Romans 5:20 - …where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…
church – ekklasia…
ek – out of
kalew – to call
Matthew 16:18 - I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Four Principles of Stewardship
1. God owns everything, you own nothing
2. God entrusts you with everything you have
3. You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it
4. God can call you into account at any time, and it may be today
4 examples of how the concept of increasing is a significant theme in God’s Word
1 Timothy 3:1 - It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
John 11:24-25 - Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies…”
I. God Designed His Created World to Increase
A. Vegetation and trees - the third day
Genesis 1:11 - Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
B. Animals on land and sea – the fifth day
Genesis 1:20 - Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
Genesis 1:21 - God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:22 - God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
C. Mankind – the sixth day
Genesis 1:28 - God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
II. God’s Foundational Old Testament Covenants Celebrated the Possibility of His People Increasing
A. Noahic covenant – Genesis 9
Genesis 9:1 - And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
B. Abrahamic covenant – Genesis 12
Genesis 12:1-3 - Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Genesis 15:5 - And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
C. Davidic covenant – 2 Samuel 12
2 Samuel 7:16 - Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.
D. New covenant – Jeremiah 31-33
Jeremiah 31:33 - But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jeremiah 33:15 - In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
Jeremiah 33:17 - For thus says the Lord, “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel…”
Jeremiah 33:22 - As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.
1 Corinthians 11:25 - In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
III. Scripture’s Principal Stewardship Passages Emphasize the Possibility and Importance of Increasing
A. The all-important context – the conversion of Zaccheus
Luke 19:7 - When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
B. The master’s instructions
key phrase - v. 13 – Do business with this until I return
Stewardship Principle #3 - You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it
C. The challenging conditions
v. 14 - …his citizens hated him…
D. The faithful servants who increased
v. 16 - Master – your mina has made ten minas more…
v. 18 - …your mina, master, has made five minas…
E. The faithless servant who squandered his trust
Luke 19:20-21 - Another came, saying, “Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you…”
F. The pending judgment
Luke 19:27 - But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.
IV. The Story of Christ’s Church is Filled with Examples of Him Empowering His People to Increase
A. Acts 2:47
B. Acts 5:14
C. Acts 6:1
D. Acts 6:7
E. Acts 9:31
F. Acts 11:21
G. Acts 11:24
H. Acts 12:24
I. Acts 16:5
J. Acts 19:20
I certainly hope that you are enjoying the reminders that come from Scripture here during Stewardship month.
- My wife and I came here to Faith Church almost 14 years ago to be a custodian at the church and so I could gain some more training in Biblical counseling as part of the Masters of Arts in Biblical Counseling.
- I had served as a Pastor of small church in Wisconsin for about 5 years before that time so it took a little time for us to learn the Faith lingo if you will.
- Have you ever noticed how much we utilize initials that we turn into acrostics and soon they are just their own thing?
- You know what I mean
- ABF
- FCI
- BCTC
- MPR
- MRC
- As I listened to the 4 principles of Stewardship and started reflecting on my own stewardship, I also began to fall in love with some of the ways this church was stewarding things well.
- The Skatepark
- Vision of Hope
- The Community Center
- The Dream for Bethany Farms
- The Lafayette Living Nativity and the Lafayette Passion Play
It was awesome to be a part of a church that was not willing to just sit around and be comfortable with a full auditorium, but was seeking to maximize what they could do to advance the kingdom of God.
- And the members were bought in to the vision
- And they served and they still do.
- And for that I am always encouraged, energized by, and motivated to be ready to serve alongside our church family.
- one of the wonderful aspects of being part of the family of God is that our heavenly Father loves to see good things increase…He’s a God of abundance…
- a verse that is very precious to many of us is -- Romans 5:20 - …where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
- This is certainly one aspect of Increasing that is pivotal to each and every believer.
- It does not take a whole of observational skills to note that sin is infecting every part of our lives.
- How hopeless it would seem if our sin just kept on increasing and we did not have the second part of that verse.
- a person doesn’t have to live in sin and shame and failure…because our God loves to see things increase…including the grace available to forgive our sins and cleanse us, as the apostle John said, from all unrighteousness…
- another way to think about this theme is to consider the core essence of Jesus redemptive plan…
- the word He chose to describe His followers in this day and age is church – ekklasia…
- ek – out of
- kalew – to call
- we’re a group of people who are being called out of the world, called out of our sin, called out of our shame – and being redeemed, bought from the slave market of sin…
- and what is happening to that group of people around the world, day after day after day…it’s increasing…more women and men, boys and girls, are responding to the gospel…
- There is a whole lot I love about serving the Lord in ministry, but one of the most incredible things is to hear about those who have just accepted Christ as their Savior.
- Those are the stories that never get old.
- When we take our youth group out to serve, whether here in Lafayette or outside of Lafayette and our teens get to witness the power of the Gospel working in someone’s life, it makes me so excited to know that they will never forget that experience. It is exciting every single time!
- that’s why the main verb that Jesus used when he explained the concept of the church to His disciples was…I will…
- Matthew 16:18 - I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
- see, there it is – our great God loves to see good things…increase…
- Consider with me the history of Faith Church – we have the privilege of watching our God make things increase…and sometimes include ordinary people like you and me in the project…
- consider what happened 58 years just a few blocks from here…
- the pastor of Kossuth Street Baptist Church – a man named Baden Rowe and their church family, saw new houses being built on what was at that time the south side of town…which was south of Teel Road on S. 18th Street
- so what did they do?...scooped off 5 families and sent them out to plant a brand new church…
- I did not have the privilege of knowing Pastor Rowe – but I’ve often wondered what he and the church family at the time would think about where things stand today – both at Kossuth which is a wonderful local church – our mother church – and here at Faith…
- the only conclusion you can draw is that our God loves to see good things increase…
- but that’s really just the beginning – and what’s been interesting is that in some cases, this church family prayed about various ministry initiatives for years and years, and then the Lord eventually allowed them to happen…in other cases the increase came practically overnight…
- like the national biblical counseling organization we’re a part of – for many years it was called NANC – now it’s called ACBC
- ACBC is about 45 years old…about 34 years ago it was just in its infancy, and honestly it wasn’t going very well…
- the notion that God’s Word has answers for everyday life and that when someone who was facing a non-medical problem in their personal life or family – that they could go to a church and hear truth from the Scripture that pointed them to Christ and His life-changing gospel – that was very controversial…
- so a group of us went out to the annual conference of that organization fully expecting NANC to be shut down…
- instead, our former Pastor Bill Goode was appointed to be the Executive Director and the entire organization was moved here to Lafayette…
- our church family immediately got involved in that – so on Wednesday nights after prayer meeting, we would go out in the gym at FE and process mailings for these newsletters we were sending out to try to acquaint people with biblical counseling…
- we hosted all sorts of conferences encouraging churches to consider these matters…
- well, where is ACBC today?...at a point where we’re having trouble finding venues large enough to hold our annual conferences…and where an unbelievable number of colleges and seminaries and denominations and publishers are promoting and standing for these principles…
- and some of the old timers around Faith just look at that and stand amazed…our heavenly Father loves to see good things increase…
- and for anyone who had to stay late on a Wednesday night, or whatever, in order to be part of that – no one begrudges it – it’s an honor and a privilege to watch and sometimes participate in the increase…
- for many years we talked about and dreamed about having a Christian school…so 26 years ago we launched Faith Christian School…with 46 students…
- well, what has the Lord done?...FCS has become like that teenage boy who seems to grow six inches every couple of months and who is constantly needing new britches…
- which is why we’re contemplating the construction of a new high school addition for FCS…why, because God loves to see good things increase…and as members of our church family, we have the privilege of being part of it…
- we could say the same thing about VOH
of our seminary
of Restoration
of our community centers and on and on and on…
- Just a couple of weekends ago we hosted a teen conference here at Faith East and about 440 different people were here for that conference. I had a lot of different conversations with visiting youth pastors and even the conference speakers about all the ways they were encouraged by the testimony of this church,
- I do not say that so we can be filled with pride over all the amazingness that we are, but for us to recognize that God has allowed us to be able to witness this third principle of stewardship on a church level so vividly, You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it…
- and now that leads us to the question before the house this morning is – is that true of you as well?...
- with that in mind, let me invite you to open your Bible to Luke 19 – page 63 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you…
- this is our third week of Stewardship Month – and this year, we’re devoting each week to a study of one of the…
Four Principles of Stewardship
1. God owns everything, you own nothing.
2. God entrusts you with everything you have.
3. You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it.
4. God can call you into account at any time, and it may be today.
- so this morning, we’re focusing on The Joy of Increasing
- now, I asked you to turn to Luke 19 and the parable of the Minas…that will serve as our anchor passage today…but we’re also going to be looking at examples from other places in God’s Word as well, organized around the idea 4 examples of how the concept of increasing is a significant theme in God’s Word.
- that approach might need a bit of explanation…I think that you know that our pastors love the work to which we’ve been called…
- Paul said it this way to Timothy - 1 Timothy 3:1 - It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
- part of the “fine work” is the privilege of studying God’s Word in preparation for the messages we have the honor of delivering to God’s people each Lord’s Day…
- and honestly, preparing messages like this one is sheer delight…because what we’re talking about today is such a comprehensive biblical theme…and such a positive one…
- our adversary the devil wants to tear down and diminish and destroy…
- that’s why he believed that Christ’s death on the cross was such a tremendous victory…
- but what had Jesus previously told Lazarus’ sister Martha?...
- John 11:24–25 - Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies…”
- and it wasn’t long before Jesus was saying – Lazarus, come forth…
- our adversary the devil wants to tear down and diminish and destroy…our Savior has come to build up, and increase, and give life…
- so we’ve had a good time preparing this message on the third principle of stewardship…and it’s a bit challenging to rope in all God’s Word says about this great subject…
- so, please consider with us - 4 examples of how the concept of increasing is a significant theme in God’s Word.
I. God Designed His Created World to Increase
- this theme actually begins in the Garden of Eden…in other words, it’s part of the way God makes things…like the…
A. Vegetation and trees - the third day
- Genesis 1:11 - Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.
- do you see evidence of what we’re talking about?...”sprout vegetation,” and “bearing fruit after their kind”…
- this is the very first chapter of the Bible and we’re already seeing evidence of this concept…
- Aren’t you so thankful for elementary school teachers?
- I was not as thankful for them when I was in elementary as I am today
- My appreciation for them certainly increased when I had to do all that leading of e=learning a couple of years ago.
- Well one of the things my kids have really caught onto and been fascinated by is the fact that every fruit we ever eat has a seed.
- and so all summer long I will find random sprouts of fruit that have come from an apple seed, pear seed, avocado seed, etc.
- if all the seeds my kids have taken from fruits and planted in our yard ever grow, we will be ready for any food shortage at our house.
- why is there all of those seeds in the fruit?... whose idea was that?...our Creator God…who apparently agrees with the Bear on this essential point…the only thing better than one pumpkin…is another one, and another one, and another one…why?...because He loves to see good things increase…
B. Animals on land and sea – the fifth day
- Genesis 1:20 - Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
- Genesis 1:21 - God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
- Genesis 1:22 - God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
- did you see this theme on prominent display yet again – “waters teem with swarms of living creatures”, “with which the waters swarmed after their kind”, “be fruitful and multiple and fill”…
- this is even an important aspect of what theologians call the creation mandate given to mankind…including…
C. Mankind – the sixth day
- Genesis 1:28 - God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
- friend, are you thankful for the privilege of knowing and serving and enjoying a God who loves to see good things increase?
So, the first evidence of God being for increasing is found in creation…
- another layer of biblical thought on which we see this theme prominently displayed is in…
II. God’s Foundational OT Covenants Celebrated the Possibility of His People Increasing
- when it comes to establishing the skeleton on which much of our Old Testaments, and even our entire Bibles hang, it doesn’t get much more important than what God revealed in the process of establishing the primary biblical covenants…
- well, not surprisingly, they often involve God’s desire and promise to increase…
A. Noahic covenant– Genesis 9
- what happened right after the terrible judgment of the worldwide flood because of mankind’s sin?...
- Genesis 9:1 - And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
- the same was true with…
B. Abrahamic covenant – Genesis 12
- how many children did Abraham and Sarai have when God first came to them?...none…which would have been especially painful in that culture, and for a man whose name literally meant “father of many”…
- yet, what was an essential aspect of the promise?...
- Genesis 12:1–3 - Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
- a few chapters later, as the expansion of the covenant continued, He said - Genesis 15:5 - And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
- to go from no children – to having so many descendants, counting them would be like trying to count the stars…
- One of my sons has a very literal mind, so the other day we were driving home together and my boys were looking up at the stars and looking for the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper
- Suddenly my son says, Dad when God said Abraham’s descendants would be like the stars in the sky, has anyone counted to see if there are that many descendants yet?
- Of course I explained to him that it meant the number would be too great to be able to count not a literal amount, Ope, we have reached the exact number so no more nation building.
C. Davidic covenant – 2 Samuel 12
- 2 Samuel 7:16 - “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
- now we’re not just seeing an increase in numbers, but an increase in longevity…which when you stop and think about it – is every bit as important as numbers…and then even…
D. New covenant – Jeremiah 31-33
- Jeremiah 31:33 - But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
- Jeremiah 33:15 - In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.
- Jeremiah 33:17 - “For thus says the Lord, ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
- Jeremiah 33:22 - ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ”
- now we’re seeing four different aspects of increasing converging – quality (I will give them a new heart),
- Jesus (the Righteous branch of David),
- longevity (David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne),
- and number (as the host of heaven cannot be measured and the sand of the sea cannot be counted, so I will multiply the descendants)
- and how important is the New Covenant to people like you and me…what do we say every time we celebrate the Lord’s table…
- 1 Corinthians 11:25 - In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
- friend, is there any doubt in your mind that our God loves to see good things increase?
- now, let’s crank all of that into Luke 19 and the parable of the Minas…
III. Scripture’s Principal Stewardship Passages Emphasize the Possibility and Importance of Increasing
A. The all-important context – the conversion of Zaccheus
- the first ten verses are about the salvation of Zaccheus, the so-called “wee little man” – but more importantly, a tax collector who had lived far away from a relationship with the Lord…until this day when Jesus purposely came to His house…why, because he wanted God’s family to increase…
- well, what did some of the so-called religious types think of that?...
- Luke 19:7 - When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
- that’s the context in which Jesus tells the parable of the Minas…
- read Luke 19:11-27
Luke 19:11–27 (NASB95)
11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 “And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’ 14 “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 “When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. 16 “The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ 18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ 19 “And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 “Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 “He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23 ‘Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24 “Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 “And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 26 “I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”
- now, for sake of time, we can just hit the high points here, but they are very important…
B. The master’s instructions
- key phrase - v. 13 – Do business with this until I return
- do business for what purpose?...to increase what had been entrusted to them…
- that’s the point of this third principle of stewardship…
- Stewardship Principle #3 - You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it.
- and friends – that’s really the question for each of us to consider…do we love and value the issue of increasing as much as our God does?...
- where’s the evidence that you are seeking to increase what God has given you across the board…and what steps could you take in the coming days to make that even truer in your life?...[as time allows, develop specific examples]…
- now, we could all say – these are challenges days to live for God and increase anything…isn’t it interesting that that was true in this parable as well?...
C. The challenging conditions
- v. 14 – his citizens hated him…
- but here’s a god example of how where sin abounded, grace did much more abound…
- Pastor Goode used to like to say – God can put His product on the market in this day and age…Jesus is still in the process of drawing men and women to Himself and building His church and we have the privilege of participating in that great work of redemption…so the parable highlights both…
D. The faithful servants who increased
- v. 16 – Master – your mina has made ten minas more…
- v. 18 – your mina, master, has made five minas
- even in challenging conditions, the Lord will accomplish His plan and program…but there was also…
E. The faithless servant who squandered his trust
- Luke 19:20–21 - Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you…
- it’s amazing how often fear stops us from increasing what God has given…
F. The pending judgment
- the final verse is stark – but it needs to be…
- Luke 19:27 - But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”
- the point is - Zaccheus would have been in this verse, had it not been for the compassionate ministry of Jesus in vv. 19-10.
- Our ministry will increase if we choose to be like him, or it will be squandered if we choose to be like those pictured in v. 7
- the good news is – this same Savior died, was buried, and rose again for people like Zaccheus, and you and me…and then He began building His church…and what is one of the key themes through the book of Acts?...
IV. The Story of Christ’s Church is Filled with Examples of Him Empowering His People to Increase
A. Acts 2:47 - …And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
B. Acts 5:14 - And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,
C. Acts 6:1 - Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number…
D. Acts 6:7 - The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
E. Acts 9:31 - So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
F. Acts 11:21 - And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.
G. Acts 11:24 - for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.
H. Acts 12:24 - But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
I. Acts 16:5 - So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.
J. Acts 19:20 - So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
- I think the Word of God makes a compelling case – Our God loves to see good things increase…which is why His people should look at all He has entrusted to us…and ask, am I living in a way that is increasing what God has given?...
- three questions:
1. Is it possible that you could be here and what first needs to increase is your response to the gospel? Perhaps you’ve heard it many times – but it’s not bearing fruit because you’ve not truly accepted it, believed it, embraced it for your own yet?
2. What steps could you plan to take now as an individual or a family that would help you increase what God has entrusted you in some specific way in the weeks and months ahead?
3. Regarding the illustrations we gave at the beginning of how God has increased things at our church in a series of amazing ways – Do you think He is done? What role do you believe He wants you to play as He continues to build His church?
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