Ruth: 2:4-7; Christian's stewardship part 2.

Class Outline:

 

Title: Ruth: 2:4-7; Christian's stewardship part 2.

 

RUT 2:4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, "May the Lord be with you." And they said to him, "May the Lord bless you."

 

RUT 2:5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers [the foreman or steward], "Whose young woman is this?"

 

RUT 2:6 And the servant in charge of the reapers answered and said, "She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab.

 

RUT 2:7 And she said, 'Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.' Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while."

 

As we noted, Ruth asked the foreman for privileges that went beyond the normal gleaning, and he granted it to her without having to check with Boaz first. Ruth worked hard all day and only sat in the house to rest for a short time.

 

The actions of the foreman has led us into a study of Christian stewardship.

 

The point of the wedding feast parable is that we should be diligent at the work He has called us to do, and watchful as stewards of His many blessings.  

 

We have the freedom to use the blessings of God as we wish. If we use them unwisely, we will be disciplined for acting like children, and we will not be given very much work to do and our impact on our own lives and the lives of others will be minimal if at al. If we use them in a wise manner, as Boaz's steward, then we will be given more work to do and our impact on people and history will be significant.

 

Good stewards will have significant impact on themselves, people, and history.

 

LUK 12:35 "Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight.

 

LUK 12:36 "And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks.

 

LUK 12:37 "Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

 

LUK 12:38 "Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

 

LUK 12:39 "And be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

 

LUK 12:40 "You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."

 

We noted that at this time and culture, a wedding feast could last a few hours or a few days, therefore the servants would not know when the master would return. We do not know when the Lord is going to return. The master mentioned that he might come in the middle of the night. At that time people didn't usually travel at night, and so this means that the Lord may return at a time least expected. The point is that we should be diligent at the work He has called us to do, and watchful as stewards of His many blessings.

 

We are to live as if Jesus was right with us all the time, and in fact, He is. If we do we are faithful and the reward is great. He will serve us with  ______.

 

What would you fill in the blank with? If it is something selfish, temporal, or unfit for His glory, then you're not the faithful servant, for if you were sure that the master was not watching you, then you wouldn't do your job, since you are only in it for a personal reward.

 

The reward would necessarily be something for His glory, and also something fully enjoyable to you, in fact, beyond your dreams. It would include the joy of being faithful and knowing that the master is pleased with you. It would include more opportunities to be faithful, since you are obviously useful to the Master. The possibilities are many and they all point to your fulfillment and joy and His glorification.

 

As we will see through the apostle Paul, who had the most important stewardship entrusted to him, the reward is freely doing what we are compelled to do by the Master.

 

The kingdom of God was rejected by the Jews. The ministry would be given to the disciples and they would have to be diligent.

 

By this time, it was clear that Israel was rejecting the kingdom of God by rejecting Jesus as Messiah. That kingdom of God for the nation of Israel would have to be postponed until the Second Advent, and until then the ministry was to be committed to His disciples, and they were called to be diligent about it.

 

There is not one excuse for faithlessness or watchlessness.

 

Both the master and the thief may come in the middle of the night or day. We see why it is important not to know the time of the return of the Lord.

 

The reward is great. The master will ask them to recline at the table and He will serve them.

 

LUK 12:41 And Peter said, "Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?"

 

Peter asks a not so great question, but not his worst.

 

The Lord is addressing this to all who believe in Him and know the truth.

 

LUK 12:42 And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?

 

LUK 12:43 "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

 

LUK 12:44 "Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

 

For believers, obedience leads to reward and greater responsibility (which is really the reward). His responsibility is to safeguard what has been entrusted to him, and he will be given more work.

 

So then, there is never, night or day, a legitimate reason to neglect duty. It is a matter of what is important to us. In the parable, if the servant views his work as the most important, it is a foregone conclusion that he will be at it when the master's away. If he values leisure, wealth, power, etc. more than the work, then when the master's away the little mouse will play.

 

LUK 12:45 "But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk;

 

LUK 12:46 the master of that slave 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 assign him a place with the unbelievers.

 

LUK 12:47 "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes,

 

LUK 12:48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

 

The unbelievers know the Master's will because they are Jews taught of the Old Testament.

 

From vv. 45-48a we have unbelievers, to whom He assigns them. Many of them know the Master's will because they are Jews who have been taught the OT prophets and covenants. They have also been under the Mosaic Law their entire lives and they should know that they are sinners and that the Messiah was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world through His blood.

 

Yet the principle for the Christian is reiterated at the end. He is a steward, and if he is faithful in a little, more will be given, and his reward will be greater. He will see more of the Lord. He will have more of His power. And, he will be asked to do more, which is what he loves to do.

 

1CO 9:15 But I have used none of these things [demanded earnings for his work]. And I am not writing these things that it may be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one.

 

1CO 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

 

1CO 9:17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

 

Voluntarily - as if I applied for the job = reward.

Against my will - it was compulsory = I am a steward/slave.

 

The confusion of this verse stems from our regard for the phrase "against my will," as if it means that he had no choice in the matter. He, as well as we, must fulfill the call to stewardship by our own free-will, but the call was not something that we volunteered for.

 

"against my will" - a;kwn [akon]: "free will" is hekon. The "he" is replaced with the negative "a" to mean "not of my own will or unwillingly." It was not his choice to preach the gospel, but God's.  

 

None of us have chosen this life that is Christ. We knew nothing about it. It was given to us by Christ, and as regenerate people, we get to learn what that life is, and then we get to chose to live it. No one ever came up with the life or even the idea for the life. Christ brought the life to earth and He died so that we could have it. It doesn't consist of anything material, temporal, or earthly. It is heavenly. It has great meaning. It is love, joy, peace, grace, kindness, forgiveness, honor, courage, goodness, faithfulness, loyalty, gentleness, temperance, wisdom, righteousness, justice, truth, and living for others.

 

The stewardship, our predestined lives, and the blessings that come with them, all come from heaven. We did not chose them, they were given to us.

 

EPH 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

 

EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love

 

EPH 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

 

EPH 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

 

When you believed in Christ and a ministry was given to you by God - something predetermined.

 

ROM 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;

 

ROM 8:30 and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

 

1CO 9:15 But I have used none of these things [demanded earnings for his work]. And I am not writing these things that it may be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one.

 

1CO 9:16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.

 

1CO 9:17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.

 

Against my will doesn't mean that God overrules my free-will and forces me to do it. It simply means that in Christ, as a child of God, you have no other calling.

 

As a child of God, you have no other calling than the stewardship He gave you. You didn't apply for it. So, there is no reward other than doing it freely.

 

1CO 9:18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

 

This is a wonderful lesson for the Christian to learn, and one that God has been constantly teaching this congregation for a year or so. If we were to volunteer, choose to do some thing to glorify God, and then give to Him something that He didn't already give to us, then we would have a reward.

 

But our stewardship, and our plan that consists of our duties for that stewardship, were given to us by the omniscience of God.