Keys to Stewardship - Our Priorities and God's
Matthew 6
19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal:
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one,
and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day
is, and to morrowis cast into the oven, shall he not much more
clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof.
1. Priorities
Establishing priorities is the key to living successfully. If our
priorities are wrong, our lives will be wrong.
(Priority is putting the most important things first.)
God's priorities must be our priorities if we expect to succeed in
Christian living.
What is important to you?
(Typical priorities are career advancement, financial success, social
status, hobbies, family, etc.)
These things are important, but these things will pass away.
God's priorities are eternal.
If He created us, He had a purpose, and His purpose is the only
correct purpose for us.
2. Now is the time to invest in the Kingdom of God.
I have been feeling this urgency to do the things I believe are most
urgent and important. I feel that the time is short and we need to
be doing the most important things while we can.
Your liberality, or lack of it, will affect what we can do for the
Kingdom of God.
It grieves me to see the million dollar ads the Mormons put on TV -
the churches the Catholics and others can build overnight and move
into a community-the unlimited finances the Muslims seem to have
the zeal and commitment of the Farakan pushers who stand in our
intersections
Then there is the church of Jesus Christ. We operate on faith and we
struggle because God's chosen people don't give faithfully.
I am reminded of the passage in Romans 10:
Ro 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and
how shall they hear without a preacher?
:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? . . .
You may hinder God's work by withholding your tithes and offerings.
For years I have been told that our church was not big enough to
support two pastors, yet we kept doing it. But now, we have had to
cut back, and who will suffer? - the kids.
And why did we cut back? Because we could no longer support two
pastors. What hurts is that if everyone were faithful in tithing, we
could have continued to do it. Some have stopped giving.
(The real maddening thing to me is that the first ones to complain
that we are not meeting all the needs will be the ones who don't tithe.
It's always that way.)
If America is so wealthy and God's people are so blessed, why is the
church not doing better financially? Because very little of the wealth
is being channeled into God's work.
The religious groups that are thriving financially are the ones that
require giving a certain portion. But we in the church have made it
a matter of choice. But with God, it is not a matter of choice - It
is expected.
Here is an idea - what if we made tithing a requirement for membership?
Well, you may not remember, but it is. Many have stopped tithing
since becoming members, and frankly, we don't go around enforcing it,
but maybe we should. What would you think of me if I stood and
watched you drive over a cliff and didn't say anything. Well, I
believe tithing is just that serious.
Tithing is definitely a requirement for leadership in the church.
3. Why do you think God blesses His people?
God doesn't give us this wealth to entertain and indulge ourselves
with. He entrusted it to us for the purpose of getting His work done.
And if we don't, maybe He'll take it away from us.
Remember, where your treasure is, there your heart is.
Mt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Where is your treasure? What do you value in life? What have you set
your heart on?
4. Note Paul's priorities:
Philippians 3
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win
Christ,
9. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
His pride, his boasting, was in the cross of Christ, not in possessions.
Ga 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world.
Note his sacrificial spirit:
2Co 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; �
Paul held nothing back. The gospel was the most important thing in
his life.
5. Please think about this:
Psalms 49
16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his
house is increased;
17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not
descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise
thee, when thou doest well to thyself.
19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never
see light.
20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts
that perish.
Suppose you were sent on a journey and given $1 million for expenses,
with the condition that you must use all of the money on the way.
When you reach thedestination, you cannot take any of the money in
with you. What would you do? You'd use up all the money on the trip!
That's life! You can't take it with you when you reach the end. It
must be used while you are here.
We're using it allright! We're buying souvenirs with it - souvenirs
that we'll have to leave at the gate when we get to the Promised Land.
We have conformed to the ways of the world instead of the ways of God.
God is a giver.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
Ro 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
6. Now is the time!
It is time to release our grip on things and let God have His due.
Many will reach the end of life's journey before they expect to and
will leave behind riches and goods that will be wasted - they will
leave their barns full when their soul is required of them.
Lu 12:20 But God said unto him, [Thou] fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which
thou hast provided?
Many will be punished because God blessed them with plenty and they
didn't return the favor.
When a builder is given X amount of dollars to build a building and
he skimps on the materials and keeps some of the money for himself,
we call that embezzling, and it is a crime.
But what about when God's people withhold what is owed to God? Is
that not the same thing?
Malachi 3
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have
we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole
nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be
meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of
hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out
a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
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