The Problem of Money, Part 2

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.

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. 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.

Who really owns your money? 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.

God owns it all. And the very moment you begin to think that you are the owner, everything about your money changes perspective. Your checkbook reveals all that you really believe about stewardship.

If God has the right to everything, then I have a responsibility to Him. 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. That makes sense? Sure it does.

But thirdly, there's another principle, and that's 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.

The bottom line is my relationship with the living God. God just wants your heart, because once He has your heart, He's got your money. But He's got to have the heart.

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. All right? The first immediate problem with your money, it will cause you to forget your father. It will cause you to forget your father.

But not only does it cause us to forget our father, it causes us to transfer our trust. This is where we left off last week. The love of money causes us to transfer our trust.

Listen to this. This is so amazing. Proverbs 10, verse number 15, the rich man's wealth is his fortress.

Now, why would the rich man's wealth be his fortress? He goes on to say, the ruin of the poor is their poverty, because the rich man begins to trust in his riches. It becomes his security. Proverbs 11, verse number 28, states it this way, he who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

Riches cause us to transfer our trust from the Redeemer to our own riches. And that's a danger. Proverbs 15, verse number 16, says this, better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it.

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. It's better to be, to have little and fear the Lord than it is to have great treasure and turmoil with it. The book of Proverbs tells us that a lot of times with a great amount of wealth comes distress and turmoil and all kinds of hardship.

It's better to be in the fear of the than anywhere else. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 23, verse number 24, these words, Proverbs 23, no, that's not the one I want. It's Proverbs, yeah, 23, 4, I'm sorry.

23, verse number 4, do not weary yourself to gain wealth. Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone, for wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

Solomon says, don't weary yourself over being consumed with money. How many times do we get the LA Times, open it up, read the stock market page. What must stock do today? What's happening today? And we weary ourselves over our investments and our money to make sure the stock market hasn't gone down and I've lost more money.

Proverbs tells us because money has wings on it and it flies away very rapidly. You lose it just like that. But what happens is that when we forget our Father, we transfer our trust to something.

See, we must trust something or someone. And if we're not trusting in God, we are trusting in our riches. You know, when you leave the house during the day, you know, and you've got some money in your pocket, you know, and you get a hold of, maybe you got, you know, 40, 50 bucks in there, you know, it feels pretty good, doesn't it? Be honest.

You can go to lunch that day, maybe even dinner. Have a little leftover to bring some flowers home to your wife. Feels pretty good.

And we begin to not trust God as much. It's one thing to have 40 or 50 bucks in your pocket. It's another thing to have 45 cents in your pocket.

Because 45 cents can't even buy you a Coke today, let alone lunch. And we begin to hold on to that money and our heart becomes at ease because we're, in our minds, financially secure. And we transfer our trust to those things that really don't matter, that are going to fly away, that take wings and us quickly because we think we're owners and not stewards.

We must be very, very careful because we begin to trust in an unstable foundation. There are no guarantees in your investments. The only investment you're guaranteed in is the one that has eternal value.

Number three, if you forget your Father, you'll transfer your trust. If you transfer your trust, listen, you will compromise your convictions. That's the third problem.

You will compromise your convictions. Proverbs 28, verse number six, says this, better is the poor who walks in integrity than he who is crooked, though he be rich. Verse 11, the rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding sees through him.

It's better to be a poor man and have your integrity than to be a rich man and crooked. That means untruthful, deceitful, one who has lost his integrity. Proverbs chapter 19, verse number one, states it this way, better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

Proverbs chapter 22, verse number one, a good name is to be more desired than great riches. Favor is better than silver and gold. If we spent as much time building a good name, building a name that lasts because of its integrity, as much as we spent time trying to build our bank accounts and build for our future, we'd be great men and women of God.

But so many times we use our energy to make sure it's all vested in one direction, and that is how can I get more of what I do not have? Remember Mark chapter four, verse number 19, the parable of the sower of the soil, it talks about the deceitfulness of riches and how they choke out the Word of God. Let me tell you something about riches. Let me tell you something about money.

It's unfortunate, but a lot of people have a price, and they will compromise just about anything to meet that price. And there are a lot of people who compromise their walk with God in order to obtain the job they want in secular society. When you forget about your Father and you transfer your trust, you have to keep going.

And to keep going in that trustworthy occupation, then you must compromise your convictions. And that's where it leads. That's where it goes.

And you begin to deal with things in a way that are kind of shady. You begin to cheat a little bit here and cheat a little bit there. And you got to be careful about that.

You got to be honest. You got to be truthful. You got to be straightforward, because God knows.

Remember, God owns your money. He's trying to see how you're going to be a good household manager of His possessions. So He knows how you deal with His money.

That's important. He wants you to be a good steward of what He's given to you. That's what the Bible says in Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else, all these other things will be added unto you.

But you got to be consumed with Christ's kingdom and His righteousness. And fourthly, if you forget your Father and transfer your trust, end up compromising your convictions, you will become greedy for gain. You want more, and you want more, and you want more.

That insatiable desire that enough is not enough. There's always got to be another toy to buy. There's got to be another house to buy.

There's got to be another outfit to wear. There's got to be something else to buy. There's never enough.

There's always got to be more. And listen to what the Bible says in Proverbs 28, verse number 20. This is so telling.

Proverbs 28, verse number 20, a faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. Verse number 22, a man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him. The man with the evil eye hastens to make more, but what he doesn't know is that what he wants will not be there, because money can't buy you what you need.

It will never suffice. And he finds himself wanting more and more and more, trying to fill the void that's there, thinking that one more investment, one more turn, one more paycheck, one more will fill the void. But all it does is leave him in want.

It was Ben Franklin who said, money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants.

Instead of it's filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and triples that want another way. That's good advice.

It's also true. That's what happens, see? You just never get enough, and greediness leads you to all kinds of sinfulness. See, that's why those quick, rich schemes never work.

That's what the Bible says, don't hasten to get rich. You know, that's why people play the lottery. They hasten to get rich.

And the Bible says don't do that, but we do. Why? Why? Just one chance that the right numbers will set me for life, so we think. You know, we don't play the lottery because we want to help out, you know, society.

We don't play the lottery because we want to give to the fire department or the police department and the proceeds where all that money goes to. We don't do it for that reason. We do it because it just might happen on that day they're going to call my number and I'll be $10 million richer and never have to work again, never have to do anything else again.

That's why we do it. And the Bible says don't do that. Don't hasten to get rich.

Don't do it. It's the evil eye. It's the evil man who looks for the quick fixes.

The Bible speaks about hard work, speaks about labor, and the man who's satisfied because of that labor. And so we got to be careful. But you see, if you forget your father and transfer your trust and compromise your convictions, you'll become more and more greedy to gain more and more and more.

And maybe that's where you are this evening. I don't know where you're at. I don't know what you do with your bank account.

I don't know what you do with your checkbook. I don't, we don't go around and ask to see your checkbook. We don't do that kind of stuff.

Only you know that, but that's what happens. So what do I need to do? Let me give you some important plans for your money. Let me give you some important plans for your money.

Number one, please the Lord first. Whatever you do, please the Lord first. Proverbs 3, verse number nine, honor the Lord from your wealth.

And from the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Please the Lord for honor Him. The very first thing you do with whatever money you receive is honor the Lord first.

That's it. Don't do anything with your money until God's been honored. People always say, well, you know, what does it mean I have to honor the Lord? What does it mean I got to please the Lord first? What does that mean? How much are you talking about, pastor? Everybody always asks about how much? People say, well, you know, you got to give a tenth of your income because that's a tie of the Old Testament.

If you give a tenth, boy, that's great. And then others come back and say, well, no, that's Old Testament law. You don't have to give a tenth.

You can give whatever your heart desires. And the New Testament doesn't emphasize a tenth. It emphasizes grace giving.

In fact, if you emphasize what the Bible said about giving, you have to do what Zacchaeus did and give half of everything. So we don't want to get into the Bible and start talking about what people gave in the Bible because we'd be giving half of what we make to the Lord. It's about grace giving.

It's about what God lays upon your heart. It's like the guy who says, you know, the three guys got together and they were talking about how much they gave to the Lord. One guy said, you know what I do? I just draw this real big circle around me like this.

And when I get my paycheck, I go in, I cash it, and I take it. I just throw all the money in the air. And whatever lands inside the circle is mine.

Whatever lands outside the circle is God's. Another guy said, well, you know, I do something similar to that, except when I throw my money in the air, whatever lands inside the circle is God's, and whatever lands outside the circle is mine. And I looked at the other friend and said, well, how do you determine how much you're going to give to the Lord? He said, well, I do something similar to you guys.

I go to the bank, and I cash my check, and I come back, and I just take that money and I throw it in the air. And I just figured whatever comes down is mine, and whatever stays up is God's. If it stays up there, he must want to keep it.

If it comes down, it must be mine. You know, how is it I honor the Lord with the first fruits of my increase? You know, it's important that you please the Lord first. Proverbs 13, verse number 7, there is one who pretends to be rich but has nothing, another pretends to be poor but has great wealth.

Proverbs chapter 22, verse number 4, the reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life. Now, you need to understand that verse. The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life.

The world offers money, fame, and success. God offers riches, honor, and life. And it comes through humility and the fear of the Lord.

And God says, I will bless your life. Your vats will overflow with new wine if you honor me first. And so whenever you receive whatever it is you get, you ask yourself, how is God going to be honored with what I give Him today? How will He be honored? Please the Lord first.

You want to deal with your money problems? Honor God first. If you honor God first, you will have no money problems. Mark it down.

If you have money problems, you have not honored God in your giving. That is such a basic principle of Scripture. When you honor God, you have no money problems.

But when you decide not to honor God and honor yourself and keep back from God, as Malachi 3 says, will a man rob God? And they say, well, how do we rob God? In your tithes and in your offerings. That's how you rob God. You've kept back the best for me.

You've kept it for yourself. You see, we think that if we just hold on to it a little longer and not give it to God, that we'll be able to make ends meet. But is it not true that the longer you hold on to it, the less you're able to make ends meet? So because you're not going to make ends meet anyway, give it to the Lord.

And you watch how the ends are met. That's how it works. Please the Lord first.

That's the first way to handle your money problem. Number two, pay off all your debts. Pay off all your debts.

Now I'm going to tell you how to do that. Got everybody's attention? I'm going to tell you how to pay off your credit card debt. No, it's important to note that 74% of Americans who use credit cards make only a minimum payment each month, 74%.

Listen to this. The typical American who charges $250 a month and makes only minimum payments will owe $2,870 after one year. So you buy discounts for 250 bucks because you can't buy much of a couch for 250 bucks.

So let's say you buy a chair for 250 bucks, and all you do is make a minimum payment on that chair. You owe $2,870. But listen to this.

If that person never used his credit card again, never used it again, just one $250 charge on that credit card and made only minimum payments, it would take 30 years to pay off the debt totaling over $8,000 in interest. That chair just cost you $8,000 because you only made a minimum payment on it. You see, we forget.

You know, why does he get all these credit card applications in the mail? Credit card companies live and feast off the interest. They're not hurting for money. They're taking all your money.

And so, you see, we got to be careful about it. So what do you do? You got to get in charge of what it is you're doing. You got to get organized, and you got to keep track of everything you spend.

And the way you get out of credit card debt is number one, never use that credit card again. Only use cash. You say, well, I can't do that, Pastor.

I can't make ends meet. Yes, you can. You won't make ends meet.

You can. You won't. You only use cash.

And then you double your minimum payment every month. And in three years, that credit card will be gone. Double your minimum payment.

In three years, it'll be gone. And you say, well, I can't double my minimum payment. Get a second job until you're able to get out of that debt.

How bad do you want to get out of debt? That's a simple solution to credit card debt. How do you get out of it? Listen, I've counseled people for 20 years on credit card debts. I made a commitment to my wife.

When we got married, I would never put her into debt. Before I ever married her, I told her father, I will never take your daughter and put her into debt. I will never do that.

I will never buy something I can't pay every single month off. And for 19 years, we have never, ever been in that situation because I made a commitment not to do that. I made a commitment not to spend more than I make.

See, we live in a society that says, you got to keep spending, got to keep spending. The insatiable desire to have more and more and more. And because of credit cards, you say, well, just make a minimum payment each month.

It's okay. We can still do that, still survive. But let me tell you something, that $250 couch cost $8,000 in 30 years if you just make a minimum payment.

That's amazing. You got to be careful about what you do. So you got to begin to get organized and you got to get to work if you're really serious about getting out of debt.

The Bible says in Proverbs 22, verse number seven, these words, maybe this will help you here. The rich rules over the poor. That's true, right? The rich rules over the poor and the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

I don't choose to be a slave to MasterCard or Citibank or Discover or American Express. Why? Because I'm God's slave. That's why.

I've been bought with the price. I'm already a slave and I'm a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't want to be a slave to anybody else.

The Bible says in Romans 13, eight, owe no man anything but love. I want MasterCard to have my love, not my money. See? So you got to make sure that you owe no man anything but love.

And there's nothing wrong with credit cards. Don't even say that. You can use a credit card.

Just make sure you can pay it off each month because if you can't pay it off, you're spending more than you're making and you're going to find yourself in great debt. So the first thing you do is please the Lord with what you have, with the first fruits of your increase. You please Him first.

And then number two, you seek to pay off those debts by doubling your minimum payment every month and getting a second job if you have to, to make sure you get through that time, all the while not putting one more thing on that credit card. And that's an important plan to handling the money problem that according to this statistic, 74% of Americans have. And maybe you're in the 26%.

It's not like that. I don't know. But that's exactly what needs to happen in our lives.

Number three, this is kind of interesting, but you need to understand it. And that is this, provide for those in need. What kind of plan is that to get me out of my money problem? Provide for those in need.

Why is that? The Bible says, let those who steal, steal no longer, but rather let them labor working with their hands that they might be able to give to those who are in need. We forget that one of the reasons we have a job is to give to those in need. We think we have a job to meet all of our needs.

But when you begin to understand this principle, he who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, but he who honors him has mercy on the needy. That's Proverbs chapter 14, verse number 31. Proverbs 17, 5, he who mocks the poor reproaches his maker.

He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished. Proverbs 19, 17, he who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, lends to the Lord, and he will pay back what he has given. Isn't that good? When you lend to the needy, you lend to the Lord.

When you give to the needy, you give to the Lord. And the Bible says, and God will pay you back. Pay you back.

Proverbs 21, 13, whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard. Wow! You know somebody in need, and you say, I'm not going to listen to that. I don't want to hear it.

The Bible says you will cry and you will not be heard. The Bible also says in Proverbs 22, 2, the rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord is the maker of them all. Proverbs 22, 9, he who has a bountiful eye will be blessed for he gives of his bread to the poor.

Proverbs 28, 27, he who gives to the poor, are you ready? He who gives to the poor will not lack. Wow! But he who hides his eyes will have many curses. Now folks, that speaks volumes, doesn't it? My time is running short.

Provide for those in need. And lastly, prioritize your investments. Prioritize your investments.

You must make sure that you invest in the things that God wants you to invest in. It's important to provide for your family, to invest in their future. I think that's important.

But the important thing is that God expects us to understand that he himself is the one who wants us to invest in things for eternity. And we need to prioritize our investments. The Bible says in Proverbs 19, 17, he that hath pity on the poor leadeth or lendeth unto the Lord and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

That's prioritizing my investment. I'm to please the Lord first. I'm to pay off my debts, provide for those in need, and prioritize my investments.

That is to make sure that I am investing in those things of eternal value first and taking care of those needs that I'm supposed to take care of as a good steward and household manager of God's possessions. And may God give us the grace to follow his word. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for your word and the truth that's there and the opportunity we had to study it. Pray, Lord, that you'd help us all to be wise stewards of our money. Thank you, Lord, that we don't have to be burdened with the responsibility of ownership.

Instead, we recognize you as the owner, we as the stewards, and may we be great managers of your money. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.