Why I Preach Money

2 Timothy 4:2

Why I Preach Money

Introduction

After a long, dry sermon, a pastor announced that he wished to meet with the church board following the close of the service. The first man to arrive was a stranger. "You misunderstood my announcement. This is a meeting of the board," said the pastor. "I know," said the man, "but if there is anyone here more bored than I am, I’d like to meet him."(1)

I won’t ask you if you’ve ever been that bored during my time here, because it would probably hurt to hear some answers, but it has been my hope that during the past five weeks you’ve been anything but bored with the messages you’ve been hearing on money and personal finances. I’m not talking about the messenger so much as I am talking about the message we find in God’s Word concerning the money that God has entrusted to you to manage for His honor and glory – and the Bible certainly speaks about money and finance. The Bible is a wonderful love letter written from God to you that speaks to your needs; in fact, I understand that God has addressed over 700, possibly over 1000 references to money in all, either directly or indirectly. That means that the Bible has more to say about money than it does about heaven or church. Oh how we like to hear about heaven! But oh how we are much like the farmer I read about who went to church one Sunday to hear John Wesley preach.

On that particular Sunday he was preaching about money. His first point was, "Get all you can." "Fine," whispered the farmer to his neighbor. Wesley’s second point was, "Save all you can." "Better still," the farmer said. Then came the third and last point of Wesley’s sermon which was, "Give all you can." "Oh, dear!" groaned the man, "now he has gone and spoiled it all!"(2)

This is the first time I have ever spent so much time preaching about money. I believed the Lord wanted me to do it, and to be quite frank with you I was concerned with what the outcome would be. Attendance went down some, which is unfortunately normal. It may be normal, but it is a poor reflection on those who skipped. Others have asked me why I have spent so much time preaching about money, so today I want to tell you why. I had intended to preach about contentment, but instead I want to conclude this series on personal finance with this message, “Why I Preach Money.” I want to give you several reasons from God’s Word today that I have preached it and why I am going to continue to preach it to you in the future so long as I am here as your pastor. I preach money…

Because The Bible Tells Me To Preach Money

In 2 Timothy 4:2, the apostle Paul admonished young Timothy to…

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

I don’t think it gets any plainer than that does it? “Preach the word…” Paul didn’t say that we are to preach some of the word, or part of the word, or the words we enjoy and make us feel good. He said to preach the word – and that means all of it. If I am to preach all of the Word of God, then I am compelled to preach the one subject that may be mentioned more than any other in all the Bible outside of God Himself.

I’ll not preach what you tell me to, not what my peers tell me to, not what my feelings and emotions tell me to preach, but rather what the Bible says. When I or any other preacher forgets that then you might as well vacate the pulpit and get someone who’ll do it right! If you want what’s best for you, and I want what’s best for you, then we’ll be glad to come to God’s house and hear what the Word of God says even if it means that we have to hear about money!

Because The Work Of The Ministry Depends Preaching Money

I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: it costs money to keep this church going and growing. It costs money to turn on utilities and open the doors. It costs money to mow the grass and keep the place clean. It costs money to run a bus and maintain a building and advertise and do all the things that have to be done. Not only does it cost money, but its going to cost more money this year than it did last year, and every year is going to be more expensive if we are going to grow and press forward.