"Money Matters"
Matthew 6:19-24
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
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When we start a discussion about money we can sometimes open a Pandora's box of issues especially where Christians are concerned. Two issues must be resolved if we are to handle money rightly.
a. We cannot serve God and Mammon
(Mat 6:24) No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
b. The love of money is a root of all evil
(1Ti 6:6) But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7) For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8) And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Once we understand the importance of these two issues we are ready to consider the following points.
I. It matters to God how we secure money
In this day and age when folks seem able to compartmentalize their lives to a great degree there is the tendency to separate the secular from the spiritual. Folks who do this are under the false impression that somehow God does not care about what they do "on their own time." But, the mistake they make is that all of our time belongs to God. God is just as interested in what you do at work as He is in what you do at worship! How then can we secure our money and do it in a way that pleases God?
a. Work honorably
Leviticus 19:13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
1 Thessalonians 4:6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
2 Corinthians 8:21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
Proverbs 16:11 A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work.
Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
b. Work hard
Proverbs 18:9 He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
Romans 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
Proverbs 20:4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
II. It matters to God how we spend money
Not only does it matter to God how we earn our money but He is concerned about how we spend it too.
Isaiah 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not..."
This verse asks the question, "Why do you spend your money on things that do not satisfy?" Just look at the average American home and you will know the answer to this question. Our homes are filled with things, with "stuff" and we just keep on spending and spending and acquiring and acquiring. We are like the rich farmer who had a great harvest and tore down his barns so he could build bigger barns. We fill up our homes and garages, all our closets, and our attics and when those are all full we build shops and storage buildings. Have you ever noticed how many storage building facilities have been built in the last few years? How should we spend our money?
First, it requires that we realize that every time we spend our money we are making a witness to the Kingdom of God. Our money becomes a witnessing tool with which we proclaim the values of the Kingdom. Therefore, make sure that when you spend money, make it count for the Kingdom. Here are some things to remember.
a. All that we are given is a trust from God
(Psa 24:1) A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
b. Man is given authority over his possessions
(Acts 5:3) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
c. Excessive debt is a trap Christians should avoid
(Pro 22:26) Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.
Pro 22:7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
d. Christians must honor their financial commitments
Mat 5:33) Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
e. Christians must not presume what we cannot know
(Jas 4:13) Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
III. It matters to God how we save money
First, let me say that the Scriptures do not condemn saving money for a "rainy day" or for retirement or for a new car. There is a savings principle found in the following passage in Proverbs 6:8:
Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
7 Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
We can and should save money but friend we should not hoard money! You can ask my wife, I will never be a hoarder of money. She says that I would give everything away that we have! But I am a saver of money but I have a different reason for saving. I want to be able to do something special from time to time in the Lord's work and saving allows us to do that. (Ex: Cuban church at the AL state meeting)
IV. It matters to God how we share money
a. We are given skill to work to have something to give to others
(Eph 4:28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
b. Giving in the church is to he offered with purpose of heart
(2Co 9:7) Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
c. The size of the gift is not what makes it acceptable to the Lord
(Mar 12:41) And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42) And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43) And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44) For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
d. We are to do good to all, as we have opportunity
(Gal 6:10) As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
e. We will reap as we have sown
(2Co 9:6) But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
I COULD HAVE DONE MORE
The film Schindler's List chronicled the heroic efforts of a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler. Through his unselfish activities, over a thousand Jews on the trains to Auschwitz were saved. After Schindler found out what was happening at Auschwitz, he began a systematic effort to save as many Jews as he could. For money, he could buy Jews to work in his factory which was supposed to be a part of the military machine of Germany. On one hand he was buying as many Jews as he could, and on the other hand he was deliberately sabotaging the ammunition produced in his factory. He entered the war as a financially wealthy industrialist; by the end of the war, he was basically financially bankrupt.
When the Germans surrendered, Schindler met with his workers and declared that at midnight they were all free to go. The most emotional scene of the film was when Schindler said good-bye to the financial manager of the plant, a Jew and his good and trusted friend. As he embraced his friend, Schindler sobbed and said, "I could have done more." He looked at his automobile and asked, "Why did I save this? I could have bought 10 Jews with this." Taking another small possession he cried, "This would have saved another one. Why didn't I do more?"
(James Forlines, Men's Beat of Free Will Baptist Foreign Missions, April 1999, 4.)
One day Jesus is going to split the eastern sky and come for His own. It will not matter then how much money we have in a mutual fund or how many bedrooms we have in our homes. The temporary satisfaction we have in vacations and nice cars will be gone. Only what we have done for the cause of Christ will matter. The Privilege we have only now, is to use God's resources for things that eternally matter.
(From a sermon by Matthew Kratz, The Grace of Giving, 6/11/2011)
