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I woke up this morning to…you
guessed wrong, it’s not raining. It
pleasant but overcast. The
foundation piers for the container to rest on are complete. We stopped by last night on the way home and
looked them over.
I bathed, dressed and
Gertrude made my usual good breakfast of scrambled eggs on a hoagie type
roll. It’s starting to catch on as I
say Shadrach and Jeremiah eating the same thing this morning.
We left about 8:30am for the
leadership conference at Pastor Wesley’s church, Greater Love Bible Baptist
Church. Pastor Hendon, from Stockton, California,
came over to provide the training.
He had an excellent 6 page set of materials to support the teaching
he was doing. The topic was on the
Holy Spirit (one person of the godhead that’s misunderstood here and in the
States quite often).
Shadrach had to meet with
some teachers that will be going to the Children’s Village to teach in the
next couple of weeks. So we only
stayed for a couple of hours of the conference. I am very thankful that Pastor Wesley is
serious about good, scriptural training for the pastors around him. It is also a blessing to know that Pastor
Hendon came all the way from California
to provide the training.
I’m at the internet café a
little earlier than usual but the balance of today is planned just for some
rest and preparation for the sermon at Commission Baptist
Church tomorrow. The message is about God’s Financial
Principles. Pray that it will be all
God and none of me.
Here’s what tomorrow’s
(Sunday) sermon will be about. It’s
straight out of the Pastor’s Resource Kit that every pastor attending the
conference will receive.
Crown Financial Ministries
Sermon/Teaching Notes #1
I. Introduction
Because God cares for us, He gave us guidelines
for handling money. The Bible contains more than 2,350 verses dealing with
money and possessions. Jesus taught more about money than almost any other
subject.
The Lord said so much about
money and possessions for spiritual reasons and very practical reasons.
- Spiritual
reasons
A. How
we handle money has a big impact on the intimacy of our relationship with
Christ.
If you have not been faithful in the use of [worldly wealth], who
will entrust the true riches to you? (Luke 16:11 NASB).
A more intimate relationship
with Christ is the “true riches” in life.
B.
Money is a primary competitor with Christ
for the lordship of our lives.
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).
- Practical
reasons
The Lord knew we needed wisdom
in using money. He revealed in Scripture His principles for working,
earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, getting out of debt, and
teaching children how to handle money.
If people have
been taught anything about God’s way of handling money, it has usually been
about giving. And although giving is very important, the principles of
earning and spending have rarely been taught. Therefore, God’s people have
managed their money from the world’s perspective, rather than God’s.
II.
God’s Responsibilities and Our Responsibilities with Money
1.
God’s responsibilities
A. God
is the owner of everything.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and
everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).
(1)
God owns
all the silver and gold.
“The
silver is mine and the gold is mine, declares the Lord Almighty” (Haggai 2:8).
(2)
God owns
all the land.
“The
land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine” (Leviticus 25:23).
(3)
God owns
all the animals.
“Every
animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills…the
creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Psalm 50:10-12).
God created all things. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis
1:1). God owns all things, and He never transferred the ownership of His
creation to people.
As followers of Christ, we recognize that God
owns all our possessions. Jesus said, “…any
of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke
14:33).
B.
God is in control.
Our loving heavenly Father is in ultimate
control of every event.
“The Lord does whatever pleases
him, in the heavens and on the earth,” (Psalm 135:6). “I praised
the Most High... He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the
peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What
have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35).
It is comforting for those who follow Christ to
realize that God uses everything, even difficult circumstances, for ultimate
good. “And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called
according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
This is illustrated in the life of Joseph, who
was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph told his brothers: “Do not be angry with yourselves for
selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of
you…it was not you who sent me here, but God…You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis
45:5-8; 50:20).
C. God
will provide our needs.
In Genesis 22:14 God is spoken of as Jehovah-jireh, which means, “the Lord
will provide.”
“Seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things [meaning food and clothing]
will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
“My God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
God is both predictable and unpredictable. He is
predictable in His faithfulness to
provide. He is unpredictable in how
He will provide. In the Bible, the Lord provided for His people in many
different and often unexpected ways.
The same Lord who fed manna to the children of Israel
during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and who fed 5,000
with only five loaves and two fish, has promised to provide our needs. This
is the same Lord who told Elijah, “I
have ordered the ravens to feed you… The ravens brought him bread and meat
in the morning and bread and meat in the evening” (1 Kings 17:4, 6).
2.
Our responsibilities with money
A. We
are stewards of God’s possessions.
A steward is a manager of someone else’s
possessions.
B.
We are to be faithful.
God owns all that we have, and He has given us
the responsibility to manage our things faithfully according to the
financial principles of Scripture. “It
is required in stewards that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians
4:2 NASB).
(1)
We are to
be faithful with all that we have.
Not only are we to be faithful stewards of the
ten percent tithe that we give but also of the other ninety percent. All we
have is the Lord’s and we are to manage it in a way that is pleasing to
Him.
(2)
We are to
be faithful in little things.
“Whoever
can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever
is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).
If we are faithful with small things, God can
trust us with greater responsibilities. We must not spend our money in ways
that we know would displease Him because this would make us unfaithful
stewards.
C. When
we are faithful, we will benefit in three ways.
(1)
We will grow closer to Jesus Christ.
When we are
faithful to obey and serve the Lord, we grow in our love for Him. Jesus
said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys
them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21). Faithfully applying God’s
financial principles will help you grow in your love for Christ.
(2)
We will develop godly character.
God uses money to reveal and
refine our character. How we handle money is an outside indicator of our
true spiritual condition.
You can
tell a lot about the character of people by examining how they handle
money. For example, are they dishonest or honest? Do they gamble or do they
give?
(3)
We will begin to have financial stability.
As we apply God’s principles to our finances, we
will begin to spend more wisely, start saving for the future, and give even
more to the work of Christ.
Be careful of extreme
teachings on wealth and poverty. One extreme is that godliness can only
occur in poverty.
Money and possessions can be
used for good or evil. A number of godly people in Scripture were among the
wealthiest people of their day.
In the Old Testament the Lord
extended the reward of abundance to His people when they were obedient,
while the threat of poverty was one of the consequences of
disobedience. Deuteronomy 30:15-16 reads, “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.
For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and
to keep his commands...and the Lord your God will bless you.”
Psalm 35:27 reads, “The Lord...delights in the prosperity
of His servant.” [NASB] We may legitimately pray for prosperity when
our relationship with the Lord is healthy and we have a proper perspective
of possessions. “Beloved, I pray that
in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul
prospers” (3 John 2 [NASB]). The Bible does not say that a godly person
must live in poverty. A godly person may have material resources.
The opposite extreme is that
all Christians who truly have faith will always prosper financially. This
extreme is also an error.
Study the life of Joseph. He
is an example of a faithful person who experienced prosperity and poverty. He was born into a
prosperous family, then thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his
jealous brothers. While Joseph was a slave, his master promoted him to be
head of his household. Later he made the righteous decision not to commit
adultery with his master's wife. The result? He suffered years in prison
for that right decision. But then, in God's timing, he was elevated to
Prime Minister of Egypt.
The guideline for prosperity
is found in Joshua 1:8, “Do not let
this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be
prosperous and successful.”
This passage offers two
requirements for prosperity. Meditate on the Scriptures and do everything
they command. When you do this, you place yourself in the position to be prospered financially.
There is no guarantee, however, that God will choose financial prosperity
for you. He knows what is best for you and requires that you trust Him for
whatever He chooses.
Please review this diagram,
which contrasts the three perspectives.
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Poverty
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Steward
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Prosperity
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Possessions
are:
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Evil
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A responsibility
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A right
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I
work to:
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Meet only basic needs
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Serve Christ
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Become rich
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Godly
people are:
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Poor
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Faithful
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Wealthy
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Ungodly
people are:
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Wealthy
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Unfaithful
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Poor
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I
give:
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Because I must
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Because I love God
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To get
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My
spending is:
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Fearful and joyless
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Prayerful and responsible
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Carefree and consumptive
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III.
Work
Over a lifetime, the average person spends
100,000 hours working. Often this work carries some dissatisfaction with
it. Understanding scriptural principles that relate to work will help you
find satisfaction in your work. It will also place you in a position where
the Lord can prosper you.
1.
God created work for our benefit.
The first thing God did with Adam was to assign
him work. “The Lord God took the man
and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis
2:15). The Lord created work for our benefit in the sinless environment of
the Garden of Eden.
After the Fall, when sin entered the world, work
was made more difficult.
“Cursed
is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all
the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the
sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:17-19).
2.
God’s
perspective of work
A. Work
is necessary.
Work is so important that in Exodus 34:21 God gives
this command: “Six days you shall
labor.” The Apostle Paul wrote,
“If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
B.
Work develops character.
One of the primary purposes of work is to
develop character. While the carpenter is building a house, the house is
also building the carpenter. His skill, diligence, manual dexterity, and
judgment are refined. A job is not just a task designed to earn money; it’s
also intended to produce godly character in the life of the worker.
“Diligent hands [a good worker] will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” Proverbs 12:24.
C. We
work for Christ.
Scripture reveals that we are actually serving
the Lord as we work. “Whatever you
do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…It
is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).
Consider your attitude toward work. If you could
see Jesus Christ as your boss, would you try to be more faithful in your
job? The most important question you need to answer every day as you begin
your work is this: “For whom do I work?” You work for Christ.
3.
God’s work responsibilities
A. God
gives us our job skills.
“And every skilled person to whom
the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the
work…” (Exodus 36:1).
Because God has given each person unique skills
and talents, Scripture does not elevate any honest occupation above
another. A wide variety of jobs are represented in the Bible. David was a
shepherd and a king. Luke was a doctor. Lydia was a retailer who sold
purple fabric. Daniel was a government worker. Paul was a tentmaker. And
finally, the Lord Jesus was a carpenter.
B.
God gives us our success.
Joseph is an example of God helping a person to
succeed. “The Lord was with Joseph
and he prospered…his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the
Lord gave him success in everything he did…” (Genesis 39:2-3). We have
job responsibilities, but we need to recognize that it is ultimately God
who gives us success.
C. God
controls promotion and advancement.
“No one from the east or the west
or from the desert can exalt [promote] a man. But it is God who judges: He
brings one down, he exalts [promotes] another” (Psalm
75:6-7). As much as it may surprise you, people do not control whether you
will be promoted. The Lord controls your success and promotions.
4.
Our work responsibilities
A. We are
to work hard.
“Whatever your hand finds to
do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes
9:10). “The
precious possession of a man is diligence” (Proverbs
12:27 NASB).
Scripture, while condemning laziness, encourages diligence and hard work. “One
who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys” (Proverbs 18:9). Paul’s life was an example of
hard work. “We worked night and day laboring and toiling so that we
would not be a burden to any of you…in order to make ourselves a model for
you to follow” (2 Thessalonians 3:8-9).
B. We are
not to overwork.
Hard
work, however, should be balanced by the other priorities of life. If your
job demands so much of your time and energy that you neglect your
relationship with Christ or your loved ones, then you are working too hard.
Exodus 34:21 reads, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh
day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must
rest.” Rest can become an issue of faith.
Is the Lord able to make our six days of work more productive than seven
days? Yes! The Lord instituted weekly rest for our physical, mental, and
spiritual health.
C. We are
to be honest.
“Do not steal. Do not lie. Do
not deceive one another” (Leviticus 19:11).
D. We are
to honor our employers.
Godly
people always honor their superiors. 1 Peter 2:18 reads, “Slaves, [employees] submit yourselves to your masters [employers] with all respect, not only to
those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.”
E. We are
to honor fellow employees and never slander them.
“Do not
slander a servant [employee]
to his master [employer], or he will
curse you” (Proverbs 30:10).
IV. Summary
Jesus spoke so much about money and possessions
because He knew much of our lives would be involved with them.
God owns everything and He has entrusted some of
His possessions to each of us to manage. He wants us to be wise and
faithful stewards by applying the financial principles in His Word.
He has given us the activity of work to provide
for our needs and to develop our character. We should work hard and try to
be excellent because we are really working for Christ.
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