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00:35 Good morning, friends,
00:36 and welcome again to Sabbath School Study Hour, 00:38 coming to here from Granite Bay 00:40 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:43 Very warm welcome to our online members 00:45 and those who are joining us across the country 00:46 and around the world, 00:47 part of our study Sabbath school group 00:50 this morning. 00:51 Also I'd like to welcome the regular members 00:53 and visitors right here at the Granite Bay Church. 00:55 Over the past few weeks, 00:56 we've been studying through a lesson 00:58 quarterly on stewardship. 00:59 It's entitled "Stewardship, Motives of the Heart". 01:02 It's been an excellent study so far. 01:04 It's actually been convicting on a number of those topics 01:06 that were brought to view in our study together. 01:08 Today, we find ourselves on lesson number six, 01:11 and it's entitled the "Marks of a Steward", 01:15 lesson number six, the Marks of a Steward. 01:17 For those who are joining us, if you don't have a copy of 01:20 lesson number six 01:21 and would like to study along with us, 01:23 you can download the lesson at the Amazing Facts website, 01:26 just amazingfacts.org. 01:29 Click on the link that says Sabbath School Study Hour, 01:32 and you can download lesson number six, 01:34 the Marks of a Steward, 01:35 and that's what we're going to be studying today. 01:38 We also have a free offer 01:39 that goes along with the subject 01:41 that we're looking at. 01:42 It's an Amazing Facts study guide 01:44 entitled In God We Trust? 01:46 And this is our free offer for this morning. 01:49 If you'd like to receive this anywhere in North America, 01:51 give us a call on our resource phone line, 01:54 that number is 866-788-3966. 01:59 If you're outside of North America, 02:00 you can read the study guide at the Amazing Facts website, 02:04 just amazingfacts.org. 02:07 But before we get to our study this morning, 02:09 we like to begin by lifting our voices in song. 02:12 I'd like to invite our song leaders 02:13 to come join me. 02:28 Come, all Christians, be committed 02:33 To the service of the Lord 02:39 Make your lives for Him more fitted 02:44 Tune your hearts with one accord 02:49 Come into His courts with gladness 02:55 Each his sacred vows renew 03:00 Turn away from sin and sadness 03:06 Be transformed with life anew 03:12 Of your time and talents give ye 03:17 They are gifts from God above 03:23 To be used by Christians freely 03:28 To proclaim His wondrous love 03:33 Come again to serve the Savior 03:38 Tithes and off'rings with you bring 03:44 In your work, with Him find favor 03:49 And with joy His praises sing 03:55 Come in praise and adoration 04:01 All who in Christ's name believe 04:06 Worship Him with consecration 04:11 Grace and love you will receive 04:17 For His grace give Him the glory 04:22 For the Spirit and the Word 04:28 And repeat the gospel story 04:34 Till mankind His name has heard 04:42 Dear Father in heaven, 04:43 we thank You for the opportunity, 04:44 once again to come and open up Your Word 04:46 and study this very important subject 04:48 of being a faithful steward to You. 04:50 For all of the blessings and all of the many things 04:53 which You have been trusted to our care, 04:55 help us to use our talents, our abilities wisely 04:58 for the furtherance of Your kingdom. 04:59 Bless our time today, 05:01 for we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 05:04 Our lesson this morning is going to be brought to us 05:06 by Dr. David DeRose. 05:07 Thank you. 05:09 Well, we're continuing on our journey 05:12 studying through Stewardship, Motives of the Heart. 05:17 And as Pastor John mentioned not long ago, 05:20 lesson six is our focus today, 05:23 the Marks of a Steward, the Marks of a Steward. 05:31 Perhaps, you've thought about it, 05:33 maybe you hadn't lately, 05:36 but it continuous to bombard us in the media, 05:40 and it simply how the actions of a single person 05:45 or a few people can totally damage a brand. 05:51 Have you thought about it? 05:53 A few airline employees 05:56 treat someone unkindly on a plane, 05:58 and what happens to the brand of that airline? 06:03 A few engineers 06:05 tinker with the exhaust system of a vehicle 06:11 and end up trashing the brand 06:16 that is represented by thousands of people 06:18 throughout the world. 06:19 Are you following the law? 06:21 But it doesn't have to be something abstract, 06:23 it maybe doesn't directly impact you, 06:26 maybe it was just that last phone call 06:28 to the big retailer that you deal with, 06:30 perhaps an online retailer, 06:33 and you make that call 06:34 and you get someone on the other end of the line 06:37 who is totally insensitive, 06:41 maybe even rude, that's right. 06:45 What does that do to the brand of that company? 06:50 Well, this morning, our lesson study 06:52 brings the concept of brand into focus. 06:56 As we begin this study on the Marks of a Steward, 06:59 we have a scripture reading, a memory text 07:03 that actually crystallizes a lot 07:07 of what today's lesson is about. 07:09 This week's lesson, the Marks of a Stewart, 07:12 1 Corinthians 4 is where the scripture is found, 07:16 verses 1 and 2, and feel free to read that with me 07:19 in the New King James Version, 07:21 1 Corinthians 4:1 and 2, 07:25 "Let a man so consider us, 07:28 as servants of Christ 07:31 and stewards of the mysteries of God. 07:36 Moreover it is required in stewards 07:39 that one be found faithful." 07:45 Well, as the lesson opens up, it says stewards 07:49 are known by their brand or their distinctive mark. 07:57 Think about it, what are Christians known for? 08:03 You might say well, 08:04 Christians are known for good things, 08:07 we're Christians after all, 08:08 we're here worshipping in God's house, 08:11 but in many people's minds 08:12 Christianity is not associated with good things. 08:16 Are there places in the world 08:18 where someone labeled a Christian 08:20 is identified with immorality? 08:24 You're following along with me? 08:25 There are, there are places in the world 08:27 where people that take the name of Jesus Christ 08:29 are identified with those who do not dress morally, 08:32 do not watch things that are immoral, 08:34 do not live moral lives. 08:36 Are you following along with me? 08:39 How is it with our representation of Jesus? 08:45 How is it with my representation? 08:49 That scripture, 1 Corinthians 4 is embedded in a context, 08:55 and we want to spend a little time 08:56 looking at the context of 1 Corinthians. 09:00 I don't know what kind of churches 09:02 you've been members of, 09:03 and here we're in the Granite Bay Church. 09:05 I'm thankful to be a member of this congregation. 09:09 Not every church though 09:11 has a well desirable pedigree if you will. 09:18 If you turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 09:20 where our memory text came from. 09:23 We're reading about a church. 09:25 We're reading a letter that Paul wrote to a church 09:28 that is not a church 09:30 that had an enviable reputation, 09:33 at least at the time Paul was writing his letter. 09:36 In fact, things were so bad in the Corinthian Church 09:39 that by the time Paul gets to chapter 5 of 1 Corinthians, 09:43 and I'm paraphrasing. 09:45 Chapter 5 opens up where Paul is saying, 09:48 "Things so bad are happening in your church 09:51 that not even the non-Christians 09:54 would think of doing anything like this." 10:00 It's interesting to me though 10:02 that 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians 10:05 really give us some of the clearest insight 10:07 into what it takes to be an effective steward. 10:11 And it actually is crystallized in a number of descriptions 10:15 of the calling that we have as believers. 10:18 Let's look together at, first of all, 10:20 a very key scripture that actually comes 10:24 from 1 Corinthians right before that low point 10:28 if you will in 1 Corinthians 5, 10:31 I'm going to 1 Corinthians 4:16. 10:35 1 Corinthians 4:16, a very short verse, 10:41 but one that really behooves us to really imbibe, 10:47 to really take in. 10:49 There Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 4:16, 10:52 "Therefore I urge you, imitate me." 10:59 Paul is urging believers to do what? 11:02 To imitate him. 11:04 Paul is basically saying that Jesus is calling him 11:08 to be an example of believers. 11:11 They might say, "Well, that's good for Paul, 11:14 but what about for you and me," Paul's example as he writes 11:18 the letters to the Corinthian Church, 11:20 1 and 2 Corinthians, 11:22 is actually revealing his own heart 11:24 in our calling as believers. 11:26 Let's look at some of the descriptions here. 11:27 And the reason we're doing it is because I don't want us 11:30 to fall in the trap, as important as it is 11:33 to understand the call to being stewards, 11:36 the Bible calls us other things as well that take 11:39 in a fuller idea of stewardship. 11:43 In fact, a fuller idea, an idea that we might miss, 11:46 where we just to think about what a steward does, 11:49 and we are going to look at that in detail. 11:51 So let's look a little bit more at some of the descriptions 11:54 of Paul's own calling and the calling of believers. 11:57 Remember, we're looking at Paul's calling 11:59 for two reasons. 12:00 We're to do what? 12:02 We just read in 1 Corinthians 4:16, 12:05 we're to imitate Paul. 12:07 So Paul's calling is my calling as well, 12:09 it's your calling as well because Paul 12:12 under divine inspiration was saying, 12:14 God was leading in his life so that we would imitate, 12:19 that we would catch in him a picture of Jesus. 12:22 Isn't that what it's all about? 12:24 It's not about Paul, it's not about you or me, 12:26 it's reflecting the Master. 12:28 Let's see that. Let's see how that picks up. 12:30 I'm going back to 1 Corinthians 3 now. 12:32 We're just looking at a few other descriptors 12:35 that help us have a better understanding 12:36 of our calling and they all tie in 12:38 ultimately with stewardship. 12:40 1 Corinthians 3:5, let's look at this, 12:45 "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, 12:48 but ministers through whom you believed, 12:52 as the Lord gave to each one?" 12:55 So what is Paul calling himself in this verse? 13:00 A minister. 13:01 So what does a minister do? 13:06 Yeah, you're saying ministers, 13:07 I mean, well, it's a silly question. 13:09 But what does it mean to minister to someone? 13:13 To be a spiritual leader, 13:15 to teach some of these ideas come to... 13:16 Let me ask you this question, and don't all raise your hands 13:19 or don't all shout out at once, 13:21 but has anyone ministered to you 13:23 since you walked through the doors 13:24 of the church this morning? 13:27 I mean, how do, and I see 13:28 some of you nodding your heads, smiling. 13:31 How did someone minister to you? 13:32 Did they teach? 13:33 Did they preach to you as you walked in? 13:36 They prayed with you, they loved you, 13:38 someone was friendly to you. 13:41 So basically, we're seeing that one characteristic 13:43 of this calling, and it really, it takes in, 13:45 it takes in stewardship because we're being entrusted 13:48 as stewards, one's who cares for the Master's goods, 13:52 for the Master's work, 13:54 if you will in the eyes of the lesson, 13:56 the Master's brand. 13:58 Let's look at another descriptor, 14:00 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul says here, 14:05 "For we are God's fellow workers, 14:09 you are God's field, you are God's building." 14:14 Now here's some other interesting imagery, isn't it? 14:17 Now we're what? 14:18 Fellow workers. 14:20 Now, what does that imply? 14:25 Like workers imply, we have some kind of a job, 14:27 we have a work to do, but what is that idea, 14:29 fellow workers imply? 14:33 Yeah, we're working side by side. 14:34 In fact, as you read the opening of 1 Corinthians, 14:38 what was agonizing Paul's heart? 14:40 Was it, there was disunity in the church, 14:43 there were factions in the church, okay. 14:46 This was the report that came back to Paul, 14:48 and the immorality in the church. 14:51 So the church were not being good stewards of the message 14:54 that God has entrusted, 14:56 so as Paul's writing this letter, 14:57 we see all this imagery of what he's called us to be. 15:00 We're called to be God's building, 15:02 His church, His body, His members, 15:05 all this things come out in 1 and 2 Corinthians. 15:08 Let's look at just a few others here, 15:13 chapter 4 began with this imagery of stewards 15:17 and servants, 15:19 but as you slip down to verse 9, 15:22 we catch another glimpse, 1 Corinthians 4:9, 15:26 "For I think that God has displayed us, 15:28 the apostles, last, as men condemned to death, 15:33 for we have been made a spectacle to the world, 15:39 both to angels and to men." 15:43 We are, if you will, actors on a stage, 15:47 not playing a role that really isn't who we are, 15:51 but actually the world is looking on 15:53 at the Christian church. 15:55 The world is looking at you and me, 15:57 they're judging Jesus by us. 15:59 I mean it's a sobering, sobering thought, isn't it? 16:06 Sometime ago, I met a women, we'll call her Lowes. 16:11 And Lowes was telling me with her contact 16:15 with the Christian church. 16:17 It actually happened to be 16:18 the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 16:21 it could've just as well, you could say 16:23 it had been the Baptist Church or Assemblies of God, 16:25 but you think about it. 16:26 What do people think when they hear Christian, 16:29 or Adventist, or any denomination, 16:31 what do they hear? 16:32 Well, Lowes had a unique perspective 16:35 on the local Seventh-day Adventist Church 16:38 because it happened to be right across the street from her. 16:43 So she and her husband didn't see what was happening 16:46 in the church, they had never walked into the church. 16:49 They just saw what was happening 16:51 in the church parking lot. 16:56 So what would someone see if they were looking 16:58 at the Granite Bay Church parking lot? 17:02 Or for those of you that joined us 17:04 from around the world, 17:06 what would they see looking at your church 17:08 from a distance at the parking lot? 17:10 What happens in the parking lot? 17:12 Are there warm greetings? 17:15 Are there angry words spoken? 17:20 If someone giving dirty looks to someone 17:24 'cause they pulled in their parking spot. 17:27 By the way, I'm not speaking about anything 17:28 that I know of happening here at Granite Bay, 17:30 I'm just thinking of the scenario 17:32 that could be played out in many churches. 17:36 And so Lowes and her husband are looking 17:38 at that local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 17:42 Now, how many of you are a little bit on the edge 17:44 of your seat wondering what they saw? 17:46 I mean, I hear stories like this, 17:48 I'm thinking, you know, what's going to happen? 17:50 I mean, what does this woman get to see? 17:53 She said... 17:55 She and her husband said, 17:57 "These look like the happiest people on earth." 18:02 Said, "We have to find out why they're so happy." 18:06 When I met Lowes, 18:07 she was a Seventh-day Adventist. 18:09 She and her husband had been won to the church 18:12 because of what? 18:14 The stewardship of members. 18:16 They were entrusted with this responsibility 18:20 of carrying on the Lord's work. 18:22 And it wasn't just something they put on 18:25 when they walk through the doors of the church, 18:26 it apparently was happening every time they at least drove 18:30 into the church parking lot. 18:32 And if it happened every time they drove 18:34 in the church parking lot, you can be pretty sure, 18:36 it was happening at home too. 18:39 Wouldn't be good if we all had churches 18:41 like the one that Lowes looked at 18:43 that just drew people in, 18:45 because even if they never walked 18:47 through the doors of the church, 18:49 they would say, "If those people are like that, 18:51 I want to find out 18:53 what makes them click." 18:58 Well, few other glimpses of steward, 19:01 few other glimpses here in 1 and 2 Corinthians. 19:04 Maybe your mind has run to 2 Corinthians 5 19:08 because this also ties in 19:10 with this broad concept of stewardship. 19:12 And again, why I thought it was important to do this 19:15 is because if we isolate that single descriptor 19:18 for what we've called to be steward, it's powerful, 19:21 but we don't catch that whole range of meanings 19:24 that we sometimes appreciate 19:26 when we see some of the other adjectives 19:29 that are used to describe believers. 19:32 So let's look here, it is actually a noun, 19:36 we're called to be 19:39 in 2 Corinthians 5:20, 21. 19:45 Paul speaking of his own calling 19:49 of which we are to emulate, 2 Corinthians 5:20, 19:56 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, 20:01 as though God were pleading through us: 20:04 we implore you on Christ's behalf, 20:08 be ye reconciled to God. 20:12 For He made Him Jesus, 20:14 who knew no sin to be sin for us, 20:17 that we might become 20:18 the righteousness of God in Him." 20:23 What's the calling here? 20:26 Ambassadors, representatives of the highest order, 20:31 representing a dignitary, a foreign nation, 20:34 a foreign ruler, we here are on planet earth, 20:38 foreign territory, we're not in heaven, 20:40 and we're called as what? 20:42 Stewards and ambassadors, called as ministers, 20:45 called as kings and priests, 20:48 the descriptors could go on and on. 20:50 That doesn't mean that we're all called 20:52 to fulltime gospel ministry, 20:56 but it means that every one of us 20:58 are called as stewards to represent the king, 21:04 so that's what a steward does, that's what a steward is, 21:07 that's some of the picture 21:09 that these descriptive words give us, 21:13 so that tells us some about the Marks of a Steward, right? 21:18 We are representing the King of kings, 21:21 we are representing that brand of Christianity 21:23 whether you like that analogy or not, 21:27 but there are certain characteristics 21:29 that make a steward an effective one. 21:35 1 Corinthians 4 said one key characteristic 21:40 is faithfulness, faithfulness. 21:44 Let's go to the dictionary for a minute 21:46 and catch this concept. 21:47 What does it mean to be faithful? 21:51 First definition, loyal, constant, 21:56 and steadfast. 21:59 Can refer to of a spouse or a partner, 22:02 never having a sexual relationship 22:04 with any other. 22:05 It can refer to an object, a faithful object, 22:08 an object that is reliable. 22:11 Second definition, 22:12 true to the facts or the original. 22:16 A faithful copy of something. 22:20 Another definition of faithful is firm 22:24 in adherence to promises 22:27 or in observance of duty, faithful. 22:32 And actually, the dictionary tells us 22:35 it's an obsolete definition, 22:37 but it really hints at the origin of the word. 22:40 Faithful literally means full of faith, full of faith. 22:46 Here's what I'd like to suggest to you 22:48 as we look at the Marks of a Steward, 22:49 as we look at everything 22:51 presented in this week's lesson. 22:53 The only way to be a steward and effectively represent 23:00 the King of kings is to have that characteristic 23:04 of being full of faith. 23:07 What do you think? 23:09 I mean, look at the lesson descriptors, 23:12 faithfulness. 23:13 In fact, we saw, 23:15 and we'll look a little bit more momentarily 23:18 at Monday's descriptor that's loyalty. 23:22 Faithfulness and loyalty, essentially, synonymous, 23:27 at least one aspect of faithfulness is being loyal. 23:31 How about a clear conscience on Tuesday? 23:35 What gives us a clear conscience? 23:38 Being faithful, right? 23:41 How about obedience? 23:43 Well, we heard that 23:44 in the definitions of faithfulness, right? 23:46 Being obedient, being faithful, being... 23:51 Holding your allegiance. 23:53 What about trustworthiness? 23:56 Really, all of these descriptors, 23:58 aren't they aspects of being faithful? 24:02 So this sets, what we might say, 24:05 a very high bar because you can say, 24:06 "Well, who has that kind of faith?" 24:09 Turn your Bibles to Romans, then look at Romans 12. 24:16 In Romans 12 we read something that's encouraging to me. 24:20 Romans 12, hopefully, it's encouraging to you too 24:23 because sometimes we look in the mirror, 24:27 and we feel like our faith isn't all that great. 24:32 But Romans 12 reminds us of a great truth, 24:36 Romans 12:3, and it's quite interesting 24:40 because here Paul is getting ready 24:44 to speak about the Christian church, 24:46 this unified church that has different roles. 24:49 It's one of those descriptions of the church as a body, 24:52 but as he is beginning this description, Romans 12:3, 24:56 he says this, "For I say, through the grace given to me, 25:00 to everyone who is among you, 25:02 not to think of himself more highly 25:04 than he ought to think, but to think soberly, 25:09 as God has dealt to every one 25:13 a measure of faith." 25:17 So you might say, "I just don't have faith," 25:19 but you do have faith. 25:21 The Bible says every one of us is given one, 25:24 a measure of faith. 25:27 So here's the question, how do you grow faith? 25:31 How do you grow faith? 25:35 Faith grows like anything else. 25:38 Well, tell you about one of my patients, 25:40 I can tell you about several of my patients. 25:43 I've got a number of patients 25:45 who've had the unfortunate experience 25:47 of having had a stroke. 25:50 And so the stroke destroyed a part of their brain, 25:55 and I'm thinking of some patients 25:56 whose brains were destroyed in regions 25:59 that control the movement on one side of their body. 26:04 See, you come in, and you see one of those patients with me. 26:07 If you were in the office, and you'd see a normal arm 26:10 perhaps on the left, and you look at the right arm 26:14 that has been afflicted with the stroke, 26:16 maybe five, six years ago, and you look at that arm, 26:19 and what's different about the stroke affected arm 26:23 than the arm that is wholly sound, 26:26 what's different? 26:29 That's right, that arm that doesn't have 26:32 the brain nerves supply has not been moving, okay. 26:38 They've not been able to use that arm. 26:40 And as a result, that arm has atrophied. 26:45 "Troph" refers to ''grow'', ''A'' means "without 26:48 or lack of", so there's lack of growth, 26:50 it's atrophic, the muscles have wasted away. 26:56 Why has their arm not gotten stronger? 26:59 Or why has it not even maintained its strength, 27:01 what's the problem? 27:04 That's right, they've not been using their arm. 27:07 The arm was not getting messages from the brain 27:09 and it wasn't being used. 27:10 Well, let's follow the illustration out. 27:13 If as Christians, we're ambassadors and stewards, 27:16 we're taking care of someone else's goods, 27:18 we're representing someone else, who is that? 27:22 That's Jesus. 27:23 And so if we have a connection with Jesus, 27:26 what does He tell us to do with our faith? 27:31 To use it, right? To exercise it. 27:34 Now, for how many of you did it take much faith 27:37 to come to church today? 27:40 I mean, some of you may have, others, 27:42 you're smiling like well, it didn't take much faith 27:44 for me to come to church, and I just jumped in the car. 27:46 Well, for some of you, 27:47 it might have taken a lot of faith, 27:48 maybe you have a car that is very unreliable, okay, 27:52 and a long drive, and you were just praying, 27:55 "Lord, please help this to be the one day this week 27:58 that the car gets to its destination 28:00 without breaking down," right? 28:02 So you had a journey of faith. 28:05 I had a friend who I forget what he said his car ran on. 28:08 It either ran on grace or faith, 28:10 I think it was actually both, right? 28:13 So think about it though. 28:15 How many of you like to be in situations 28:18 where you have to exercise faith? 28:23 I mean, usually, we would prefer things 28:26 just to go smoothly, right? 28:29 But God puts us in situations 28:31 where we have to exercise faith, 28:32 we have to trust Him, we have to move out in faith. 28:36 The quarterly gives perhaps 28:38 one of the great examples of faith. 28:40 It is one of the Bible's crowning examples, 28:43 and it refers us to not only Hebrews 28:47 but also Romans, 28:49 and let's just turn there to Hebrews 11. 28:52 You know that Hebrews 11 is often referred to as what? 28:56 That's right, the faith chapter or the hall of faith. 29:00 The hall of faith there in Hebrews 11. 29:04 We read there about champions of faith, 29:06 some of whom did not seem all that faithful at times. 29:09 I don't know, we often don't sometimes mention 29:11 that part of the story. 29:13 But Hebrews 11, we're going to go to verse 8 29:17 because in verse 8 we bring in sharp focus 29:21 perhaps the person who is identified for faith, 29:24 and yet this individual was not always 29:27 again an emblem of faithfulness. 29:30 Hebrews 11 beginning with verse 8, 29:34 "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out 29:39 to the place where he would receive 29:41 an inheritance and he went out, 29:44 not knowing where he was going." 29:47 I mean, I love this picture. 29:49 And we were talking, 29:50 some of us not long ago about this. 29:52 Can you imagine you're packing the moving truck 29:55 in front of your house, the moving truck is all packed. 29:58 And one of your neighbors says, 30:00 "I didn't know you were leaving." 30:03 It was a hasty packing job. 30:05 They say, "Where are you going?" 30:08 "I don't know, I don't know." 30:11 How would that feel? 30:15 Abraham left prosperity, 30:17 that's what the historical record, 30:19 the archeological record shows us 30:21 Ur of the Chaldees. 30:25 One of the chief cities of its day, 30:26 they found opulent gold artifacts from Ur. 30:31 I mean beautifully crafted, 30:32 I mean this was the place to live. 30:36 I don't know what the place to live is in the eyes 30:38 of the average person in the world. 30:41 May be it's London or Paris, or New York, San Francisco, 30:45 I don't know, it's some great city. 30:47 You're living in an ideal circumstances. 30:50 You say, but Dr. DeRose, I don't like cities. 30:53 Whatever the circumstances, it was the place to live 30:56 and Abraham is told by God to do what? 30:59 To leave. 31:01 No, it's fine to leave but you just want to know 31:04 where you're going, right? 31:06 I mean, you're okay, right, 31:07 you're okay with moving for God, aren't you? 31:10 You're willing to go somewhere where it's not comfortable, 31:12 but are you willing to go not knowing where you're going? 31:16 I mean, it's not really respectable, is it? 31:19 I mean, could you imagine if our one of pastors said, 31:22 "I've an announcement to make, the Lord has called me 31:24 to leave, He's got a different ministry." 31:26 Well, where you going? "I don't know." 31:27 We say, well, I mean that's... 31:30 In ministry, I mean that's just faithfulness, 31:31 maybe you would be inspired by such a pastor. 31:34 But most people are not impressed 31:36 "by those who are exercising such faith as Abraham." 31:40 But you know Abraham's story doesn't end there, 31:42 and if we were to look at all the scriptures 31:44 we would be reminded, we would be reminded 31:46 of other aspects of the faith of Abraham, right? 31:51 How about the sacrifice of his own son. 31:55 I mean, have you ever thought about that? 31:57 That experience on Mount Moriah. 32:00 Abraham getting the message to go 32:03 and to sacrifice his son of promise. 32:08 Look in Hebrews, it mentions that very story, 32:11 and go with me there in Hebrews 11 again 32:17 to 17. 32:19 It's amazing the faith of Abraham 32:22 when you think about it. 32:23 "By faith Abraham," Hebrews 11:17, 32:27 "When he was tested, offered up Isaac 32:31 and he who had received the promises 32:34 offered up his only begotten son. 32:37 Of whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called." 32:42 Concluding that God was able to raise him up 32:45 even from the dead, from which he also received him 32:48 in a figurative sense. 32:50 Do you realize what the scripture 32:52 is telling us here? 32:54 Abraham knew at this point, I mean even though he wavered, 32:57 his faith wavered, didn't it? 32:59 But here when it comes to the sacrifice of Isaac, 33:02 he knows God has called his son Isaac to be the heir. 33:08 And now God, he knows, he knows God's voice, 33:10 God is calling him to sacrifice his son. 33:13 He says, look, I don't know how this works. 33:15 All I know is God's telling me to sacrifice my son 33:19 and he is the heir of promise. 33:21 I believe that if God's calling me to kill my son, 33:24 He could raise him from the dead. 33:27 I mean, is that not remarkable. 33:30 So God is asking for us as stewards 33:33 to have this characteristic of faithfulness. 33:36 And we look at Abraham and we say, I mean how can we, 33:39 how can we have the faith of Abraham. 33:42 We've all been given the measure of faith 33:44 and God gives us opportunities to exercise it. 33:48 And we exercise faith, when we follow God's will, 33:54 especially when it conflicts 33:58 with our desires. 34:01 Right? 34:02 If you're just doing what you're on, 34:05 common sense would tell you to do if you say, 34:06 well, anybody would do that. 34:10 It doesn't take faith. 34:16 Hebrews doesn't end with chapter 11, 34:19 unless we get so focused on things 34:22 that seem awfully stern. 34:25 Like rightly representing the King, 34:27 and being ambassadors, 34:28 and living a life of faithfulness. 34:30 Let's look at really what all this is supposed 34:33 to point the world to. 34:36 Hebrews 12, it points us to Jesus, 34:40 it points us to Jesus. 34:42 Let's look there. 34:43 Hebrews 12, 34:44 speaking of this great cloud of witnesses, 34:47 not that they are somehow cheering us on from heaven... 34:52 Most all of these individuals are sleeping in the grave 34:55 to this day according to the Bible. 34:58 But in chapter 12, it says, "We're surrounded 35:02 by these great witnesses," Just like the Bible said, 35:05 even though Abel was dead, his witness was still speaking. 35:10 Are you following along? 35:11 So these witnesses in Hebrews 11 35:13 are still speaking to us. 35:15 And what are they calling us to do, listen, Hebrews 12... 35:20 No, you there, Hebrews 12:1 and onward. 35:24 "Therefore we also since we are surrounded 35:27 by so great a cloud of witnesses, 35:32 let us lay aside every weight, 35:34 and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 35:38 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 35:44 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, 35:50 who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 35:55 despising the shame, and has sat down 35:58 at the right hand of the throne of God." 36:01 Does this bring it back into focus for us? 36:04 Doesn't it? 36:06 Think about it, we've been called to have faith, right? 36:09 But here Jesus is what? 36:12 He is the author and what? 36:15 The finisher of our faith. 36:17 So the Holy Spirit gives everyone of us 36:20 a measure of faith, and as we exercise 36:22 that faith looking to Jesus, what happens? 36:26 That faith grows, and Jesus is committed 36:29 not only to give us that measure of faith 36:32 but to bring our faith to completion. 36:34 He is the author and the finisher of our faith. 36:38 And you catch what Jesus was doing 36:40 as He looked to the cross. 36:43 He wasn't looking at the shame of the cross. 36:49 As He looked at that calling that He had, 36:51 what was He looking at? 36:54 He was looking at the joy set before Him. 36:58 Remember Lowes and her husband, what did they see 37:01 when they looked across the street 37:03 at that Seventh-day Adventist Church? 37:05 They saw joyful, happy people. 37:10 And sometimes I just scratch my head, 37:12 Jesus was a man of sorrows, right? 37:15 He was acquainted with grief, but was it like to be 37:18 in the presence of Jesus? 37:22 It was joy to be in Jesus' presence. 37:25 I mean who ran to Jesus, little children. 37:29 I mean little children don't run 37:31 to the grumpiest person in the group, they don't. 37:34 It was joy to be in Jesus' presence, 37:36 so how He had the joy of heaven in His heart, 37:39 but He was still burdened with the sins of the world. 37:42 We're called to be His ambassadors, 37:44 His stewards. 37:45 We're called to have the faith of Jesus 37:47 in the midst of the world that is crashing and burning. 37:51 Well, loyalty, a clear conscience, 37:56 let's go to that clear conscience because... 38:02 You know, we observed already 38:04 that all of these are aspects of faith. 38:06 If I'm living a faithful life, I've a clear conscience, right? 38:11 Before God if I'm trusting Him, if I'm walking with Him 38:14 but here is the problem. 38:16 How many of us have lived a perfect Christian life? 38:20 How many of us have walked a perfect walk? 38:22 How many of us have fallen? 38:25 The Bible says, "All have sinned," right, 38:27 "all have come short of the glory of God." 38:28 Only Jesus, right, was tempted at all points without sinning. 38:33 So what hope do we have then? 38:37 Let's look, we're in Hebrews, 38:38 we've been looking a lot at Hebrews. 38:40 Hebrews 10 has some very sober statements. 38:47 We'll look there because Hebrews 38:49 has this balance of encouragement 38:52 and things that bring us 38:54 a greater measure of sobriety. 38:58 Hebrews 10 39:01 beginning with verse 19, 39:06 Hebrews 10 beginning with verse 19, it says, 39:09 "Therefore, brethren having boldness to enter the holiest," 39:14 the most holy place, "by the blood of Jesus. 39:17 By a new and living way, which he consecrated for us, 39:20 through the veil, that is his flesh. 39:22 And having a high priest over the house of God, 39:25 let us draw near with a true heart 39:28 in full assurance of faith, 39:31 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, 39:34 and our bodies washed with pure water." 39:40 So just as there're sobering passages in Hebrews 39:43 about the danger of turning away from Christ, 39:45 there are these pictures of Jesus as our high priest 39:48 that we can come to. 39:49 We'll go back to Hebrews 4 for another picture, 39:52 another word picture of this privilege we have. 39:55 Hebrews 4:14. 39:59 Again, this imagery of Jesus as our high priest in heaven, 40:04 "Seeing then that we have," what? 40:06 "A great high priest who is passed 40:09 through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, 40:13 let us," do what? 40:14 "Hold fast our confession." 40:17 We could say hold fast our faith, 40:19 hold fast our call as stewards. 40:22 "For we don't have a high priest 40:24 who can't sympathize with our weaknesses 40:27 but was in all points tempted like 40:29 as we are yet without sin. 40:31 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace 40:35 that we may obtain mercy 40:37 and find grace to help in time of need." 40:43 You know, the invitation is there for each one of us, 40:46 we can come to Jesus boldly. 40:48 We don't have to be afraid of what's in our past, 40:51 we can come right to Jesus right now. 40:54 He want to equip us 40:55 and fit us to be loyal stewards, 40:58 to be obedient and faithful stewards. 41:02 But, you know, it's still a struggle, 41:04 I know many times and I've dealt with it myself. 41:07 We look at our own past 41:08 and we say, how can God forgive me. 41:11 Some of you might be here today, 41:12 or you might be viewing, 41:13 and you haven't fully connected with the Lord's people. 41:17 You haven't been baptized with Bible baptism. 41:20 You've not come into God's fold fully 41:23 because you don't feel worthy. 41:25 Turn your Bibles to Luke 19. 41:29 I think one of the great stories 41:31 because remember, we can have a clear conscience 41:34 as we're faithful but if we look at our past, 41:36 we often see that our conscience is marred 41:40 and sometimes we can fear to take God at His word, 41:45 when He tells us to come, when Jesus says... 41:49 "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 41:52 and I will give you rest." 41:53 Jesus says, 41:56 I won't cast you out, whoever comes to me, 41:58 I'll no ways cast you out. 42:01 Luke 19, I love this story, it's one of these great stories 42:04 because it teaches us something powerful 42:07 about a clear conscience, it's the story of Zacchaeus. 42:10 You know the story, right? 42:12 Zacchaeus, chief tax collector, a Jew hated by his own people 42:18 because he was in collusion with the Romans. 42:22 Tax collection was synonymous with extortion 42:26 because the tax collectors lined their pockets 42:29 when they could extort more money 42:31 from the tax collecteese if you will, 42:35 that's Zacchaeus. 42:37 But what picture do we get of Zacchaeus 42:40 when Jesus comes to Jericho? 42:44 He is climbing up a tree to see Jesus. 42:48 Now, I want you to think about this. 42:50 He was likely one of the wealthiest men 42:53 in that area. 42:57 How surprised would you be 42:59 to see a wealthy New York businessman 43:03 at the Thanksgiving Day parade shimming up a light post 43:07 to get a better view of the parade, 43:09 what would you think? 43:11 I mean, you think come on. 43:13 I mean, a little kid might do that, right? 43:15 Zacchaeus humbled himself 43:18 because he was so focused on what? 43:21 Looking on to Jesus, right? 43:25 Now what's remarkable about the story 43:27 as it relates to conscience. 43:30 Jesus looks up, He tells Zacchaeus, 43:33 He has already made an appointment at his home, 43:36 but it doesn't stop there. 43:39 As the crowd begins to grumble... 43:44 Zacchaeus, sinner, 43:46 Jesus is going to eat with this guy, 43:48 going to his house. 43:50 Zacchaeus makes a statement in verse 8, 43:53 "Look Lord, I give half my goods to the poor, 43:57 and if I have taken any thing from anyone 44:00 by false accusation, 44:02 I restore fourfold." 44:07 Now listen what Jesus says, verse 9, 44:10 "Today salvation has come to this house 44:16 because he also is a son of Abraham. 44:19 For the son of man has come to seek 44:21 and to save that which was lost." 44:23 Here is the question. 44:25 Has Zacchaeus made everything right in Luke 19? 44:31 He has not. 44:32 There is still a lot of baggage in his life 44:35 that he hasn't fully accounted for yet, 44:37 but what has he decided? 44:38 He has decided to follow Jesus. 44:42 You see, you don't have to wait 44:43 till everything is cleaned up in your life 44:45 to come to Jesus. 44:47 You don't have to wait till everything is perfect. 44:50 Jesus asks you to come as you are. 44:52 Yes, He wants us to repent, 44:54 He wants us to make things right in the past 44:56 but, you know, some of us have so much baggage 44:59 that we would never come to Jesus, right? 45:02 If we just looked at our past. 45:09 I was brought back into the past, 45:11 not my own past 45:13 but the past in the state of Arizona, 45:16 just last week I was speaking at a small church, 45:20 the Benson Church outside of Tucson. 45:24 And some of the gracious church members 45:26 decided to take me to one of the local sites. 45:31 I there learned about a couple of gentlemen. 45:36 Gary Tenen and Randy Tufts, 45:42 couple of amateur spelunkers, cave explorers. 45:46 Back in the '70s, students at the University of Arizona, 45:50 they had heard rumors that somewhere outside of Benson 45:54 there was a cave. 45:55 In fact, 45:57 Randy had been out there some seven years before. 46:00 This is now back in 1974, 46:02 these two individuals go to this location. 46:08 There is a sinkhole there in the middle of some 46:10 vast ranch lands, nobody is around, 46:12 nobody is looking. 46:14 It's private property but... 46:16 I mean who is going to know when you've got 46:17 acres and acres of cattle ranch land. 46:20 And so these two guys go down and they look at a spot 46:24 that Randy had seen some seven years before. 46:28 Heard there was a cave there 46:29 but just doesn't seem there is anyway to get into it, 46:32 but now it actually seemed like, 46:33 I don't know if the ground had moved a little bit 46:35 or maybe things had settled. 46:37 And Gary and Randy thought that 46:39 they could actually get through this small crevice, 46:42 and they make their way in, 46:44 and they find about a hundred feet of cave. 46:50 So obvious other people had been there before, 46:52 there is footprints, there is broken structures, 46:55 cave structures, stalactites or stalagmites, 46:59 they didn't go into detail about it. 47:02 But what attracted them on this particular day 47:08 is there was a warm moist breeze 47:13 coming out when they first arrived. 47:16 And as they got into this 100 feet or so of rooms 47:19 that obviously been occupied before. 47:22 They said there was too much, too much warm breeze coming out 47:27 to actually just be coming from these two small rooms. 47:31 And as they scouted around, 47:33 they found another small passage 47:35 where they crawled for some eight feet or so 47:38 and they came to a tiny three inch hole, 47:44 warm moist air coming out. 47:51 What would you do? 47:53 I tell you what I would probably have done, 47:54 I probably would have left, okay. 47:57 But that was not what these two guys were going to do, 47:59 they had a small sledgehammer. 48:01 Now, I don't have one of these in my armamentarium at home 48:05 but it was a three pound sledgehammer. 48:09 We've got some sledgehammers that are a lot bigger than that 48:11 but I guess they couldn't get anything larger in. 48:15 And as I read through the story, you know, 48:16 in a scientific journal I don't usually read. 48:20 This story is actually found 48:21 in the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 48:25 from back in 1999. 48:27 They are describing exactly what they did. 48:30 They started hammering on this little hole 48:32 until they opened up a hole big enough, 48:36 big enough... 48:38 Boy, it's kind of amazing what they said. 48:42 Okay, I'll read it to you 'cause some of you 48:44 I can tell want to know what they did at that point. 48:49 It says, "They laid in this crawlway, 48:53 for two hours they widened that hole 48:56 with a sledgehammer and a chisel." 48:58 And it says, "Finally they were able to 49:00 squeeze through the hole. 49:03 Tenen first and then Tufts 49:07 but only by taking off their belts 49:10 and exhaling." 49:15 I don't know, 49:17 I think I would have probably wanted 49:19 a little wider than that. 49:21 But as these guys continued their explorations 49:24 that day onward, they ended up finding 49:26 what is called Kartchner Caverns. 49:29 An amazing caverns as I looked at that... 49:33 less than a week ago. 49:35 Amazing cave structures, 49:37 no one had ever been there before. 49:39 It's a living cave, 49:41 and what struck me about the whole story 49:45 is listen to the description of the finders of this cave. 49:50 Here's what they said, "Since we discovered the cave 49:53 in 1974, 49:55 all our efforts 49:57 have been for the purpose 49:59 of protecting the cave for posterity." 50:04 They saw themselves as stewards of the cave. 50:10 And they tell the whole story there 50:11 of how they worked with the State Legislature 50:14 trying to keep everything secret the whole time, 50:17 blindfolding state officials driving them in, 50:20 you know, circuitous routes to bring them to the cave, 50:24 amazing story. 50:26 But now there is this amazing cave 50:29 and the state has spent some, 50:31 they told me $38 million to this point 50:34 developing this cave, 50:35 blasting up until they got to, you know, 50:39 so close that you couldn't say if we blast without damaging 50:42 the cave structures. 50:43 But blasting through large amounts 50:46 and in order to go into this living cave, 50:48 they had to take us through barrier after barrier. 50:51 It's like you're entering some kind of a clean room 50:54 in a semi-conductor factory 50:58 or going into some carefully guarded prison. 51:02 I used to spend a little bit of time 51:05 in the State Mental Facility 51:07 when I was doing my preventive medicine training. 51:09 We had to go through these different doors, 51:11 and all these safeguards, and that's what it was. 51:13 They're controlling the humidity. 51:15 The cave is a living cave. 51:17 Now, here is my point, 51:18 and I think there is some interesting illustrations. 51:21 First of all what drew them into the cave was what? 51:25 This warm wind. 51:27 And in the Bible we often speak about the wind being what? 51:31 The Holy Spirit, right? 51:33 Now you might tell, Dr. DeRose, 51:34 you're taking some liberties here with the account. 51:36 But really, they were drawn into something, 51:39 there was incredible treasure but it wasn't visible. 51:44 I mean isn't that really what Christianity is. 51:46 It's a great treasure that God's entrusted to us. 51:49 I mean, the Bible uses the same illustration 51:51 of the buried treasure, right? 51:53 Where man would sell everything to have the field. 51:56 I guess these guys couldn't buy all the acres 52:00 that the Kartchners owned. 52:02 The Kartchners actually owned that land, 52:04 that's what the caverns are named after. 52:06 Now it's a state park but, 52:09 and what do they see their privilege as. 52:12 It was a joy and privilege to enjoy this amazing cave 52:17 but they didn't wanted just for themselves, 52:20 but they wanted to preserve it. 52:22 They saw themselves as stewards, 52:25 and they were obedient to the trust 52:27 that was committed to them. 52:31 You know, some of you may have scratched your head 52:33 in Thursday's lesson 52:35 where it speaks about trustworthiness. 52:37 Just talked about couple of people 52:38 who were trustworthy 52:39 because the scripture focus 52:41 there is on the parable of the steward in Luke 16. 52:46 We won't read that whole parable there, 52:49 but it is one of the more difficult parables 52:52 because this is a steward who is not being faithful. 52:56 And when his unfaithfulness is discovered by the master, 52:59 what does he say? 53:00 He said, "Listen, I can't do manual labor, 53:02 I can't dig, I'm ashamed to beg, 53:05 I'm not going to be a, you know, pauper begging." 53:07 So what does he do? 53:09 He actually starts trading on the master's goods. 53:13 But not in an honest way, in a dishonest way, 53:15 he starts lowering 53:18 the indebtedness of all the debtors 53:20 to his master, you remember the story, right? 53:22 Someone owes, you know, a hundred pounds or something, 53:24 look, okay, I'll make it fifty. 53:27 And what did the master in that story do? 53:32 He commended that unjust steward. 53:35 Now the master there is not Jesus, 53:38 it's a worldly master, 53:40 who is commending a worldly steward 53:43 for being shrewd in a difficult position. 53:46 But his shrewdness was in taking 53:49 the goods off the master 53:51 and sharing them with other people. 53:54 Isn't that amazing insight into stewardship. 53:59 You know, it's interesting to me, 54:00 Luke 16 is also where you have that parable 54:03 of the rich man in Lazarus. 54:05 And most Christians will not say 54:07 they'd be happy with the church treasurer 54:09 who was skimming the books 54:12 and cheating the church, right? 54:15 But they want to take the parable of the rich man 54:17 in Lazarus very literally. 54:19 I mean you can't do it with either one, 54:20 they are parables, okay, to teach a lesson. 54:22 And the lesson is God has made us 54:24 stewards of His goods, 54:27 and we're to take those goods and do what? 54:29 To share them with others. 54:30 Are we hoarding them to ourselves? 54:34 You know, when I read Tenen and Tufts' account 54:39 of their finding of the Kartchner Caverns, 54:42 they wanted to keep those caves a secret to themselves, 54:46 they did for a number of years, several years. 54:48 But they realized that was not a way 54:51 to be stewards of that great treasure. 54:55 They had to give away what they were given. 54:58 And I think their faith in the whole process increased. 55:02 They had a lot of doubts about what the state would do 55:06 and how things would work out. 55:08 But now thousands of people seeing something of beauty 55:12 that they were entrusted as stewards with. 55:16 Well, there is a lot more we'll be talking about 55:18 in this quarter about stewardship. 55:20 We've also got a free resource for you, 55:23 it's called In God We Trust. 55:25 You can get it free if you're in the US, 55:28 North America by calling 866- Study-More. 55:33 I invite you all to be back with us next week 55:36 as we continue our study on Stewardship, 55:41 Motives of the Heart. 55:43 We'll look forward to seeing you then. 56:03 Have you ever heard the expression before, 56:05 they eat like a bird, 56:06 talking about somebody that has a minuscule appetite? 56:09 Well, you might want to think twice 56:11 the next time you use that expression. 56:13 For example, take the humming bird. 56:15 In order for it to maintain its incredible metabolism, 56:18 it has to eat about 50% of its body weight everyday. 56:23 To put that in perspective, 56:24 if a 100 pound woman was to eat like a humming bird, 56:27 she would have to eat 50 pounds of sugar a day 56:30 just to maintain her body weight, 56:32 imagine that. 56:33 Maybe you don't want to imagine that. 56:36 Or perhaps you want to consider this another way. 56:38 The humming bird typically consumes between 56:40 four to seven calories a day, 56:42 on the other hand a human about 3500 calories a day. 56:46 But if you were to eat like a bird, a humming bird, 56:49 you'd have to eat over 150,000 calories a day. 56:55 Oh, that's like a man of 170 pounds 56:57 that would be eating 3000 Oreo cookies. 57:01 Under normal conditions, 57:02 a humming bird needs to eat every five or ten minutes. 57:05 But there is actually one time during the year, 57:07 the humming bird will eat its entire body weight 57:09 everyday. 57:11 You see once a year they make this migration 57:14 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico 57:17 from Texas to the Yucatan Peninsula. 57:21 In order to do that, 57:22 the humming bird feasts on nectar 57:24 and gorges themselves on this nectar 57:26 for about a week, 57:28 doubling their body weight. 57:30 That's the only way they can store enough calories 57:32 to help them with their 70 wing beats per second 57:35 or roughly 4 million wing beats on that journey. 57:39 You know, in the same way, friends, 57:40 as we near the end of time, 57:42 we need to be feasting and gorging ourselves 57:44 on the nectar of God's Word. 57:46 We've got to be able to have that strength 57:48 to get us through the times of trouble that are ahead. 57:50 So when it comes to the Bible and your personal devotions, 57:53 if you're going to eat like a bird, 57:55 eat like a humming bird. |
Revised 2018-02-05