JESUS’

OWNERSHIP,

YOUR

stewardship

James 5: 1-6 1 Now listen, you rich people, weep andwail because of the misery that is comingon you.

2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths haveeaten your clothes.

3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Theircorrosion will testify against you and eatyour flesh like fire. You have hoardedwealth in the last days.

James 5: 1-6 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay theworkers who mowed your fields are cryingout against you. The cries of theharvesters have reached the ears of theLord Almighty.5 You have lived on earth in luxury andself-indulgence. You have fattenedyourselves in the day of slaughter.6 You have condemned and murdered theinnocent one, who was not opposing you.

Perceptions

SinWe sin against God.

SufferingWhen we’re hurting, struggling,

weeping, and dying, we need comfort, we need encouragement, we need

love, grace, and mercy, and assistance from God and God’s people.

Stewardship is really about all the things that God

entrusts to us. Our time, our talent, our treasure, the totality of our life and how we invest it to God’s glory and others’

good.

Four categories

of wealth

in the bible

GODLY POOR

GODLY RICH

UNGODLY POOR

UNGODLY RICH

Wealth

today

Even globally, we live at a standard

and level of living that we just want

to be very careful that we think

biblically, we think historically, that

we don’t just think economically, or

socially, or selfishly.

THE GODLY

POOR & THE

UNGODLY RICH

Here’s the big idea: You can’t take it

with you, but you can send it on

ahead. That’s what Jesus says.

Store up your treasures in heaven.

You can send it on ahead.

Matthew 6:19-20 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

By sharing, by being generous,

God, who in the end does all the

accounting, will reward you

eternally for your faithfulness

presently. That’s what he’s saying.

HOARDING &

DEFRAUDING

So, the first problem is HOARDING. It’s not that you don’t have a right to

take your wealth and to purchase something, but if you have things you

don’t even need, if you have things you don’t even use, does not your heart

open to love, to help, and to serve, and to bless others? If not, then you don’t have the heart of God because that’s

God’s heart.

God’s heart

is a giving heart.

God’s heart

is a sharing heart.

God’s heart

is a glad heart.

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING.

The labourers that he’s speaking of do

love the Lord, and they’re receiving

tremendous injustice and so they are

crying out to the Lord. These are

hardworking guys who are supposed to

get paid at the end of the day so they

can go home and provide dinner for

their family. And they worked hard all

day and they didn’t get paid.

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING.

OUR CREATOR

ENDOWED US

WITH RIGHTS

PRINCIPLES Of

WORLDLY

OWNERSHIP

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING. I DO NOT BELONG

TO THE LORD

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING.

NOTHING I HAVE

BELONGS

TO THE LORD

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING.

I DESERVE

ALL THAT

I WORK FOR

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING. I ONLY ANSWER

TO MYSELF

That’s the underlying ideology that James is going after in the ungodly rich.

It’s this issue of ownership. What’s mine is mine, what’s yours is mine.

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING. I BELONG TO THE

LORD

Romans 1:6 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Don’t think it’s a bad thing. Jesus is way better in control than you. He’s

way better in charge than you. Jesus died for me. He paid a price

to purchase me. We’re his possession. We belong to him.

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING. EVERYTHING I HAVE

BELONGS TO HIM

Everything we have belongs to him. It’s his ownership, my stewardship.

Everything belongs to the Lord.

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING. EVERYTHING

I HAVE IS A GIFT

Everything we have is a gift. When the sense of entitlement is gone, the sense of presumption is gone, and the sense of awe, wonder, and

gratitude has come. Christians should always live, to some degree,

in that state—that it’s all a gift.

Jesus just gives. He gives his righteousness, he gives his holiness, he gives his love, his grace, his mercy, and his forgiveness. He goes to the cross, he gives his body, he gives his blood.

He gives it all. He gives. Everything you have spiritually is a gift. Everything we have physically is a gift. Everything we

have relationally—it’s a gift.

The people in your life are a gift. The opportunities in your life are a

gift. The possessions in your life are a gift. The resources in your life are a gift. The days in your life—they’re a gift. And the greatest gift of all is

salvation

So, he rebukes for hoarding and also DEFRAUDING.

I AM A

STEWARD

OF THE LORD

If we belong to the Lord, and everything we have belongs to the Lord, and everything we have is a gift from the Lord, then we are a

steward of the Lord. And a steward recognizes and realizes that if it’s Jesus’ stuff, he ultimately gets to

decide what I do with it.

PRINCIPLES

OF GODLY

STEWARDSHIP

GENEROUS

PARENTS

This is why James is so angry, and he’s so frustrated. Because what he has is,

he has godly, poor people who are generous stewards, and they’re good givers, and then he’s got ungodly, rich people who are thinking like owners and not stewards, and they’re takers,

and they’re not givers, and they’re stealing and defrauding, and he sees

the injustice in it all.

The anecdote to hoarding and defrauding is giving. It neutralizes

it. It disarms it. It defeats it.

Give to get a blessing. Here’s what we’re saying: “Give to be a

blessing.” God gives, and God’s blessed by his giving, and God is

joyful in his giving. That’s why the Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. God is a cheerful giver. You don’t give to get a blessing; you

give to be a blessing.

You know what he didn’t need to hear? A prosperity sermon. “That God will return it a hundredfold.

That’s going to be a lot more loot. You’ll add your—” That’s wrong.

You don’t give to get a blessing; you give to be a blessing. And the

blessing is seeing other people blessed.

God gives generously, lavishly. God enjoys giving. God loves giving and his joy is in being a blessing. And then when he saves us and he

entrusts to us as stewards, as we get an opportunity to give

generously, it’s not giving to get, it’s getting to give.

DON’T WASTE

AN OPPORTUNITY

FOR JOY

Wouldn’t it be great if you could feed your family? Wouldn’t it be great if we could give to the Lord, give to the poor, help others, and be generous? Wouldn’t it be great if you could employ people? And if you do, don’t do James 5. And if God is generous with us, we want to be

generous with others. We don’t care how much you make, but God cares

what you do with it faith

FAITHWORKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GLOBAL

Presented By:

Vitaliano C. GutierrezFCC Main, San Mateo, Rizal, PH

10AM Morning ServiceJune 5, 2016

Website: faithworkschristianchurch.comFacebook: Faithworks Christian Church GlobalTwitter: @fccphilippinesInstagram: fccphilippines