Transcription
All right, uh, if you want to turn your Bible or flip on your iPhone or your iPad or whatever, however you read the Bible, uh, I'm going to be in Matthew 25. Okay, we're in a series called Beyond Blessed. And last, we've talked about living beyond blessed. We talked, uh, last weekend that I'm going to kind of begin to build on. Next week will be our last week, but I'm going to talk this weekend about good stewards. And I want you to understand that this is so big, and so many people miss this. And I, I'm trying to think of how I can say it to make the impact that I, that I want this statement to make.
All right, we know that when we give, God blesses us. That's just all through scripture. And it's, it's when we give with the right heart. Obviously, if we're giving with a selfish motive, that's not going to bring the blessing of God. That's not what God's trying to do in our heart. But when I wrote "The Blessed Life," we talked about when we give, and I talked about all these testimonies about how God would bless. Here's what I want you to catch about "Beyond Blessed." In the very same way that God supernaturally blesses you when you give generously, in the very same way, God supernaturally blesses you when you operate your finances according to biblical standards and stewardship. And so many don't understand this. Please, please, please, please hear me. Please hear me on this. It's not just that the numbers add up. It's not just that you got on a budget and you're spending less in this column so you have more in this column. We have testimony after testimony after testimony here at Gateway Church of people who have gotten their finances in order, and God has supernaturally blessed them. So that's what I want you to hear. I want you to hear because, see, in the same way, we, we, we do want God to, we want God's supernatural blessing on our finances. So when there's an opportunity to give, sometimes we give knowing, not in a bad way, but knowing that God's going to bless us for giving. When you get your finances in order, there is a supernatural blessing from heaven. There's miraculous blessings that happen from heaven. Are you following me? I want you to know that. And I want you to just try it. Just try it and watch the supernatural happen.
So we're talking about good stewards this week. And I want to talk a little bit about ownership and stewardship because this is a big issue for us to understand as believers. It will change everything in your life. As a matter of fact, the, the subtitle of the book is, um, something, something, something. I forget. But it's the main thing is what I wanted to do be was no financial stress. And, and it's something about God's supply. Anybody got the book, "God's Perfect Plan for No Financial Stress"? Yeah. So, um, you can't imagine when you're working with the publisher, all the, all the different changes you go through. But they even suggested to, to say about, uh, something not to say "no financial stress" because "no" is a negative word. I said, "No" is not a negative word when you talk about stress. And you say "no stress," that's like saying "no cancer." That's a good report. You follow me? So I'm telling you, please, please. I, I don't know. I am overwhelmed right now with this burden. You can live with no financial stress. I'm talking about none. And it is one of the greatest places to live in the world. But it, it comes not from whether you have a lot of money in the bank or not. It comes whether, in your heart, you're the owner or the steward. Because listen, when it's like renting, think about this, okay? If you're the renter, when stuff breaks, you just call the landlord. And think about that term, even the land, lord, who's the lord of the land. See, what's great is when God owns it, He fixes it. When you own it, it causes you a whole bunch of stress. So I'm, I'm, I, okay.
All right, so let me give you another example before I get into scripture here. We're going to get into scripture in a moment, okay? Um, have you ever stayed in someone else's home? Now, in a moment, I'll ask you to raise your hands. All campuses. All right. You ever, maybe you went visited and you some family, or maybe, um, you house-sat for someone while they were out of town, or maybe someone let you borrow their vacation home, or a condo, a vacation condo, or a timeshare, or something? But have you ever, I want everyone, every campus, if you've done this, have you ever stayed in someone else's home? The reason I'm asking is I want to know if I'm the only moocher here, okay? Have you ever, let me see your hands. Have you ever stayed in someone else's home? Okay. All right. So I remember the first time some friends of ours let us use their vacation home. Uh, Debbie would not let me touch anything. "Take your feet off the coffee table. Don't, don't lie down on the couch. Sit on the couch. Sit upright. Don't, don't lie down on the couch." And then I said, "Well, I want to take a nap." So I said, "I'm going to go to the bedroom." She said, "I already made up the bed. You had to sleep on the floor." It's, uh, because she kept reminding me, and in a right way, that's not our house. We don't own this house. As a matter of fact, we have lots of people who have made vacation homes available to us, friends and things, and we don't do that anymore because of what? Here's what I found out. Because my wife will spend the last 48 to 72 hours cleaning it from top to bottom. Is that right? Because some of you are saying, "Why don't you help?" That's a whole another, that's come to the Exo Conference, and, and that'll, maybe I should go to the Exo. Okay.
[Applause]
All right, let's, let's not even talk about that. All right, let's just forget about that. But, um, I'm preparing sermons. That's probably why. So, okay. All right. Now.
[Laughter]
But she is always, she's going to leave it better than when we found it. That's because she, she's got that inner, and we all have that. We all have that, right? We all have it in us that if it was someone else's, if we had to borrow a car, we'd take it back washed and full of gas, right? We're going to return it in better condition. I want you to think about this. Are we going to give back to God what He's letting us use in better condition? Are we the stewards? Is He the owner?
Okay, so, so I'm going to read you this passage in Matthew 25. And here's what you need to know. It's going to talk, it's the famous passage about God giving five talents, two talents, and one talent. Here's the only thing you've got to know, and I'll explain it later in the message. I, I thought about explaining it in the intro, but I just, I'm going to do it later in the message. Talent here is talking about money. It is the sum of money. I can prove it theologically and historically, okay? It is not talking about ability. And there are many people that say, "Well, some people have this much ability, some have this much ability." Okay, this talks about ability, but this is talking about a sum of money. This is a whole thing where God says, "I have given so much money to different people according to the ability they have, and I expect money back. I expect a return on my investment." So you need to know, here's Jesus taking several verses talking about how we handle money.
All right, so Matthew 25, verse 14: "For the kingdom of heaven is like." I can't, I'm going to stop a few times because I'm, I'm eating up with this burden for this message. This is Jesus talking. He knows what heaven's like. Would you agree? That's the Son of God talking, by the way. This is the 11th time Jesus said in the book of Matthew, "For the kingdom of heaven is like." The kingdom of heaven is like. It's a great study, by the way. There are 11 of them. This is the 11th one. Starts in Matthew 13, by the way. All right, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man," that's Jesus, "traveling to a far country, who called his own servants," that's believers, Christians, "and delivered, watch this very carefully, his goods to them." Just, just a question, you can all answer out loud. Whose goods are they? Okay, let's remember that. "And to one he gave five talents," now that's a sum of money, I'll tell you exactly how much money it is in just a moment, "to another two, to another one." Now, why would he do that? Does it sound fair? Here's why: "to each according to his own ability." How much ability the person had. "And immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with him." The word "traded" here means to do business. Literally means to enact business, a business. To do business. He did business with him and he made another five talents. Likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug it in the ground. And he'd, watch his lord's money, not his money, his lord's money. "After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them." Did you know that Jesus is going to come back? And one of the things He's going to do is He's going to see how you handled His money, His money. That's part of it. Settle accounts for them. And I'm going to show you in a minute that it's money, okay? It's clear.
So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I've gained five more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Look at me. In this moment, have you ever heard that phrase? Does everyone say, "That's what I want to hear Jesus say"? This is the only place that's in the Bible, and it's talking about money. The people who here, "Well done, good and faithful servant," from from the Lord are the people who are good stewards. I know I'm shocking y'all. I, I can just hear, I can feel the, "I just don't know about this." I do. I've studied this. This, He is talking about money. And the people that hear this are the good stewards. The one, are y'all with me? This is just, this is amazing. I, okay. The way you've handled your money. It's, pardon me, the way you handled His money. So far, is He going to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? Okay. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." He also who had received two talents came and said, "Lord, you delivered me two talents. Look, I've gained two more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Notice, by the way, it's not how much. It's how much according to your ability. Okay? So, in other words, a person who makes a small amount can gets to get the same "well done" as a person who makes a large amount, as long as you do it according to your ability. "You've been faithful over a few things. I'll make you rule over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man. My understanding of you is you're a hard man because a lot of people think that about God, reaping where you've not sown and gathering where you've not scattered seed. And I was afraid." Fear is what drove him. He was never generous, never a good steward. "And I went and hid your talent." Remember, talent is the sum of money. "In the ground. Look, there you have what is yours." But his lord answered and said to him, "You are a wicked and a lazy servant." This is a person who was not a good steward. "You knew that I reap where I'm not sown and gathered and where I've not scattered seed. So you ought to at least," or you have deposited. Now watch, "my money." I told you, He was talking about money. This, this in red was Jesus. I just wanted y'all know, some of you might be shocked. Jesus used the word "money" and He called it "His money." So you have depo, you ought to have at least deposited my money with the bankers, and in my coming, a lot of good theology in here. "I would receive back my own with interest." So take the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents. The guy who'll do something with it. "For to everyone who has, more will be given. He, he, he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away."
Okay, let me give you just a definition if you wanted one of stewardship. This is my own definition. I didn't find this in the dictionary, so there's probably a better one. But it's the management of the property of another. The management of the property of another. All right. So three points. One is going to build on last week. Here's number one: I am not the owner. I am not the owner. Last week I read Psalm 24: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, and all the people who dwell in it." Also read Psalm 50, where He said, "I own the cattle on a thousand hills." On the hills also. And I want to just go back to one there, verse 12 of Psalm 50: "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine." Okay. I just like that because this, here's what I think He's saying. If I were hungry, I'd eat one of my cows. Even if they're on your land, they're my cows. They're my deer, they're my fish, they're my chickens, my eggs. If I'm hungry, I'll eat one of my animals or my, one of my vegetables. You know, I'll eat my tomatoes, my cauliflower, my broccoli. Mine. It's mine. It's all God's. Let me say another way. Here's another way God might just say it: "Your dog is my dog." Now, some of you are thinking, "Well, you can have my dog." Some of you aren't saying, "You think, no, I like that dog." And, you know, by the way, did you know the number one, of the number one theological questions pastors get asked? "Will my pet be in heaven?" Do you know that? And I'll tell you, would you like the scriptural answer? Yours will. Mine won't. Just so you know, mine are going to hell. That's no doubt about it.
[Applause]
My, my son Josh used to have a demonized dog. He was demonized. There was no doubt. He named him Luke. I told him it was short for Lucifer. I told him, I said, "Your dog needs a priest, a cross, and some holy water." That's what you need. Okay. So God owns it all. I showed you some scripture, Old Testament. Let me show you one New Testament. First Corinthians 10:26: "For the earth is the Lord's, and all that it contains." All it contains. How many of you ladies, either a ring, necklace, pendant, earring, bracelet, I don't know how many of you ladies have a diamond? Can I see your hand? There we go. Okay, that diamond came from God's coal. The metal that you drove to church today, whether it's a Mercedes or a Chevy, it came from God's ore and His minerals. That's where that metal came from. The clothes you're wearing came from God's plants. The house you live in, the wood, the stone, the brick, every bit of it came from God's earth. If you have a pearl, it's because one of God's oysters got irritated by some sand. Can you imagine us saying that anything belongs to us? And how God would feel? By the way, the paper that your money is printed on came from God's trees. He owns every one of them. God's the owner. You know what I think we have? I think we have a teenager problem. Now, not all teenagers go through this, but most of them do. Okay. If you have a teenager or have ever had a teenager, you have had this thought at some point in your life: "This is not your house." Haven't you? "That's not your house, young man. You're, you're on loan. You're leaving pretty soon. And it's just your mother and I, and we're not going to be crying either."
[Laughter]
"We're having a party. We liked it when it was just us, and we're going to be happy when it's just us again." But what's, what's the problem with a teenager? We talked about this: childhood, adolescence, adulthood. You got a person that has not transitioned to adulthood yet. How many teenagers does God have? All of us. Do you know that? Listen, do you know the transition when you go from being childhood, adolescents, to adulthood in the kingdom? I'm going to tell you exactly what it is. When you learn to be a good steward. And when you realize it's not yours, it's His. Otherwise, you're still a teenager, and you think that even though you're living in His house, it's your house. Are y'all following me? It's God's. It's God. God owns it all. By the way, it says, "After a long time, the owner came back and settled accounts." I just want to remind all of you, the owner's coming back, and He's going to settle accounts.
So, number one: I'm not the owner. Here's number two: I am a steward. I am a steward. Do you realize God started the whole thing with stewardship? Adam and Eve. He said, "Young, live here and you intend it. Intend you work this garden. But that tree right there, you cannot eat that from that tree right there." You know what He was trying to say? Every time you walk by that tree, I want you to remember who the owner is. I'm the owner. Do you know, in essence, what Satan told them? Remember, he said, "If you, if you," he don't want you to eat because you'll be like him. Here's what he said: "You'll be an owner. Then you won't be the steward anymore. You'll get to be the owner." God said, "No, you don't even get to live here anymore if you don't understand that I'm the owner." It all started with stewardship. By the way, do you know this is why evolutionists hate creationism? Because if there's an owner, that means He owns them too. And He does. There is an owner. He owns the world and everybody.
Okay, so let me tell you about a talent. A talent is a sum of money. I'll tell you, and I'll have to break it down for you. It is 10,000 denarii. A denarius is a day's wage. Denarius is singular, denarii is plural. It'd be like octopus and octopi. Okay? So if you saw, if you went, uh, snorkeling and saw two, you and say, "I saw two octopuses." You said, "I saw two octopi." Just, just helping you. Okay? So you didn't make two denarius, you made two denarii. Denarius. So denarii, denarius, denarii. Okay. Now, 300 denarii is a year's wage. You work about 300 days with Sabbaths, holidays, and festivals. So it, remember she poured the ointment on on His feet, and Judah said, "Why wasn't this sold for 300 denarii?" A year's wage is what that perfume cost. 10,000 denarii, which is a talent of silver, is a lifetime. It's actually 33 and a third years, by the way. That's how long Jesus lived, 33 and 30 years. A boy started working on his with his father when he was 12. He actually entered adolescence, but he actually became a laborer at 17. And in Jesus' day, retirement was age 50. Part of the reason was lifespan was 55 to 65. Lifespan has increased, by the way. Think about this. Lifespan. Methuselah is 969 years, and it's going down because of sin. Jesus came in the world, and it's been going back up. And that's because God has given wisdom to doctors and medical people now, and life has been extended. Actually, because life came in the world, but in Jesus' day, you worked 33 and a third years, in essence, from 17 until you were 50, and then you retired. So when people referred to 10,000 denarii or one talent of silver, that's a life to wage, a lifetime wage, average wage. Okay? So this one, the one that got one, don't feel sorry for him. He got his, he got whole, a whole lifetime wage. He didn't have to work the rest of his life. And then someone got two. Some people make twice what an annual seller be. One guy got five. That's five times as much. Now, that's a talent of silver, by the way. A talent of gold is ten times. So there's some people that make 50 times what the average person makes. They're called athletes. Okay. Let's go ahead. But it's money. It was a talent. God gave them a sum of money. We don't know if it was a talent of silver or a talent of gold, but it was enough to live on for even the one who had one. It was enough to live his entire life. He gave him a lifetime of wages.
Now, here's the other thing that is amazing to me. It says that, um, "according to their ability." When Debbie and I got married, I didn't make much money. As a matter of fact, our first tax return we ever filed, the government sent me back some money because I didn't make enough. They felt sorry for me. The government felt sorry. When we were, we were lower than the low class when we got married. But my ability has increased. So you can say, "Well, I'm just a one-talent person." You don't have to stay a one-talent person because you can improve on your ability. You can, you can get, you can get more education. You can learn more skill. You can get more. Are y'all following me? But what are you doing now? I would like to say this: If you're a five-talent person, God expects five talents back from you. I want you, why don't you think about this? Let's say that there's a person who has the ability to give a million dollars, has the ability to give a million dollars, but he gives $500,000. There's another person who only has the ability to give $50, but she gives $200. Who's going to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? See, God is judging you by what He gave you. We have a lot of five-talent people that give like one talent, and you're in trouble because God is watching you. He's going to come settle accounts one day. I'm a steward. That's all I am is a steward.
Let me give you one other definition I wrote about stewardship. Stewardship is to protect and expand the resources of another. Notice, He wanted His resources expanded. He said, "You could have at least put it in the bank because it would have been protected and expanded." Protected and expanded. That's what He wanted. And the guy didn't even put it in the bank. Um, God is expecting you to protect it and expand it. He's expecting that. Uh, let me say something else. Maybe you've never, ever thought about this. I hope you, I hope you never forget this statement right here. You are God's bank. God has deposited His, His, it says, "His lord's money." He has deposited His money in you, and He is expecting you to protect it and expand it. He's expecting you to be a good steward. I told you, um, last weekend, how I, with Ethan, Elaine. Ethan was a tither. And you know, I checked tithing records. By the way, he got the prize because he was a tither. But there was another boy, the way, before she ever met Ethan, and, uh, he wanted to date Elaine. And she said to him, "Do you tithe?" And he said, "Why are you asking?" And she said, "Because you can't date me if you don't tithe. Then my dad will find out." And he said, "Well, I give him cash." Do you know why this wicked and lazy servant hid it in the ground instead of putting it in a bank? Because there was no record of it. So she comes to me. And says, I said, "Does he tithe?" She said, "Well, he says he gives him cash." I said, "He's either a poor steward or a liar. And you cannot date him because he doesn't want a record. He don't want anybody to know what he gives." See, I'm just, okay. I just want you to know. Remember, the Master's keeping records. So no matter what you do, He knows exactly what you made last year, and He knows exactly what you gave last year, and He's keeping records.
So, which brings me to my third point: Am I a good steward? I mean, I am a steward. By the way, you're a steward because you don't own anything. You don't own anything. God owns it all. So you are a steward. So the question is, are you a good steward? Luke 12, verse 16: "Jesus spoke a parable to them, saying, 'The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, since I have no room to store," watch very carefully because it's very important, "my crops?"' Notice, he thought everything was his. So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.' See, he was thinking like an owner, not a steward. 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry."'" But God said to him, "You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?" So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." Okay, he, he did not get reprimanded for making a lot of money. That wasn't the problem. He didn't get reprimanded for building bigger barns. He didn't get reprimanded for storing it, even. He got reprimanded for living for himself and not for the kingdom and not for others. That's what he got reprimanded for. You need to know that being a good steward is that I'm a steward of everything God's given me to be able to be a blessing when God wants me to be a blessing to someone. I'm stewarding it because I am the steward. I'm not the owner.
Now, remember, I told you that God blesses us supernaturally when we learn stewardship principles. So my son James left business and came on staff, first in our stewardship department, and then began to run the stewardship department, then began to run four departments, and now I don't know what he runs, but he's been promoted because he's a good steward. But I've never promoted him. I'm, I'm not the one that promotes him. He's, he's earned every promotion he's gotten. But when he was one of our stewardship pastors, one of our widows, one of our widows came and said, "Uh, I need some help managing my finances." By the way, that's what we do. We help people. We, we would love to help you. We'd love to help you. Okay. So she came and said, "I need some help." She was over $10,000 in debt. She was tithing. She was giving $5 a month to Heart for the Kingdom, but she had about $3 to $5 a day left over for food, and she was going in the hole every month. So James began to teach her. And she even said that when I first came, I came just to get my finances straightened out. I just need to get them straightened out. But as James began to talk, teach me, I realized, you know what? I want to be a good steward. This isn't mine. I want to steward what God has. So they began to go through principles of stewardship. James looked at her, looked at all of her bills, her electric bill. He looked at how much she was paying per kilowatt. He said, "That you're paying way too much. They're ripping you off. And you ought to shop these things. You can shop about every six to 12 months your electric company." And so James shopped and got her electricity for a third of what she was paying. Did the same thing with her phone bill. Started just reducing her bills. Started helping her learn these principles. She just kept learning these principles. And then, this is so good, she gets a phone call. She had done a reverse mortgage on her house. That's where her income was coming from. Remember, she's a widow. This guy calls from the company and says, "Uh, ma'am, I know this phone call is going to seem kind of strange, but my boss came in and told me to call you. He did a re-evaluation of your house, and we're going to send you some more money." She told James about it. James, my son. And he thought, "You know, this could be a scam." So I'm going to check it out. So he calls this guy with his business background. He starts checking. Now, finally, the guy finds out he's a pastor from the church. And he says to him, "Okay, let me just tell you, I've been working here for years. This has never happened before. But God spoke to my boss and told me to call." And they gave her thousands of dollars just like that. And James checked it out to make sure it's right.
Then she wrote this email. I just want to read you a little excerpt from it. She said, "James, I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know how things are going. Number one, I'm completely debt-free now." She was $10,000 in debt. "Number two, my tax, all my taxes for this year are paid, and I'm already saving for my taxes for next year. Number three, my maintenance funds are growing for my home and for my car. Number four, my savings are growing. Number five, I'm still finding fine-tuning of my budget, but it's going extremely well. Number six, I got the oil change the other day and paid cash, which was the first time in a long time. Number seven, I now have $1,500 in an emergency fund. Number eight, I have over $5,000 savings. Number nine, I have $10,000 in the bank for my funeral expenses. And number 10, as a result of taking the financial planning class offered by Gateway, they're drawing up a new will for me. This is being done for me by Gateway at no charge to me." Whole life turned around. And God performed a miracle and spoke to someone, spoke to someone, and thousands and thousands of dollars came in supernaturally. Please, please hear me. Yes, we're to give generously, but we are not the owners of all the funds we have. We are only stewards. And when we steward them God's way, God's supernatural blessing comes on us.