Biblical Stewardship
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Good Morning Harmony! Well, we’ve had 3 out of the 4 seasons I think this week, we’ve finished the series It’s ok to not be ok, we’ve had a missionary - which by the way like I said last week we’ll continue collecting any financial support you want to give through the church until next week and send it all off at one time after next Sunday - and now we’re on the very last day of January.
Let’s Pray.
I gotta tell you, I am super excited for today. Today is my last official day in the Navy before getting transferred to the Fleet Reserve, which means I will no longer be active duty after today. That does give me a little bit of stress now, because this also means that the majority of my income is going with that active duty paycheck, so I want you to understand that today’s message is for me as well, as I go through a new phase in life where I may need to rearrange some finances to make things work.
And today we’re talking about Biblical Stewardship. Now I want to go ahead and get some things out of the way here early on - there are things that have been said within the world we live in, and maybe here maybe not here, so I just want to ask and answer a few questions today about the subject of money, and I also want to remind you that I still only plan on teaching on this once per year - so today’s message might be a little longer than usual - so here goes:
How many of you have ever heard said that the church or the pastor only wants your money? Anyone? Well, the answer is no, because 1 - I have no idea what you give individually-and I don’t want to. Does someone? Probably, because we as a church have to provide everyone who gives a tax statement every year, so you know that every amount you have given has been accounted for. And 2 - we understand that God doesn’t need your money - and we’ll get into that in a moment.
I’ll just serve more instead of tithing - anyone ever heard someone say that or said it yourself? I’ll jump in this boat, because I used to think that way. But God hasn’t called us to bargain or do more in one area of our life in order to substitute for another. It took me a while to surrender in this area, because I thought I could work enough to make up for the difference - but I now know surrender doesn’t really work that way.
I don’t have to tithe because it’s not what was taught in the New Testament - Well, one if you’re going to renounce tithing as not being new testament (it is, by the way) and try to go that route, then from the New Testament perspective you’re supposed to give it all - Woman and the mite, giving all she had, remember? Everyone giving all they had in Acts 2? Not really a winning argument if you ask me.
Fact is we can come up with any excuse we want to to resist surrendering to God’s plan.
I’ve been in churches where they talk about money frequently - even some that I would question the content being biblical - and I’ve been in churches where they don’t talk about it often at all. The bottom line is that God knows it’s something we struggle with-it’s why Jesus used money as part of many of His parables and in His teachings.
So why do we need to talk about money? Because we struggle with understanding God’s principles on money.
And today we’re going to look at 6 principles that will lead us into a deeper understanding on surrendering everything to God starting with number one,
1. God is the Owner of everything -
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
In this passage we see God’s Greatness Exalted and God’s Ownership Proclaimed God owns even the things we think we own. We are simply managers or stewards of what He has given us. Never forget these words: God is the Owner of everything.
O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.
Everything Belongs to God Alone is Declared in verse 16. David and the people of God could only give because God first gave them everything they had. God calls us to a life of obedience to His Word and He does not call us to do something that He first does not equip us to do and to practice. This includes honoring Him with at least the first tenth of all He has provided for us.
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.
O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.
Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
In verses 17-19 we see that Worship Occurs When We Give to God.
Giving honor and praise to God alone for everything is always in order because God is the Owner of everything. This is a foundational reality in the Christian life. This shapes our lives. And if God owns everything, this brings us to point number 2 -
2. We own Nothing
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Understand clearly: God is entrusting you with everything you have in your life; not for your personal ownership, but for you to demonstrate your stewardship.
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
ILLUSTRATION: How many of you are Amazon Prime members? Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, thanks you for your loyalty. In February 2020, he celebrated with a record-setting purchase of a Beverly Hills estate for $165 million.²
Suppose you and Jeff went to high school together, and he calls you to manage the property for him while he is gone. While he is away, you have full rights to stay in the house and use all of the grounds. There will be plenty to keep you busy with two guesthouses, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a nine-hole golf course on the nine-acre lot. You get to stay in the house even though you don’t own it.
Do you think if you were given that privilege, you would trash the house? No, in fact, I would venture to say you would take better care of that house than you did the last hotel room you stayed in!
APPLICATION: Each of us is entrusted by God to care for His creation. We are blessed with material possessions that are given to us for a season to manage for God’s glory. We are not to be like children, grabbing and saying, “Mine!” It is not ours, but God’s. Everything.
Stewardship is the practice of managing properly all that God has entrusted to us, whether it be time, talents, money, resources, influence, or our total lives.
God requires from us, as v. 2 says, to be found “faithful.” This means we are to be faithful, committed to what God asks us to do. We do not represent ourselves or others, but God. God rules ultimately, not us. We lean on Him for wisdom and trust Him for the power to be faithful stewards to carry out His will and commands.
Faithful means dependable. God can depend on us in the way we handle little things and the way we handle big things. God demands our faithfulness.
ILLUSTRATION: A husband being faithful to his wife means he is dependable; not only to do things, but to her, his wife. Marriage is built on trust; dependability and faithfulness represent trust in every way. God demands our faithfulness.
APPLICATION: As Jesus acknowledged and recognized the importance of faithfulness in the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30, He is still applauding faithfulness and dependability. This is true about all areas of life, even with the resources God has given to you: Are you faithful?
3. Honor God with at least the first ten percent
In Genesis 14:17-20, Abraham introduces the first ten percent principle; the principle we call the tithe.
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)
And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
It is very important to know first tenth giving, the tithe, predated the Law by hundreds of years. Oftentimes, people say the tithe was part of the Law; therefore, it is no longer relevant because we are under grace.
The tithe predated the Law and was incorporated into the Law. In…
GENESIS: The tithe was initiated before the Law
LEVITICUS: The tithe was codified under the Law
MALACHI: The tithe was restored following the exile
MATTHEW AND LUKE: The tithe was reinforced by Jesus
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
HEBREWS: The tithe was universalized through Melchizedek. Going back to Genesis 14, it tells the story of Abraham gathering a force of fighters to bring back Lot. They defeated their foes, taking a large haul of booty. On the way back, Abraham encounters Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:1 says,
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Abraham’s immediate and spontaneous reaction to encountering Melchizedek was to bow and worship God. Then notice what Abraham did: He gave a tenth, a tithe, the first tenth, or ten percent of the spoils and determined not to retain any of the other spoils except what his soldiers consumed on the journey and what was due to his fellow military leaders.
Three things happen when you practice tithing, giving the first tenth of all your income to the Lord:
1. You are putting God first in your life.
And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.
In other words the last part of the verse “learn to fear the Lord your God always, it means that the purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.
2. You are setting your heart right before God.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
3. You are positioning your life to be blessed by the Lord.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Now mind you, it’s not prosperity Gospel in the sense that you’ll get everything you ever wanted or that you’ll be rich, but rather all of your needs will be met.
4. Bring the full ten percent
In Malachi 3:7, God is calling us to return to Him and He will return to us.
From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
There is good news today for your life: God is calling you to return to Him AND He will return to you.
The people asked the prophet, “How can we return?”
Malachi 3:8-10 emphasizes not only bringing yourself to God, but bringing your everything to Him your Future, family, career, money, body, desires, and everything else. In verse ten, God commands: BRING!
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
God accuses the people of robbing Him—of their love, their best, their all, and addresses one thing specifically: You have robbed Me by not giving to Me the first ten percent of all I have given to you and also have robbed Me of contributions above the first ten percent of everything.
We are to bring to God the whole tithe, meaning the whole ten percent of everything God gives to us: salary, bonuses, and blessings. Whatever God entrusts to you, give the whole, the entire first ten percent of ALL He gives to you. This is not negotiable.
The storehouse was attached to the Temple, the place where the glory of God dwelt. When the gifts were brought to God, it was to the place where His glory was lifted up regularly by those selected to lead the congregation. In synthesizing the Old and the New Testaments, the church, which is the Bride of Christ [His glory], is the place where His gifts are to be brought by us.
It is not up to you where to give the first ten percent of your entire income. It is to be given to your local church, where you worship with God’s people. It is not your place to determine where you give it, nor is it your place to deem it worthy of the gift. You give all gifts to God through your local church without any strings attached… it is NOT yours, it is God’s. Not just ten percent of it, but one hundred percent of all you have is God’s. Giving provides not only for the needs of God’s people and leaders, but also for those who need to come to God and worship Him.
we are told to “test Me,” in verse 10 which means to prove God is who He says He is, as He will be faithful to you and His promises. God will take care of you.
Test Him by bringing the first ten percent of all He has given to you
The first ten percent means the best we have. Giving the best to God sanctifies the rest! Give to God the best, the first ten percent.
God says, “see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” I will open the floodgates or windows of Heaven.
Listen carefully: You cannot out give God!
Whatever I shovel out to God, He gives back to me, and His shovel is always bigger than mine!
Every time you give God the first ten percent of all He gives to you, God sanctifies, sets apart, and blesses the ninety percent.
5. Practice over and above giving
In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, we need to understand that the Apostle Paul was collecting an offering from God’s people. Why? The church in Jerusalem was going through a very challenging time. Paul was collecting an offering from the churches to assist the churches where he had been earlier. The church at Corinth had committed support earlier in this process. He had not received the money, so he was leading them to action by giving over and above their normal offering gifts for the purpose of helping others in need in Jerusalem.
Question: Why should we practice over and above giving?
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
First, God has given us His greatest gift.
This verse teaches us the Lord Jesus Christ is the grace of God given to us. He was rich with the full glory of God in Heaven, but He lowered Himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross. He poured Himself out completely, giving His all for us so we could become rich by experiencing His grace and a personal relationship with Him as our Lord and Savior.
ILLUSTRATION: When the great hymn-writer Isaac Watts responded to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, He wrote these words in his hymn entitled, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. When he imagined the death of Jesus Christ, he wrote these words in the last verse of this historic and powerful hymn: “Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small: Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.” ²
Here is a personal question for you: Have you given your entire life to Jesus Christ and committed yourself to follow Him the rest of your life?
If not, please make this commitment today. God gives us His greatest gift, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This should motivate us to practice over and above giving.
The second reason we should practice over and above giving is that God is the one that provides for you.
Living generously means you are living with open hands and you are giving freely.
This is the nature of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
6. Focus on the Great Commission
The first chapter of The Purpose Driven Life is entitled, “It All Starts With God.” Warren begins with the now famous “It’s not about you,” line. Then he writes,
“The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”
Warren’s point is by living out your purpose, you discover the significance for which your life was created.
For each of us to experience this, we must be good stewards of all God has entrusted us with, because He owns everything. This includes money and resources, everything He has given you through His generous hands.
Quite honestly, the church has done a poor job of teaching people the principles of biblical stewardship and helping them find purpose in living out these principles. Money and resources are often hush-hush conversation in churches. How can this be? Jesus talked freely and openly with others about money and resources. Today, this subject has been silenced in most churches. This is not God’s intention.
An improper understanding of biblical stewardship will result in money and resources becoming stumbling blocks in your personal walk with Christ. Again, this is not God’s intention. God’s intentions are that we spread the Gospel far and wide.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus’ heart and intention are impossible to miss as His Great Commission is calling on us today: Present the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations.
This Great Commission should never be the Great Omission in the church; it must become our Greatest Obsession in each of our lives.
Living out biblical stewardship stretches between two bookends: On one end, God owns everything, and on the other end is living in obedience to reach every person for Jesus Christ across the entire world. In other words, we have Good News for the whole world, and we must do all we can with all we have to see this Good News given to every person, everywhere.
When the stewardship of resources is wedded with the stewardship of completing the Great Commission, then we must make available all the resources God has entrusted to us to ensure the gospel message goes throughout the world.
Biblically, that is exactly what we discover the Apostle Paul doing in his letter to the church in Phillipi. In this letter, written to the same Macedonians he lauded so wonderfully in 2 Corinthians 8–9, Paul pointed them to the Gospel as the moving cause for Christian generosity.
From this dynamic section of Scripture, all Christ-followers and our entire church are called to three specific actions:
FOCUS ON THE GREAT COMMISSION ALWAYS
In Philippians 4:15, Paul mentions their strong commitment to further the gospel.
And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.
He did so by recalling to them what he referred to as, “in the beginning of the gospel.” They were acquainted with this gospel, therefore, they were receiving this encouragement gladly. It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ that drove Paul in all of his missionary journeys. He looked at all through the lens of the Gospel.
In order to understand Paul and how we are to be Great Commission people, we must understand that the Gospel is the bedrock of the Great Commission.
the second thing we’re called to is to
REALIGN OUR GIVING WITH THE GREAT COMMISSION ALWAYS
When we give the first ten percent to our church and then also practice over and above giving in our lives, two things occur:
IT EXPANDS THE GOSPEL - V. 15 — in expanding the Gospel, no church shared with me in giving and receiving except you only
AND IT PROFITS THE MISSION. Paul says in
I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
The end result is the gospel is advanced, churches are planted, people are saved, missionaries are sent, pastors and God-called leaders are equipped, and compassion is experienced in times of need. The mission prospers!
We support the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, Lottie Moon, Operation Christmas Child - all of which are part of our outreach to spread the Gospel. We had a missionary, Daniel Elliott here last week, and some provided support for him as he is working to return to the mission field - all these things are things we want to support - but we have to surrender every area of our lives to Jesus. And the hardest thing to surrender is our finances.
and the third thing we’re called to do is
RENEW OUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD BECAUSE HE WILL MEET OUR NEEDS ALWAYS
EXPLANATION: While verses 11-13 remind us of how God will take care of us, let us focus our attention on v. 19. Our struggles come and go, but God’s grace and providential care on our lives is always.
When you give to further the gospel, which is what your church should always be doing, then we will see this.
God will meet all of your needs when you give to advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ: Personally and collectively as a church. You cannot out give God!
God will give back to you extravagantly and generously according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus—this is boundless and unlimited! Immeasurable! Staggering!
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
God will meet your needs, PLUS SOME!
Our needs are grounded in God’s grace. God knows our needs even before we have them. When we share what we have for the purpose of advancing the gospel, we can walk in the confidence and faithfulness of God alone, knowing He will take care of us.
CONCLUSION: Philippians 4:13 says
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
The “all things” of verse 13 is often removed from its context as a spiritualized version of the Olympic games. Paul was not lifting up mind over matter, or even aspiring for athletic excellence. He affirmed that whatever life throws our way — deprivation, adversity, despair on one hand, or plenty, abundance, jubilation on the other — we only find lasting contentment, satisfaction, and fulfillment in the indwelling Christ who strengthens us.
APPLICATION: Are you living a life that brings glory to God? Are you practicing biblical stewardship?
People need Jesus and people need Jesus now.
ILLUSTRATION: COVID-19 taught us a lot about everything! One thing medical personnel found helpful was to use blood plasma of people who had contracted the virus but survived. Their blood carried antibodies that attacked the virus. They gave their blood in hopes of sustaining another person’s life. This type of therapy is used with other illnesses as well.
There is another blood that not only sustains life in this world, but even in eternity. It is a blood that saves you from sin and gives you eternal life.
The great old hymn, Nothing But the Blood, says it this way:
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
When you focus on the Great Commission, it helps you place your focus upon the eternal life of the individual. Jesus’ blood provides a cure each of us must invest in so the world can be saved and experience eternal life. When we give God’s way, we are in partnership with God to bring every ethnicity to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Lets pray.
Lord, give us the desire, give us the vision that is Yours. Lord, show each one of us that everything we are, everything we think we own, everything we need, it’s all You. Lord, help us to be faithful and to surrender all we are to you.
As you remain in an attitude of prayer, and understanding this - I don’t know what anyone gives, because it’s not really my business - it’s His business though, and He knows. So ask yourself, have you been faithful? Have you surrendered everything to Him? Have you allowed God to bless you by fulfilling all of your needs? Or are you still holding your hands closed to God? Are you resisting the Holy Spirit?
Father, help us in our lack of trusting in you to provide all our needs. Lord we commited ourselves and we’ve surrendered ourselves to you, now help those that are struggling with this area of our lives. Lord help us to trust you and Lord, as we do trust you we ask that you would fulfil your promise to bless us and show us Your hand in our finances.
And as we remain in prayer, recognize this, there are those of you who recognize that you really don't know God and you want to. Maybe you’ve struggled with what we talked about in the beginning of the message, about why we tithe or give offerings, or maybe you just walked in or started watching online for the first time. Would you call on the name of Jesus today? The Son of God born in a manger without an earthly father so He didn't inherit the sin nature, so that He could be our Savior, becoming sin on the cross, shedding His blood, dying, and being raised to life so that anyone who calls on His name will be saved. Would you do that?
If that’s you, if God is calling to you to draw into a relationship with Jesus, answer Him today. If you don’t know how to start, you can simply pray something like this:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. Lord I believe that you came to free me from the bonds of sin and hell, and Lord I thank you for what only you could do. Lord I choose you, to follow in all that you are and to walk in the Spirit in a relationship with you, and to spend eternity with you. In Jesus name, amen.
Father, thank you again for this body, and Father as you are speaking to those here today, I pray that they will follow you where you lead, that they will become engaged in your word and with other believers, multiplying your love and your disciples as you have called us to do.