Abiding In Biblical Prosperity | Session 3 | Stewardship, It’s all God’s Big Ideas: • God owns it all • How do I respond to His supremacy and steward what He gives? • What does God require of me as His disciple? Do I have a proper theology of Biblical Stewardship? • The Bible includes approximately 50 verses on both prayer and faith but more than 2000 verses on money & stewardship. Money is the subject of nearly 40% of Jesus’ parables. “They used to say whoever dies with the most toys wins but if he loses his soul what has he gained in the end. I’ll take a shack on the rock over a castle in the sand.“ Casting Crowns-America Dream. • A low view of God and a low view of sin stunts personal discipleship and kingdom passion. Our prayer life is powerless. Our evangelistic passion is not there. We have no fear of a just and wrathful God who will ask us for an account of how we have stewarded what is His. We are not generous with what God has given us because we view it as ours and what we have earned and, therefore, deserve what we want. • Consumerism-When you become a consumer, you slowly drift away from biblical prosperity and eventually find yourself consumed in greed and fear. Proverbs 11:24 There is one who scatters yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Stewardship 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. (Or trustworthy.) Steward-is a person who manages the affairs or financial property of another. One who administers anything as the agent of another. The Greek word for steward is oikonomos and means “a manager, treasurer, overseer, or guardian.” God has given to you time, treasure, and talent, and He is going to require an account of how you managed His goods. 1. The stuff I have is not mine. 1 Timothy 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. God owns it all Deuteronomy 10:12-14 12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? 14 Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. Psalm 24:1-2 The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Job 41:11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine. Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its fullness. I Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. Colossians 1:16-17 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 1 Corinthians 10:26 26 for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” 2. I am responsible to God for what God has given me. However, I am not responsible for what He has given others. 1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. How do I respond to His supremacy and steward what He gives and What does God require of me as His disciple? Matthew 25:14-30 For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Parable of the talents-Matthew 25 • We have all been given different abilities and responsibilities to steward. • We have all been given similar types of things to steward just with different amounts. (Gospel, talents, gifts, money, people) • It was not fair or equitable how God chose to distribute. • The wicked servant did not have the master’s heart. • Doing nothing was not an option. (apathy) 3. I am going to give an account to God for how I managed His goods. Romans 14:12, 13 So then, each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way. 2 Corinthians 5:9-11 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. Bema Seat · The judgment seat of Christ involves a time in the future when believers will give an account of themselves to Christ. The warning is to Christians, not unbelievers. As Jesus taught in His parable, the king is going to return, at which time he will require an account from his servants. · The judgment seat of Christ does not determine our salvation; that matter was settled by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (1 John 2:2) and our faith in Him (John 3:16). All our sins are forgiven, and there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. · The judgment seat of Christ is different than the great white throne of judgment. The great white throne of judgment spoken of in Revelation 20:11-15 is speaking about unbelievers and is the final judgment of the wicked being. · So, believers are secure in Christ, but they still must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. It will be a time of examination and a time of reward. Jesus will inspect our works. What did we do with the resources God gave us? How faithful were we? Were we yielded to the Spirit, seeking to honor Christ and further His work in the world? If so, we will have reward. Did we neglect our opportunities to serve the Lord? If so, we will suffer loss of reward. Paul likens our Christian service to erecting a building: 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Matthew 6:19-34 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 4. Everything I have is for His glory. A key point to all of this is that we are not striving to earn God’s pleasure but rather steward His creation for His glory. He rewards faithfulness but the reward is not the goal. Fellowship with Him and Glory to Him is the reward. 1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability that God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom glory and dominion belong forever and ever. Amen. Psalm 39:4–5 Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. 5 Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Take Away: 1. Do I have a proper theology of Biblical Stewardship? 2. How do I align my lifestyle with a proper theology of Biblical Stewardship? 3. What changes do I need to make to store up treasure in heaven?