Stewards of Mysteries of God #1 — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Luke, Luke chapter 12, beginning with verse 35. Luke chapter 12, verse 35, and up to 48. Luke chapter 12, verse 35. Let your loins be girded about and lamps burning, and ye like men who wait for their own Lord whenever he may leave the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him immediately.

Blessed are those bondmen whom the Lord of coming shall find watching. Verily I say unto you that he will gird himself and make him recline at table, and coming up will serve them. And if he come in the second watch, and come in the third watch, and find them thus, blessed are those bondmen.

But this know that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he will have watched, and not have suffered his house to be dug through. And ye therefore be ready, for in the hour in which ye do not think it, the Son of Man comes.

And Peter say to him, Lord, sayest thou this parable to us, or also to all? Verse 42. And the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and prudent steward whom his Lord will set over his household to give the measure of corn in season?

Blessed is that bondman whom his Lord of coming shall find doing thus. Verily I say unto you that he will set him over all that he has. But if that bondman should say in his heart, My Lord delays to come and begin to beat the manservants and the maidservants, and to eat and to drink, and to be drunken, the Lord of that bondman shall come in a day when he does not expect it, and in the hour he knows not of, and shall cut him in two, and appoint his portion with the unbelievers.

But that bondman who knew his own Lord's will, and had not prepared himself, nor done his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who knows it not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few.

Servants of Christ and Stewards of God's Mysteries

And to everyone to which to whom much has been given, much shall be required from him. And to whom men have committed much, they will ask from him the more. Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

1 Corinthians chapter 4, just verse 1 and verse 2. Let the man so account of us as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here further, it is sought in stewards that a man be found faithful.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank thee for gathering us together this morning. We do gather in the name of our beloved Lord, and we fully believe that thou art faithful, and thy presence is now with us.

Dear Lord, we do realize we are standing on holy ground. We will remove our shoes stand in our rightful place, look up to thee, and say, Lord, what hast thou to say to us? Thy servants are here listening.

Speak, Lord, and work until thy will is done. To the praise of thy glory, we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for gathering us together this morning. I always feel it is a rare opportunity that God's people in this day can come together and seek the face of the Lord together.

To me, I always feel it is mercy, and he is merciful to us. The text of this conference is taken from Luke chapter 12, and it is in verse 42. Our Lord is here asking a question. Who is there, the faithful and prudent steward, whom his Lord will set over his household to give the measure of corn in Caesar?

You know, our Lord Jesus oftentimes answers question with question, because actually here you'll find it is Peter who is asking a question. Peter said, Lord, are you speaking to us, the apostles? Are you speaking to all?

And our Lord answers him with another question. Now, who then is the faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord will set over his household to give the measure of corn in Caesar? Now, if you read the context, you will find that our Lord Jesus was talking about his return.

Watchfulness for the Return of Christ

He is challenging to gird up our lawns and keep our land burning, waiting diligently for the Lord coming back from the wedding. He will come back and knock, and whoever answers the door, immediately the Lord will come in and he will serve them.

And the Lord said, if you know when the thief is coming, you will be watchful, and you will not allow him to come without notice. So when our Lord was using this parable, Peter asked the question, whom are you referring to?

Do you mean that we, the apostles, we are the stewards of the mysteries of God? Do you mean that we are to keep ourselves always ready, alert, watchful, waiting, and when you come back, we open the door immediately?

Or are you referring this to the multitude, to those people who are here listening, and our Lord Jesus? Give him the answer with another question. I think if you read the question and the parable that follows, it is evident that what our Lord Jesus is referring to is not just the apostles, it is to all.

In other words, to every one of the redeemed, we are all stewards of the household of God. And we are all supposed to be always ready, always watching, always waiting, never in any sense let up, go to sleep, or even beat our fellow bondmen and get drunk.

Brothers and sisters, here is something that is applied to every one of us here. As our brother mentioned last night, we are in the last day. The Lord has promised that he is coming. And his coming is imminent.

He may come at any time. He may come in the second watch, which is from nine o 'clock in the evening to midnight, twelve o 'clock. Or he may come at the third watch, which is from midnight to three o 'clock in the morning.

He may come at any time. Brothers and sisters, I believe we all believe in the coming of our Lord Jesus. As we look around the world, as we look upon the situation we are living today, as our brother said, it is a dangerous day, a day of testing, of trials.

Things cannot be worse than what we have experienced in our days. The end is approaching. The Lord is able to come at any moment. Some people feel that the Lord will not come until certain signs are fulfilled.

May I tell you that all the signs that foretell of the coming of the Lord has been fulfilled. There are still signs to be fulfilled, but they will be at the coming, after the coming of the Lord. Strictly speaking, dear brothers and sisters, we are approaching midnight.

He may come at any moment. It may be till today. Thank God if it is today. But are we ready? Are we girded up spiritually? Is the lamp within us burning? Or do we think that the Lord has delayed his coming?

He won't be coming now. It may be 10 years from now. There are plenty of time till we get ready. So now you just go with your own lives, seeking the things that you think are important to you. Hopefully that at the right moment you wake up and he comes.

But what did our Lord Jesus say? He said, at the time that you think he delays, at the time that you know not of, he comes. So brothers and sisters, we do feel the urgency of our time. We do not have much time left for us to fulfill the stewardship that he has given to us.

If that is the case, do you think that it is time for us to wake up and really be business with the Lord? Surrender our whole being to him. No longer live for our petty plans, but live daily, waiting for him, doing his bit, being faithful, and knowing his will.

So that's the reason why we feel very much burdened with this matter of spiritual stewardship. God willing, I would like to share with your dear brothers and sisters this morning very simply on the steward.

And if the Lord's will, if we still have time, we will share next time on the stewardship. I want to ask your brothers and sisters a question. Does God need stewards? Our God is the Almighty God. He is the one who created the universe.

He is not only the one who is able to create, but he is able to manage. Not only our Lord Jesus is the one entrusted with the creation of the universe. All things was created in him, by him, and for him.

But the Bible also tells us that all things subsist in him. In other words, after they are created, they are being held together by him. He manages the universe. He is the Lord of the universe. He is in full control.

He doesn't need any help. He knows everything. You remember the Bible tells us two sparrows cost a penny. But if you have two pennies, you can get five sparrows. In other words, the fifth one is added in without any cost.

It is worthless. And yet our Lord Jesus said, if your heavenly father does not permit, not even that odd sparrow will fall into the ground. How many hairs do you have on your head? Who has counted them?

But our God has not counted your hairs, but he has numbered your hair. And when you are combing your hair this morning, number so and so far off. Do you think he needs stewards? I feel he has no need for stewards, for manager, to manage things for him.

But because he's well able to do everything without anybody else. And in a sense, if somebody else come in and help, it gives him more trouble. Dear brothers and sisters, have you thought about this? Does God need any steward to manage his household, his estate?

I believe we all know that he doesn't need it, but he does it. Now, why is it so? Because this is just our God is love. And because he's love, he wants to give. Because he loves, he wants to draw people in.

Because he loves, he wants to have people share with him. Not only in his blessing, but also in his responsibility. Think of that. We think more of blessing. I believe every morning we wake up and say, Lord, bless me.

Because without your blessing me, I cannot go through this day. And it is true. But do we ever think when we wake up in the morning and say, Lord, what responsibility you want to share with me that I should do in order to fulfill your heart, your desire?

Probably we never say such a thing. Never even thought of such a thing. Because we think, well, he is almighty, all sufficient. So let him do everything. We just enjoy and enjoy and enjoy. And be selfish and self-centered and live for ourselves.

Brothers and sisters, has the Holy Spirit ever reminded us that God wants us to be. He wants us to take up not only his life, but also his character. This is the will of God. And because he is the one who always wants to share, therefore, he calls for stewards to his household, to manage his estate as if he depends upon us.

Isn't that marvelous? Brothers and sisters, I feel that blessing is marvelous. Who doesn't want blessing? The more the better. But do we ever think that responsibility is something more than just blessing?

Or may I put it another way, it is the blessed of all blessing that God should draw us to share his work with him, to share his responsibility with him, to bring about, as it were, the fulfillment of his eternal purpose.

What a privilege. What an honor that he has bestowed upon us. And unfortunately, dear brothers and sisters, how we fail him. After God created man in the Garden of Eden, as the Bible says, he created man in his own image after his likeness.

And immediately after he created them, he also said, let man have dominion over the flowers of the air, the living things on earth, and the fishes of the sea. Is it not from the very beginning of the creation of man, God has made his mind known to us?

Why is it that God should create man in his own image after his likeness? He has never done that to any other creature, only to man. Why? Because he wants to share his life with man. The mountains cannot receive his life.

It manifests his magnitude, his power. The animals cannot receive his life. They depend upon him for their livelihood. It is only man who is created after God's own image has the capacity to receive the very life of God into their lives.

But giving that life to man means something. It means that you are to have dominion over what God has created. God created it all by himself, but God wants to govern it with man. This is what God has purposed in the very beginning.

But unfortunately, man failed God. Instead of having dominion over the created things for God, to subdue, to bring everything back to the will of God, to the feet of Christ, man himself succumbed to temptation.

Man himself failed, sinned against God. Not only in a sense helping God, they have more trouble created for God. That is what we are. But thank God, he never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Once his mind is made up, no matter what happens, he will see it through gloriously. So you know what did our God do? He sent his only beloved son into this world to be a man. This is the great mystery.

Christ's Faithful Stewardship and the Eternal Purpose of God

The word became flesh, tabernacle among man, full of grace and truth. Dear brothers and sisters, God's purpose on man has never changed. Man has failed God, but God never fails man. What he has in his heart to do, he will do it.

So he sent his beloved son into this world to be a man. And as a man, how he fulfilled his stewardship. All through his life, he gave himself totally. He took upon himself the form of a bond slave. He was obedient to God, even unto death, and that the death of the cross.

On the cross of Calvary, he shouted, it is finished. The mission is fulfilled. What God has entrusted to man is now made possible. It has been proven in the man, the son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, and he having put his life in us, the life of the son, son of man.

And with that life, he made every provision for us to fulfill our stewardship. Isn't that marvelous? Brothers and sisters, when you look into 1 Corinthians chapter 4, here you'll find a letter of Paul to the Corinthian believers.

In verse 1, he said, let a man so account of us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now when you read this verse, it may give you the impression that stewardship of the mysteries of God is limited to the apostles.

Or to those who are called to work for him. Because we know that 1 Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. But he didn't write this letter alone. He always tried to draw in someone with him, stand with him, together, send out this letter.

It is so much like God in this life of Paul. So if you read the first chapter, the beginning of the letter, he said, Paul, the apostle, and the brother, Soternes. In other words, you'll find, here you'll find the apostle Paul.

And there you'll find that brother, Soternes. But at least Soternes is working for God. So here you'll find, he said, now let no man so account of us, at least he refers to the two of them. And as you read this 1 Corinthians, you know that that us here is really more than Paul and Soternes.

Because he mentioned Apollo, he mentioned Peter, and he mentioned other people. So in other words, when we first read this, we make that the stewardship is given only to the apostles and those specially called by God.

And they are the stewards of the mysteries of God. But this is not so. Why is it? Because when you come to Ephesians chapter 3, you know in Ephesians chapter 3, we read from verse 9 through verse 11, and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has created all things, in order that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the church, the all various wisdom of God, according to the purpose of the ages, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now it's true, the mystery of God, which is Christ, revealed to the prophet, because it is a mystery. Brothers and sisters, God has mysteries, secrets. Do you have secrets? God has secrets, and he has kept his secret so well that even before the foundation of the world, before he created the heavens and the earth, in eternity past, when God alone exists by himself, he has a secret.

And that secret is made according to his good pleasure. In other words, his secret does not come from anywhere else, because there was no else. His secret comes from himself, and this is his good pleasure.

In other words, it pleases him. That is the thing that he likes. And he forms the secret, even before the foundation of the world. And it is upon this secret, this mystery, that he began to work all things.

All his counsels are based upon this secret. And this secret, we call it the eternal purpose of God. In other words, God has a purpose, and he made that purpose before he does anything. And everything that he does is according to that purpose.

And he will see to it, that his purpose will be fully realized, so that he may be glorified. Brothers and sisters, here you'll find we are touching something. You know, we often are so limited, small, that everything we touch is just me, or mine, I, my family, my things.

That's all we have. But our God is infinite. He is rich. The unsearchable riches of Christ. So here you find God has a secret in his heart. It is so dear to him. It means everything to him. He wants to see that secret finally become a reality.

And he's working from eternity through time. He is working. And he's working towards that purpose. And brothers and sisters, just think for a moment. If you are to be connected with that secret of God, if you are being drawn into that eternal purpose of God, brothers and sisters, we will burst.

We cannot contain ourselves. Why should we be so bothered with our petty self? Knowing that he has caused into some tremendous, infinite, even the very purpose of God, even his heart desire, and we are involved in it.

Now, will you please forget your petty little plan and get into his immense plan that God may think of that. Brothers and sisters, I do not know how to contain myself. From the day of his creation, he is working out his purpose, even though it has been frustrated time and again.

Even in the former world, the angels, the spirits he created, how Lucifer and one third of the angelic host rebelled against his purpose. But he did not give up. He worked further on. As a matter of fact, to him, every seeming failure is a step forward.

That's the way God works. He creates man little lower than angels and yet beat the angels. But then man fell into the hand of the fallen angel. But see how through our Lord Jesus, he redeemed. He redeemed us worth nothing, less than nothing, worse than nothing.

And yet he gave us his own life. He see to it that our life will grow, not just babes in Christ. This is not God's purpose for us. He wants us to grow in that life from little children in Christ Jesus, to young people in Christ Jesus, to fathers in Christ Jesus.

Why? Why growth? Why spiritual growth? Why not stay in babyhood? Probably too many of us, as we recall, probably we lack our babyhood more than any time else. What if I remain a baby for a hundred years?

Will that be wonderful? I have no responsibility, always helped, always supplied, always taken care of, and whatever I want, just cry and did it. But where is God's purpose? Oh, brothers and sisters, may we be purpose-oriented and not need-oriented.

As long as we are need-oriented, we remain babes. We have to outgrow it. And God wants us to grow into sons and daughters. Why? That we may be placed in sonship. Sonship and stewardship are connected, closely related.

The more you grow in Christ Jesus, the more his character built in you, the more you are able to be a greater part in that mystery of God. The more you are able to serve him in the right way, instead of doing disservice to him.

Through the apostles and the prophets, the secret is now made known to us. And after we have known this secret, the Bible says, even the principalities and authorities, they will learn wisdom, the all various wisdom of God through the church, the body of Christ.

We often say that angels are more intelligent than we are, and that is true. But do you know we can be more intelligent than the angels? Even the angels have to learn from us the all various wisdom of God.

You know, in 1 Peter chapter 1, it tells the same thing. Not only the prophets are looking into this salvation that Christ has prepared for us, but even the angels like to know how can fallen man, lower than angels, fallen, even lowered, and yet God can raise them up, put life in them, give character to them, give them responsibility, and they are able by the grace of God, even fulfill their stewardship.

That is the all various wisdom of God. The angel never has that, and they are looking at the church to see how the church reveals even this to the angels. Dear brothers and sisters, isn't that all too marvelous for us?

So here you'll find even though Paul and Sothenes, they are considered as the stewards of the mysteries of God, but because they have passed this mystery on to us, the church, the body of Christ, every member of the body of Christ, therefore, brothers and sisters, this stewardship is to us all.

Do not forget your stewardship. I believe, brothers and sisters, last year when we were here together, we talked about this matter of spiritual sonship, and if you have really heard it, I believe that throughout the year you want to grow to be sons.

You want to be placed as sons by your heavenly father. You desire that he will notice you, pay attention to you, always thinking of you, helping you to see that you really grow up into sons, that he may place you as sons into the responsibility of his.

But do you know sonship and stewardship are inseparable. Son speaks of life, divine life, spiritual life. The life of Christ speaks of service, responsibility. Sons may speak of privilege, stewards speak of responsibility, and these two things always go together.

Sonship, Servanthood, and Stewardship

The apostle Paul shows us how can we be stewards of the mysteries. In 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 1, let a man saw account of us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries. In other words, you find he put first, before this matter of stewards, he put this matter of servants first.

We are both, but you can be, if you're not a servant, you cannot be a steward. Now we know that in the New Testament, in the Greek, there are several words that are used to describe servant. Some words used there means bondman.

You're a slave. Now we don't want to be slaves, but thank God when you come to the family of God, we want to be slaves. We are slaves, bond slaves, love slaves, and this word servant here is a special word.

In the original, the background of this word is under, you know, in the old days you do not have steam engine, steamboat. So all these ships, boats, galleons, they are being rolled in order to go anywhere.

So here you'll find it is as if there is a boat, a ship here, and there are a number of people who are rolling this boat, and they are called under rulers because in the old days, the rulers are usually slaves.

Chain down bottom of the boat, and they were there, roll the boat, whatever the boat want to go anywhere, they have to roll it, and they are under the command of one who is beating the drum, and when he beats the drum, then you roll together, so it will be all in unison.

There will be no discord, because if you roll this way and roll that way, the boat go nowhere. So they have to roll as one, and under the command of the person at the drum. Their position is very low.

They are way below the sailors. They are slaves, no liberty of their own, and they are completely under command, and then the boat will go maybe from Europe to Asia or to somewhere else and do the job.

So brothers and sisters, who are we? So far as our life is concerned, we are sons, daughters of God. Wonderful, but at the same time, we are slaves, but with a price. We are love slaves. We do not want to go out free.

We love our master and his household. We are both son and under rulers. That's what we are, just as our Lord Jesus. He is the Son of God, and yet he put out a form. Only son's servant can fulfill stewardship.

Christ is the son's servant. He fulfills the stewardship, and by his grace, we as son's servants, we too are able to fulfill our stewardship. So brothers and sisters, have we, after receiving the life of Christ in us, after his love had called us and constrained us, have we really surrendered voluntarily, willingly, fully, and absolutely, as we know, surrender to our Lord Jesus as our command, as our Lord, so that we may roll together under his command in unison.

If there is anything in any one of us, thinking that he is master of himself, will spoil. You can never roll together under command. So Lord, so dear brothers and sisters, we have a tremendous responsibility.

Faithful Stewardship of God's Household

Where are we? You know, in Luke 16, we find the parable of the unrighteous steward. The steward of the household wastes away the property of the master. You know, a steward usually does not own the property.

The property is so immense. You know, Abraham, if you read the Old Testament, he has so many sheep, so many cattle, so many properties, that he has a steward, chief steward, to manage his affairs. Now a steward is one who manages the affairs and the estate of the household of his master.

He does not own the property, but he manages it according to the will of the master. Everything is supplied by the master. He is supposed to be faithful and prudent in dispensing the food in measure and in season.

But this unrighteous steward, he uses his master's property to benefit himself. He is an unrighteous and one day the reckoning will come. So brothers and sisters, if we are not faithful in what he has entrusted to us today, as the Bible says, who will give more to you?

Who will give what is yours to you? This is the time, the only time that we can prove. If we do not do it now, when the Lord shall return and he should reckon with us, the opportunity is gone. So thank God, brothers and sisters, we do not know how long our time will be, but we know as long as today, this is a time that we should be faithful and prudent.

Faithful in the sense of giving our all to it, prudent in the sense of knowing the mind. In the Bible you'll find many parables that are connected. For instance, you have in Luke chapter 19, the nobleman was going away to receive his kingdom and he gave his property to his ten bond slaves.

Everyone got a mina and a mina is about one sixtieth of a talent and they are given equally because mina here speaks of the grace of God. In the family of God, the grace of God is entrusted to every one of us equally.

You may think certain brothers and sisters, they seem to receive more grace than I am. Not so. So far as grace is concerned, it is equal. Why is it that some people manifest more grace and other people do not?

It depends upon your faithfulness. We are all given one mina, but some owe ten mina, some five mina, and some just one mina because they were lazy. They wrap it up in a handkerchief, no sweating, put in the earth, thinking that they have kept all, but they lose all.

And then you'll find also in Matthew chapter 25, the talents. Three servants, one five talents, one two talents, one one talent. In other words, that speaks of gifts. God gives gifts according to our capacity.

And if we do according to our capacity, well done. Come and enjoy the joy of the Lord. But the one with one buried his talent. How many of God's people today buried their talent? What a pity. So in other words, when you read Matthew chapter 24, you'll find the same parable as Luke 12.

Who, our Lord said, is the faithful and prudent servant to whom the master has set him over his household to give the corn in measure and in season. The same person can be the wicked one. The same person can be the faithful one.

It all depends upon how you respond to it. Oh brothers and sisters, we are all stewards. He has entrusted himself to us, each according to our capacity, and yet we all are responsible. Are we faithful and wise in managing his affairs?

If so, when he shall come back, we'll welcome him. We will hear the voice good, faithful and prudent servant. Come and enjoy the joy of the Lord. But if we not, the discipline will be severe. God disciplines.

He does not punish us. He disciplines us. If we do not receive discipline today, when he shall return, there will still be discipline. And if you read the scripture, you'll find it can be very severe, as if you are an unbeliever.

But that doesn't mean you will lose your salvation. A thousand years of reigning and ruling, but thank God, God never fails. When eternity shall come, all will be sons. All will be faithful and prudent servants.

Their names will be upon their forehead, and they shall see him. Dear Lord, we do want to praise and thank thee. How great, how marvelous, how wonderful, how glorious is thy purpose, and thou should involve us.

Oh Lord, do not allow us to be complacent. Do not allow us to sit back. Pray, Lord, that our good of our loins, that our limb may be burning and anti-knocking. Immediately, we open the door. Welcome!