Be Found Faithful

Intro; A little girl was marking words in her school reader whose meanings she did not know, and her mother noticed that she passed the long word “stewardship” without marking it. Her mother said to her, “Do you know what that word means? “The little girl replied, “Yes, it means that I’ve got it, but I must use it for someone else.” The word had the right meaning to her loving little heart, but to ordinary carnal humanity, in the church and out, the thought is, “I’ve got it, and I’m going to use it for myself.”

This morning we have in our hands the proposed Church Nominating Report and Annual Budget for the next fiscal church year [2024-25]. And I want to take a few minutes this morning before we vote on them to challenge us from the scriptures to “Be Found Faithful”.

Text; 1 Cor. 4:1-2

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 NKJV

1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

The Apostle Paul was addressing the members of the church of Corinth about their evaluating of elders/pastors. The word “Us” refers back to Paul, Apollos, and Cephas as found in chapter 1. All too often in the church then and now, members rank pastors by who has the biggest congregation, the best speaker, most gifted and surely the most successful in their eyes.

But Paul challenges their thoughts and ours by telling them how God evaluates not only pastors/elders, but all servants of Christ!

1. Servants of Christ; 1a

Servant- (hupēretēs/ who-pair-re-taz) literally means, “under rowers,” indicating the lowest galley slaves, the ones rowing on the bottom tier of a ship. They were owned and under the authority of their master.

To be a servant of Christ we need to first realize that we are owned by the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:23 NKJV

23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Paul saw himself to be a galley slave of the Lord and he considered all saints to be in the same category.

1 Corinthians 3:5–7 NKJV

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

As I looked at the names on the Nominating Committee who pledged to serve this next year, there are 52 different people with varying gifts and responsibilities. But not one person is greater or better than any other. From the church moderator to food and hospitality to youth, we all have the same title, “Servants”!

Something else that was expected of “under rowers” is that they learned to row together in unison to effectively move the ship forward. We must do the same in the church!

Ephesians 4:16 NKJV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

John 13:34–35 (NKJV)

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Philippians 2:2 NKJV

2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

God evaluates each saint first of all as His servant

2. Stewards of the Mysteries of God; 1b

Steward- (oik-o-no-mos) “house manager,” a person placed in complete control of a household. The steward supervised the property, the fields and vineyards, the finances, the food, and the other servants on behalf of his master.

This individual managed everything for his master, yet, he himself owned nothing.

Joseph is a picture of what a good steward is;

[Gen. 39] Joseph was sold as a slave to Potiphar. Joseph served the Lord well and God gave him favor in Potiphar’s house to make him the overseer, “chief steward”.

Genesis 39:5–6 (NKJV)

5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate .…

Later after Joseph was released from prison on a false rape charge, he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh by God’s hand and was exalted to second in command of Egypt. He is put in charge of all Egypt as chief steward to save them from the coming 7 years of famine.

Genesis 41:46–48 NKJV

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. 47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly. 48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.

Genesis 41:53–57 NKJV

53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended, 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do.” 56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. 57 So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.

Joseph not only in his stewardship saved the land of Egypt from famine, he saved his own family that sold him into slavery.

Genesis 50:19–20 NKJV

19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

In this proposed budget we have before us today, God has called us to be stewards of His finances, overseers of His estate [each ministry category] for the “mysteries of the Gospel of Christ”.

Mystery- things which had not been revealed before but are now made known.

All these ministry categories, all the finances given, are for the very purpose of making the mysteries of the Gospel known to the world!

In [Mt. 13], Jesus shares 7 parables with His disciples;

Parable of the Soils, Wheat and Tares, Mustard Seed, Leaven, Hidden Treasure, Pearl of Great Price, Dragnet. Then He shares a last parable, the Parable of the Householder [Steward] and directs it to His disciples.

Matthew 13:51–52 (NKJV)

51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Have you understood what I’ve said here this morning? We are not only servants of the Lord Jesus Christ but we are also stewards of the Mysteries of God!

3. Required to be Found Faithful; 2

Paul states that servants and stewards of the Lord have requirements that are a must in their life.

Required- zeteo {zay-te’-o} strong word in the Greek language. The word means to demand something from someone, to expect something as essential.

God requires servants and stewards to be “found faithful”

Faithful- pistos {pis-tos’} trustworthy in duties and business, to be relied upon

Servanthood and stewardship are inseparable from faithfulness. An unfaithful servant or an untrustworthy steward is a self-contradiction. “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?” Jesus asked. “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes” (Matt. 24:45–46).

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?

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1 Corinthians (pp. 99–100). Moody Press.

Close;

God supplies every need and resource in our lives through His Word, His Spirit, His gifts and His power, to be used for His glory and the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the world.

All he requires of us is the Be Found Faithful!

Ecclesiastes 5:4–5 NKJV

4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed— 5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay.