Sermons

Good morning, everyone. I paid Andrew well to say all that, so I'll be out a lot of money, but it's worth it, right? I live in Louisville, Kentucky, but as you can tell from my accent, I'm not from North Kentucky. So, I do hail from Northern Ireland, where Andrew is from. My wife and I were so humbled to be here. I'm humbled to be here this morning and so thankful for the opportunity to proclaim the glorious truths found in Scripture.

We have loved getting to know you all. We've loved getting time and spending with people while we've been here. And we really deeply appreciate how you all have made us feel so, so welcome. Dallas is just a little bit bigger, a little bit hotter, and a little bit drier than Northern Ireland, but I am surviving. I'm here, but I have my water very close by, just in case I start to heat up a little bit too much.

I really think the church has asked me here this morning to help you get acclimated to the Irish accent, which no doubt will be helpful to you all as Andrew arrives. The Condy family deeply love the Curry’s and Andrew has had the privilege of calling me friend since I was 18 years old and I can't believe I still call him friend today. But we are very excited for them to make the move over here. We have been praying for your church, and we will continue to pray for you during this next new chapter with Andrew coming here. But thank you so much for having us, and thank you for making us feel really welcome.

This morning, our attention will be given to Luke chapter 12, verses 41 to 48. That's Luke chapter 12, verses 41 to 48. And before we read the passage, let me pray for us.

[Prayer] Heavenly Father, Thank you for Your word. Thank You that You have not left us guessing this morning who You are, what You are like, what You have done in the past and what You will do. Thank You that You have graciously revealed Yourself to us. Thank You that we have Your true and living and active word. And I pray this morning that You would change us in and through Your word. I pray this morning that You would give us listening ears, but I also pray that You would give us obedient hearts. All these things I pray in and through the precious name of the Lord Jesus, amen. [End]

I invite you to turn to this passage and as you open it, I want to tell you a story about a time where I had the opportunity to look after a friend's house while they were away on a very exciting holiday. And I made the decision that I was going to be the best house sitter that they had ever had. That I was going to be a good steward, a good manager of the house that they had entrusted to me. Things were going really well. The floors were shining. The wood was sparkling. The pool was completely bug-free, and the dog was happy and well-fed. I'd never seen a tail wag as fast in my life.

But then things drastically went downhill. Right beside the front door was a big, beautiful vase. And because I know how clumsy I am, I thought it would be a great idea to go ahead and move that vase to a very safe place. I carefully grabbed the vase and I started to walk with it when suddenly I tripped on a rug. And I went down, down, down, the vase went up, up, up, and quickly then went down, down, down, and, smash! It went absolutely everywhere. What commenced was a great adventure and an exciting undertaking to find the exact same vase in order to replace the one that I had broken. After many store visits and website searches, I found it, the exact same vase. And when my friends returned, I gladly was able to tell them that I looked after the house that they had entrusted to me with great care. I had been a good keeper of what they had left me. Well, all except the nice new vase by the front door.

You may not be able to relate to this particular story. However, everyone in the room is aware of what it is like to be a steward. To take care of something or someone who is under your care. Last week, you studied closely Luke chapter 12, verses 28 to 40. And today, as we continue in the book of Luke, we will explore verses 41 to 48. And there we will witness Jesus continuing His important teaching on watchfulness, emphasizing the great need to be ready. And as we encounter Luke 12, verses 41 to 48, Jesus calls His followers to be alert, watchful, and ready for the return. But in these particular passages that we're gonna look at today, Jesus sharpens the focus. If you are His servant, He has entrusted you with His household. The question is not only will you be ready when the Master returns, but have you been a faithful and wise steward when the Master returns?

Let's read verses 41 and 48 together:

“Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

So, here's the big idea of these verses. Be faithful and wise stewards, ready at all times for the glorious coming of our Lord. Therefore, what this text enables us to see and be convinced of is that as Christ followers, we should live in the light of God's glorious and victorious return. Not only should we be ready, but we should be faithful and wise stewards of all that Christ has kindly given to us as we wait.

So, to convince us of this reality, we are gonna break this passage into four sections. One, “The Question That Peter Asked The Master Jesus” in verse 41. Two, "The Faithful and Wise Manager Who Is Called Blessed" in verses 42 to 44. Section three, "The Unfaithful Manager" verses 45 to 46. And then lastly, the fourth section, “The Master Rightly Judges” verses 47 to 48.

So the first thing that we encounter in this passage is “The Question That Peter Asked The Master Jesus” in verse 41. In verse 41, he says, Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” Luke chapter 12, verses 41 to 48 reveals the answer Jesus gave to a question from Peter after hearing his teaching on being ready. Peter, the self-appointed spokesperson of the group, wanted to know who this warning actually applies to. He wanted to discover who the parable is for and whether he was the one who needed to be concerned.

However, Jesus doesn't give Peter a straightforward yes or no answer. Rather, Jesus dives right into another parable. I can just picture the scene. Peter is sitting on the edge of his seat, worried and concerned if he is the focus of this warning, and then asking Jesus the question, and then saying, oh no, here he goes with yet another story, and I'm gonna have to ask more questions.

Jesus answers Peter with a story that exposes the heart of every follower. Are you a faithful and wise steward or an unwise and unfaithful servant? Jesus does not reply to Peter's question directly because His main principle is the kind of service that we give, not sorting out who is responsible to give it. By Jesus answering Peter's question in this way, it shows that all have a call to serve others in the church during our wait for Christ's triumphant return.

Jesus highlights that in being His disciple, we have the responsibility to those created in His image. And this is particularly true in leadership. So, the primary audience for this passage is those who are given specific responsibilities within the church and its ministries, like pastoring, teaching, mission work, evangelism, serving in youth and children's ministry. But on the other hand, there is the possibility for wider application, to all who are called to serve in God's household.

Because all that we own and all we have belongs to God and He has given to us all that we have as a kind and gracious gift by Him. Therefore, every single person is accountable to Him, in how we steward them, whether that be our money, our children, our jobs. Now the Bible does clearly teach that those who have been given spiritual responsibility bear greater accountability. It does say in James chapter three and verse one, “not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with great strictness.”

So, there is that warning for those who are in those positions. But also, we must remember that every single person has a responsibility to look after everything that we have, because everything that we have graciously comes from God. Thus, Jesus emphasizes how we are to faithfully serve while we await His return.

And this brings us to our second section of the passage, "The Faithful and Wise Manager Who Is Called Blessed," verses 42 and 44, we see that. Jesus teaches that a wise manager is one who looks after his household well. In ancient culture, in Bible times, the manager, the steward, was actually a slave who was left in charge of the master's household and estate to look after everything while the master was away. A huge responsibility. The manager took care of all the affairs. And though there was nothing that the manager could claim as his own, he was entrusted to handle all with great care, with great honor, and with great devotion.

Here in the text, we see Jesus describe the characteristics of a true manager. The manager is both a faithful steward and a wise steward. Firstly, the manager is faithful. He is faithful because he is constant, he is obedient and reliable even when no one is watching. And secondly, the manager is wise because he is discerning in how the household uses what he has been given. And when God entrusts you with something, time, family, money, gifts, you are a steward and not an owner.

We see this parable humbly inviting us to examine ourselves. How are we stewarding what God has entrusted to us while we wait for Christ's return? Are we using the gifts that God has given us for His glory? Are we living like someone expecting Christ's return at any moment? Like an employee who knows that their boss could walk in at any moment. A faithful steward doesn't need to panic when the master returns because they have been working all along.

Therefore, if you are a parent this morning and you have been entrusted with children. Daily ask God to help you to faithfully bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, as it says in Ephesians chapter six and verse four. Earnestly and daily pray that God would graciously draw your children onto Himself and save them. What a privilege God has given you as parents to pray for your children. What a privilege to be able to open up the Scriptures and to be able to teach them the glorious truths that are found in there. To be able to teach them about how faithful, how kind, how glorious our God is. May we be wise and faithful stewards of our children.

If you are responsible for teaching, teaching the Bible, pray what it says in Timothy 4 and 16. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” “Pray that daily you would walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh,”as it says in Galatians 5, verse 16 and 18. Perhaps you are a husband this morning. The Bible teaches us that as husbands we are to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Pray that God would daily help us to daily point our wives' visions to Christ and the glorious gospel.

And to help us to be faithful and wise stewards, study God's Word each and every day. We need it. We desperately need to be in God's Word to remind us of the way that we are to be living every single day, to be faithful, to be wise. Write out Bible verses and place them in places where you'll be reminded of that truth. In your kitchen windows as you clean and cook and wash the dishes. In your bathroom mirror, as you get ready in the morning, you can quickly glance at yourself and say, I need a lot of help, and then look at the Bible verse and be reminded of truth. Place Bible verses on the dash of your car. And so, as you're traveling from place to place, then you're reminded of that truth and the way that as children of God, we are to live for the Master.

Verses like Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25. “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” Verses like Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2. “Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” When we hear what the faithful and wise manager does, we discover in this passage a key phrase. Look with me at verse 43. It says in verse 43, “Blessed, (blessed) is the servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”

What does Jesus say in that verse? “Blessed.” That is a most kind word. And we see that the blessing comes from faithfully carrying out one's duties, fully aware of the Master's return, that it could happen at any moment. How amazing is that this morning? Does that not just thrill your hearts that Jesus gives a blessing to those who follow Him and who are faithful and wise stewards to look after what He has entrusted to them?

It's even more than that. God rewards faithfulness with greater kingdom opportunity. And as you read this, this truth should humble you this morning. And as it humbles you, it then should magnify how gracious and how kind God is. That He would call His faithful stewards blessed. This morning, if you're a child of God, we deserve nothing, absolutely nothing, because we have done nothing to deserve to be called blessed. But yet this morning, the truth of Scripture says that God in His mercy and in His love and in His grace and in His kindness says that if you are a faithful and if you are a wise, manager, steward, then He calls you blessed.

This shows us the heart of our Master, that He deeply loves and he deeply cares for His stewards. Knowing this truth should propel us to be faithful and wise with all that God has graciously given us. Knowing what awaits us when He returns in all His majesty, in all His victory, and in all His glory. So, this morning, thank God that He has called you to be part of His church, specifically this church, a church where you can faithfully serve God and be part of His immeasurable kingdom work, faithfully stewarding what God has entrusted to you.

But sadly, we don't just read in this passage about a faithful and wise manager. This brings us to our third section. The third section in this text, "The Unfaithful Manager," Verses 45 to 46, we get to read that. Jesus in this text now depicts another type of manager. One that is completely opposite to the faithful and wise manager. Now this manager is not concerned about the master's return. Instead, knowing his master is gone and late returning, he does not fail as the working is imperative. And as a result, the unfaithful manager does not carry out his responsibilities properly. Rather, he takes advantage of his possessions and treats his fellow servants very poorly. Instead of caring, he beats them. Instead of distributing the food, he takes it for his own pleasure.

And from this, we see three characteristics to the foolish steward. One, he presumes delay. My master is delayed in coming, so I don't need to work properly. Two, he abuses authority. He beats the servants and mistreats others. And three, he lives self-indulgently, eats, drinks, and gets drunk. These characteristics reveal what the heart truly believes. However, thankfully, the way he is acting is interrupted by the return of his master, who completely exposes his actions.

From that moment, the parable takes a drastic change. What follows comes a very serious warning. Here the passage uses strong language, frightening language. It is judgment language. It shows that mere outward association with Christ does not grant you salvation. The unfaithful servant is exposed as false. Some may profess Christ, yet prove themselves unbelieving by their actions, by their disobedience. And this is what is also highlighted when you read 1 John 2, verse 19, where it says this, “...they went out from us. but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain, and they all are not of us.”

Therefore, the way we treat others, especially those under our care, reveals if we truly understand who the Master is. It can be easy to act like a Christian on Sunday morning, but what about Monday morning when no one is looking? This passage warns against being an unfaithful and unwise servant. If that is you today, the Bible teaches that you must repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved as it says in Acts chapter 16 and verse 31.

But the parable doesn't just end there by explaining that there are unfaithful managers but the parable also teaches another important truth, and it brings us to section four in the passage. Section four is, “The Master Rightly Judges,” and we read that in verses 47 through to 48. Jesus ends the parable by the master doing what is right. He is righteously judging the managers. There are three types of unfaithful managers in this passage, and all three are judged accordingly.

Type one, we see in verses 45 to 46, looks at deliberate disobedience. This is where the servant does the complete opposite to what is commanded. The parable says what will happen is he'll be cut into pieces and put with the unfaithful. Then we have type two. And we see type two in verse 47. It is where the manager is disobedient, but disobedience that is not as severe as type one. And he will be severely beaten. And then type three, we read that in verse 48. It looks at disobedience and ignorance. And he receives a light beating.

But then comes the key line. It says, “Everyone to whom much was given of him, much will be required.” This verse especially applies to those who have access to truth, church leaders, people coming to church each Sunday, being brought up by Christian parents. With great truth comes great responsibility. And this church, I am thankful that you hear faithful teaching each and every Sunday. You have access to much instruction and resources. Therefore, this makes us responsible for much.

Reading about this judgment can be difficult to hear. We're hearing that there is danger. We're hearing that there is a warning to heed. When you are faithful, you are blessed. But when you are unfaithful, then there are serious consequences. Do you see that this morning? Faithful, blessed. Unfaithful and unwise, there are serious consequences. And when we read that, yes, it can be difficult to hear, but what we must remember, that God's judgment will always, always be just and always right. He will always do what is right, which this morning gives us beautiful hope and peace while reading about a serious warning.

So, when you read the parable with the severe warning, it propels us to assess and ask the question, what are you doing with what God has entrusted to you? Are you faithful with the gospel, with your talents, with your time? This parable speaks directly to church leaders. Have you been faithful shepherds or selfish abusers? It speaks to Christian parents. Are we stewarding by teaching the life-giving gospel message to our children? It speaks to every believer. Are we living like Jesus is coming back or living as if it may never happen?

And as we think about these questions, we really need to let our vision be totally focused and gripped on the Master. We need this morning for our minds to think about who the Master is, and what He is like. May we think about what Christ has given to His children. And when we do that, when we totally focus on the Master, our hearts should be inclined to live a life that would be one of faithfulness to the God of grace who has redeemed us.

Therefore, this parable exists, not so much to inform us of the details of the future, but to prepare us to serve God faithfully. Therefore, this serious, serious warning, what it does, it reminds us that stewardship is not an option.

Every believer is entrusted with gifts, opportunities, relationships, and with truth. And we must faithfully use them for God's glory and for the extension of His immeasurable kingdom. And it also reminds us that judgment is certain. Christ will return as our Lord and judge. He will reward those who have been faithful and wise, and He will also rightfully judge those who have not been faithful.

Therefore, it is vitally important that we read these verses through the lens of the gospel. Our obedience does not earn salvation, but it reveals it. This parable isn't just a call to try harder. It's a call to look to Christ. Jesus is the perfect steward. He was faithful even to death. He always did the Father's will.

The gospel tells us that Jesus was the faithful servant who never faltered, yet He was cut off in our place. It is not our victory. We have done nothing to gain or add to that victory. Jesus is the great victor and the only victor capable of conquering the devil, sin and death. What a joy this morning to know that there will be victory. Christ has triumphantly trampled on the grave, defeated sin, that one day as faithful and wise stewards, one day we will see Him face to face. And He will welcome us into a life of everlasting peace and joy with Him forever and ever and ever. Now that is victory.

And because what Christ has accomplished, one day, one day all our troubles will be no more. Whenever we read Revelation 21 and four, it tells us that one day “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain where “the former things have passed away.”

And knowing that truth should drive us every single morning when we get up, that we will be faithful and wise stewards, living in the light of Christ's victorious return. In the gospel, we discover that Jesus, the Son of God, died to save sinners from the greatest trouble anyone can face, that of eternal peril, the peril of the righteous judgment of a holy God who in His justice must punish sin.

Jesus suffered that we might know peace, that we might be part of being stewards in His household. A peace that comes when we know that all our sins are completely forgiven. And we are reconciled to the very one who could have left us in our trouble. And because of what Christ has accomplished, one day, one day all our troubles will be no more.

The gospel clearly proclaims that even if you have been an unfaithful servant, there is forgiveness in Christ. Therefore, knowing the gospel should thrust you to live not for yourself, but for the King who is coming. To be a faithful and wise manager we must live our lives as if we will answer the Master tonight.

That we should not, that this passage should not cast fear in us, rather it should call us to joyful urgency. Don't say that I will serve later, rather that we will be faithful today. This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. So, keep being faithful.

A faithful husband, a faithful coworker, a faithful son or daughter, a faithful teacher of God's Word. Be a good manager of all that God has entrusted you with. Take your responsibility seriously. Leaders, pastors, mentors, you are stewards. You will give an account and this should humble us, but also drive us to Christ for grace.

Then you will be blessed. May we be found faithful. not perfect, but obedient, not careless, but watchful. By the gracious help of the Holy Spirit, let us live each day as stewards of the King, waiting for His glorious return, laboring not for ourselves, but for the Master who loved us and gave Himself for us.

So, this morning, study the glorious Savior. Thank Him for what He has entrusted to you as stewards for His kingdom. And as we remember that He is victoriously coming again, that we will be found a faithful and wise steward. Let us pray.

[Prayer] Heavenly Father, thank You for the kind and gracious gift of Your word, the Bible. May we not only be hearers, but doers. May we be faithfully stewarding all that You have given us. Faithfully serving You as we look forward to Your glorious and victorious return. So God, daily help us to be faithful. All these things we pray in and through the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.[End]

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