Calvary Road Baptist Church
“STEWARDSHIP OF TREASURE”
Matthew 6.19-21 & 25.14-30
At this time I bring to you an
extremely simple message from God’s Word. As a matter of fact, it may be the
simplest and easiest to understand sermon I have ever preached. However, before
you make your way to the gospel according to Matthew, allow me to make three
brief comments about the results of Christian giving with respect to other
people. You recognize that there are two sides of every Christian’s giving. There
is the side that has to do with the Christian, the giver, and there is the side
that has to do with the recipient of the gift, those ministries, causes, and
individuals who are affected by your giving, who are the beneficiaries. My
sermon deals with your side of giving, so allow me to make mention of the other
side of giving before we turn to God’s Word. Briefly, when a person gives what
God wants him to give, where God wants him to give, and how
God wants him to give, he is giving to God.
Remember what the Lord Jesus Christ
said about those who will give water to the thirsty, food to the hungry,
clothing to the naked, and who will visit the sick and imprisoned during the
time after the Rapture and before His second coming? He indicated that He would
say in that day, “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”[1]
So you see, it is no stretch to understand that when you give in a manner that
pleases God, that pleases the Savior, you have really given to God, you give to
the Savior, and your gifts of money, help, or whatever, comprise real worship. That
understood, let us recognize that, unlike the Tribulation when Christians will
have been removed and the age of the church will have passed, our giving at
this time is properly understood to be primarily channeled through the church
you are a part of. The practical reason for this is really threefold:
First,
it costs money to start churches, which is why we have a missions program that
needs financing at our church. We send money to church planters and to men who
rescue churches, realizing that although a man can be a bi-vocational church
planter, truly effective missionaries are usually men who are free to fully
devote themselves to the gospel ministry.
Second, it costs money to staff churches,
which is why your tithes and offerings are used to pay my salary, and why we
could do some really effective outreach and growth things if each person
claiming to be a Christian here actually tithed, so I could hire additional
pastoral staff devoted to evangelism.
Finally, of course, there are the financial
demands of maintaining church property. This has not always been necessary over
the centuries, and is still not necessary in some parts of the world. However,
in our day and in our culture, the idea of meeting without a fixed place to
gather is usually unworkable. As well, we need to be about the business of
laying aside something for future property acquisition and construction in this
very expensive San Gabriel Valley.
Of course, it is not the money you
give, but the opportunities you create with the money you give. Money never led
a soul to Christ. However, money enables a gospel minister, at home or abroad,
to visit and to study, to teach and to preach, when he might otherwise have to
work a J-O-B to support himself. As well, the money you give pays for a place
to worship, even though we know this place in which we worship is not the
church, but the place where the church gathers. Thus, we see that the other
side of what happens when you give in obedience to God’s Word can result in
fruit abounding to your account, as the Apostle Paul might phrase it. However,
what about your side of the giving equation?
I could preach about the many, many
ways in which giving to the cause of Christ affects your heart, affects your
mind, affects your material well-being, affects your wisdom, affects your
faith, and so forth and so on. However, I really do want to keep tonight’s
message very, very simple, so I will bring only two points:
First, From Matthew 6.19-21, We See
How YOUR GIVING CHANGES YOUR HEART
Turn to that passage and stand for the
reading of God’s Word:
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:
21 For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
You already know that obedience
precedes understanding, must go before real understanding, but do you also know
that obedience also precedes your heart, which is to say your heart’s
affections?
On many occasions I have preached that
a person must always obey first, even before he fully understands the
implications of his obedience. I have used illustrations of children who are
potty trained, and taught to eat with utensils, and taught to read, and taught
arithmetic, before they fully and completely understand the implications and
the ramifications of what they are doing. Obedience must always
come before real understanding, which is why the lost are properly understood
to be terribly rebellious and stubborn. They typically insist on understanding before
they are willing to obey the gospel. As long as they maintain that mindset they
will remain lost. Because faith implicitly recognizes that trust means you
depend upon another’s wisdom and not your own complete understanding.
In like manner, here our Lord Jesus
Christ is declaring to His listeners that obedience must always precede the
affections of your heart. That is, you will never, ever, want to do right
before you actually do right. Particularly with respect to material possessions
(read giving here), when you give to advance heavenly causes your heart’s
affections will then certainly follow.
To state the matter in plain English,
if you give to the cause of Christ your heart’s affections will be inclined
toward the cause of Christ. Think of it. How can you not end up loving what you
have poured your blood, sweat, and tears into?
Those who hesitate to give until they
have more money, those who think they don’t make enough money to tithe, those
who think they have no responsibility to give until they first want to give,
simply do not understand what the Lord Jesus Christ says here. It explains why
many who profess to be Christians simply do not have a heart for the cause of
Christ. They have, like Judas Iscariot was when he carried the bag of money,
more concern for the bag than for the cause of Christ.
Then, From The Parable In Matthew
25.14-30, We See That YOUR STEWARDSHIP OF MONEY WILL BE JUDGED
When you find that passage, please
stand once more and read along with me:
14 For
the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who
called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And
unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man
according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then
he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them
other five talents.
17 And
likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But
he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s
money.
19 After
a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And
so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents,
saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained
beside them five talents more.
21 His
lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter
thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He
also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto
me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His
lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then
he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou
art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou
hast not strawed:
25 And
I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou
hast that is thine.
26 His
lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou
knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou
oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at
my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take
therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten
talents.
29 For
unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from
him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And
cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
You recognize, I am sure, that a
parable is a literary device in which a spiritual lesson is taught by using a
story from everyday life. What I do not want to do this evening
is use this parable to teach a spiritual truth. I want you to focus your
attention on the underlying real world truth this parable is built on.
Very simply, a man gave money to three
different slaves to manage for him while he was gone. When he came back he
evaluated their stewardship and judged them accordingly. Everything about this
parable is built on the assumption that it is reasonable, normal, and appropriate
for the master to evaluate his servants’ use of the money given to them and to
then judge them appropriately. No one in Jesus Christ’s day would question the
right of a master to evaluate his servants and to then judge their stewardship
of His money.
However, have you considered that this
exact same evaluation will be directed toward you? God has given you opportunities,
abilities, advantages of one type or another, and yes even money. In First
Corinthians 4.7 the Apostle Paul wrote,
“what hast thou that thou didst not
receive?”
Everything you have has been given to
you by God to use, not to your best advantage but to His best advantage. Someday
He will evaluate your use of what He has given to you and will judge you accordingly.
However, this parable speaks of
talents, which really has to do with money and not abilities or opportunities. Therefore,
ask yourself this: If God judged my use of money; whether or not I used the
money I have to take best advantage of advancing His cause, would He judge me
favorably or unfavorably? That is the truth that underlies this
parable.
So you see, this really is a simple
sermon, with only two points: Point number one establishes that giving
to the cause of Christ changes your heart’s affection, and that no one ever
begins to give because he wants to give. You give and then want to give. Point
number two establishes that your use of the money God has placed into
your hands will someday be evaluated by God and you will then be judged
according to how you have used the money He placed into your hands.
Wasn’t that a simple sermon? Two
points that will hopefully affect your life and create in your bosom a love for
spiritual things, a love for the cause of Christ, and a love for this church
ministry.
Before we conclude I would like you to
do one thing for me. Take one of those special PayCheck Sunday offering
envelopes in the holder in front of you. Now fill out just your name. Next,
write in Sunday’s date, 9/28/2014. Please, at this time place the envelope in
your pocket or your purse and take it home. Once you are home, begin to give
prayerful consideration of what you will next write on the envelope and what
you will place into the envelope before bringing it back to church with you
Sunday morning.
Question? Comment?
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Fill out the form below to send him an email. Thank you.