LUKE 12:42-46 FAITHFUL STEWARDS FINISH WELL2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 12:42-46 Faithful Stewards Finish Well

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Well, here we are once again in Luke chapter 12, this morning looking at verses 42 through 46, and we've been considering this passage of Scripture from various angles and different aspects of the Scripture for the past few weeks, and we've been

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And we're continuing on today looking at this idea of being a steward from this portion of Scripture. Now, a quick summary of what Jesus is talking about here. He's using this illustration to teach us a lesson. And the illustration is that of a master who is going away. And so he entrusts his servants with

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with specific responsibilities and things to accomplish while he is gone, then he will return at some point and the servants will be called to account and they will be rewarded if they were faithful, but also there will be penalty for those servants who were unfaithful. And that's the basic picture that Jesus is using here to teach us and give us insight into our call as stewards.

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And so as we continue this idea, this understanding of being a steward this morning, the title of the message is Faithful Stewards Finish Wealth.

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Faithful stewards finish well. And again, we've been looking at the reality that you and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, are stewards. And we've defined a steward this way. A steward is a servant entrusted with resources and instruction to accomplish the master's will. As Jesus gives this illustration about stewards, he says,

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We understand he's speaking to us as stewards and saying he, our master, has entrusted us with resources and we have dealt with that for the past few weeks.

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But he's also given us instruction. He's revealed to us his will. And he is desiring to speak to us his will so that we would understand what he wants us to do with those resources that he has entrusted to us. Now last week we looked at the understanding of the need for preparation.

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That as we are learning what God wants of us and we're learning how to use the resources he's given to us, that we need to prepare ourselves for those things that he has called us to. As we continue on this week, we're moving from preparation to the finish line. We're looking kind of at the other end of the spectrum and talking about finishing well. It's time to set your sights on the finish line today.

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Because, well, you've heard the saying, I'm sure you've heard it, perhaps you've said it, our desire as believers when we stand before God is to hear that phrase, well done, good and faithful servant. I hope that's your desire. I would expect if I would ask you, you would say, yes, that is your desire that God would say to you, well done, good and faithful servant. But it's an important thing to consider because

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As we've been reading through the Bible in three years, we recently went through all of the kings of Israel and Judah. And if you would think about the kings of Israel and Judah, you'd begin to realize really quickly that not very many of them finished well. There was a lot of kings who didn't start well and didn't end well. But there was a few kings who started really well. But of those few kings who started really well in serving the Lord and being faithful to God, well...

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It's hard to pick more than a couple that really finished well. That didn't really blow it at the end of their reign. That didn't turn away from God or turn the people to idolatry. That didn't blow up in some kind of sin. Most of the kings, even if they started well, did not finish well. And that's important for us to consider. Because if we're going to finish well...

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Well, then we need to be different than the kings of the Old Testament. Which means it's not just going to happen automatically. You don't just automatically finish well because, well, you go to church. No, there needs to be, well, as we talked about last week, some preparation. But now there needs to be some ongoing perseverance and endurance.

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In order for you and I to finish well. And as we look at the example of the kings, we could also look forward in the New Testament at the example of the apostles. And we can see from history and from the New Testament that the apostles did finish well. So it's not impossible to finish well. In fact, the apostles...

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History tells us they all were put to death for their faith. They all went to their death believing and professing, even under great persecution, that Jesus Christ is Lord. They finished well. But really the question for us this morning is, am I going to finish well? Am I going to hear, well done, good and faithful servant? Well, this morning I'd like to share three steps with you.

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Three steps to help us to finish well. The first one we find in verse 42, and that is, fulfill your ministry.

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To finish well, what you really need to do, first of all, is to fulfill your ministry. Now we're going to spend the majority of our time here on this point. We'll hit the last two points a little bit quickly and then we'll kind of pick up the train of thought next week as we continue on the train of thought from the second two points. But here as we begin, fulfill your ministry is what we need to consider.

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Look at verse 42 once again with me. It says, And so as Jesus is giving this illustration, He says, look,

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Which one of the stewards, which one of the servants is the faithful one that the master is going to entrust with the important responsibility of feeding the household? There's one particular servant, Jesus is saying, that's going to get this responsibility. Other servants have other responsibilities, but one in particular is going to have the responsibility of making sure that the members of the household, the children, the servants, are

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That they receive the appropriate amount of food at the appropriate time. That's the picture that Jesus is painting. Now, this particular servant is given this particular responsibility in the same way as we talk about you and I as stewards, as believers in Jesus, understand that you also have been given a specific responsibility. That he's entrusted you with a specific task.

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And the call for us this morning is to finish well in that which he has called us to do. And by finish well, please understand, what I mean is more than just surviving. More than just, you know, making it until the end or making it into heaven. That's, the objective isn't to just, you know, barely make it. As Paul talks about in the book of Corinthians, the objective really is to have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God.

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To finish well, not to just barely make it. One of the scriptures that I love, always stands out, and I always love being reminded of it, is Colossians 4.17. There as Paul is closing out the book of Colossians, he's sending out notes to different various people. And in verse 17 of Colossians 4, he says, And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.

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He tells this guy, Archippus, we don't know anything about him, but he says to him, Archippus, you've received a ministry from the Lord. Take heed that you fulfill it. For you and I to finish well, we need to take those words to heart, to take heed and pay attention to make sure that we fulfill the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us. Now, as I talk about ministry, a lot of times I think in our minds we relate

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all things ministry with things at church. It's kind of that connection that we have. You know, we think about ministry, it's related to church, church activities, church events. But as we talk about ministry and fulfilling your ministry this morning, I hope to make clear that ministry goes beyond what happens here on this place.

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And as I talk about fulfilling your ministry, I'm not saying you should, you know, quit your job, quit everything, and then, you know, go into full-time ministry by which I would be saying, you know, spend all your time at church or involved in every church function or activity. No, that's not at all what we're talking about today. Your ministry is a lot broader than that. In fact, I would encourage you today that you kind of need to rethink the various aspects of your life and understand that

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All of those are ways or areas that God is calling you to be ministering in. And those are part of your ministry. It's often been said that every believer in Jesus is called to full-time ministry. And again, we often relate that to church. But no, your full-time ministry is all of the different places where you spend your time. And it's to all of the different people that you connect with and talk with.

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So to help us understand the various aspects of this ministry that we're called to fulfill, would you turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Here Paul is writing to Timothy and this is going to help us think through the ministry that you have been given, that I have been given. It also helps us to think through the priorities of these ministries and the different aspects of the ministry that God has given to us.

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Now you're probably familiar with 1 Timothy chapter 3 and you know, even before you get there, that this is Paul dealing with the qualities or the standard for leadership.

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He's talking to Timothy about bishops or overseers, those who are entrusted with responsibility within the church. And as Paul is writing to Timothy, he's saying, look, there's this need for leadership within the church, and here's the qualities to look for. Make sure that they meet this standard before you give them this responsibility within the church.

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Now as you and I look at this portion of scripture today, it's not so that we can determine who can be an overseer within the church, but to help us understand, well these standards for overseers are the standards because really what they are is the qualities of a good steward.

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These represent for us the qualities that are found in good stewards. And so Paul says, when you find those good stewards and they want to serve in a greater capacity at the church, well, then they're able to do so. But you got to make sure, first of all, that they're good stewards, that they have the qualities of a good steward.

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And so we're going to walk through some of these qualities that Paul will list here to help us understand some different aspects of the ministry that we are called to fulfill. The first one we find in verses 2 and 3 here of 1 Timothy 3, and that is that you and I are to fulfill the ministry to God. You have a ministry that you're called to fulfill. It's a ministry to the Lord. Look with me at verse 2. It says,

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Here is Paul begins listing these qualities that are required for an overseer. Again, these qualities of a good steward.

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We see their qualities really that are personal to the person being considered. Their qualities considering the integrity and the character of the person. And I summarize this by saying this is part of our ministry to God. Again, we think of ministry many times. We associate it with the church. We associate it with things around here, events, activities, that type of thing. But as I talk about and consider that ministry is

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To God, understand we're not talking about a list of things to do for God. When I say ministry for God, I'm not saying, well, you serve in this capacity and you give in that way and you do this or you do that. We're not talking about a list of things to do. But as we talk about the ministry to God that we are called to fulfill, it's really about a genuine walk with God.

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And that genuine walk with God is what results in these qualities that Paul lists here in verses two and three. You see, sometimes we get mixed up in our understanding of how this ministry to God works. And sometimes we begin to think along the lines that King Saul thought. Remember King Saul back in the Old Testament, back in the book of 1 Samuel? In chapter 15, we have a

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I think a good example of King Saul that we could relate to pretty easily. Because King Saul thought that he could please God with sacrifices instead of obedience. Well, the context of what happened there in 15 of 1 Samuel is that God had called Saul to eliminate the Amalekites.

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I'm not going to go into the history for that. There's good reasons for that. But he called them to go into battle to wipe out the Amalekites, to not leave alive the herds, the flocks. Nobody was to be left alive. Well, Saul goes into battle. He defeats the Amalekites, but he doesn't completely eliminate them. Some are left alive. Some of the flocks and herds are left alive. And he brings them back. And he's convinced it's okay.

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No problem. It's okay to do what I have done. And Samuel confronts him. And in 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22, Samuel says to Saul, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams.

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When Saul was questioned, he said, well, I brought these back so that we could sacrifice them. Now God's instruction was to wipe out the flocks and herds. Samuel said, I'm just going to sacrifice them. That'll be even better than what God told me to do. And sometimes you and I can get mixed up in our understanding of God and our ministry to God. And begin to think like Saul that we can compensate for disobedience with sacrifice.

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That we can compensate for our failures, our lack of integrity, our failures and these qualities that Paul lists here. That we can try to make up for it by, well, I know what I'll do. I'll sign up to serve as an usher. And as I serve as an usher, you know, then it will make up for my deficiencies over here. That lack that I have, those failures in my life, that disobedience that I'm engaged in.

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Or some people even say, well, I'm going to give extra amount to the church this week, you know, in an effort to try to compensate for, well, the lifestyle that was lived that week. We can get mixed up in our minds and begin to try to pay back God with sacrifice to try to compensate for disobedience in our life. But what Samuel says is, to obey is better than sacrifice. Our ministry to God is not about doing a lot of things for God.

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or in his name. Our ministry to God is about walking with God in obedience. The psalmist said in Psalm 51 verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, oh God, you will not despise. What God desires, what he delights in is brokenness. Now we don't like that. We like to bring our strengths to the Lord. Lord, look at how much I could do for you.

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Look at how much I can give to you. Look at what I can accomplish for you. But what God really desires and delights in is brokenness. Where we recognize our deficiencies, our need, our sin, our lack. And we come to Him in dependence upon Him. In weakness, in brokenness, in humility. Our ministry to God is not about what we can offer God. But it's about our dependence upon Him. And walking in that dependence upon God produces...

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The qualities that Paul lists here in verse 2 and 3. There's a need for you and I to minister to the Lord and to fulfill our calling. And as we talk about these different aspects of the ministry that we've been called to, this is first. This is the priority.

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You can also see this model in the priesthood. Back in Leviticus chapter 16, when the priests are given instruction regarding sacrifices, it's interesting that God instructs the priest, first offer your own sacrifice for sin. Because you have your own personal need.

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You have your own personal need for sacrifice. You have your own issues to bring to the Lord and present to the Lord. You have your own relationship with God to maintain. So first do that. Then, hey, you're the priest and you're to represent the people to God and God to the people. Then you can offer everybody else's sacrifice. Then you can do what you're called to do as a priest. But first and foremost, the first priority is you need to offer your own sacrifices.

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This morning as we talk about finishing well, it means that you fulfill your ministry to God first and foremost. That you cannot finish well, you cannot expect to hear well done good and faithful servant, if you're not taking care of your ministry to God. Your time with the Lord. I would ask you to consider this morning, where are you at in your walk with God? Where are you at? Is He producing these qualities in you as you walk with Him?

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with him. It's hard to believe January is gone. We're already in February. Man, 2013 is just rushing by so quickly. But as we transition from, you know, the previous year to the current year, I always encourage you, I also encourage myself to consider, have I grown with the Lord this year? What has God done this past year? As you look at February of 2012 and you look at today, have you grown with the Lord?

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Have you overcome those areas that you were struggling with last time at this year? Have you developed in your character, in your integrity, in your maturity walking with the Lord? We have this danger as believers that we begin to grow, especially as we are new believers, we begin to grow pretty quickly. But there's often that plateau where we just stop growing. We just kind of hit this point where we determine, you know, this is good enough.

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I've repented of enough of my sin. Yeah, I got these little things. I got these other areas. But, you know, they're not really that big of a deal. You know, the big things I've really dealt with. And I've repented of enough sin. I've grasped enough understanding from the scriptures. I know enough. I don't really have to dig in or pursue that so much. Because I've, you know, got a good grasp now. I've been a Christian for some time. And I know what the Bible says. Right?

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I know those stories. I've read them so many times. And there's this tendency to hit this plateau where that growth begins to fade. And that's a very dangerous place to be. We need to be continually growing, drawing near to God, pursuing that depth. There are those who would testify, you know, sounds really good and I understand what you're saying, but you know, I just really don't have time to pursue those kinds of things. I really don't have time to

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Get into the word. I don't have time to, you know, daily devotions. Or I don't have time for prayer. I don't have time to get to church all the time. Or spend time in worship. I don't have time for those things. Everything's so busy. I have so much responsibility. You got to understand what my life is like. But here's what I would ask you to consider. What kind of steward are you?

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If you don't have time for the most important thing that you've been entrusted with. You see, the most important thing that you've been entrusted with is your own heart. And God's entrusted you with your heart and he says, your job is to maintain that in right relationship with me. Now if you as a steward don't have time, think about the picture Jesus is talking about here. So the one steward has the responsibility to feed the household.

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The master comes back and the household hasn't been fed. Everybody's starving. Some have died. He calls the steward, what's going on? Oh, you know, I just, I didn't have time. Well, what are you talking about? That was the most important responsibility. How could you not have time? What else do you have to do that's more important than that? As we talk about being a steward, this is the priority. This is the most important priority that we've been entrusted with.

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I always like this quote from Pastor Chuck. I've shared it many times and I'm always challenged by it. Pastor Chuck says, if there was ever a time in your life when you were more in love with God or more on fire for Jesus, then you are in a backslidden state. If you can think back and think, yeah, I was much more in love with God in that season at that time. If you can think back and think, oh, those were the days. Remember when I was really on fire for you, Lord?

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He says, and today you're backslidden. You've fallen backwards from where you were. I'm not talking about always doing more stuff. Again, don't get confused with doing things as far as events and activities. I'm not talking about, I'm talking about your love for the Lord. Your connection to Him. Your passion for Him. Your desire to be with Him. Is it greater now than it has ever been? Fulfill your ministry to God. That's the first part.

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Of your ministry. The most important part of your ministry. And if you don't fulfill that. You will not finish well. Well Paul goes on here in 1 Timothy chapter 3. And now we can look at the next thing. Not only do we fulfill our ministry to God. But we also need to fulfill the ministry to people at home. Check out verse 4. It says. One who rules his own house well. Having his children in submission with all reverence.

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For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. So here Paul moves on kind of from his personal character and integrity to talking about the home life. How are things at home, Paul says. You need to check that out, Timothy, before you allow them to have this role as an overseer in church, before giving them that responsibility to

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Not only check out their ministry to God, but what about their ministry to the people at home? Now as we consider this for ourselves today as stewards, understanding these are the qualities of good stewards, we can understand that, well, there's a responsibility that you've been entrusted with regarding those that God has placed you with.

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together with that you live with them you're in the home with them so if you're a husband there's a responsibility a ministry that he's entrusted to you are you a loving husband the way that Christ loved the church in the same way that Paul talked about in Ephesians chapter 5 or maybe you're the wife

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And you could consider, are you fulfilling your ministry as a submitted wife who respects her husband in the way that the church is to respect the Lord, as Paul talked about in Ephesians chapter 5. As a husband, as a wife, you have, well, you have a responsibility to fulfill your ministry that you've been given, whatever that is. Now, we could spend a lot of time on this, but instead I would refer you to this coming Friday and Saturday, the Arts of Marriage Conference. There's a couple spots possibly open.

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Are you fulfilling your role? It's not just husbands and wives that we're talking about though when we talk about ministering to people at home. Paul here is also making reference to children, having children in submission with all reverence. So if you are a parent, then as a parent you have, well, this ministry that God has entrusted to you. And he's, well, he's calling you to behave in a certain way, to develop your children in a specific way, to train them up

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In the word of God and in his commands. In the ways of the Lord. You can consider Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 7. Where God says you shall diligently teach my commands to your children. There's supposed to be this diligence on your part as a parent. To train up your children to know God. To walk with God. To obey God. But it's not just that. Also there's the training of your children in the sense that you need to prepare them for the world.

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Prepare them for the dangers that they will face. The attacks of the enemy. The deceptions of the enemy. The hollow philosophies that this world will present. Prepare them for the life that God has called them to. But it's not just about husbands and wives relating to each other properly. Or parents raising their children properly. There's a lot of things that we could include here. But let me give you one last example. And that is provision. Provision.

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Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8, he says, If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. This is something you need to consider. In fulfilling your ministry at home, God will probably require that you provide for your household. And so your workplace may very well be part of your household.

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ministry at home because it's how you provide for your family and paul says if you do not provide for your own if you don't provide for those that god has entrusted to you especially of your own household he says you've denied the faith this is pretty serious what paul's talking about he says you're worse than an unbeliever now let me back up for just a second if you are in the center of god's will

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and you're not able to provide for your family, that's a whole different matter. You're seeking the Lord. You're walking with Him. You know you can testify, I'm right where God wants me to be. I'm trying to seek Him. I'm walking with Him. I'm following the instruction He gives me, and I just don't have the resources, the provision to make ends meet. I just...

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No doors are opening. That's a whole different thing. There's no condemnation for that. You can continue to trust God to provide. Do not worry as we talked about earlier in Luke chapter 12. We can trust God to provide for our needs. But don't let that be an excuse to be lazy, to not work, to not provide, to not do what God has called you to. If anyone does not provide for his own...

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He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. You cannot expect to finish well if you're not willing to do the work that God has called you to do, to provide for your family. So whether it's your role as a husband or wife or a parent or as a provider, these are things that are involved in ministering to people at home. And the objective is to finish well. So you need to fulfill this ministry. How are you doing at home? I would ask you to consider how is your marriage?

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You know, one of the interesting things about doing a marriage conference, we see it all the time. You could ask Dave and Jackie. They see it too on the marriage study. The interesting thing is those who need it the most are those who are the most reluctant to attend. Those who need it the most, they're the ones who are not even considering it. They're reluctant. No, I don't want to participate in that. But I would ask you to challenge yourself on that. How can you hope to finish well if you don't address the issues that are right there in front of you?

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Listen, if your marriage is on the rocks, if there's some issues there and you're not addressing them, you're not dealing with them, how can you expect to stand before God and hear, well done, good and faithful servant, when you were not faithful with this relationship that He's entrusted to you? And you could apply that to children. You could apply that to provision. You could apply that to those things that He's called you to at home. Your ministry to the people at home is an important part of

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Of what he's called you to fulfill. But that's not the end of it. We also see as we go on now into verse 7. That another aspect of the ministry that you're called to fulfill. Is ministry to people anywhere. That your ministry is not limited to your own personal relationship with God. It's not limited to your own home. But you also have a ministry to people everywhere.

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wherever they might be. Check out verse 7. It says, moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. How is your testimony among people outside of the church? What do your neighbors think about you? What would your co-workers say if we asked them about you? What is your

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Community, what do the people around you think about you? What is your testimony amongst them? Perhaps you saw this week the news that went around about the waitress who posted the receipt of the pastor who crossed out the tip and wrote a little note and said, I give God 10%. Why should I give you 18%? And then the waitress was fired because she posted that.

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The pastor now says, I'm so ashamed and embarrassed by this. How is the testimony in that situation? It's important. Paul says, you've got to consider this. Now, this really irritates me, that story, because I've heard this, not that specific story, but I've heard that idea conveyed many times before. We give God 10%, why tip 18%? Listen, please understand. This is a side note, okay? There's no extra charge for this. Laughter

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Just because both of them have a percent sign doesn't mean that they relate to each other. 10%, 18%. Just because it's a percentage, you know what that conveys? It conveys a serious doctrinal issue. If you give or what you give to God is a tip for good service, then you've got some serious doctrinal issues about giving. We don't tip God for good service. That's not what giving to God is all about.

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You can't relate the 10%. They have nothing to do with each other. But let's say your tips were made public, published. What would your testimony be amongst those who are outside the church? But let's say your conversations were broadcast. What would your testimony be? Because as Christians, you know, we get well practiced in showmanship. And we learn very well how to put on a good show publicly.

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While we're around those that, well, we know we're supposed to act a certain way. And so you come here and you fit in really well here. But how well do you fit in elsewhere, outside of the church? And how well you fit in might be good or bad, depending on the context. Hey, how well you fit in at the local bar, that's probably not a real good thing if you fit in really well and nobody knows the difference. How well you fit in, you know, in the break room with those guys who are having those inappropriate conversations, uh,

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If you fit in really well there, it's, well, that's, you need to kind of reconsider some things. But we can live all crazy in our lives and then come here and fit in really well. We get really good at that. Hey, we all think you're pretty nice. But really, you're a jerk when you're not around us. What's your testimony like outside of the church? We have a sign above the door. As you exit, you can see it says, you are now entering the mission field. And we put that there to remind ourselves, hey,

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As we head out, everybody we encounter, there's someone God wants to reach out to. And perhaps he wants to use us because he's not willing that any should perish. And every contact we have with people, we need to consider, how's my testimony? Am I representing Christ well? Am I being an ambassador for Christ in this situation? Now, that doesn't mean that everybody is supposed to like you. Listen, Jesus was perfect and he was crucified. So you might be crucified today,

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doing what God has called you to do and representing him well. But make sure that you're crucified not because, well, the things that you did were wrong or inappropriate, but because you are faithful to obey God and stay in his will. To finish well, you'll need to fulfill your ministry to people anywhere.

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Well, finally, the last aspect we'll see here in 1 Timothy 3 is that we need to fulfill our ministry to people at church. Now, it's verse 1, but it's last on the list because, well, it really is the final as far as the order of priority goes. Verse 1 says, This is a faithful saying. If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. So here's Paul saying to Timothy,

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All right, you have this need for leadership. You need to appoint some leaders. If a person desires to be in that role, that's great. But before you can give them that authority, give them that role, here's the things that you need to check and make sure their ministry to God is in order. Make sure their ministry at home is in order. Make sure their ministry to people everywhere is in order. And then if all those things clear, if they're set, then...

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They're able to fulfill this role that they desire as an overseer. Now again, we're not talking about this specific role only. We're talking about for you and I as stewards that these are the qualities of good stewards. And we can understand that there is a need for this same order and priority when it comes to our service and the things that are going on here. By this order of priority, are you qualified to

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To serve here at Living Water. I would ask you to seriously consider that. Are you qualified? Do you have the qualities that Paul is talking about? Now of course. Perfection is not required. That's not what Paul is saying. But growth is required. So it's not that your marriage has to be perfect. Or your kids have to be perfect. Or your relationship with God has to be perfect. But there needs to be growth.

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There needs to be the surrender to God in those areas where there are weaknesses. There needs to be the development, the maturing in those areas where there's that deficiency. And so as you consider these different aspects of ministry, is there growth? Are you developing? Is God working in those areas? And are you allowing Him to work in those areas? Because if you're not, if these things are out of order, then you need to consider that

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Your involvement in service and things at church. I want to give you some freedom this morning. Make sure it's clear that you have the freedom to quit. Just release you from whatever burden you might think is there. If you're serving in some capacity here, but your ministries are not in order, I want to give you the freedom to quit. I think Jamie, children's ministry leader, just kind of freaked out a little bit. No, no, no, we need more servants, not less.

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But listen, you know, we can scale back our ministry if that's what the Lord wants to do. We could cut down to one service. That's no problem. If we don't have enough people to serve for two services, okay, we can cut down to one. Or we could do one service without children's ministry and a second service with children's ministry.

43:25
Sometimes we get so caught up in the process, it's like we got to just keep it moving, keep it working, you know. We don't exist to like, you know, put on the program, put on the show. That's not what we're here for. What are we here for? We're here to equip the saints to help us fulfill our ministry. But that's all aspects of ministry, not just the things that happen here. We can do with a smaller worship team. We can slim down. We can scale back. We can do things a lot simpler. Do you need some time off?

44:02
Now I'm not saying, hey you should quit, stop serving, take some time off, whatever, and just continue on the same way that you have been. No, no, what I'm saying is if you recognize there's some work that needs to be done in one of these other areas, and if time off from serving here would help that, then work on that area. Take the time off if you need to and develop in that area. Now realistically you probably wouldn't need to quit serving in some capacity, but

44:36
But if you need that, take that. But don't just say, well, hey, I don't have to serve now. Jerry said I didn't have to serve. I have the freedom to do that. I can just quit. And I can continue to ruin my marriage. And I can continue to be a wreck. I can continue to fail miserably at these other things too. No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying, listen.

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We saw a couple weeks ago, part of God's will for you involves the gathering together of believers and the one another commands and the using of your spiritual gifts. And this is an important part of what God has called you to. But there is an order that God presents here. And you need to make sure that these things are in order. The priorities are important. This is one of those areas where we think we can offer sacrifices to compensate.

45:33
Lord, I know I'm involved in fornication, but I'm going to be an usher. So I'll kind of make up for that. I know I'm doing these things. I know, yeah, you don't want me to. I know I'm not being the husband, the wife that you're calling me to be. I know I have these areas that are out of line, but at least I'm going to be faithful at church. That's not the right heart. Your first responsibility is to minister to the Lord, then to your home, then to people everywhere. And then...

46:22
To the body. He's gathered you. To be with. And so if we're going to. Fulfill our ministry. We need to consider all those aspects. Now. Let's move on to the last two points. Again we're going to hit these quickly. And then we'll pick these up. That line of thinking. For. Next week. So the second point. This morning is to be caught in the act. Look at verse 43. It says.

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Blessed is that servant. By the way, we're back in Luke chapter 12, verse 43. Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. So Jesus says the master comes back. He finds the servant doing what he was called to do. And he goes on to say that servant will be rewarded. That servant is caught in the act. Usually we think of caught in the act being a bad thing. But here it's the idea of being caught doing what you're supposed to be doing.

47:19
When I was younger, my dad used to take me and my sister, we'd go ride our bikes around Lake Paris. It was about a nine mile bike ride, I think. We had a good time. And as you go around, there's one side, it's like on the opposite side of the lake, there's this big hill that you have to get up. And it's steep and curvy and it's difficult. And so most people walk their bikes up the hill and then they get to the top and then they ride around the rest. But you get to that point and it's real hard to ride up and so you push your bike up.

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Now, my dad told me one time as we were doing this, I think he meant it as a joke, but I thought it was pretty clever, that before you get to the top, you have to go around this bend. And so if you just get on your bike right before that bend and then go around the corner and get up to the top, then everybody up there will think that you rode your bike all the way up.

48:06
Because, you know, they couldn't see you pushing the rest of the way. So they'll just kind of assume if you ride up to the top that last stretch that they'll think that you rode up the whole mountain, which is really hard to do. And I thought, well, that's really clever. You know, that's really smart. And if we were honest, we would love to do that with our Christian life. We would love, if the Lord would just tell us, here's the time I'm returning. We could say, okay, I've got this much time to mess around then.

48:35
And then I can shape up for this last stretch. Or if the Lord told you when you were going to go to be with him, all right, I've got some time then. I can continue to do what I want to do. And then I'll get my life together later on. But here's the thing. Jesus says no one knows the day or the hour. The objective is to be caught in the act, but you don't know when he's returning. You don't know when you'll go to meet with him. So how can you make sure that you'll be caught in the act?

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There's only one way. And that is to keep on being faithful continually. Be caught in the act. Fulfilling your ministry to God, to home, to people everywhere, to church. Be caught in the act. Fulfilling the ministry that He has given to you. The only way to do that is to keep on doing it. You can't put it off till later.

49:35
Well at that point. At some time later. Then I'm going to fulfill the ministry. That God's given to me. And have the confidence. That you will be doing. What he's called you to do. When he returns. Because he said he's going to come. In an hour when you do not expect. Last week I talked about. The Christian life as a marathon. I think that's a good.

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illustration for us to consider as we talk about being caught in the act. Because to finish well, it means you have to plan to last the distance. You have to expect to be running for a long time throughout the whole marathon all the way until the end. And in order to do that, I want to exhort you in three things really quickly. Talking about a marathon, first of all, if you're going to be running a marathon, make sure that you don't burn out.

50:21
If you're going to run a marathon, you need to understand you can't sprint the whole way. You have to set a good pace that will help you to last for the whole race. And the same is true of our Christian life. And one of the mistakes that we often make as believers because there's those seasons where we get on fire for the Lord, the things of God, and so we over-involve ourselves. And we do more than what God has called us to do. And there is that

50:53
Well, there is that point where we burn out, where we overdo it, we crash. You could think about the example of Moses in Exodus 18, where he's trying to judge all the cases of the whole nation of Israel. And Jethro's father-in-law comes along and says, you're going to wear yourself out. You can't do all of the work. You have to say no to some things. You have to pass on some things. You can't, you cannot do it all. Don't burn out in your Christian life. You need to have some balance.

51:26
You need to have some balance in the different ministry aspects, but also balance in what you're involved in and what God has called you to. I would ask you to consider, how's your health? Are you healthy? That's part of the balance. That's part of taking care of what God has entrusted to you. You cannot finish well if you don't make it to the end. Don't burn out.

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Don't over involve yourselves. Now some people get caught up in work more than God has called them to. Some people get caught up in their family more than God has called them to. Some people get caught up in church more than God has called them to. We need to have that balance so that we don't burn out. The second thing I would warn you or caution you about is don't bail out. Now in the picture of a marathon that's just quitting. You just in the middle you just decide to quit.

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We have the example of Demas in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Here's a man who walked with Paul. He was with Paul for several years, maybe up to 10 years. And Paul says in 2 Timothy 4.10, Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. Can you imagine being with the Apostle Paul for 10 years? How exciting that would be. But here's a man who could walk with Paul for 10 years or so and then bail and quit.

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Don't think that you are immune to this. We need to watch out that we don't quit, that we don't give up in the middle of the race. Again, we got to prepare to last the distance, to be caught in the act. Have you given up in the ministry that God's given to you at home or at work or at church or your personal relationship with God? I love the example of John Mark because he quit, remember, in the middle of the mission trip, but then later on he was restored. There's opportunity to re-enlist.

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It's not over. You still have opportunity to fulfill the ministry that God has given to you. Don't give up. Don't quit. And finally, don't bomb out. In the marathon, this would be the picture of being disqualified. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9.27, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I've preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. I'm sure you heard about the recent...

54:20
issues with Lance Armstrong and the whole uncovering of all the, well, he was disqualified. In the same way, you and I can be disqualified by sin, by compromise. Remember there in 1 Samuel 15, as I mentioned earlier, Samuel disobeyed. I'm sorry, Saul disobeyed. And so Samuel told him, because you've rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you from being king. You're out, Saul. You've been disqualified.

54:57
Don't allow compromise. Don't play with sin. It's the sin which so easily ensnares us, the author of Hebrews says, will easily and quickly disqualify you. And so if we're to be caught in the act, we need to watch out. We need to be on guard. We need to be ready to press on. Not burning out, not bailing out, not bombing out. Well finally, point number three.

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Expect Jesus to return. Verse 45 here in Luke 12 says, If that servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming and begins to beat the male and female servants and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him and at an hour when he's not aware. These are the steps that I would share with you. If you want to hear, Well done, good and faithful servant.

55:52
You need to start here looking at your ministry. Are you fulfilling what God has entrusted to you? But don't just start and do really good for a short time. Your objective needs to be to be caught in the act so that you continue to be faithful to that ministry and those different aspects of ministry that he has called you to. And those are going to change throughout the seasons of your life. But God will direct you according to his will as you walk with him. But that happens when you are expecting God

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If you're not expecting Jesus to come back, it's going to hugely impact your faithfulness as a steward. That's the illustration Jesus gives here. If this servant thinks, oh, my master's not coming back anytime soon, I don't really need to worry about being so faithful. And so he begins to behave inappropriately. In the same way, for you and I, as stewards, we need to have a good grasp of the reality that Jesus is coming at a time we don't expect.

57:08
So we need to be ready. And that's the thought we'll continue on with next week. But this morning as we finish, I would say, finish well. Strive to hear those words, well done, good and faithful servant. And it's not by necessarily doing more things. Maybe God is calling you to do more things. But maybe God's calling you to do less things so that you can readjust those different aspects of ministry that he's called you to. Be faithful to the ministry that he's entrusted to you. Let's pray.

57:44
Lord, I pray as we consider these things and continue to consider these things this week that you would, Lord, allow these truths to reveal in our hearts those issues that you want to address. Lord, are there areas that we are out of balance? Are there areas where we have overstepped what you've called us to? Are there areas where we've understepped, that we haven't given enough priority and attention? I pray, Lord, that you would help us to fulfill the ministry that you've given to us.

58:17
And Lord, that you would speak to all of our hearts individually those specific things that we need to hear. And Lord, as we expect you to return, I pray, Lord, that you would remind us to be faithful so that when you return or when we go to be with you, it's like we're caught in the act, being faithful till the end. Lord, that you would say to us, well done, good and faithful servant. Help us, Lord, to pursue that relationship with you and that obedience to you.

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In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.