Compiled by: Herman Abrahams (Senior Minister), Cornerstone Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 740, Westridge 7802, Rep. of South Africa.
E-Mail: mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk
Note to the reader:
If you have been blessed with this sermon compilation, I would be honoured to receive an e-mail from you simply stating where in the world you are based; I do not need any other information. This is merely so that I can have the pleasure of giving thanks to Almighty God that all over the globe, the ministry which he has entrusted to me, is blessing the body of Christ and helping to extend the Kingdom of God.
Thank you.
Herman Abrahams,
Cape Town, South Africa.
God’s Will For Your Money
1. EVERYTHING BELONGS TO GOD
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a) Acts 17:24-28 24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (NIV)
b) Ps 24:l-2 "The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters."
c) Haggai 2:9 "The silver is mine and the gold is mine”
d) Ps 50:12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
e) 1 Chron 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”
From the above scriptures we see that the Lord is creator, sustainer and possessor of the earth and everything in it.
2. WE BELONG TO GOD; WE ARE HIS STEWARDS
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a) You Were Bought With A Price. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God ? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. … "
We are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. A slave does not have any rights; he is the master’s possession and accountable to Him. We therefore have to be …
b) Good Stewards. 1 Pet. 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
The phrase ‘faithfully administering’ could also be translated “as good stewards.” A “steward” was one who served as a house manager; he had no wealth of his own, but distributed his master’s wealth according to his master’s will and direction. (Knowledge Bible Commentary)
c) At salvation we gave ourselves (2 Cor. 8:5) and everything we have to the Lord.
d) The servant must be faithful and wise.
Luke 12:42 ‘The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, …”’
3. SOME IMPORTANT CLAIMS ON OUR MONEY
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a) GIVING
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i) Tithe
• The principle of giving tithes does not originate with Moses and the Law, but from a far earlier time.
Gen.14:18-20 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
• When we refrain from robbing God he will keep our goods in a state of good repair and prevent unnecessary loss.
Mal 3:6-12 6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
b) UNPAID DEBTS
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• 2 Kings 4:1-7 The Widow’s Oil
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” 2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” 3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
c) THE STATE – TAXES:
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• Matt 22:21 ‘Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”’
(Also Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25)
• Rom 13:1-8 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
d) FAMILY:
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• 1 Tim 5:3-8 3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 5 The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 6 But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame. 8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
e) SHARING WITH “THOSE IN NEED”
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• Ephesians 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
f) BEING KIND TO THE POOR
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• Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.
By: Herman Abrahams (Senior Minister)
E_Mail: mentorship2003@yahoo.co.uk
Phone: 082 – 663 4108
