How to Become a “Faithful and Wise Steward”

We know in the Bible we read about men, the men of old, men in the New Testament, and God used their physical lives, in many cases, to prepare them for their spiritual lives. And we read of professions in the Old Testament that we may not be at all familiar with today. We would know, recognize what those professions are, but some of them were considered very menial back then. And people of God learned through those menial professions what they needed to do. You remember people like David and people like Moses, as God was preparing them, they served as shepherds. And shepherds were looked at as a lowly profession in those days. When the Israelites went into Egypt, you remember the Egyptians would even look down on shepherds because they just thought that was below them. But God used that profession to teach the men who were involved in that area some very valuable things that came in handy for them when they were working with God's people and shepherding a flock. In the New Testament, we have the word pastor that means shepherd, someone who looks over and helps people and an overseer, if you will, to bring the flock to Jesus Christ, the ultimate shepherd and the ultimate goal of what we are doing here that we would all be able to stand before Him when He returns.

But those are men who learned those things in that area. And in the New Testament, we find shepherd and we find another profession that we've heard the word today, but not many people are called this profession. But Jesus Christ, when He talks about us at the end of the age and the people He will gather at the end of the days, He says, blessed. Blessed are those people who are functioning in that capacity.

Let's turn over to Luke 12.

Luke 12. This is the profession here. It's not an entry-level position like shepherd is. It's one you grow into. It's one where you've proven yourself over time and the people that you work for see how you are as an employee, that you are attentive to the things that need to be done. You're faithful and loyal and all those things that go along with being commensurate with what we're going to talk about here. Luke 12 and verse 42.

Christ said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward? Who is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season?

Who is that faithful and wise steward?

Now, we've heard the word steward. Many people think of stewards as only people who are over financial things, but we'll find in the Bible it's not just financial stewards. Finance is certainly a part of it, just like finance is a part of all of our lives.

God is looking to see how we handle our finances as well as the other things in life.

But he says, Who will be that faithful and wise steward that is so doing when I return?

And so to know and understand what this position of steward was back in early New Testament times is important to us because if we're going to be a faithful and wise steward, if we're going to adhere or try to become that person, we need to know what it is.

So let's take first a definition here of what a steward is or what stewardship is when it's in the Bible.

Reading from one of the Bible dictionaries, it says, A steward, a manager, or a superintendent, whether a freeborn or, as was usually the case, a freedman or a slave.

And those times you did have slaves who were stewards.

And we'll read about some of those people who were in the role of a slave who became a steward over their master's household.

A steward, manager, or super-instendant to whom the head of the house or proprietor has entrusted the management of his affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet of age.

Or it can be the manager of a farm or a state or an overseer of saint.

Someone to whom, someone of authority, someone who has property, gives his estate or gives the authority over it to someone else.

To give that, give him the day-to-day control over it.

Under him, certainly. But he has the responsibility, then, the steward, to carry out what his master's will is.

And you had good stewards in those days, and Christ talked about a good steward and what he would be so doing. We'll talk about that in a little bit. And you had unjust stewards who mishandled the situation.

God is, you know, cautioning us, don't become an unjust steward. Be a faithful steward.

And when you become a faithful steward and I see that in your lives, you know, you will be there when I return.

Let's go on in Luke 12 here. Verse 42, you notice it says, to give them their portion of food in due season. They had responsibilities, not just accounting and not just keeping the books, but seeing that everything in the estate ran well. Basically, today, we might say as a manager, some of the entertainers and, you know, some of the corporate executives have private or personal assistants, I guess they call them.

People who kind of know everything they want and carry out their duties and see, kind of speak for them and make sure everything is done so the person doesn't have to worry about those day-to-day things. They've entrusted it to someone else that they trust and believe is going to get the job done exactly the way they would have it done.

So verse 43, it says, blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes, that he is in this role of faithful and wise steward.

Truly I say to you, he will make him ruler over all that he has.

So we see what God says the reward is here. Learn to be a steward, be a steward, and when he returns, be operating in that role.

And when he returns, if he finds you in that role and worthy, and that you have dedicated your life to becoming a faithful and wise steward, he'll make you ruler over all that he has.

And then in verse 45 later. There are several examples of stewards in the Bible. God always gives us examples when he's going to give us something that we should try to become.

He gives us examples of people. And we can learn a lot from those examples of stewards, some in the Old Testament and some in the New, of what God is looking for.

And as we go through this today, and as we look at some of those examples, if you're taking notes, you might want to keep some points. Because as I go through each one, I'm going to give you a couple of points on how to become a faithful and wise steward.

And as you keep these things in mind and see what the stewards did back then, and what God is looking for, you'll be able to see, I believe, how we can become faithful and wise stewards in our life.

Let's go back and look at Daniel 1 here as we begin, and look at a steward here in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

In Daniel 1, we have Daniel, and you remember his three compadres, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They've been exiled, or not exiled, but brought from Judah as Babylon was conquering Judah.

And they were there, and they were choice young men who Nebuchadnezzar saw as being people that he could train and would become part of his court.

And as they come to Babylon, they're faced with some challenges immediately in an area that they may not have expected, and that may seem insignificant to some in the manner of what they are going to eat.

We've talked about that before. We won't belabor that. But you remember the story there.

In verse 11, Daniel, as he's talking to the steward there, he has some things to say to them, and we'll see how the steward handles the responsibility that he has.

In verse 11, Daniel 1, Daniel said to the steward, whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Amishiel, and Azariah.

So here's a man that the chief of the eunuchs set this guy over, and he says, this is your job. You're going to take care of these guys. You're going to mold them into who Nebuchadnezzar wants them to be.

Your job is to see that they become the best, the brightest they can be, that they are very good examples of what it's like to live in Babylon and become a Babylonian.

Of course, they wanted the Israelites, or the Jews, to begin to see that it's okay to be in Babylon. So he's in charge of all of that. That's just his responsibility.

Please, Daniel says, test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. And let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies.

And as you see fit, so deal with your servants. So they've come in, the steward says, here's what Nebuchadnezzar said you eat, you've got the best of the land to eat. Daniel says, no, we don't want that. That's not going to be the best we can eat.

Try this out. Now the steward, you see, has some latitude in what he can do. His mission is, you develop these men into the best that they can be. I want them to become bright. I want them to become examples. I want them to be strong. I want them to be wise. I want them to be far superior about everyone else in the land. They are supposed to be the cream of the crop.

Now the steward has been told, this is what you feed them. Nebuchadnezzar said, here's the delicacies, give them the wine, give them the things that we eat. Daniel says, not so.

Now the steward understands his mission. He's been told what they can eat, but he also understands his mission is, make them the best they can be.

So you can see that he could have just said, absolutely not. No way. This is what Nebuchadnezzar said to eat, you are eating only that. And nothing else and want to starve, that's up to you, but you are going to eat this.

But he understands what his master wants, and so he's willing to give it a try. So Daniel says, just let's try it for 10 days and then compare us to the other guys in this program and we'll see how it works.

So the steward consented with them in this manner, and he tested them 10 days. And at the end of 10 days, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies.

So much so that the steward who looked at the situation thought, wow, in just 10 days these guys look so much healthier and so much more like the king would want than the other guys, I'm going to take away what they are eating and give them what Daniel and his three friends are eating.

He had the latitude to do that because his mission was become the best you can become. Don't defy the king's orders, keep it in mind, and make sure that you are doing that, nothing illegal, nothing outside of his specific commands.

So we find a point with the steward. He understands that his job is to enrich his master. His job is to make it better.

And when Jesus Christ looks at us, we are told in the parable of the talents, he gives us five talents, he gives us two talents, maybe one talent, and we learn he is not satisfied with just that one talent if he is given us, or just the two talents that he has given us.

If when he returns, and he has given us these talents and these things to do, if he returns, then we are just exactly the way it was before. No improvement at all.

Now it is the people who developed from five to ten that he says, good for you. You took what I want, you knew what the master wanted, you know he wanted you to bear fruit, he wanted you to become better, he wanted you to enrich his estate.

That was what your mission was because you had his best interest at heart to do his will. And you did it.

And it doesn't tell us how those people multiplied their talents from five to ten, or two to four. They didn't do anything illegal. They did everything within the context of what their master would want them to do, but they did it.

They improved because they knew their job was to become better than what they were called to be, or what they were originally called.

Their job wasn't to remain the status quo, their job was to become more and more and more like their master.

To understand what he wanted, and to understand what he wanted, was growth. Now what he wanted was for people to increase. And so why Stuart, and this Daniel's Stuart here over the young men, realized, I'll give it a whirl. I'll give it a whirl ten days. And if it doesn't work, we're going to scrap the program. But if it works, Nebuchadnezzar will be pleased.

Nebuchadnezzar will be pleased with what we've done. And it worked, and so he scrapped the whole other program, and he gave the young men, the same things that he, that they were eating.

So point one is, a wise, faithful and wise Stuart knows his job is to enrich his master, do what is best for him.

Not take the easy way out, but to do what is best for him. All within the legal confines, and within God's way of life.

Second thing we can learn is that it's okay. It's okay to step out of the norm.

And as long as it's within the context of God's law, to do the things that will help us to become better.

The Stuart was like, okay, this is kind of unheard of, nothing wrong with it, I'll give them the vegetables to eat, that's what they want.

Turned out well. The same thing can apply to us. You know, maybe we're having problems, or maybe we feel like we're stagnated in some area of our life.

Maybe we're having a hard time getting motivated to Bible study, motivated to prayer, motivated to do any of the things that God asks us to do.

And maybe we've just been doing the same thing over and over again, just kind of picking out a Bible or reading it in order, and just kind of checking out the time, and not, you know, and not really getting anything out of our study except to say, well, you know, I did read for a half an hour today, or 15 minutes a day, or whatever.

If that's what you feel yourself doing, you don't feel like you're growing in your study, then you might want to mix it up a little bit. You might want to read part of the Bible while you're on your knees, and ask God to help you see these things. You might want to pull out a booklet and go through it and study it. You might want to pick a topic out and do something different, or search other ways to get yourself motivated to study again, or to pray.

If you go into the same place every single day, and you find your mind wandering as you shut that door behind you, and everything comes clouding in, I've got to do this today, and I've got to do that today. And we've all been there, right? I mean, our prayers can be interrupted by every number of thoughts that can be there, and we think, I just want to shut my mind off, and I just want to focus on God. And sometimes you have to just change the location. Sometimes you need to go outside and pray. And sometimes when you're in the open air, you just feel closer to God, and you feel this closeness to Him and this desire to pray. It doesn't have to be in the same place every single day, whatever it takes to get closer to God and keep the communication up with Him. But we have to be aware of things that we can do, and if we hear others talking, you know, think, well, maybe I'll try that out. Maybe I'll study that today. Maybe I'll alter my study that way. Because our goal is to become closer to God and have what we do increase us and to make us stronger and closer to God. Well, as we move down through Chapter 1 here of Daniel, we see that in verse 18, Nebuchadnezzar was very pleased with what the steward did. He didn't chide him for giving him a different diet. 18 says, at the end of the days when the king had said they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought him in before Nebuchadnezzar, and the king interviewed them. And among them all, none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Michiel, and Azariah. Therefore, they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.

You don't think he was very well pleased with what the steward did? Oh, he was very well pleased with what the steward did, because he was a faithful and wise steward who kept in mind who he was there to serve, who he was there to entrust. And when he saw a better way or knew there might be a better way, he was willing to do that to see, does this benefit my master?

Well, you might be thinking, I'm not in that type of position. I don't think God sees me as a steward over everything. I haven't risen to that level. But let's go back to Psalm 24, and let's set the context here for you and me and all of us in this room. Psalm 24, verse 1.

David, who became a faithful and wise steward, rising from the ranks of shepherd to king, steward over all of Israel, not just their finances, but all of the physical realm of Israel to lead them and guide them. He writes this, Psalm 24, verse 1, This world, everything in it, we may own a piece of land, we may own some property in it, it all belongs to God. He created it, he fashioned it, he put us on this earth to dress and to keep it.

We are stewards. We are stewards of what God has given us, and he has given us all something. We all have things that we own. We all have things under our control. We are stewards of what God has given us, no matter how much it is or no matter how little it may be in our eyes. We all have something. And God is looking to see how we handle what he's given it.

Whether it be small in our sight or whether it be very large in our sight, we all have a responsibility to become stewards. We are stewards. He gave mankind the stewardship over the earth. Mankind, frankly, is doing a very poor job of the steward of the earth. When Christ returns and the earth becomes the blooming garden, the Garden of Eden that God created it to, we're going to see just how pitiful man was in keeping up what God had entrusted him. Beautify it. Keep it.

Tend it. Use it. Follow the principles that I said in doing that. He would want us to make it even better than what it is. And as we have our plots of land or our rented space in our backyard, God is looking to see how you're handling that. Are you paying that? Is it better today? Is it more beautiful than when you moved in? Do you pay attention to what's going on in your surroundings? Are you a steward of what God has given? Oh, God has made us steward over everything that He has given us, and we are all stewards. You know, I didn't give you the reference there, but back in Genesis 2.15, He gave mankind the earth and said, tend it and keep it.

So let's go back this time to Genesis 15. Let's look at another man who we well know, Abraham. We'll talk more about him a little later, but Abraham was a steward. God gave him much. He was a wealthy man. And Abraham had some things going on in his life. He handled it all well, but we'll come back to him a little bit later. And let's look in because Abraham, as he was a wise steward, he had a steward working under him. Genesis 15, verse 1, says, After these things the word of the eternal came to Abram, in a vision, saying, Don't be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. Really? You've given me things. I've got wealth. I've got flocks. I've got these things. But you haven't given me a son. You haven't given me an heir. In fact, I think in the Old King James, it says, Eliezer, there's a steward, as the word it says.

I have a steward, and he's the one who will inherit everything. That's who is taking care of all my affairs, daily affairs. Well, we know that God gave him, gave him Isaac later. But keeping this man Eliezer in mind, let's move forward to Genesis 24. And we find that this man, who was an heir in Abraham's household, had a responsibility to Abraham as well. Abraham saw him. Of all the people in his household, this is who his heir was, who his steward was.

He knew the man well. He worked with him. He set him over his affairs in chapter 24, verse 1. So that Abraham was old, well advanced in age, and the eternal had blessed Abraham in all things. So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, the commentaries pretty much uniformly agree, this was this man, Eliezer, who ruled over all that he had.

Abraham was still the master. Abraham was still the owner. But he had someone in place that was managing all the day-to-day affairs. He had entrusted all to him. This man ruled over all that he had. And he said, please put your hand under my thigh. And this is an Old Testament thing to show your loyalty and your commitment to your master and to each other.

And he says, and I will make you swear by the eternal, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son, from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. This was a big deal to Abraham. I'm entrusting you with my son's future. He needs a wife. And I'm entrusting you to go out and find him a wife. Now, that sounds kind of foreign to us today. But to Abraham, it was so important that he would have the right wife. That Eliezer, Abraham would like to have done that himself, probably, but he trusted Eliezer. You go out and you find the right lady for him.

Because together, together is where the future lies. Together is what God has promised that Isaac and the future lies for all of my descendants. And the servant said to him, perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?

Do I need to do this? He's looking ahead and thinking, okay, I'll accept this. I'll take you. I'll take this job upon myself. And he understood the importance of it. But what if she won't come back? And Abraham said to him, beware that you don't take my son back there. Don't take him back to Canaan. You bring her back to him. They're going to live in this land. This land here where I am. And so we find Eliezer going out and doing this job. And you can feel the weight that he has on his shoulder as he has to go and he has no idea where he's going.

He has no idea who these people are. But he knows he wants to please his master. He knows he wants to bring back the right lady, the right woman for Isaac. And then in verse 9, we find him committing to Abraham. So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. And the servant took ten of his master's camel and departed, for all his master's goods were in the hand.

And he rose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. He set out to do this important mission that he had. And in verse 12, we see him doing exactly the right thing. As he stopped there by the well, he prayed to God and he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day and show kindness to my master Abraham. Please, God, help me fulfill this commission. But you know, he wasn't worried about him. He wasn't like, you know, I want Abraham to pat me on the back. I want him to give me a bonus for doing this.

So success, show mercy to Abraham. Do this for him. It's so important to him. And my heart is in it for him. And I want to do a good job for him. And he prayed to God and he engaged him to help him in this because he knew this was beyond him to make the decision. But God could make the decision for him and lead him to the right person. And so easily, Yezir.

Yezir did that. And God answered his prayer. And the right woman came back and married Isaac. And the rest is history in that. From this faithful and wise steward that Abraham had, we can learn another couple points or see another couple points in what he did and how he handled the situation.

He knew Abraham well. He knew and understood Abraham well. And he took seriously everything that Abraham said.

A good steward studies and knows his master. He knows what his likes are. He knows what his dislikes are. He knows how important things are to him. And his job and his mission is to please him explicitly. A selfless steward, but one who understands his master well at what is important to him and his desire is sincerely to please him.

Nothing about self in it to please him. A faithful and wise steward. And point four is like that but different in a way as well. A good steward must be faithful to his master. They took this covenant. Eliezer, be faithful to me. Take this upon yourself. Take it seriously. And be faithful to me. Go out and do this job well and bring back a wife for Isaac.

Let's turn over to 1 Corinthians 4 because we find in the New Testament here in Paul's writings that he raises the context of steward as well. 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 2. As he's talking to the Corinthian church and to us, he says many things to us about God building a temple in us, not living in a temple made by hands, making sure that our temple is being built with fine materials.

In verse 2, chapter 4, he says, Moreover, it's required in stewards that one be found faithful, that one be found faithful, does it the way his master wants, does it the way his master asks, always with the master first and his will on what he wants. No shortcuts, no assuming things for the master. Take those in combination with the two that we did before. A faithful and wise steward.

Let's go back to Genesis and look at another steward, a man that we all know. He served in the role of steward as well. He had a different upbringing than maybe some of the other stewards we've talked about. He was grown as a child of privilege, if you will, in Jacob's house. Genesis 39, we have Joseph. Everyone knows Joseph. He might have been seen as a little prideful in his house growing up with his brothers. He was his father's favorite. They sold him into slavery.

And then Joseph finds himself in a very strange, unexpected situation. He's there in Egypt. He doesn't know the language. He doesn't know any of the culture. Never saw himself leaving his father's house. He thought that was what his life was. He'd just always be there. But he finds himself in a totally different situation. Here in chapter 39, in verse 2, Joseph is sold into slavery.

He finds himself in Potiphar's house. He starts off as a slave at the bottom of the barrel. It says, the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man. There's your idea of what a success is. God is with you. God was with Joseph, and he was a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the eternal was with him, and that the Lord made all Joseph did to prosper in his hand.

So he's kind of watching his servants, and he watches Joseph and says, you know, this kid, this guy, everything he does turn out well. Everything I give him to do, it turns out even better than I thought it would.

And he kind of knew it was something about Joseph, and probably, maybe thought, it was something about his God, but look what he does. He's a faithful and wise steward. Everything he enriches me. And he's got my interested heart, if you will. So Joseph, in verse 4, found favor in his sight and served him. Now that's a new role for Joseph.

Joseph served him. He came out of his house as the favorite. Probably didn't do a whole lot of serving then. Looking maybe for other people to serve him. But as he found himself in a situation, he served him.

He served Potiphar. He knew what his position was. My job isn't to lord it over Potiphar. I'm not here to tell him how great I was. In my past life, I'm here to serve him and do things the way he wants to his betterment. Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. And he made him overseer of his house. And all that he had, he put under Joseph's authority.

Everything. He became a steward for Potiphar. He didn't go there with the idea of becoming a steward. Potiphar didn't buy him to make him a steward. But what he saw him do, as he was faithful in what he had done, when he saw that he was there and paid attention to what Potiphar's needs were and served him the way that Potiphar wanted him to be served, when he saw it later on and always put God first, right? Because Potiphar's wife took notice too. And Joseph could have easily said, well, she is the mistress of the house, and I'll do that, but he said, no.

I still have God. I still have God that I have a responsibility to. And he lost his position because he remained true to God. But Potiphar made him over everything that he had. Joseph started off at the most menial level. He was probably looked down on by everyone in that household. What is this Israelite doing here? Do we want this in our household?

And you know he was given the most menial chores, but from it he never lost heart, and he kept in mind what the master wanted, and he did things the way that Potiphar and the household wanted them done, as long as it didn't conflict with what God had said. Joseph remembered those things that he learned. Here's a couple of points on Joseph. One, he was selfless, and he was a servant at heart.

He was selfless, and he was a servant at heart. He wasn't there in Potiphar's house looking to see how he could climb the ladder. He didn't have, as part of him, I'll do this and I'll do this so that I can have that. He was there simply to serve. And as Potiphar saw that sincerity in him, he gave him increased positions. Similarly with us, as God sees us selflessly serving him, in whatever role he puts us, in whatever situation we're in, whatever task he asks us to do, he will see that heart in us as well.

A faithful and wise steward is selfless in their service and dedicated to service, just like Jesus Christ, just like Jesus Christ was. And point six in Joseph, and we see it among those, and we can apply the other points we've seen to Joseph as well. Point six is a good steward obeys and follows the orders to his best of his ability, paying attention to the detail. You know, Joseph studied what Potiphar wanted, and he paid attention to the detail. Now, you don't have to turn to Luke 16, verse 10. I think it's been brought up a couple of times here in the past few weeks, and when things keep coming to our attention and they come up in sermons, we might want to pay attention to them.

But in the parable of the unjust steward in the New Testament, it says, Joseph was faithful in little. Joseph was faithful in little. He paid attention to the little details. And you know, if we are a steward over someone's, and someone puts us as an overseer of their house, we find out the things that they like, the things that they do, and we pay attention to that detail. It was just done just that right. Maybe it makes no difference in the scheme of things. It's just their personal preference, or their personal preference. And we do those things, and people see it, they think, oh, wow, he or she paid attention to the detail.

If they're paying that much attention to what I want, and they took the time to do it this way, then they're probably paying attention to the big things as well. We want to do that with God. We're very faithful, wise stewards. We're paying attention to the big things, but we're paying attention to the little things. We're understanding the detail, and we're learning year by year what the detail is, and making sure that we are conforming and complying and repenting and changing, so that we comply with the details of what God wants, so we please Him more.

That's what our job is. Please Him more. Serve Him more deeply. Faithfully. Selflessly. Letting Him give us the task that He wants to give us, and then doing it to the best of our ability, not looking without any regard to what we want, but to what He wants. Well, Joseph, as he rose in position, he found himself, then steward over Egypt. Pharaoh gave him Egypt. Look over everything, Joseph. There's this famine out there. You've shown me what you can do and how faithful you are.

I'll just give you and your second-in-command in Egypt. And as Joseph rose in position there, he had a steward. Let's look at his steward here in chapter 43 of Genesis. Genesis 43, verse 16. Now the famine has struck Joseph, his second-in-command of Egypt, and he has a steward and the brothers from Jacob are coming to buy grain from Egypt because of the famine there in the land of Canaan. And so they find themselves, unbeknownst, in the house of Joseph, of all people, who they had sold into slavery. Verse 16.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with his other brothers, he said to the steward of his house. Ah, he had things to do. He couldn't pay attention to the detail of that, but he found someone who was going to be loyal to him, faithful to him, that he entrusted over the affairs of his house, you take care of it.

When Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to the steward of his house, Take these men to my home, slaughter an animal, and make ready, for these men will dine with me at noon. And verse 17, the steward did exactly what Joseph had asked him to do.

The man did his Joseph order, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. There it is. The steward did that. You know, I don't know how close Joseph was to his steward, but if you have someone that close, and you have these brothers in the situation that Joseph is in, you know, he might have told them, these guys?

You know, the steward might have thought, why are we having these shepherds from Canaan coming into our house? These are not people that we look highly on in Egypt. So maybe Joseph told them, these are my brothers. Maybe, I don't know. Maybe he said, these are my brothers, and gave him some of the background of that.

Well, the steward, if he knew the background, might have taken it upon himself to think, well, these guys, why are we treating them right? Look what they did to you. Look what they did to you. Why should we pay attention to them? Now, I'm speculating a little bit here. But we see in verse 18 then, when Joseph, the second command, tells the brothers, I'm going to eat with you. Steward, get some meals right here. I'm going to eat with them. Well, naturally, the men asked, wonder, what is happening? The men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house, and they said, it's because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought to him, so that he may make a case against us and seize us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys.

Well, they had reason to be a little bit afraid, and when they drew near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at the door of the house. Well, here's a man we can talk to.

We may not be able to talk to this second in command, but we're going to talk to the steward. He said, oh, sir, we indeed came, down the first time to buy food. But it happened when we came to the encampment, and we opened our sacks, and there each man's money was in the mouth of the sack, our money in full weight. So we had brought it back in our hand, and we brought down other money in our hands to buy food.

We don't know who put the money in our sacks, but the steward said. He could have played with them. He could have said, yeah, it'll be an interesting conversation you're going to have with Joseph. He's going to be an interesting conversation with what you had. He could have played with them little. But Joseph had left him the mission, I'm going to eat with these people. Be friendly to them. You represent me. You represent my house, and you represent how I approach people.

And the steward said, peace be with you. Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your Father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money. And he brought Simeon out to them. Now here's the steward, and what he finds himself doing is comforting these men. Joseph has welcomed them into his house. He might or might not have had any kind of forewarning of who they were, but he knew what the story with the money and the knapsacks were.

And he could have played with them a little bit and thought, you know what, Joseph is being too light with these people. I'll give them a little friction here so they understand what they did. But he understood his position. Joseph wanted them treated kindly. And that's exactly what the steward did. Good stewards understand what the mission of their master is, and they treat all with respect.

Just as their master did, who was not a respecter of persons, and who, regardless of background or ethnicity or anything else, treated everyone with respect and was not at all, was not at all partial to anyone or biased to anyone. Faithful and wise stewards understand who their master is and what his way of dealing with people are, and they emulate that. Or they imitate that. So this steward did that. Let's move over to the New Testament. Let's go back to where we were in Luke earlier on.

Luke 12.

We read Luke 12, 35-40 last week when we were talking about not being ashamed of the gospel and being ready for when the master comes. But let's read those verses again.

Those verses again here in the context of being a faithful and wise steward because Christ says those words before. What he says in verse 42 about who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his goods. Verse 35. Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. Be ready. We talked about that last week. Can you yourselves be like men who wait for their master? Ah, stewards are always waiting for their master. Stewards are there to be responsible for their master. You be like men who wait for your master when he will return from the wedding that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately. That they're ready when he comes there. They're ready and waiting for him. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. But assuredly I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat and will come and serve them. How nice it is when your steward is there when you want him. Always ready. Not saying my master delays his coming. I'm going to go off and do whatever I want to do. I don't think he's going to come for another six, eight hours. I'm going to take the time off. Do what I want to do. No. Good stewards. Good stewards are always ready for their master's return. They're always on duty, and they know their master wants them ready when he returns. Verse 39, if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have swatched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

Be ready, for the Son of Man, your master, is coming at an hour you don't expect. And then Peter says, Lord, are you speaking this only to us or to all people? Is this just for us? Are all people supposed to listen to this? And Christ doesn't answer the question. He just says, who is that faithful and wise steward? And he talks about who that faithful and wise steward is and what's going to happen to him when he's that way. Let's go down to verse 45.

If he 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 is not looking for him and in an hour when he is not aware and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. If you have a steward and you come home and you find him doing things that you totally disagree with, he's fired. He's gone.

Christ takes it a step further. He's dead. He's going to have his portion with the unbelievers, and he's not going to be around anymore. And that servant who knew his master's will, so important for us to know our master's will to understand him and to take that upon ourselves and realize that as faithful and wise stewards, our job 24-7, 365 days a year is to do our master's will, to understand it, to be getting it more, to understanding it more, to becoming more the steward that he wants us to have.

And if that servant who knew his master's will and didn't prepare himself or do according to his will will be beaten with many stripes. Shame on him. He wasn't a faithful and wise steward. He was an unjust steward. But he who didn't know, he who was still learning and the master understood, okay, I'm going to give you a little bit of a break here because you didn't know, but ignorance of the law is no excuse, right? But he who didn't know, yet committed things deserving of stripes will be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Faithful and wise stewards are continually given more and more responsibility.

And God will continue to grow us and develop us and work with us. But if there's a problem somewhere along the line, you may have a step back and learn some things over again, just like you would if these were your employees.

And you see someone rising in the rank, but then you see a fault in them and you think, you know, we're not quite ready for prime time yet. Let's bring it back down and let's go through this again and develop the traits that you need to be my personal assistant, my manager, my faithful and wise steward.

Because God gives us that opportunity to learn, to grow into who he wants, because he wants every single one in this room, every single person that he calls, to become a faithful and wise steward.

A faithful and wise steward.

So, I don't know if I said it, but point nine is a good steward does his master's will always, even when he is away. Or, even if they think he's delaying his coming.

Now let's look at Luke 16. Luke 16, we're not going to go through the parable of the unjust steward, but there's a couple points we can get from there. We already got one in Luke 16, verse 10.

Let's look at verse 12.

Verse 12. If you haven't been faithful, then what is another man's? If you haven't been a good steward, the stuff doesn't belong to you, you're not the owner.

Someone's given it into your care, to safeguard, to grow, to take care of, and to prosper him. If you haven't been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what's your own?

That's what God is looking at in us. If you're not faithful in what I give you now, what am I going to give you any more for?

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You can't serve God and mammon.

Loyal servants don't have their eyes on where is the best opportunity. Faithful and wise stewards are faithful to their steward, and they only have one.

And they remain committed to him. They don't have their eyes going out and saying, Boy, if I move over to this side of town, I'd rather have that job.

We remain true to God, our master, and a faithful and wise steward of what he has, letting him lead us and guide us, direct us, and mold us into who he wants us to be in Luke 12.

Well, again, you might say, OK, I get it. OK, I get it. God has given us many things. Not one of us here can say we have nothing.

God has trusted and trusted us with jobs, husbands, wives, children, homes, lands, bank accounts.

Many, many things. If we list the things that we're stewards over, that God has given us, that he's saying, How are you handling this situation?

Are your finances in order? Are you doing finances in the way that I said, including the way that you honor me with your finances?

Are you doing that, he would say? Good. Are you honoring me with your time? Are you honoring me in the way that I want to be done there?

Do you understand what my will is for you, and you are doing it the way I ask you to do it?

Check. How are you handling your family? Are you being a wise steward over those children I gave you? Are you teaching them in the way that they should go?

Because you know Abraham, I said we'd go back to him. Let's go look at Abraham here for a second in Genesis 18.

In Genesis 18, God says something that I would hope all of us would want him to say to us one day.

And maybe the time has passed if our children has grown, but we've learned from some of the mistakes we've made that if we had the opportunity again, we'd get it.

And maybe where we have blown it or haven't followed in the way we want.

But here in Genesis 18 verse 19, Abraham, who was a faithful and wise steward to God, faithful certainly, wise certainly, committed to God, certainly whatever God asked him to do, he did.

In verse 19 here of chapter 18, God says this of him, God says this of him, I know him. I gave him Isaac.

How did he handle that? He was a faithful and wise steward, and he brought him up exactly the way I wanted him to.

He taught them the way of God.

He enforced it, and he talked of me as I was someone that should be in their lives every day, not just once a week on the Sabbath or not just at meal times when we offer a prayer of thanks to God for the food that he's given us.

But I was a part of their household, and Isaac knew me just like he knew Abraham, and he knew what my will was, and that's what he wanted for us.

As we have our children, teach them in the way they should go. Raise them up in the way they should go, so when they're old, they won't depart from it because they see the wisdom in it.

They've seen the example in their homes. They've seen the joy, the peace, the harmony that's there.

And when they go out and they might try something else, they think, no, this day doesn't work. I've got to go back.

Go back to what I had in that house. That's what I want for my family. That's what I want for me.

Not the discord and the disharmony that is all around us in the world.

So God saw Abraham as a faithful and wise steward here in Genesis 26.

Genesis 26 in verse 4.

Genesis 26 in verse 4.

As he's speaking to Isaac, his son, he says, He says, I'll give you everything, Isaac, because Abraham obeyed my voice.

Abraham kept my charge. Abraham kept my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. He followed me explicitly. He dedicated his life to me. He was a servant to me.

Whatever I asked him to do, he did. If I said move, he moved. If I said stay, he stayed.

He did it all. He was a faithful and wise steward. Exactly what God asks us to be.

Well, we know the things that God has given us. We could sit there and list all the things that God has given us.

We live in a world that has been so greatly blessed by God, and we're the benefactors of those things, as I heard in the sermon at.

No one on earth has lived like we have. We have so much, and we have so much to be thankful for, and we have so much at our disposal.

But God has given you and me much more than just the physical things on earth that he expects us to look over.

Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4 in verse 1.

Those of you who were at the Bible study last month, we covered this verse just a little bit.

Verses 1 and 2, which we've read already.

In chapter 4, Paul sees himself as a steward.

And all of us as stewards.

Chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians 1.

Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards.

Stewards of the mysteries of God.

You know what the mysteries of God are?

It's what God has opened our minds to see.

The plan of God, what he's working out below here on this planet.

What's the purpose for us being here? What has he called us to? What is the truth that has been so hidden from the world because he hasn't opened their minds to that truth yet?

He's given you and me that. He's opened our minds.

We know why we're here. We know what the plan of God is. We know, and I hope we believe with all our hearts, that Jesus Christ is returning. And we know that what he has in mind for us, not just today, not just during the millennium, not just during the white throne judgment, but beyond all that, for the rest of eternity, that he has something in mind for us who follow him and who yield to him and who become faithful.

And why stewards of the mysteries he has given us.

Stewards of the physical things. Stewards of the mysteries of God. How do we treat the truth of God?

We asked the question last week, are we ashamed of it? Do we kind of cringe when we have to talk about it a little bit?

Shouldn't. He's made us stewards of it. It's our job to live it. It's our job as a church to preach it boldly.

Matthew 16, 18, he gave the church the keys of the kingdom and said, preach it to the whole world, to all nations, and teach the people my way.

Don't be afraid of it. Don't water it down. Tell it like it is. Make sure they become faithful in why stewards like Abraham and like Joseph and like Joseph's servant.

Like Paul. Like the apostles became faithful in why stewards who kept doing right until the time of their death.

And the very next moment that they're alive, they meet Jesus Christ. I've made you stewards over all those things.

How do you handle it? Are you loyal to me? Are you living? Is that part of living those mysteries? Are you making them part of your everyday life?

Are you doers or just hearers? Can you just repeat it back? Or do I see it evident in the choices you make, the decisions you make, the way you handle affairs in your day-to-day life, even when you may think no one is watching?

No one from church goes to this store. No one from this church goes to that school. No one from this church is going to be here.

Even when you don't think anyone is watching, how are you a steward of the mysteries that God has entrusted to you and me? Because he's entrusted them to you and me.

And he's saying, how do we handle it? How do we handle it? Is it important? Do the things. Are we doing the things that God would have us do?

By becoming the people that he wants us to become. Are we becoming and using the time we have now to become faithful and wise stewards?

Now let me just rehearse the ten things that we talked about today with the examples that we looked at.

As we work toward becoming faithful and wise stewards. We can only do that with God's Holy Spirit, but he's given that to us, and he wants us to do that.

And we can do it. It's our choice to do it or not. Hope, just like Jesus Christ, then God the Father does that we want to do these things.

A good steward, faithful and wise steward, one, understands and is committed to his master's desired result to increasing his assets.

Enriching his master, bearing much fruit, is what Jesus Christ would say. Here's how the Father is pleased that we bear much fruit.

Two, he's dedicated to increasing the parable of the talents.

Try something new, always within the line of God, to achieve the desired results. If something's not working, if you're bored and if you feel that you're at status quo, shake something up with the desire to please God and to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Three, must know his master's will, his likes, his dislikes, his personality and his preferences. Become a disciple. We've talked about that.

Disciples study not only the words of their teacher, but they study the teacher themselves, and we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Good stewards, 1 Corinthians 4, verse 2, must be faithful. Enough said about that one.

Good, faithful and wise stewards are selfless. They have no provision for self in what they do. Their entire focus is on how they please the Master and those who they serve. No self involved in it.

Number six, faithful and wise stewards follow the orders precisely and exactly. They pay attention to the detail as well as the big picture.

They make sure that they know all the preferences of the Master and adjust their lives and their service accordingly.

Number seven, faithful and wise stewards treat everyone with respect. And they set a welcoming tone, just like Jesus Christ did.

He treated all with respect. No one was beneath Him. No one, because He had that humble attitude.

Number eight, faithful and wise stewards are always ready, always prepared, always watching, always waiting for the Master's return.

They don't take time off. They don't say, too busy for that. I think I deserve a little bit of time to myself and to do my wishes.

Now, when you sign on and you're a faithful and wise steward, you do the Master's will and wait and watch for Him.

Number nine, does His Master's will even while He's away. And number ten, serves only one Master.

You may have other responsibilities. Financial stewardship of the house, making sure the affairs of the house are in order, might be something menial.

Feed the pets while I'm away. Make sure the plants are watered, whatever it might be. But you only serve one Master, and not two.

Don't have an eye out on where the better opportunity is. Serve the Master and dedicate your heart to Him.

Now, God would have us to become faithful and wise stewards.

And if we do the job, what God wants us, what He wants to say to all of us, and what we all want to hear from God is what He says to the people who had multiplied their talents and doubled them. In Matthew 5, 21, and 23, He says, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Now that you have been a faithful and wise steward, now you have the opportunity to serve Me and be with Me for eternity. And that's what God wants for every single one of us. Let's all pray for each other that we want the same thing.