glory here, ranking one above the other.

The best that any minister can be is faithful, which is just fulfilling the basic requirement.

“making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16, NIV)

“When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” (Joshua 13:1, NIV)

“But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house.” (Numbers 12:7, NIV)

“A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy brings healing.” (Proverbs 13:17, NIV)

““His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:21, NIV)

““His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:23, NIV)

“For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” (1 Corinthians 4:17, NIV)

“Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy.” (1 Corinthians 7:25, NIV)

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing.” (Ephesians 6:21, NIV)

“He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.” (Colossians 4:9, NIV)

“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.” (1 Timothy 1:12, NIV)

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV)

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” (Revelation 2:10, NIV)

“I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” (Revelation 2:13, NIV)