Ownership Versus Stewardship-Lesson Two
Notes
Transcript
Job
Job
Introduction:
Introduction:
There is really only one owner, and the rest of us are stewards of what He owns.
There is really only one owner, and the rest of us are stewards of what He owns.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
Lesson Aims and Application
Lesson Aims and Application
To recognize that God has given possessions, but He is the owner.
Application-When you say that something is “yours” remember that all things belong to the Lord.
To show that God has proven His ownership of all things.
Application-Realize each day that God is the Creator and the Redeemer of your soul. He has the right to your life. Yield to Him.
To learn to be fully dependent upon the Lord.
Application- As a steward, look to the Lord for the provision and blessing that only He can bring. It ALL comes from Him.
The truly rich are not necessarily rich in the things of this world. Those who know the True and Living God recognize that He is the One who holds the deed to all that has worth in this world, and the things of true worth in this world are connected with the world to come.
We have the habit of saying, “this is my house. this is my car. this is my land.” Talking like this is a hard habit to break. There is only One Owner, the rest of us are stewards of what He owns.
In a world where we hear that nothing really lasts, let us consider a man who was given “an everlasting possession.”
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself. In this passage God reveals Himself as “the Almighty God.” The name in the Hebrew is El-Shaddai
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament 7706. שַׁדַּי šadday
A masculine noun and name for God meaning Shaddai, Almighty. The word occurs only forty-eight times in the Hebrew Bible, thirty-one times in the book of Job. This is a name for the Lord—the Old Testament people of faith referring to Him as El Shaddai, God Almighty. The term is found in the passages that report God’s promises of fertility, land, and abundance to them, indicating that He, the Almighty, could fulfill His promises (Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11). The Lord appeared to Abraham when he was ninety-nine years old and identified himself as El Shaddai, God Almighty (Gen. 17:1)
God is to be glorified because we cannot live and exist without Him.
He is truly all that we need.
Possession is not Ownership
Possession is not Ownership
Possession does not mean ownership. God revealed Himself to Abraham as Almighty God. He said “I am going to give you this land for a possession. It is your possession.
Possession is not ownership.
Example: I own a house that is for rent. You want to rent this house that I own. Just because you live in this house that I own does not mean that it is yours. It is still my house, I have just allowed you to take possession of it, but I still own it. You may be dwelling in the house, but that does not make it your house.
Let’s suppose that you said: “I want to live in YOUR house, but I want to live in it on my own terms.”
The truth is that if you lived in the house that I own, that it would be on my terms and not on your terms. You may possess the house, but I still maintain ownership.
Likewise, God owns and we possess. (We only possess when we do it on His terms!)
In Genesis 17 Abraham was given land to possess, but God owned it. Abraham would possess the land and his seed would possess the land. But possession is not ownership.
You and I are going to travel through this world possessing many things. We might say that they are ours, but possession is not ownership.
The Proof of Ownership
The Proof of Ownership
The Bible proves to us that God is the owner and we are only the stewards.
A steward is on who manages the affairs of another.
By His Creation
By His Creation
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
God proves that He is the owner of all of creation.
He created all things. We created nothing. God created all. He is the owner of all things because He is the Creator of all things.
Everything exists because He made it exist.
Everything is held together because He holds it together.
Not matter where you and I travel, we will be apart of and will see all that God has created. There is only One Creator God who created it all.
The fact that He is the Creator proves His ownership.
We may possess parts of His Creation, but He is still the Owner.
By His Declarations
By His Declarations
Throughout the Bible, God declares His ownership.
3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
“For all the earth is mine”
His truthful declaration gives proof of His ownership.
11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
By His Judgments
By His Judgments
His ability to take action and do it justifiably proves His ownership.
58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God. 63 And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. 64 And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.
God is declaring in this passage, that if they become unjust stewards, then He will judge them.
When we do not recognize God’s ownership then we will fail to be the just stewards that He wants us to be.
Remember: Possession does not mean Ownership.
If we become unjust stewards of the time, talents, life, opportunities, etc. that we possess, God has every right to judge us. Because He is the owner.
As the owner, God sets the boundaries. Just because I am in possession of His property does not mean that I can do with it as I please. He has allowed me to possess it so that it can be used for His purposes.
Sometimes we get the idea that because we give, go to church, read our Bibles, pray that we have offered something in return for what He has given. When the truth is that we possess our lives, our talents, our life, our .....; but God OWNS the possessor!!!
By His Control
By His Control
10 And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. 11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; And thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, Until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, And hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Who could command the sun/moon to stand still? The one that Owns them can command them to do that which He desires.
It is proof of His ownership.
By His Purchase
By His Purchase
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
His purchase of our salvation is proof of His ownership.
If you are a Christian then you are not your own. Jesus Christ made the complete payment for your soul on Calvary.
You and I may possess life, but we certainly do not own it.
Thought: I have never owned my life; either sin owned it our God owns it!!
He has a right to my life because He owns it.
The Purpose of Stewardship
The Purpose of Stewardship
Stewardship is meant to be a declaration of our dependence upon the Lord.
As Christian stewards we recognize that we are simply in charge of things for a time. We may possess them, but we do not own them.
Anytime that we use something that someone else owns, we take extra care of it. Example: using my lawn mower as compared to using my neighbor’s lawn mower. Using my Bible, as compared to using someone else’s Bible.
You and I are living lives that belong to someone else. Are we taking good care of them?
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Stewardship does not begin with money or time or talents; Stewardship begins with God.
Stewardship ends with God because He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
We have a stewardship and He has the ownership. We are to be faithful stewards and He is a faithful owner.
The deed of all that we have is in His hand, we shall never have ownership, we will always have stewardship.
The purpose for our faithful stewardship, is to declare our total and utter dependence upon His abundance and His blessings.
We honor Him. We exalt Him. When we do what we do because of Him then we bring Him Glory.