WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.899 Thank you. Be seated, please. I encourage you 00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:04.759 to be back tonight as we look into the Word of 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:08.679 God, 2 Samuel chapter 7, to a passage which is 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:12.439 probably one of the key passages, if not the 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:21.100 key passage, in all of 1 and 2 Samuel. Today 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:26.199 I'm going to begin a brief series regarding God's 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:29.440 principles of family finance. We came to a point 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:31.219 in our study in the book of Acts where we were 00:00:31.219 --> 00:00:33.700 talking about the sharing of the early church. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:41.039 It is apparent to many of us that while our hearts 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.020 today may be somewhat the same regarding our 00:00:44.020 --> 00:00:47.899 desire to share, there are many of us who cannot 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:52.539 share as we would like because of financial difficulties 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:56.100 that we are in. Someone said to me before this 00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:59.060 service that he thought that up to 95 % of the 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:02.619 families that come here are in some sort of financial 00:01:02.619 --> 00:01:06.519 difficulty. That may well be. I don't know whether 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:09.799 that be true or not. This much I do know that 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.680 the Bible says a lot about the subject of family 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:18.159 finances. We're told that there are some 700, 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:23.290 700 families direct statements in the Bible relating 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:27.609 to money. And in addition to that, there are 00:01:27.609 --> 00:01:30.409 hundreds and hundreds of others that indirectly 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:34.870 talk about it. Of course, money itself is neither 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:40.069 good nor bad. It is all moral. It becomes good 00:01:40.069 --> 00:01:44.030 or bad by the way that it is used by those who 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:48.079 possess it. I would guess that there's probably 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:51.060 not a more urgent need among Christian families 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:56.340 than to understand and to apply what God says 00:01:56.340 --> 00:02:02.620 about how we're to handle our wealth. It is said 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:05.859 by some Christian counselors that up to two -thirds 00:02:05.859 --> 00:02:09.139 of all of the cases they see where there are 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:13.400 marriage and family problems, those problems 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:18.240 are related to money. Two -thirds of the cases 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:23.300 are related to money Therefore I think it's very 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:27.560 important that we as a church Have some understanding 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:31.280 of what God says about how to handle our finances 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.379 Now I'm going to make a statement which is going 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:37.860 to sound a little familiar But it is my proposition 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:40.319 for this morning. This is the point I want to 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.659 mainly get across Not only today, but in another 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:48.400 week or two to come God loves you and has a wonderful 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:53.280 plan for your finances. He really does. God loves 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.699 you and He has a plan for your finances. You 00:02:56.699 --> 00:03:00.180 say, what finances? You don't know how poor I 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.099 am. Well, I think I might have an idea of the 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:06.379 stress that some of us are under. And that brings 00:03:06.379 --> 00:03:09.099 us to the first point actually, and it's this. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.599 All of us possess wealth. God gives it to us. 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:16.280 That is the first thing I want you to get today. 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.699 That all of us possess wealth, it is God who 00:03:20.699 --> 00:03:24.120 gives it to us. Now when I use the term wealth, 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.360 I'm using it in the biblical sense. It means 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:32.979 whatever we have. It does not mean that we are 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:39.520 rich. We have wealth, all of us, because we do 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:43.379 have some things as compared to having nothing. 00:03:44.709 --> 00:03:48.530 Larry Burkett, in his book entitled Christian 00:03:48.530 --> 00:03:53.530 Financial Concepts, a complete Bible study course 00:03:53.530 --> 00:03:58.610 actually on finances, has this definition of 00:03:58.610 --> 00:04:02.590 wealth. Historically, wealth has been related 00:04:02.590 --> 00:04:06.750 to ownership, land, camels, cattle, slaves, etc. 00:04:07.710 --> 00:04:11.189 Currently, wealth is often expressed in representational 00:04:11.189 --> 00:04:14.969 ideas. For example, the dollar has no objective 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:19.089 value as an item, but it stands for ownership. 00:04:20.310 --> 00:04:22.889 Similarly, the value of a stock is not based 00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:25.970 on the value of the company, but on the collective 00:04:25.970 --> 00:04:31.089 opinion of the public about the stock. Even gold, 00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:34.110 which has fascinated man through the ages, has 00:04:34.110 --> 00:04:38.310 a value based on opinion, as illustrated by sharp 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:43.689 speculative increases and decreases. Wealth is 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:47.470 also related to our creative ability, notice 00:04:47.470 --> 00:04:52.670 that, and our credit or borrowing ability, the 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:56.550 trust others have in us. Thus, wealth becomes 00:04:56.550 --> 00:05:01.470 an extension of our personalities. According 00:05:01.470 --> 00:05:04.250 to our personality, it can be used creatively, 00:05:05.149 --> 00:05:07.089 spreading the gospel, building hospitals and 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:11.069 churches, or it can be wasted, spending it on 00:05:11.069 --> 00:05:14.519 frivolous activities. It can be corruptive, using 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:18.240 it to purchase influence, or it can be destructive, 00:05:18.699 --> 00:05:21.620 buying guns and bombs. And then it concludes 00:05:21.620 --> 00:05:26.139 with this very concise statement. Wealth is what 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:34.220 God entrusts to us. Wealth is what God entrusts 00:05:34.220 --> 00:05:40.720 to us. It may be tangible or intangible. But 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:45.439 it's anything about us that does or can have 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:51.699 measurable value. That is our wealth. It is God 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:56.540 who gives us wealth. In Haggai 2 .8, the Lord 00:05:56.540 --> 00:06:00.139 says that all of the silver and all of the gold 00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:04.259 are His. Now essentially what God is saying there 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:10.949 is that all wealth actually is His. because he 00:06:10.949 --> 00:06:16.050 is the creator. By virtue of that creatorship, 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:21.569 he is the owner of it all. But God gives it to 00:06:21.569 --> 00:06:28.110 you and to me. He enables us to gain wealth so 00:06:28.110 --> 00:06:32.350 that we become stewards of what really is God's. 00:06:32.870 --> 00:06:35.610 Turn to the book of Deuteronomy, the eighth chapter, 00:06:36.730 --> 00:06:43.480 the eighteenth verse. And notice this word, Deuteronomy 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:52.319 8, 18. But you shall remember the Lord your God, 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:57.560 says Moses, for it is he who is giving you power 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:02.480 to make wealth. He warns the Israelites, remember 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:06.819 the Lord, because it is he who gives you the 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:11.300 power to make to create, to gain in your wealth. 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:16.279 It is from Him. Whatever we have comes from the 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:20.339 Lord. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament now, 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:25.259 1 Corinthians chapter 4, says it a little differently. 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:30.420 It's used here in a more generic sense, but it 00:07:30.420 --> 00:07:35.579 certainly applies to wealth. 1 Corinthians chapter 00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:39.930 4, verse 7. I'm looking at the second sentence 00:07:39.930 --> 00:07:44.930 in that verse. He says, what do you have that 00:07:44.930 --> 00:07:49.089 you did not receive? It's a good question. That's 00:07:49.089 --> 00:07:52.129 a question for all of us to consider. What do 00:07:52.129 --> 00:07:56.629 we have that we did not receive? We may talk 00:07:56.629 --> 00:08:00.350 about our spiritual gifts and abilities or our 00:08:00.350 --> 00:08:03.990 Christian leaders, as Paul is talking here in 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:07.879 this context. Or we can talk about our personalities. 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:12.600 We can talk about our very bodies. We can talk 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:16.259 about the material things that we have. There 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:20.259 is nothing that we, quote, have that we did not 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:24.379 receive directly or indirectly from the Lord. 00:08:25.819 --> 00:08:28.959 So God does not condemn the possession of wealth. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:32.460 Indeed, as we see in His Word, He gives us the 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:38.330 power to gain it. Now a question. How does God 00:08:38.330 --> 00:08:43.269 enable us to gain wealth? What is God's plan? 00:08:44.110 --> 00:08:49.230 What is God's way for us to gain wealth? There 00:08:49.230 --> 00:08:51.789 are three answers, I think, at least, to that 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:59.210 question. Answer number one. W -O -R -K. One 00:08:59.210 --> 00:09:04.590 of those four letter words. Work. In Proverbs 00:09:04.590 --> 00:09:09.330 14 -23 it says, in all labor there is profit. 00:09:11.470 --> 00:09:16.129 God's plan is for us to work, to gain in wealth. 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:20.789 God did not intend for us, necessarily, to be 00:09:20.789 --> 00:09:23.450 born with a golden spoon in our mouth, so to 00:09:23.450 --> 00:09:28.250 speak, so that we would not have to work. God's 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:32.710 plan is for man to work. Again, in the book of 00:09:32.710 --> 00:09:34.610 Proverbs, and you may want to turn there to the 00:09:34.610 --> 00:09:41.350 sixth chapter, Proverbs chapter 6, the Lord points 00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:44.990 to one of the smallest of His creatures as an 00:09:44.990 --> 00:09:48.870 example of work. You'll know what I'm talking 00:09:48.870 --> 00:09:56.149 about when you see Proverbs 6, beginning in verse 00:09:56.149 --> 00:10:02.450 6. Go to the ant, O sluggard." You say, what 00:10:02.450 --> 00:10:06.049 in the world is a sluggard? Well, that refers 00:10:06.049 --> 00:10:11.690 to a lazy person, a sluggish person. Go to the 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:16.710 ant, O sluggard. Observe her ways and be wise. 00:10:16.789 --> 00:10:20.070 He says, if you want to gain wisdom, look at 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:27.379 the ant and follow the example of the ant. which 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:32.159 having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.019 her food in the summer and gathers her provision 00:10:35.019 --> 00:10:38.440 in the harvest. The next time you go on a picnic 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:45.379 and you sit on an ant hill, which is inevitable, 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:49.860 isn't it? They're not there by accident, and 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:52.440 they begin to crawl on the table over your food 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:58.159 to get a little bit. Don't become angry. Realize 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.360 that that ant is simply doing what God has instructed 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:06.659 it to do. That ant is working. The ant is not 00:11:06.659 --> 00:11:11.519 your enemy. Oh, the ant may bite you or sting 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.539 you, if you get in its way, but the ant really 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:18.419 is not attacking you. The ant is simply doing 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:22.299 what it feels intuitively, instinctively, it 00:11:22.299 --> 00:11:25.700 must do. It must work to gain provision because 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:28.860 winter is coming. especially in the Minnesota 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:32.740 ecology. And when winter comes, the ant is not 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:36.279 going to come out. How is it that all these insects 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:40.019 are able to live from year to year? It's because 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:44.080 they plant ahead. An ant, for example, takes 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.220 all that food down into its home, in the ground, 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.139 and all winter long it's able to exist there, 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:55.799 in warmth, relative warmth, being nourished. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:00.860 in safety, because it works ahead. So God says 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:03.159 to you and me, if you want to gain in wealth, 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:08.159 look at the ant. The ant works hard while it 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:12.460 can to lay up provision for itself. And of course, 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.759 the application to that is quite obvious. Now 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:19.460 I can hear somebody say, well, I know we have 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:22.639 to work, but that's related to sin and to the 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.220 fall of man. and thus it's the woman's fault 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:31.519 in the first place. Well, there are two things 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:34.620 equally true there, both of which are false, 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:37.539 and that is the woman's fault in the first place, 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.279 and secondly, that work is related just to the 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:42.620 fault. Go back to the book of Genesis for a minute 00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:52.639 and look at Genesis chapter 3. We do have this 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:58.429 word, to Adam. By the sweat of your face, verse 00:12:58.429 --> 00:13:03.529 19, Genesis 3, I have been told that animals 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:08.330 sweat, men perspire, and women shine. But God 00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:12.090 says here, by the sweat of your face you shall 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:15.929 eat bread till you return to the ground. And 00:13:15.929 --> 00:13:18.929 so after the fall, it is true, God said to man, 00:13:18.990 --> 00:13:23.549 you will work. And you will work hard. You will 00:13:23.549 --> 00:13:28.509 exhaust yourself in labor. You will sweat so 00:13:28.509 --> 00:13:31.649 that you can eat bread until the day you die. 00:13:34.289 --> 00:13:36.090 But back up another page. Have you ever looked 00:13:36.090 --> 00:13:45.289 in chapter 2 of Genesis? And notice verse 15. 00:13:49.090 --> 00:13:52.549 and put him into the garden of Eden. This is 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:55.309 now before the fall, remember. Now why did God 00:13:55.309 --> 00:13:58.870 put him there in the garden? To cultivate it 00:13:58.870 --> 00:14:03.330 and keep it. So you see, even before sin entered 00:14:03.330 --> 00:14:07.330 the picture, it was God's plan for man to work. 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:11.470 Now there is a new dimension of it since the 00:14:11.470 --> 00:14:14.090 fall. There is an intensity, a hardness about 00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:18.370 it that was not present before. Eden was a perfectly 00:14:18.370 --> 00:14:22.789 balanced ecological system. Man would have to 00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:25.750 cultivate and till it and keep it. It would not 00:14:25.750 --> 00:14:27.649 have been the kind of work that we have to go 00:14:27.649 --> 00:14:30.909 through today. But nonetheless, work has been 00:14:30.909 --> 00:14:33.769 a part of God's plan from the very beginning. 00:14:34.549 --> 00:14:37.990 That is part of God's method for us to gain in 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:42.549 wealth, to work. That was not only God's plan 00:14:42.549 --> 00:14:46.889 back then, it is God's plan in this age. The 00:14:46.889 --> 00:14:49.289 apostle reminds us when he writes to Timothy 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:54.289 that if any man does not provide for his household, 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:00.269 his family, for his own and especially his family, 00:15:00.289 --> 00:15:04.149 it says, then he has denied the faith and is 00:15:04.149 --> 00:15:08.230 worse than an infidel. In other words, it is 00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:12.549 God's plan in this age, too, for us to work. 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:16.820 He warns in 2 Thessalonians about lazy, busybodies 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:19.740 who want to depend upon other people to support 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:24.360 them, who don't want to have to work and who 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:27.340 beg off of other believers. He says, don't feed 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:30.460 them anything. He says, if a man will not work, 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.820 neither will he eat. So you see, work is part 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:38.879 of God's plan for us to gain wealth. The Bible 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:43.100 teaches a work ethic. It is honorable for a person 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:47.320 to be involved in work with his hands. It is 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:52.340 an honorable work to labor hard. There's a second 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:54.840 way that God has planned for us to gain in wealth, 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.860 and that is through investment. Listen to the 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:03.200 words of Proverbs 21, 20. There is precious treasure 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:07.320 and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.529 man swallows it up. The key word in that verse 00:16:11.529 --> 00:16:15.269 is precious. He says there is precious treasure 00:16:15.269 --> 00:16:17.669 and oil in the house of a wise man. In other 00:16:17.669 --> 00:16:20.929 words, it's been saved. It's been stored up. 00:16:20.950 --> 00:16:23.710 It's been laid aside for the future when it might 00:16:23.710 --> 00:16:29.330 be needed. A wise man takes treasure and oil, 00:16:29.409 --> 00:16:31.250 which was an important part of their life in 00:16:31.250 --> 00:16:35.230 that day, olive oil, and he saves it. He lays 00:16:35.230 --> 00:16:40.440 it up for the future. But he says, that a foolish 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:45.179 man swallows it all. He wastes it. The Living 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:48.860 Bible paraphrases it this way, the wise man may 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:53.480 save for the future, but the foolish man spends 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:59.100 whatever he gets. And so investment or savings 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:02.100 is one way in which God plans for us to increase 00:17:02.100 --> 00:17:04.740 in our wealth. Now people do that in a variety 00:17:04.740 --> 00:17:07.410 of ways. There are some people who have savings 00:17:07.410 --> 00:17:09.809 accounts. There are others who invest in bonds 00:17:09.809 --> 00:17:13.130 or in the stock market. There are some who buy 00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:16.930 properties and they invest in that way. Many 00:17:16.930 --> 00:17:19.829 of us intend for our home to be some kind of 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.930 a method for us to save. There are a variety 00:17:22.930 --> 00:17:25.450 of ways to do this, but the point is that is 00:17:25.450 --> 00:17:29.430 one way that God has legitimately provided for 00:17:29.430 --> 00:17:33.990 us to gain in our wealth. God has not provided 00:17:33.990 --> 00:17:39.559 for chance or for gambling. There is not a place 00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:44.000 for that in the biblical ethic. Gambling involves 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.759 trying to get something for nothing and it always 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:51.359 victimizes other people. Furthermore, whenever 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.940 gambling is involved, you can always count on 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:57.599 undesirable elements and ultimately even the 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:02.799 underworld being involved in it. It is a concern 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.079 to me that gambling is going to begin in this 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:07.640 state with horse racing. And there are those 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:09.380 who are trying to get it into the state in other 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:12.839 means as well. That is not biblical. That is 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:16.279 not consistent with what God says. It is legitimate 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:20.660 to gain wealth through work and through investment, 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:23.559 savings. There's a third way to gain in wealth, 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:27.700 and that is through inheritance. Now all of us 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:31.759 do gain that way, but some of us do. I think 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:34.059 a verse that can relate to this is 2 Corinthians 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:37.400 12, 14 where Paul says, children are not responsible 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:40.319 to save up for their parents, but parents for 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.079 their children. Now he applies that to his own 00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:44.940 situation in a particular way, but the point 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:48.839 is that he's laying down a certain law of society 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.799 or humanity there. And that is that children 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:54.559 are not responsible to save up for their parents, 00:18:55.420 --> 00:18:58.420 but rather parents do indeed do that for their 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:01.660 children. Some can do it to a greater extent 00:19:01.660 --> 00:19:07.440 than others. I have never inherited a large sum 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.640 of money in my life, one fellow pastor. The only 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:13.660 inheritance I think I've ever gotten was a fellow 00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:18.319 pastor who died, and he left me $300 to help 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.339 me build my library, which I really appreciated. 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:24.059 Apart from that, I've never had an inheritance. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.579 I have inherited, though, from my parents a good 00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:29.190 name. which the Bible says is to be treasured 00:19:29.190 --> 00:19:33.130 more than money. But the fact is that some people 00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:38.369 do gain wealth through inheritance. Related to 00:19:38.369 --> 00:19:41.049 you last week, I think, the friend of mine who 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:43.190 took a trust that had been left to him by his 00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:46.150 parents, which was only a few thousand dollars, 00:19:46.549 --> 00:19:48.869 and through wise investment and hard work he 00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:54.150 has projected that, and so that today he is indeed 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:57.220 a very rich person. and has dedicated his riches 00:19:57.220 --> 00:20:00.519 to the Lord. But he began with inheritance, you 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.059 see. That was God's provision for him. In Proverbs 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:06.599 19, 14, the first part of the verse, it says, 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:10.579 house and wealth are an inheritance from fathers. 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:13.680 It goes on to say a prudent wife is from the 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.900 Lord. That's even more important. But it does 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:20.380 say in the first half of the verse that house 00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:23.000 and wealth come from fathers, from our parents. 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:26.140 And that is a legitimate way God has provided 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:31.220 for us to gain. The prodigal son was not wrong 00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:35.380 in gaining an inheritance. He was certainly wrong 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:39.779 in the way that he used it, wasted it. And he 00:20:39.779 --> 00:20:44.099 was wrong in the way he got it, because he went 00:20:44.099 --> 00:20:46.680 to his father and said, give me my inheritance. 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:49.799 And some people say that when he was doing that, 00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:51.579 because inheritance is supposed to come with 00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:53.720 the death of the father, what he was really saying 00:20:53.720 --> 00:20:55.599 was, you've lived too long, I wish you would 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.160 die, so go ahead and give me my inheritance. 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:00.720 So the way that he got it was wrong too, but 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.940 gaining the inheritance itself was not wrong. 00:21:03.579 --> 00:21:06.000 In fact, the story that Jesus told suggests that 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.960 when he came back home to his father, he got 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.980 inheritance back. He was reinstated into the 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:15.279 family. As a full son and that was one reason 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.480 the older brother was so angry Because now what 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.940 was left had to be divided again with his brother 00:21:21.940 --> 00:21:25.140 Inheritance is one way that God has given us 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:29.980 to gain wealth So the first thing I want you 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:33.920 to understand is this That God gives us wealth 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:39.019 all of us possess it all of us do to some degree 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:43.299 Lesser or greater all of us possess wealth God 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:45.779 has entrusted something to all of us, tangible 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:50.339 or intangible. The second thing I want you to 00:21:50.339 --> 00:21:52.880 understand is this, that God uses wealth for 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.599 several purposes in our lives. Now, I want to 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:01.160 talk about four of them. The first purpose that 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:05.359 God uses wealth for is to bless us. Turn to Matthew 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:09.740 chapter 7, verse 11. You know, the devil has 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:13.119 done a number on a lot of people. and made them 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:17.779 think that God is a stingy God who loves to watch 00:22:17.779 --> 00:22:24.000 his children beg, who enjoys watching them have 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.940 needs, and curiously perhaps, even with a sinister 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.319 motive, tries to find out what they're going 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.380 to do in their needs. My friend, that is not 00:22:34.380 --> 00:22:39.289 our God at all. Our God is a generous God. Our 00:22:39.289 --> 00:22:41.769 God is a God who loves. Our God is a God who 00:22:41.769 --> 00:22:46.430 desires to bless us with fullness. Now those 00:22:46.430 --> 00:22:49.569 may sound like strange words to you. To the extent 00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:51.690 that they do, you've been conned by the enemy. 00:22:52.630 --> 00:22:56.410 But it is true that God desires to bless us with 00:22:56.410 --> 00:22:59.069 those things that will make us happy. God wants 00:22:59.069 --> 00:23:04.210 our best. Just as an earthly father here enjoys 00:23:04.210 --> 00:23:06.769 giving to his children, God enjoys giving to 00:23:06.769 --> 00:23:10.349 us. It says in Matthew 7 -11, if you then, being 00:23:10.349 --> 00:23:13.970 evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, 00:23:14.549 --> 00:23:17.569 how much more shall your Father who is in heaven 00:23:17.569 --> 00:23:22.589 give what is good to those who ask him? When 00:23:22.589 --> 00:23:26.450 we come to our Heavenly Father and ask him, he 00:23:26.450 --> 00:23:29.009 delights to be able to bless us. Now, he does 00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:31.670 not always give us just what we ask for when 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:35.170 we want it. We parents don't do that for our 00:23:35.170 --> 00:23:39.630 children either. But the fact is that God's heart 00:23:39.630 --> 00:23:45.089 is bountiful toward us. God really wants to pour 00:23:45.089 --> 00:23:49.069 out fullness upon all of us. That is where his 00:23:49.069 --> 00:23:55.130 heart is. That's why in 1 Timothy 6, 17 it says, 00:23:55.750 --> 00:24:02.650 God gives us richly all things to enjoy. God 00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:09.339 is not a mean ogre. God is a generous and wise 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:15.279 Heavenly Father who gives us wealth to bless 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.460 us. Now there's a second purpose that God has 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:26.000 for enabling us to gain wealth, and that is to 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.539 test us. Turn to Matthew 25. We'll look here 00:24:32.539 --> 00:24:35.779 at one of the familiar parables that Jesus told. 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:39.079 sometimes called the parable of the talents. 00:24:40.059 --> 00:24:45.720 Matthew 25, beginning in verse 14. For it is 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:47.980 just like a man about to go on a journey, says 00:24:47.980 --> 00:24:51.880 Jesus, who called his own slaves and entrusted 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:55.500 his possessions to them. To one he gave five 00:24:55.500 --> 00:24:59.019 talents, to another two, to another one, each 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:01.700 according to his own ability. And he went on 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:05.440 his journey. Immediately, the one who had received 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.000 the five talents went and traded with them and 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.380 gained five more talents. In the same manner, 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:15.380 the one who had received the two talents gained 00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:19.420 two more. But he who received the one talent 00:25:19.420 --> 00:25:23.180 went away and dug in the ground and hid his master's 00:25:23.180 --> 00:25:27.220 money. Now, after a long time, the master of 00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.240 those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 00:25:30.750 --> 00:25:33.029 And the one who had received the five talents 00:25:33.029 --> 00:25:35.250 came up and brought five more talents, saying, 00:25:35.250 --> 00:25:38.130 Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, 00:25:38.190 --> 00:25:40.690 I have gained five more talents. His master said 00:25:40.690 --> 00:25:44.789 to him, Well done, good and faithful slave. You 00:25:44.789 --> 00:25:47.549 were faithful with a few things. I will put you 00:25:47.549 --> 00:25:49.950 in charge of many things. Enter into the joy 00:25:49.950 --> 00:25:53.769 of your master. And the one who also had received 00:25:53.769 --> 00:25:55.890 the two talents came up and said, Master, you 00:25:55.890 --> 00:25:58.809 entrusted to me two talents. See, I have gained 00:25:58.809 --> 00:26:02.730 two more talents. His master said to him, well 00:26:02.730 --> 00:26:05.029 done good and faithful slave. You were faithful 00:26:05.029 --> 00:26:07.890 with a few things. I will put you in charge of 00:26:07.890 --> 00:26:11.150 many things. Enter into the joy of your master." 00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:13.109 Notice that the one had five more, the other 00:26:13.109 --> 00:26:15.809 had two more, but they both got exactly the same 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:20.170 commendation from their master because they did 00:26:20.170 --> 00:26:24.589 what they could with what had been given them. 00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:31.130 Verse 24. And the one also who had received the 00:26:31.130 --> 00:26:34.049 one talent came up and said, Master, I knew you 00:26:34.049 --> 00:26:37.710 to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow 00:26:37.710 --> 00:26:41.470 and gathering where you scattered no seed. And 00:26:41.470 --> 00:26:43.950 I was afraid and went away and hid your talent 00:26:43.950 --> 00:26:48.369 in the ground. See, you have what is yours. But 00:26:48.369 --> 00:26:51.049 his master answered and said to him, you wicked, 00:26:51.230 --> 00:26:54.589 lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did 00:26:54.589 --> 00:26:57.490 not sow and gather where I scattered no seed? 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:01.460 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, 00:27:01.819 --> 00:27:04.380 and on my arrival I would have received my money 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:07.920 back with interest. Therefore take away the talent 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.920 from him, and give it to the one who has the 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:13.640 ten talents. And to every one who has shall more 00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:17.539 be given, and he shall have an abundance. But 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:19.519 from the one who does not have, even what he 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:23.220 does have shall be taken away. And cast out the 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:26.029 worthless slave into the outer darkness, In that 00:27:26.029 --> 00:27:28.150 place there shall be weeping and gnashing of 00:27:28.150 --> 00:27:31.990 teeth." Now there's a lot said in this parable, 00:27:32.609 --> 00:27:35.589 but I want us to take the most obvious and in 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:37.710 some respects superficial lesson of all from 00:27:37.710 --> 00:27:44.990 it and apply it to our particular point. This 00:27:44.990 --> 00:27:50.690 master gave to his slaves what belonged to him. 00:27:51.630 --> 00:27:55.369 He gave to each man according to his ability 00:27:55.369 --> 00:28:00.829 to one five talents another two another one and 00:28:00.829 --> 00:28:07.589 he instructed them to use them that was the expectation 00:28:07.589 --> 00:28:10.670 in the committing of the talents to the servants 00:28:10.670 --> 00:28:15.630 there was a time when he came back it was a long 00:28:15.630 --> 00:28:19.890 time but he did return and it seems as though 00:28:19.890 --> 00:28:22.289 the first thing he did was to call in his slaves 00:28:22.289 --> 00:28:25.460 to get an accounting of what had been given to 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:30.039 them for their use. And the story is, the one 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:31.799 who received five, the other who had received 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:35.299 two did well. The man who received but one did 00:28:35.299 --> 00:28:38.640 not receive blessing from his master because 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:42.279 he had not done well. What he did have was taken 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:48.180 away from him. The application is this. Our Lord 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:53.670 has entrusted to you and to me resources. That 00:28:53.670 --> 00:28:59.549 includes our money, it includes our time, our 00:28:59.549 --> 00:29:03.210 talents, that is our abilities, our spiritual 00:29:03.210 --> 00:29:08.049 gifts. That is our wealth that God has committed 00:29:08.049 --> 00:29:14.150 to us. It differs with all of us. There is coming 00:29:14.150 --> 00:29:17.210 a day when our master will call us before himself 00:29:17.210 --> 00:29:20.640 so that we can give an accounting of what we 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:25.539 have done with what He has entrusted to us. We 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:28.279 will be asked to present on that day no more 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:32.779 than we could with what has been given. There 00:29:32.779 --> 00:29:35.619 will be people there on that day of the judgment 00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:42.000 with more or less of, quote, return to give to 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:47.200 the Lord. Those who have been faithful with what 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:50.910 they were given will receive the same reward, 00:29:51.170 --> 00:29:55.549 a commendation from the Lord and an equivalent 00:29:55.549 --> 00:29:58.730 blessing, I believe, in the kingdom to reign 00:29:58.730 --> 00:30:02.470 with Christ to their faithfulness here over what 00:30:02.470 --> 00:30:07.089 they had been given. The warning of the parable 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:12.210 is that we should think that we could waste or 00:30:12.210 --> 00:30:14.910 at least not be very careful about the investment 00:30:14.910 --> 00:30:19.059 of what God gives to us. For if that is our attitude 00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:25.079 on that day of the judgment, then our Lord will 00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:28.119 take away what we do have and we will enter into 00:30:28.119 --> 00:30:32.900 the kingdom with no share in His reign. We will 00:30:32.900 --> 00:30:38.339 have no parts in reigning with Him. That seems 00:30:38.339 --> 00:30:40.900 to be the application of the parable, at least 00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:45.799 one of them. The Lord gives us our resources, 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:51.009 here's my point. to test us. You say, what difference 00:30:51.009 --> 00:30:53.190 does it make what I do with my money? I give 00:30:53.190 --> 00:30:57.430 my tithe to the Lord. Well, in the first place, 00:30:57.490 --> 00:31:00.309 we don't teach tithing here. But in the second 00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:03.849 place, more than the tithe is the Lord's. 100 00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:08.269 % of it is the Lord's. And what I do with what 00:31:08.269 --> 00:31:12.130 I don't give to the Lord directly is just as 00:31:12.130 --> 00:31:17.640 important as what I do give to Him. Do you get 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:22.759 that? If I give to the Lord 10%, what I do with 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:26.099 that other 90 % is just as important and just 00:31:26.099 --> 00:31:29.240 as accountable to God as that 10 % I do give. 00:31:30.619 --> 00:31:32.680 That's part of the wealth that God has given 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:35.920 to me. And someday, when I'm called before Him 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:38.440 to give account of my stewardship, God isn't 00:31:38.440 --> 00:31:42.940 going to ask me about the 10 % only. He's going 00:31:42.940 --> 00:31:47.940 to be interested in all of it. And according 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:52.119 to my faithfulness to use wisely for legitimate 00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:57.160 needs what I have been given, I will be given 00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:01.480 greater blessing to reign with Jesus Christ in 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:05.440 his kingdom. God gives us our wealth to test 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:09.319 us. That's part of its purpose in this life. 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:16.789 I overheard a couple of elders in a church. Long 00:32:16.789 --> 00:32:19.750 way from here talking about their pastor and 00:32:19.750 --> 00:32:25.269 what he had been paid and The one said you know 00:32:25.269 --> 00:32:28.450 I was amazed at what he said because he said 00:32:28.450 --> 00:32:34.109 to us that he didn't need that much money and 00:32:34.109 --> 00:32:36.710 The other said well, I know that that's true. 00:32:36.710 --> 00:32:40.450 He doesn't need that much money But I want to 00:32:40.450 --> 00:32:44.740 see what he's going to do with it You see, the 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:47.519 attitude of that wise elder was the same attitude 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:50.960 that God has with every one of us. I want to 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:54.740 see what he, what she is going to do with it. 00:32:54.920 --> 00:32:59.480 That's the test of it. There's a third purpose 00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:03.380 for wealth in our lives. God gives us wealth 00:33:03.380 --> 00:33:11.859 to teach us. Turn to Matthew chapter 14. We'll 00:33:11.859 --> 00:33:17.170 look at verse 13. You know, there were times 00:33:17.170 --> 00:33:22.509 when Jesus became tired, when the pressure of 00:33:22.509 --> 00:33:28.529 the crowds was very great. In verse 13, it seems 00:33:28.529 --> 00:33:30.390 as though we come upon one of those occasions. 00:33:30.470 --> 00:33:34.089 It says, now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew 00:33:34.089 --> 00:33:38.269 from there in a boat to a lonely place by himself. 00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:42.609 And when the multitudes heard of this, they followed 00:33:42.609 --> 00:33:47.079 him on foot from the cities. And when he went 00:33:47.079 --> 00:33:49.779 ashore, he saw a great multitude and felt compassion 00:33:49.779 --> 00:33:52.680 for them and healed their sick. And when it was 00:33:52.680 --> 00:33:54.859 evening, the disciples came to him, saying, The 00:33:54.859 --> 00:33:57.859 place is desolate, and the time is already past. 00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:00.539 In other words, it was past three o 'clock in 00:34:00.539 --> 00:34:03.380 the afternoon. That was the first hour of the 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:06.359 evening. It was getting late in the day. The 00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:09.739 sun was going down. So send away the multitudes, 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:11.920 that they may go into the villages and buy food 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:15.929 for themselves. But Jesus said to them, They 00:34:15.929 --> 00:34:19.190 do not need to go away. You give them something 00:34:19.190 --> 00:34:23.130 to eat. I can just see their mouths drop wide 00:34:23.130 --> 00:34:26.469 open when he said that. You give them something 00:34:26.469 --> 00:34:33.869 to eat. What did they have? They said, Lord, 00:34:33.889 --> 00:34:38.130 we have only five loaves and two fish. Now, was 00:34:38.130 --> 00:34:40.889 that theirs? Did it come from somebody else in 00:34:40.889 --> 00:34:43.739 the crowd? The context here doesn't say. But 00:34:43.739 --> 00:34:45.699 that was all they had. That was the wealth that 00:34:45.699 --> 00:34:49.739 had been entrusted to them. Now get that. It 00:34:49.739 --> 00:34:53.539 wasn't much, but it was something. That was what 00:34:53.539 --> 00:34:56.340 was entrusted to them on this occasion. Now Jesus 00:34:56.340 --> 00:35:01.519 says, feed the multitudes. Well, he said, bring 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:04.460 them here to me. And ordering the multitudes 00:35:04.460 --> 00:35:06.800 to recline in the grass, he took five loaves 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:09.619 and two fishes. And looking up toward heaven, 00:35:09.739 --> 00:35:12.909 he blessed the food. And breaking the loaves, 00:35:12.929 --> 00:35:15.230 he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples 00:35:15.230 --> 00:35:17.730 gave to the multitudes, and they all ate and 00:35:17.730 --> 00:35:20.929 were satisfied. And they picked up what was left 00:35:20.929 --> 00:35:24.769 over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. 00:35:25.730 --> 00:35:28.170 And there were about five thousand men who ate, 00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:30.389 aside from women and children, perhaps up to 00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:35.329 ten thousand people. Ten thousand filled themselves 00:35:35.329 --> 00:35:38.590 for their evening meal on five loaves and two 00:35:38.590 --> 00:35:42.400 fish. And besides that, there were 12 full baskets 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:46.679 of food that were left over. You see what Jesus 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:50.480 did on this occasion? He used the wealth that 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:56.059 He had given to His disciples to teach them a 00:35:56.059 --> 00:36:03.400 lesson about His power and His sufficiency. Now 00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:05.360 my friend, that's what God does with the wealth 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:09.070 He commits to you and me as well. As the poet 00:36:09.070 --> 00:36:13.590 has put it, little is much when God is in it. 00:36:13.829 --> 00:36:17.650 God wants us to see that. God wants us to understand 00:36:17.650 --> 00:36:22.210 the potential of even a little bit that he puts 00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:26.849 into our hands if we give that to him. He is 00:36:26.849 --> 00:36:29.710 able to take that and to bless it beyond anything 00:36:29.710 --> 00:36:32.730 that we could imagine, certainly anything that 00:36:32.730 --> 00:36:38.769 we could do in ourselves. The Lord desires to 00:36:38.769 --> 00:36:41.329 use the wealth that He gives us to teach us of 00:36:41.329 --> 00:36:46.230 His ability, His trustworthiness, to increase 00:36:46.230 --> 00:36:49.750 our faith, to develop our patience. There are 00:36:49.750 --> 00:36:53.289 times when God in fact withholds, perhaps, so 00:36:53.289 --> 00:36:59.010 that we may learn patience and trust. God uses 00:36:59.010 --> 00:37:03.250 wealth or its lack in our lives to teach us. 00:37:03.630 --> 00:37:05.909 It's certainly one way he can get our attention 00:37:05.909 --> 00:37:10.510 quickly in our society, isn't it? We are such 00:37:10.510 --> 00:37:15.070 a materialistic, money -oriented society that 00:37:15.070 --> 00:37:17.670 money is one way that God can quickly snap his 00:37:17.670 --> 00:37:20.449 fingers and we're listening. And hopefully we're 00:37:20.449 --> 00:37:23.510 listening well and learning to see what he wants 00:37:23.510 --> 00:37:30.309 to teach us. A final, a fourth purpose of God 00:37:30.309 --> 00:37:33.199 in bringing wealth into our lives is in This, 00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:39.639 to use us. To use us to meet others' needs. We 00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:42.280 saw this in 2 Corinthians 8 14 last week. Do 00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:44.940 you remember that? Paul said, look, right now 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:47.300 you are being used of God to meet the needs of 00:37:47.300 --> 00:37:50.800 the saints in Jerusalem by your giving. There 00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:53.219 may come a day, he suggests, when you will be 00:37:53.219 --> 00:37:55.360 impoverished and they will send an offering to 00:37:55.360 --> 00:38:00.099 you. That is an equality, he says. It all comes 00:38:00.099 --> 00:38:03.920 out in the end. One of the purposes that God 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:07.260 gives us wealth is this, that He wants to use 00:38:07.260 --> 00:38:11.460 us to be a channel to give to other people. We 00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:14.300 become channels of His resources to others who 00:38:14.300 --> 00:38:18.639 have needs around us. There are some of you who 00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:20.960 have entered into this. We have one person in 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:24.300 our church who has shared with me that he has 00:38:24.300 --> 00:38:29.650 a separate bank account for this purpose. makes 00:38:29.650 --> 00:38:32.349 deposits into that account. It becomes God's 00:38:32.349 --> 00:38:34.210 account so he doesn't feel too bad writing the 00:38:34.210 --> 00:38:37.690 checks. And when he hears about a need and God 00:38:37.690 --> 00:38:40.389 lays it on his heart, he writes out a check to 00:38:40.389 --> 00:38:43.670 meet the need, often doing that anonymously. 00:38:46.010 --> 00:38:48.449 I remember the first time this happened to me. 00:38:49.570 --> 00:38:53.550 The first time that I can recall. And it was 00:38:53.550 --> 00:38:58.409 a friend who was in Christian work. My wife and 00:38:58.409 --> 00:39:01.369 I went to another church in our metropolitan 00:39:01.369 --> 00:39:08.210 area to hear him speak. And after the service 00:39:08.210 --> 00:39:11.889 we went up to greet him. He did not know the 00:39:11.889 --> 00:39:13.769 financial pressures that we were going through 00:39:13.769 --> 00:39:19.570 at that time. At all. As we waited in line our 00:39:19.570 --> 00:39:23.250 turn finally came and when we shook hands I felt 00:39:23.250 --> 00:39:27.380 something in his hand. I looked down. And it 00:39:27.380 --> 00:39:35.460 was a $50 bill. I said, what's this, Larry? He 00:39:35.460 --> 00:39:37.880 said, I don't know what it's for, but God laid 00:39:37.880 --> 00:39:41.599 on my heart last night to give that to you when 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:46.440 I saw you. He had no idea that we needed that. 00:39:47.179 --> 00:39:50.079 But that was God's using one of His children 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:52.719 to be a channel to meet our need in that case. 00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.559 There are others here who have experienced that 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:00.820 same kind of blessing. You know what's even greater 00:40:00.820 --> 00:40:03.340 than looking down and seeing it in your hand? 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:08.900 You know what it is, don't you? It's having it 00:40:08.900 --> 00:40:11.199 in your hand and putting it in somebody else's. 00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:14.079 Or in some other way, giving it to them so they 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:16.360 may not even know where it came from. But it's 00:40:16.360 --> 00:40:19.239 being that channel of God to meet somebody else's 00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:22.440 need. That's why God gives us wealth in part. 00:40:22.750 --> 00:40:25.670 because he wants to use us, to make us a channel 00:40:25.670 --> 00:40:28.510 of blessing to others. That's just great, isn't 00:40:28.510 --> 00:40:31.550 it? What a great joy it is to be able to be used 00:40:31.550 --> 00:40:36.389 of God in that way. So God uses our wealth for 00:40:36.389 --> 00:40:40.489 a number of purposes in our lives. To bless us, 00:40:40.650 --> 00:40:46.110 to test us, to teach us, to use us. Now the third 00:40:46.110 --> 00:40:50.920 area I'd like to address today is this. We must 00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:55.139 beware of the dangers of wealth. Now, I've said 00:40:55.139 --> 00:40:57.179 that all of us have it because God gives it to 00:40:57.179 --> 00:40:59.659 us and that God uses it in our lives, but folks, 00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:04.639 there are dangers when it comes to wealth. I 00:41:04.639 --> 00:41:09.300 want to talk about three of them today. Number 00:41:09.300 --> 00:41:13.239 one, gaining it can become the focus of our lives. 00:41:14.340 --> 00:41:18.949 Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6. One of the dangers 00:41:18.949 --> 00:41:22.929 of wealth is that gaining more of it can become 00:41:22.929 --> 00:41:27.710 the reason for our living. 1 Timothy chapter 00:41:27.710 --> 00:41:32.369 6 verse 9, but those who want to get rich, the 00:41:32.369 --> 00:41:36.869 idea is those who choose, who set their minds, 00:41:36.949 --> 00:41:42.329 who will to get rich fall into temptation and 00:41:42.329 --> 00:41:45.960 a snare. and many foolish and harmful desires 00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:51.199 which plunge men into ruin and destruction. Do 00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:54.119 you want to know the fastest way to end up at 00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:58.260 the bottom? It is to set your mind on getting 00:41:58.260 --> 00:42:03.599 rich. That is the fastest plunge there is into 00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:08.099 ruin and destruction. He says, for the love of 00:42:08.099 --> 00:42:11.860 money is a root of all sorts of evil. And some 00:42:11.860 --> 00:42:16.599 by longing for it, longing for it, have wandered 00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:19.019 away from the faith and pierced themselves with 00:42:19.019 --> 00:42:23.000 many a pang. They have inflicted injury upon 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.360 themselves. They have wandered away from the 00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:29.940 faith because they have longed for money. They 00:42:29.940 --> 00:42:33.900 have longed for money like a lost lover. They 00:42:33.900 --> 00:42:37.699 love it. Now one can have it and not love it 00:42:37.699 --> 00:42:39.280 and not have it and love it. I mean, you know 00:42:39.280 --> 00:42:43.219 that. He's not saying here that having it or 00:42:43.219 --> 00:42:45.079 not having it is wrong, but he's saying that 00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:48.420 whether you have it or not to love it is wrong. 00:42:50.039 --> 00:42:52.980 Because it eventually controls and dominates 00:42:52.980 --> 00:42:57.699 your life, it becomes the God Mammon. Jesus said 00:42:57.699 --> 00:43:04.199 you cannot serve God and Mammon. It subverts 00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:08.730 a person's morality to love money. It causes 00:43:08.730 --> 00:43:12.010 one to manipulate other people, to destroy anyone 00:43:12.010 --> 00:43:17.849 or anything that gets in the way. Jesus warns 00:43:17.849 --> 00:43:20.750 in Matthew 13 -22 about the deceitfulness of 00:43:20.750 --> 00:43:25.510 riches. If you love money, you are loving something 00:43:25.510 --> 00:43:30.510 that lies to you. What does money say? Well, 00:43:30.510 --> 00:43:33.809 a couple of lies that you hear from money. Money 00:43:33.809 --> 00:43:38.139 says, if you get this much more, you'll be satisfied. 00:43:39.699 --> 00:43:42.119 Now it may be a thousand dollars or maybe five 00:43:42.119 --> 00:43:44.420 hundred thousand dollars, but doesn't matter. 00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:49.440 Anxiety sets in. You see, possessing it can create 00:43:49.440 --> 00:43:53.380 anxiety if we allow it to. That's the second 00:43:53.380 --> 00:43:56.400 danger. The third danger is this. Failure to 00:43:56.400 --> 00:44:01.440 manage it can bring one into bondage. By that 00:44:01.440 --> 00:44:05.099 I mean debt. It's important to define a word 00:44:05.099 --> 00:44:07.380 like debt. What I mean by that is what I think 00:44:07.380 --> 00:44:10.880 the Bible means by it, and that is the inability 00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:15.599 to repay what has been borrowed. In other words, 00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:18.980 if one is current in his obligations, if he's 00:44:18.980 --> 00:44:21.960 meeting his loan obligations, that is not debt 00:44:21.960 --> 00:44:28.880 in the biblical sense. Debt is when I have overextended 00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:32.250 myself. I know there are those who use a proof 00:44:32.250 --> 00:44:35.550 text in Romans 13, 8 that says, oh, no man anything. 00:44:37.030 --> 00:44:39.550 The verse goes on to say, but to love one another. 00:44:39.909 --> 00:44:41.530 In other words, what the verse really is saying 00:44:41.530 --> 00:44:43.730 is you can never say I've loved enough and paid 00:44:43.730 --> 00:44:47.389 all I owe. Keep on paying or keep on loving, 00:44:47.449 --> 00:44:50.550 in other words. It's an obligation that can never 00:44:50.550 --> 00:44:55.289 be fully repaid. The text is not there relating 00:44:55.289 --> 00:45:01.559 to finances particularly. One is in debt, he 00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:03.840 is in bondage, however, when he has gotten to 00:45:03.840 --> 00:45:09.760 the place where he cannot repay as he's promised 00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:15.380 to what he has borrowed. The result is frustration, 00:45:17.219 --> 00:45:25.460 unfulfilled needs, worry, and one becomes the 00:45:25.460 --> 00:45:30.980 servant of another. Proverbs 22 -7 warns us that 00:45:30.980 --> 00:45:33.920 the borrower becomes the slave of the lender 00:45:33.920 --> 00:45:38.159 in a situation like this. When one has gotten 00:45:38.159 --> 00:45:42.619 beyond what he's able to repay. So the third 00:45:42.619 --> 00:45:45.960 danger of wealth is this, that failure to manage 00:45:45.960 --> 00:45:50.340 it properly can bring one into bondage. And I 00:45:50.340 --> 00:45:54.800 guess one of the reasons that I feel so impelled 00:45:54.800 --> 00:45:58.309 to talk about it for a week or two is the fact 00:45:58.309 --> 00:46:01.110 that there are so many in our church who are 00:46:01.110 --> 00:46:05.050 facing this kind of bondage. Young couples who 00:46:05.050 --> 00:46:09.150 have gotten into homes, for example, and the 00:46:09.150 --> 00:46:15.949 result of that is financial bondage. Beware of 00:46:15.949 --> 00:46:18.090 borrowing money based upon the fact that you 00:46:18.090 --> 00:46:21.349 and your wife are both working now because you 00:46:21.349 --> 00:46:25.449 don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You 00:46:25.449 --> 00:46:27.489 may not have both of those incomes to depend 00:46:27.489 --> 00:46:32.670 upon. You students beware of borrowing money 00:46:32.670 --> 00:46:37.610 too much for your education. People are making 00:46:37.610 --> 00:46:40.349 it easier and easier to borrow huge vast sums 00:46:40.349 --> 00:46:42.550 of money in order to finish your college education. 00:46:43.570 --> 00:46:46.050 But there comes a point when that becomes unwise. 00:46:47.409 --> 00:46:50.429 We have numerous families in our church today. 00:46:50.699 --> 00:46:54.119 who are in financial bondage because of college 00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:59.840 loans. Upwards to five, ten, even $20 ,000 borrowed 00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:03.239 to finish college. And the thought is back at 00:47:03.239 --> 00:47:05.199 the time is, well, when I get out of college, 00:47:05.260 --> 00:47:07.760 I'll earn $50 ,000 a year and pay all that back 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:11.239 in two years. You got some surprises coming. 00:47:12.179 --> 00:47:14.980 You're better off quitting college, going out 00:47:14.980 --> 00:47:16.440 and working for a while, earning some money, 00:47:16.460 --> 00:47:18.139 coming back and then finishing college and paying 00:47:18.139 --> 00:47:21.639 for it that way. than borrowing vast sums of 00:47:21.639 --> 00:47:24.960 money. Beware of financial bondage. It can happen 00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:29.139 before you know it. And the sad thing is that 00:47:29.139 --> 00:47:31.340 early in your married life you can make mistakes 00:47:31.340 --> 00:47:34.400 that you pay for for years and years and years. 00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:41.860 Now how can one escape these dangers? How can 00:47:41.860 --> 00:47:43.659 one be delivered from the love of money? How 00:47:43.659 --> 00:47:48.599 can one be released from worry? How can one get 00:47:48.599 --> 00:47:52.860 out of financial bondage? Those are good questions, 00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:55.039 and we're going to talk about them in two weeks. 00:47:56.780 --> 00:48:00.559 We're out of time today. We've talked a lot about 00:48:00.559 --> 00:48:05.579 money. Just want to remind anyone who's here, 00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:09.039 though, who's thinking somehow that money is 00:48:09.039 --> 00:48:12.699 what life is all about, that that rich man there 00:48:12.699 --> 00:48:15.159 in Luke that we just looked at was caught up 00:48:15.159 --> 00:48:17.829 short. He said, I'm going to build barns, and 00:48:17.829 --> 00:48:20.010 I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that, 00:48:20.309 --> 00:48:22.550 and I'll take care of myself and be at ease. 00:48:24.170 --> 00:48:26.289 You see, he bought the lies of money. He said 00:48:26.289 --> 00:48:28.590 in the first place, if I get this much, that'll 00:48:28.590 --> 00:48:33.389 be enough. I'll be at ease. You see? He was deceived. 00:48:33.469 --> 00:48:39.269 He bought the lies of money. Listen, God said 00:48:39.269 --> 00:48:43.070 to him that night, you fool, your soul is required 00:48:43.070 --> 00:48:49.360 of you. Your soul is required of you, you and 00:48:49.360 --> 00:48:53.059 you and you and me by God. How is it with your 00:48:53.059 --> 00:48:58.239 soul and the Lord? How is it today? Is all well 00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:01.840 between you and the Lord? As a Christian, are 00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:06.539 you walking in obedience? As one who's never 00:49:06.539 --> 00:49:09.320 trusted Jesus Christ, will you come to him in 00:49:09.320 --> 00:49:12.880 faith today so that all will be at peace between 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:17.420 you and God? I hope you will. Let's pray. Lord, 00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:20.719 thank you for the instruction of your Word. My 00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:22.739 prayer is that we will not just be hearers of 00:49:22.739 --> 00:49:24.860 it and write it down on a piece of paper, but 00:49:24.860 --> 00:49:27.139 that we will also be doers of it and put it into 00:49:27.139 --> 00:49:31.780 practice in our lives. And I pray, Father, that 00:49:31.780 --> 00:49:34.260 we will be obedient to the principles of finance 00:49:34.260 --> 00:49:36.239 that you've laid out in your Word and wherein 00:49:36.239 --> 00:49:38.539 we haven't in the past, that you will help us 00:49:38.539 --> 00:49:41.019 to know what to do to get into the place of obedience. 00:49:44.130 --> 00:49:46.449 Father, I especially want to pray for that one 00:49:46.449 --> 00:49:49.610 who is here today who is deceived by money and 00:49:49.610 --> 00:49:52.409 who thinks that with his money he doesn't need 00:49:52.409 --> 00:49:56.650 God. I pray that that one will be delivered from 00:49:56.650 --> 00:49:59.929 that deceit, that lie today, and will turn to 00:49:59.929 --> 00:50:03.409 you in repentance and will trust you so that 00:50:03.409 --> 00:50:09.210 all can be well between him and you. Deliver 00:50:09.210 --> 00:50:11.789 those of us who are your children from the deceit 00:50:11.789 --> 00:50:16.460 of riches as well. And if there needs to be repentance 00:50:16.460 --> 00:50:19.940 in our lives, if we need to make some decisions, 00:50:19.940 --> 00:50:22.539 Lord, to be in conformity to Your will, then 00:50:22.539 --> 00:50:27.699 get us to that point quick. We pray this in Jesus' 00:50:27.920 --> 00:50:28.739 name, amen.