The Problem of Money, Part 1

The story is told of the man who decided to divorce his wife after 20 years of marriage And so while he was getting all of his finances together, he began to rummage through all of his old checks Upon doing so, he came across the check that was written the very first night he and his bride spent on their honeymoon He came across the check they used to buy their first car He came across the check they used to pay the hospital for the birth of their daughter He came across the $2,000 check they used for the down payment for their very first home

Having gone through those checks and realized how much money he had invested in his wife and how much they had invested into one another, he got on the phone, he called her and said, we cannot leave one another for we have invested too much into one another over these last 20 years and decided not to divorce That story tells us about what our checkbook truly does reveal about our lives, what we think is important, what we value Our checkbook truly does tell us about our walk with the Lord You might not think it does, but it most certainly does And the Lord knew that

In fact, the Lord would speak and when he spoke, one third of his parables dealt with the issue of stewardship He spoke more on the subject of money than any other one subject he would address during his earthly ministry because he knew that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also And so tonight we want to study that problem prone to all of us, that problem of money It was Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the U.S

Senate, who wrote these words, Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing because when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance Money is an exact index of a man's true character All through Scripture, there is an intimate correlation between the development of a man's character and how he handles his money Mr Halverson was correct

And yet when we begin to talk about money, people in the church get just a little squirmish about what the pastor's going to say. I'm reminded of the story of the preacher who way down south began to preach as he was bringing his sermon to an end, there was a sort of crescendo effect that he was trying to get across And he said these words, this church, like the crippled man, has got to get up and walk And the congregation responded, that's right preacher, let it walk And he added, this church, like Elijah on Mount Carmel, has got to run

And they responded, run preacher, let it run, we must run The church has got to mount up on wings like eagles and fly And the people responded, let it fly preacher, let the church fly Then he added, now if this church is going to fly, it's going to take money And the church responded, let it walk preacher, let it walk That's how we respond As the pastor would walk out of the church one day, one of the parishioners came to him and said, you know pastor, I'm so glad that you told us you didn't know where the money was going to come from to operate this church

Because I was so afraid you were going to ask us to help you with that operation You see, we don't look at the fact that God determines by the money we have and how we spend that money, the barometer of our spiritual condition That's an amazing thing that God has done And we need to understand exactly what the Bible says concerning money So we want to cover three points with you this evening The first is this We want to talk about some initial principles about your money that you need to understand And then we want to look at some immediate problems you will face with your money

And then we want to talk about some important plans for your money Those are three points we want to cover with you tonight And as I was studying for this evening, I realized that there is so much to say about the topic of stewardship and money in the Bible It's amazing But three principles I want to begin with, three initial principles you need to understand before we ever talk about the problem of money The first one is ownership The second one is stewardship And the third one is relationship The first one is ownership

It deals with the question, who really owns your money? It deals with the issue of rights Who has the rights to your money? It's the issue of ownership The Bible says in Psalm 24, number one, verse one, these words, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it Listen to Psalm 50, verse number 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, that everything that moves in the field is mine If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all it contains

God says that every beast of the field is mine You don't even own your dog God says your dog is mine God says your cat is mine The Bible says in the book of Haggai, chapter two, verse number eight, the silver is mine and the gold is mine God says, I own your money The problem with that is, is that we think we own our money We work hard to receive that paycheck every two weeks And we think that we have worked so hard that we are now getting what we deserve, or maybe we're not getting what we think we deserve, but that is our money

And God says, no, the gold is mine, the silver is mine, it's all mine Exodus chapter 19, verse number five says, all the earth is mine The point is this, that God is the owner of everything We must come to grips that God owns your house, your money, your cars, your dogs, your cats, your children, your wife, everything God owns it all And the very moment you begin to think that you are the owner, everything about your money changes perspective Everything about your life changes perspective You must realize that God owns it all And when God owns something, listen, God doesn't share ownership

Lucifer wanted part ownership in heaven God says you can't have it It's mine You know, children love that word mine That's my toy That's my pillow That's my blanket That's my lunch That's mine You can't have it Well, God, when He owns something, it's His And we tend to want to take what's His It was one author, Ron Blue, who said these words about ownership He says very few Christians would argue with the principle that God owns it all, and yet if we follow the principle to its natural conclusion, there are three revolutionary implications

First of all, God has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it It is all His because an owner has rights, and I, as a steward, have only responsibilities If I really believe that God owns it all, then when I lost my possession for whatever reason, my emotions may cry out, but my mind and spirit have not the slightest question as to the right of God to take whatever He wants, whenever He wants it Really believing this also frees me to give generously of God's resources to God's purposes and His people All that I have belongs to Him

The second implication, he says, is this, of God's owning it all, is that not only is my giving decision a spiritual decision, but every spending decision is a spiritual decision As a steward, I have a great deal of latitude, but I am still responsible to the owner Someday I will give an accounting of how I used his property The third implication of the truth, that God owns it all, is that you can't fake stewardship

Your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship, your goals, priorities, convictions, relationships, and even the use of your time. A person who has been a Christian for even a short while can fake prayer, Bible study, evangelism, going to church, and so on, but he can't fake what his checkbook reveals That's true So the first initial principle that deals with us and how we are to handle money is we have to realize that God owns everything It's the principle of ownership. I don't own a thing God owns it Number two, stewardship

If God has the right to everything, then I have a responsibility to Him. I have an accountability to Him The Bible says it's required of a steward or a household manager that he be found faithful, 1 Corinthians 4.2 It is required of you and me as stewards, as household managers, as overseers of God's possessions, that we be found faithful Listen, I purchased a home, but I don't own that home God owns it And because it's God's home, I have to make it acceptable to God. I've purchased my cars. I own nothing on my cars They're mine, right? No They're God's

So therefore, I take care of my car as if God is going to ride in my car because it's God's. I take care of my body because my body is His My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit God owns me He bought me with a price Therefore I take care of my body because it's accountable to Him That's the issue of stewardship. I am a household manager of God's possessions. I am an overseer of taking care of God's possessions

And so we realize that if God has the right to everything, that I have a responsibility to be accountable to Him for the things that He loans me just for a while. I'm a steward of my children, right? I don't own my children My wife gives birth to the children She thinks that she owns them because she carried them for nine months and then she was able to deliver those children But you know what? If they're only here for a short while, we never know how long they're going to be here They might be here for a week They might be here for ten years They might be here for a hundred years

We never know how long God's going to loan them to us So we must make sure that we take care of God's possession properly, right? You see, the whole issue of stewardship changes my perspective on ownership because I have a right to nothing, but I have a responsibility in everything Does that make sense? Sure it does That's why over in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, it says these words, verse number 6, Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully An agricultural metaphor

If you sow a little bit, you reap a little bit, but if you sow a lot, you reap a lot Well, if you've got God's money and you give a little bit of God His money, then you only get a little bit of money back But if you give God a lot of your money, which is really His money, you get a lot of money in return It's the principle of the law of the harvest It's very simple If you sow a little bit, you get a little bit, but if you sow a lot, you get a lot

And that's why Paul would go on and say these words in verse number 7, Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion For God loves a cheerful giver, and God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed God is concerned that you have an abundance to accomplish every good deed He is But when you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly But if you sow bountifully, He promises you will reap bountifully

Now I know that when we talk about money in the church, that it really sets some people on edge That's why there's not as many people here tonight as there was last week They'll tell you it was because of the Laker game, but the Lakers aren't any good So that's really not a good excuse The bottom line is that people get really uneasy And they think that, you know, when you begin to talk about money, that it's always about the church And I was asked a question on Monday night at a leadership meeting about why it is that we increase our budget every year as a church And I gave an answer

It's not as good as the one I'm going to give you tonight For years ago, many years ago, there was a man who wrote to Dear Abby You know, she was a great theologian, Dear Abby was And they asked this question This man had written in because he was tired of the church always asking him for money And so the question asked of Dear Abby, is the church costing too much? He wanted her input Listen to the wisdom of what she says

She says, is the church costing too much? Last Sunday, another golfer sank the last putt on the 18th green and received a check for $50,000 for four rounds of golf, plus an automobile for himself and one for his wife This week, the papers reported that a certain popular singer will receive $100,000 per week for her current engagement Americans spend annually more on dog food than on church contributions It is not unusual for an individual to pay more for his country club membership than he gives to the church So I ask, is the church costing too much? Let me share an experience with you

On June 2, 1940, a little girl was born to us She cost us money from the moment she was born As she grew from babyhood to girlhood, she cost even more Her dresses and shoes were more expensive, and we had to have a doctor through all those childhood diseases She was even more expensive during her school and teen years She needed long dresses to go to parties When she went to college, we discovered, along with other parents, that all college expenses are not listed in the catalog Then after graduation, she fell in love and married

She was married at a church wedding, and that, too, cost a lot of money Then five months after her marriage, she suddenly sickened, and with the week, she was dead She hasn't cost us a penny since the day we walked away from her grave As long as the church is alive, she will cost money And the more alive a church is, the more money it will cost Only a dead church, like a dead child, is no longer expensive Think it over Is the church costing too much? When you put it in that perspective, only a dead church costs nothing, and a live church costs a lot

And so the Lord says, I will build my church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it And He says that in the realm of that church, in the realm of that facility, in the realm of those people, those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly, but those who sow bountifully will reap bountifully That's what God says It's an issue of stewardship based on who owns it all God does But thirdly, there's another principle, and that's the principle of relationship The principle of relationship

If ownership deals with rights, and stewardship deals with responsibility, then relationship deals with respect And the respect I have for the one I am to honor And I am to honor God Himself Proverbs 11, verse number 4, states it this way Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death The bottom line is my relationship with the living God And whenever you talk about money, it always stems from a relationship That's why over in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse number 1, it says this about those in Macedonia

It says, Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia, that in great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality For I testified that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints And this not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God

Paul says we were overwhelmed by this group of people from Macedonia who wanted to give to the work of the saints, who wanted to support the saints They were so overwhelmed because they not only gave according to their ability, but they gave beyond their ability When was the last time you gave beyond your ability? The only way you can give beyond your ability is if you've given your heart to the Lord That's what they did He says they did this because they had given their heart to the Lord

And that's why we have told you over these 11 years of our ministry, we only preach about money when it's in the text Why? Because it's not about your money God doesn't need your money God owns it all Right? He doesn't need your measly salary of $250,000 a year God just wants your heart Because once he has your heart, he's got your money, but he's got to have the heart That's why he wants you to give, not grudgingly, but generously Because God loves a cheerful giver, see? God loves a cheerful giver What we need most, it can't be purchased with money

And that's why you must understand the principle of relationship Money can buy you bed, but it will not make you sleep Money will buy you pleasure, but not peace Money will buy you medicine, but not health It'll buy you companionship, but not friendship It'll buy you a crucifix, but it won't buy you a savior Money can buy you everything you think you need, but nothing what you truly need And that's a relationship with the living God of the universe And that comes because of what he gave to you Those three principles set the tone for the immediate problems we face with our money

The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse number 6, these words, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either And if we have food and covering with these, we shall be content But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil

And some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many a pang And then Paul says to Timothy, but Timothy, O man of God, you flee these things You flee the constant pursuit of money You flee the love of money because it will entrap you It will destroy you And let me show you how that happened All right Number one, the first immediate problem with your money It will cause you to forget your father Listen to Proverbs chapter 30, verse number eight and nine Keep deception and lies far from me Give me neither poverty nor riches

Feed me with the food that is my portion Lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? There is nothing that will cause you to forget your father in heaven more than having more and more money Did you ever think of it that way? Put it this way Remember the guy who didn't have a job? Maybe you're that guy And you were out of job for five months, six months, seven months, a year, year and a half And you didn't know what you were going to do And you were praying, you were trusting God to supply your needs because you didn't know where the next bill was going to come from

How are you going to pay for that bill? And you were just trusting God And God, in some way, miraculously supplied your needs And you saw how God would work And all of a sudden, you got a job God gave you a job And I have noticed that a lot of people, not all of them, but a lot of people like that, once they get their job, they stop coming to church When they don't have a job, they're here on Wednesdays They're here on Sundays They're here in Bible studies They're involved in ministries They're doing everything they possibly can

But when they get that job, all of a sudden, they don't have any time to do those things anymore They stop showing up because they forget their Father They forget who owns it all They forget their responsibility in being a steward And it hinders their relationship with the living God

Remember back in Deuteronomy chapter 8, what did Moses tell the nation of Israel? Beware lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes, which I am commanding you today, lest when you have eaten and are satisfied and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies God says, look, when you get to the promised land, everything's going to multiply Everything is just going to be amazing You wait and see But be careful lest you forget

And your heart becomes proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery He led you through the great and terrible wilderness with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water He brought water for you out of the rock of Flint In the wilderness, He fed you manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you to do good for you in the end Otherwise, you may say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth

But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who has given you power to make wealth, and He may confirm His covenant which you swore to your fathers as it is this day And it shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish Let me tell you something, folks There's nothing that will cause you to forget about your God quicker than a big bankroll Now, there's nothing wrong with having a big bankroll

Please don't hear me say that having lots of money is wrong because God gives people lots of money Look at Abraham He was a rich man Look at Jacob He was a rich man Look at Job He was the wealthiest man on the face of the earth as well as the most righteous man on the face of the earth So there's nothing wrong with having wealth There's nothing wrong with having possessions if God gives them to you The problem is like in Deuteronomy 8, you get back and say, look what my hands have done, how I have gained this wealth And you begin to forget who brought you there

You forget that God allowed you to do these things It's so easy to forget when you no longer have to trust Him When you have to trust Him, you're always remembering Him So what happens is that the love of money is the number one problem because it causes me to forget my Father If you forget Him, Malachi 3, 8 says, you'll rob Him And if you rob God, you'll rob His children as well You'll rob Him of what truly is due Him The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4, 7, what do you have that you do not receive? Answer, nothing

The Bible says over in the book of James 1, verse number 17, every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights Everything you have, you have because God gave it to you Don't you go to bed tonight without thanking God for what He's done to give you what you have You say, I don't have anything Yes, you do You got more than you can ever imagine And you need to go to your knees and say, God, thank You for my health Thank You for my family Thank You for a car to get to church, to get to work Thank You, Lord, for a job to go to tomorrow

Thank You, Lord, that You've allowed me to walk to work Thank You, Lord, You give me a bike to ride to work Thank You, God, for all these things You see, we like to focus on what we don't have instead of thanking God for what we do have And when we don't thank God for what we do have, we never get what we think we need to have Did you get that? Buy the tape. I'm not sure I can repeat it But that's true See, we need to thank God for what He's done And may God give us the grace to follow His Word Let's pray.