On Loan // First and Best - Week 3

He's deserving of it. And wasn't that so awesome? Seeing all those baptisms today. Come on, God is moving in our church. I wanted to just remind you of it. Kyla said it, but picture with me, 200 kids that normally would not get gifts for Christmas that we get to bless them with a shopping mall S experience. Isn't that gonna be so cool? And so you can give towards that, $100 for a child, three gifts of $25, and we also wanna give every child a Bible, the action kids Bible at their age. And so we wanna give them nice gifts for Christmas. And then what's so cool about this is they're gonna come that day, December 5th, and the parents are gonna come only. The kids aren't gonna come. The parents are gonna come only. And so the kids aren't even gonna know about it. We're gonna wrap their gifts up. We're gonna send them on their way. And on Christmas, you know who gets to be the hero? The parents get to be the hero, not Calvary Church. Come on, isn't that gonna be so awesome? I'm so excited about that. So $100 a child, you can scan to give the QR code is giving hope if you're doing text giving or online giving. And then I do need a hundred of you to serve. It's gonna be an amazing day.

Come on, how much fun is that gonna be wrapping gifts and blessing people? That's gonna be more fun than that actually is work. We're gonna have an amazing, amazing time. And then we're gonna invite them all back that next day. 'Cause that next day is plus one Sunday. And you actually received a one more card in your bulletin today. I'm asking you to write who is your one that's close to you but far from God. And I want you to pray for them for the next six weeks that God's gonna give you an opportunity to invite them to church December 6th. We're doing Christmas at the movies, my favorite Christmas movie. We're gonna show on the big screen that day, clips of it and clips of my message. And then we're gonna give a salvation response. Believe in for 50 people to give their life to Jesus. Come on, it's gonna be an awesome, awesome day. All right. Hey, let's stand for the reading of God's word. If you would today, just out of reverence. Luke chapter 19 is where we're going to be today. Now heads up this last verse that I'm gonna read is a little strong, it's kind of savage. But when I'm done reading it, I'm gonna say in all the God's people said, and when I do that, we're gonna say amen because whatever the word of God says is the word of God

and we love and respect the word of God, amen? All right, so Luke chapter 19, here's what it says. As they heard these things, he Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable because he was near to Jerusalem. And because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. A nobleman went into the far country to receive a kingdom for himself in them return. Now what he's doing is he's prophetically foreshadowing what's going to happen someday. Now calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 menas. Now, a mena was three to four months wages, so think like $20,000 in our context today. And he said to him, engage in business until I come, but his citizens hated him. And they sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him and he said, Lord, your mena has made 10 menas more. And he said, well done, good and faithful servant. Because you've been faithful and very little, you'll now have authority over 10 cities. The second came and said, Lord, your mena has made five menas. And he said to him, very good,

you're to be over five cities. Then another came and saying, Lord, here's your mena which I kept laid awake in a handkerchief for I was afraid, everyone say afraid. I was afraid of you because you're a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and you reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, he said, I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked and lazy servants. You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I didn't sow. Why then did you not place that money in the bank? And at least at my coming, I might have collected it with interest. And he said to those used to buy, take that one mena from him and give it to the one who already has 10 menas. And they said, but Lord, he already has 10 menas. Now this is Jesus' point and this is what we're gonna study today, that to everyone who has more, more will be given. But for the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them and slaughter them before me. And all the God's people said, I told you it was a strong hand, you may be seated, okay? All right, what's happening in this passage

is Jesus is telling his disciples, that's you and me, blood-bought possessions of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's telling you and me today, hit Calvary Church, beware. What you're doing with your life and how you're spending your time, your energy and your resources, what you're doing in this time between the first coming and the second coming, how many no one day Jesus is gonna come back again, between your first coming and your second coming, it's extremely important. And I'm gonna jump right into the text today just for time purposes. And I'm gonna give you three principles for how God wants us to steward, three principles for how God wants us to steward our lives while we have them. Principle number one, if you're taking notes. You got to get this in your heart. This is not just a giving principle today. This is a life principle. Number one is this, you're a steward, not an owner. A true disciple of Jesus Christ realizes that there are steward, not an owner. A disciple is a steward, not an owner. Everyone say steward. Now in this passage that we just studied, the nobleman essentially grabs his senior VPs and says, I'm going to trust you with some of my investments.

I want you to manage them while I'm gone. But here's the deal. Even while they're managing those investments, they don't own them. They're managing something that belongs to someone else. That's called stewardship. So what does that word steward mean? Well, let me put it like this. There's a difference between selfishness, stealing, and stewardship. Let me say that again. There's a difference between selfishness, stealing, and stewardship. Okay, check this out. So some people live their lives with this mentality. Now what's mine is mine, what's mine is mine, and I'm going to keep it. The Bible calls that selfishness. What's mine is mine, and I'm going to keep it. I earned that money. I made that thing happen. I built that business. What's mine is mine, and I'm going to keep it. Now some people, they don't do selfishness. What they do is called stealing. What they do is they say, what's yours is mine, and I'm going to take it. What's yours is mine, and I'm going to take it. Now the Bible calls that stealing unless you're the government,

and then they call that socialism, but that's for another sermon at another time, okay? You didn't laugh as hard as the 8 a.m. on that one, all right? But disciples of Jesus say this, what's mine is God's, and that's called stewardship. A steward understands that everything that I own is actually on loan from God. It came from him, and it belongs to him, and one day I'm going to stand before the Lord and give an account of what he gave me, and what I did with what he gave me. Romans 11, 36 says, for from him, and through him, and to him are all things, to him be the glory and honor forever. So everything that we have, and everything that we've been entrusted belongs to God. Now I told you last week, in the message, some really encouraging news, that one day you're going to die. I know, really encouraging stuff. Somebody like Pastor Dan, I came to be encouraged today. I came to be encouraged by the baptisms that were happening. Could you be a little bit more positive today? Okay, let me say it this way. I am a 100% positive one day you're going to die. And one day when you die, not long after, they're going to place your body in the ground. They're going to throw some dirt on you, and everybody who loves you is going to go back to a reception hall or the funeral home,

and they're going to eat some potato salad and talk about what a great person you were. And then not a couple days later, maybe a couple of your kids are going to go back to your house, and they're going to start going through all of your stuff. And you know what they're going to discover? They don't want half of it. Ladies, those mom jeans that you just spent $90 on that you just had to have? Newsflash, they're going to Goodwill, and somebody else is going to buy them for five bucks and look better in those mom jeans than you ever did. Come on, someone, guys, those expensive golf clubs that you just had to have. You had to spend thousands of dollars on those golf clubs so that you could play golf three times a year. Somebody else is going to buy them for 50 bucks, and they're going to be better at golf than you. I'm being a little sarcastic today, but here's the point that I'm driving. Everything that you think that you own is really on loan. Everything that you think that you own is really on loan. You came into this world with nothing, and you're going to leave this world with nothing. This is Psalm 24 verse one. It says, "The earth is the Lord, and everything in it, all who live in it." So everything you have came from God, and everything you have belongs to God, you're simply managing and stewarding it for a little while.

Now, the Bible calls God our Father and we're His children. And sometimes, just like little kids, we forget some pretty obvious things. So growing up, my parents would occasionally tell me, my parents called me Danny growing up. They said, "Danny, your room is messy. It's time for you to go and clean your room." And I would be like any kid that was seven or eight or nine. I would not want to clean my room. I'd want to be playing with my friends. I'd want to be downstairs watching TV. I would want to be doing anything else, but clean my room. And I'd say, "What? I don't want to clean my room. I'm not doing it. It's my room and it's my stuff." And my parents would look at each other and they'd laugh. And they'd say, "Oh, that's cute little Danny. But let's remind you today of this reality that you don't have any stuff." My dad would say, "Your mother and I bought that stuff and we're letting you use it for a little while." And I'd say, "No, no, no. Those toys are my toys. I bought some of those toys with my own money." And they'd look at each other and they'd laugh again. They'd go, "Oh, bless your heart, little Danny." But you didn't really have any money either to buy that stuff. We gave you some of that money so that you could buy those toys. And I would finally say something to the effect.

I'd say, "But it's my room. It's my room. You can't tell me what to do." And they'd look at each other and they'd laugh and they'd say, "No, no, no. we pay the utilities, and we graciously let you live in one of the rooms of our big house. Parents, can I hear a good amen right there? Here's what we have to understand today. We're the children in God's family, and sometimes our Heavenly Father needs to remind us of the same thing. Let me remind you of this reality today. Listen, you don't actually own a house. Your Heavenly Father owns a house, and He's graciously letting you live in the house that you have. Listen to me today, you actually don't really earn an income. Your Father has resources. The Bible says all of Heaven's resources are at His disposal. Come on, we serve the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He's entrusted some of them to you in this season. Let me get a little bit stronger today. You don't even have a life. You're a blood-bought possession of the Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased your life at Calvary when He paid the price for your sins. You were destined and headed to hell, but thanks be to God who died for your sins, and now He's entrusted you one life to live for His glory and His honor. That stewardship. You've got to get this in your heart. This is not a giving principle today. This is a life principle. Principle number one is this. We're stewards, not owners. Principle number two is this. Stewards use His stuff then to do the Master's will. If you're a steward, you've got to understand the second point then, that stewards use His stuff to do the Master's will. Stewards use His stuff to do the Master's will. Now, let's go back to the parable for a moment today. Let me remind you of what happened in this story. One servant takes one Mina and turns it into ten. The Master commends him, he applauds him, and he gives him authority then over ten cities. Another takes one Mina and turns it into five, and the Master gives him authority over five cities. But then there's this third servant. You remember the word that I said earlier? He was afraid. He was so concerned with losing what had been entrusted to him that he did absolutely nothing with it. He wrapped it in a handkerchief and he put it away. And here's what I need you to understand, that what we fear the most reveals where we trust God the least. And so we have this mindset in our culture today.

We have this mindset that says, "Well, what if I run out? What if I actually don't have enough? What if I lose what I've got? What if I lose my job? Pastor Dan, have you seen the economy right now? Have you seen the price of gas and groceries right now? It's expensive to live in New Jersey. What if I lose it all?" And in his fear, he failed to do what the Master had asked him to do. Listen to the Master's response in Luke 19, 22, "I will judge you by your own words." He says, "You wicked and you lazy servants." Now, here's a sobering reality today. Someday every single person in this room is going to stand before the Lord. And I talked about it last week. You can go listen to the message if you'd like to again, but there's two questions that are going to be asked of you one moment after you die. The first question is this, number one, what did you do with my son Jesus? That's a heaven or hell question. And if you know Jesus, you're going to heaven. And if you don't know Jesus, you will be in hell. The second question is only if you get question number one right. The second question is only if you're going to heaven. And the second question is this, what did you do with the life that I gave you? And you're going to stand before the Lord and you're going to give an account for everything that you did in this life. The gifts, the opportunities, the resources he's entrusted to you. The question is this, are we using what belongs to God to accomplish what matters most to God? Because that's what a steward does. So what does the Master's will? What does God actually want us to do with what he's entrusted to us? Now, for the next few minutes, and I would even just say this today, for those that are here to celebrate somebody that got baptized or those that are here, even relatively new to our church, maybe six months or less, I would just be honest with you, that the rest of this message really isn't for you. I love you. I'm so glad that you're come back in two weeks. We're going to be talking about giants, how God takes ordinary people and uses them in extraordinary way. It's going to be great and encouraging. You're going to love it. But these next couple minutes are for people that want to grow in discipleship. These next couple minutes are for people that really say they want to follow Jesus and Calvary church is their church, and they just want to be obedient to what the Bible has to say. Now, I know it's going to get uncomfortable for the next few moments, but I want to teach you what the Bible has to say. Let me just say this. Thank you so much for the way that you guys honored and appreciated me last week. I am so blessed to be your pastor. My wife and I, we talk about it almost every day when we take a family walk. It is the greatest honor and the greatest privilege to serve as your pastor,

and I love you, church. I'm for you. But I have to tell you the truth, as your pastor, I love you too much to not tell you one of the biggest blessings and one of the greatest steps of obedience I've taken and fallen Jesus. And I've seen the hand of God. I've seen the blessing of God in my life. I love you enough to teach you what the full word of God says. Is everyone okay if I teach you what the Bible says today? Colossians tells us that Jesus is before all things, and in him, all things are held together. And I think about this. God gave his Listen, he didn't give his leftovers. He gave his Son. The Bible says, "For God so loved the world that he what, that he gave, and because God is first, he gave his best, and his best to us, he calls us then to steward and to honor then our first and our best." The Bible uses the word, here's this word. It's the word tithe. Let me teach you on the tithe for a moment. Leviticus 27, verse 30. Here's what the Bible says. A tithe of everything belongs to the Lord. A tithe of everything. Notice this word belongs to the Lord. This word belongs to the Lord. Some of these verses say it's mine. Now when you see the word tithe, that word tithe, for those that don't know, it means 10th. So that means 10% of your income belongs to the Lord through the local church. So every now and then someone will come up to me and they'll come up all excited. They'll be like, "Pastor Dan, I'm so excited.

I'm tithing 4%." And I cheer them on and I encourage them. But I say, let me just remind you of something that's actually not tithing, that's called percentage giving. And I'm so happy that the curse of greed has been broken off your life as you've given some amount. But a tithe does not mean that you're giving 2% or 6% or 8%. A tithe isn't tossed in a Benjamin or a honey in there every now and then as the offering goes by. That's not a tithe. Listen, there's a difference between tithing and tipping God. Okay, so you tip somebody at the restaurant as you appreciate the way that they serve. You tithe to show adoration to the one that you serve. Listen by all means, please tip your waiter and tip them well. But listen to the God who made the heavens and the earth, the God who made you and formed you, the God who's the beginning and the end, the God who's the alpha and omega, he deserves the tithe. And because he's first in everything, he's saying, "Hey, I also want you to return your first to me." Now Proverbs three, nine and 10. Here's what it says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth "with the first fruits of all of your crops, "then your barns will be filled to overflowing "and your vats will brim over with new wine." Everyone say first fruits. Notice that word. That principle isn't only saying give God 10%.

It's honoring him with the first 10%. Because God doesn't want to be an afterthought in our lives. God wants to be first. God wants to be first in your life. He wants to be first in your life. Now some of you are wondering to say, "Pastor Dan, why 10%?" What's the deal with that? Well, if you study the Bible, you'll notice something very interesting that throughout scripture, the number 10 is often connected with testing. All right, so pop quiz class. Let's play a little game together. I need you to participate, all right? 'Cause I love it when everyone participates with me, all right? So I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions and you just gotta answer, okay? And I'm gonna be honest with you. It's the same answer over and over and over again, all right? So everyone participate in, because I love it when you guys participate with me. Ready? Class answer. How many plagues were there in Egypt? All right, that was pretty weak. How many plagues were there in Egypt? All right, everyone participate. How many commandments in scripture? How many times did God test Israel in the wilderness?

How many times were Jacob's wages changed? How many days was Daniel tested? How many virgins were tested in Matthew 25? How many days of testing are mentioned in Revelation 2? How many disciples are there? I got something right there on that. I got you. Now, here's the point. Throughout scripture, we see this connection between 10 and testing all throughout scripture. And I believe every single time we get paid, listen, every time that direct deposit hits your bank account, it's a test. Who's gonna be first in my life? Is it God? Or is it money? Is it God? Or is it myself? Because tithing isn't just about giving God 10%. It's about giving God the first 10%. It's a declaration that God, you come first. You're first in my life. You're first in my ministry. You're first in my family. You're first in my finances. You are Lord of all. Let me remind you of this. If Jesus is not Lord of all in your life, he's not Lord at all. Let me illustrate it to you this way.

There was this little hill at my elementary school, St. Anthony's growing up. And you remember playing the violent game that we used to play called King of the Hill? Anyone remember playing that violent game? Okay, couple of guys lifting their hands. Very sophisticated game. Let me explain King of the Hill to you if you don't know what that is. You'd climb to the top of the hill and you try to knock whoever the King is at the top of the hill. You try to knock them off, however you want to. That's it. Those were all the rules. Only a bunch of dudes could have made this game up. Come on, somebody. Hey, you see that hill? Let's intentionally hurt each other and let's tackle each other off that hill. And if you knock the other guy off, the King of the Hill, you then became the King. No crown, no ceremony, just a grass stain and an incredible amount of confidence you received in that moment. The problem was this, your reign as the King only lasted about three or four seconds. You're standing up there with your arms lifting, celebrating, and then some kid comes out of nowhere and he just spear tackles you down that hill

But every now and then this was rare, but every now and then it only happened to me once or twice But every now and then there was this moment where you'd be standing at the top of the hill and the recess bell would ring ding And when that happened that meant that the game was over nobody could challenge you nobody could tackle you anymore Nobody could take you off being the king of the hill You were the last guy standing and when that happened it only happened to me a couple times But when that happened man, you felt like this go ahead and throw that picture right up on the screen This how you felt? Are you not entertained? All right go ahead and take that picture off as quick as you can because I never want to see myself in a dress again, all right? You're standing there with your arms out looking down on everybody you just defeated Listen you're about to line up for recess. You've got a juice box that's waiting for you in a snack But for that moment you just conquered Rome, okay? Now, why do I tell you that? What do I illustrate it that way with the story only one thing can occupy the highest position in your heart There's a throne in your hearts and only one thing can sit on that throne the question is this Who's sitting on your throne of your hearts? Jesus said this in Matthew 624. He says no one can serve two masters and then he says directly after it You cannot serve both God and money You can't he didn't say it was difficult. He said it was impossible And so the question is right now, I'd love for you to answer this in your heart right now Who's sitting on the throne of your heart? Is it God or is it money and listen to me? You can say all day long you can say it all day long that God is first in our hearts We can say it with our lips all day long But if we consistently place him last in our finances, you've got to ask yourself the honest question Listen, if you really want to be disciple, I just love you today I love you today as your pastor, but you got to ask yourself this question. Is he really first in my life? Now, I know some of you are thinking pastor Dan. That sounds great I understand what you're saying, but I can't afford to tithe and that's why I want to give you this last principle point Number three is this if you're taking notes God gives more to the people who know what the more is for God gives more to the people who know what the more is actually for go back to the parable for a moment

The servant who multiplied what was entrusted him was given even greater responsibility The one who produced five Venus was given authority over five cities But the servant who did nothing with what he had he lost even what he had Here's the principle. You got to understand God gives more to the people who know what the more is for God gives more to the people who know what the more is for You got to hear this today. God isn't looking for the people who have the most He's looking for the people that can trust him with what he's given In fact, I'm just telling you right now If you make a hundred dollars a week and you can't tie that ten dollars a week I'm telling you you're not going to be able to tie when you're making ten thousand dollars a month Because it's a hard issue that says God you get first in my life right now Now before we go any further. I want to be very clear about something. I am not preaching a prosperity gospel message I am not a prosperity preacher. I do not believe that you give ten God gives you a hundred you give a hundred God gives you a thousand I actually believe that the prosperity gospel is a form of reverse discipleship It actually disciples you out of the image of Jesus because it promises health wealth status and happiness while ignoring What a disciple actually looks like a disciple of Jesus is required to be stewarding Sacrificing and suffering for the Kingdom of God And it creates Christians that say that they love God But what they actually really love is money and they use God to get money instead of using money to honor God That's not who I am as your pastor and that's not who we are as a church Here's the big idea that I'm trying to drive today, and I'll close with this Jesus died for you But this life ain't at all about you Listen to me Jesus died for you For God so loved the whole world that whosoever places faith in them will not perish but have everlasting life But this life is not all about you Yet we also can't ignore the promises of scripture where malachi three ten says bring the whole tithe in this tour house The only place in scripture where God says test me in this See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven Here's what you got to understand today God in 90 percent of your income can do more than a hundred percent of your own

Some of you you walk from this place and then you say pastor didn't I can't afford to tithe Here's what you need to understand. You'll never feel like you can afford to tithe until you start tithing So you start doing it at some point you're gonna have to decide am I gonna live by faith or am I gonna live by my feelings And at some point you're also gonna have to steward the 90 well if you're really gonna step into tithing You might have to cut back on some things Listen to me. You can't buy everything that you see on tv every ad that you see on social media You can't buy every item that you see you can't have every single subscription that you want You can't get a seven dollar starbucks latte every single day and then still expect that you're gonna have room to tithe If you don't steward the 90 well Oh, I'm gonna say a word today. That's gonna fail Because God won't bless you with more if you're not faithful to the steward than 90. Well, listen, when you step out in faith, He puts His super on the natural. Listen, we do the natural. God does the supernatural. I'll close with this. For those that are in the room today in our 9.30 service, if you've ever stepped out in generosity in any way and you watch God provide for you in a way that you never could have orchestrated yourself. Listen, don't let me just convince you today by preaching. Let's hear it from the church today. If you've ever, ever stepped out in generosity and watched God provide for you in a way that you couldn't do yourself, would you just say amen today? Amen today. Look around the room. The voices of people that say we serve a faithful, faithful God. And I want you to just experience this freedom, this freedom that comes with being a generous person. This freedom that comes with a hard touch by God is obedient in the tide. This is God. The first 10% belongs to you through the local church. No strings attached. And I would steward that 90. Well, I'm going to get on the budget. I'm going to be disciplined. And I'm going to watch you move and work in my life. So your next step is this. I invite you for 90 days. Would you try it? Would you take the 90 day tide challenge? October 24th to January 24th. Let's close this year. How strong would you try it for 90 days? And if you don't see the blessing of God and sometimes the blessing of God is not just finances. Sometimes it's peace. Sometimes it's joy. Sometimes it's favor with your boss that you couldn't have garnered yourself. Favor with co-workers. Sometimes it's just your relationships are healthier, better. Sometimes, come on, someone, your appliances last longer than they should have lasted. It's this blessing that says Matthew 633. I seek first the kingdom of God. Place him first and all things will be added to me.

Blessing always follows order. You've got to get things in order and it starts with the tithe. Let me pray for you today. God, we thank you for this honor to just be here.