This will be the first in a series of three short talks on the theme: The Christian and His Money. This particular first talk, the subtitle which I have given it, is: Money is Important. I think it's necessary to stress that because some religious people talk, at least in church, as if money were not important. Very rarely do they act that way when they get outside the church. But it's the kind of religious fashion to pretend that money isn't important. Let me say that money plays such a large part in the lives of all of us, that if we do not order our money according to God's will and Word, our whole lives must be out of line with the will of God.
I want to begin by establishing a very important point, which is the Bible acknowledges and recognizes two levels of wealth. The first is one that we're all familiar with in some degree, what you would call material, financial wealth. We need to bear in mind it's temporary. It's not going to last. One day we're going to leave it all behind forever. The other kind of wealth is spiritual or eternal wealth. Of course, that is in the last resort, more important. But we cannot act as though material wealth is unimportant. Because the Bible makes it very clear that what we do with our material wealth will have a lot to do with how much eternal wealth we end up with. I'd like to begin by referring to a passage which makes this distinction rather vivid and clear. It's a passage in Hebrews 11:24-26. It speaks about Moses making one of the most difficult choices of his life, when he decided to turn his back on all the wealth and the luxury and the privileges which he had in Egypt. And bear in mind, he was being trained to be the king of Egypt. He was being brought up as Pharaoh's daughter's son.
At a certain point, at the age of 40, he turned his back on all of that. And found himself in a remote corner of a barren desert, looking after some sheep. But this is what the writer of Hebrews says about his decision. Hebrews 11:24: By faith Moses, when he came to age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ - or the reproach for Christ or for the Messiah - greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. You notice Moses didn't settle for poverty. He chose greater riches. And to be reproached for Christ, to suffer persecution and affliction for His name's sake is true spiritual wealth. So let's bear that in mind, there are two levels of wealth. There's the material, which is temporary. There's the eternal, which is on an higher level.
Now, all we're going to deal with in these brief talks is the material level. But I would be giving you a very unbalanced picture if I didn't begin by reminding you of the higher eternal level of spiritual wealth. The question that we need to ask ourselves is this: Is money or is wealth good or evil? Lots of Christians speak as if money were evil. As though it's regrettable that we have to deal with money, but there it is, it's an evil but we can't avoid it. I don't believe that's what the Bible teaches. I'd like to turn to Revelation 5 which is a picture of the glorified Christ, the Messiah, receiving the worship and adoration of heaven. And in Revelation 5:12 all the angels and the heavenly beings and the elders offer this declaration concerning the Lamb of God who is Jesus. It there lists seven good things which He is worthy to receive. Let me read the list.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory, and blessing. Seven, the number of completeness or perfection, the complete list of things that He's worthy to receive. And notice the second thing in the list is riches. It goes together with wisdom, strength, honor, glory, blessing. We acknowledge that all those other things are good. It would be totally illogical and inconsistent to suggest that the Holy Spirit and the worshippers in heaven have inserted something evil in that list. So that proves to us that riches are essentially good. They go together with honor, with strength, with glory, with blessing.
Now, quite a number of the things in that list can be misused. We can misuse strength to oppress people, to be cruel to them. But the fact that strength can be misused does not mean that strength is evil. We can misuse wisdom to cheat people, to deceive them. But the fact that wisdom can be misused, doesn't mean that it's evil. Likewise, we're all very much aware that people can misuse riches or money. But the fact that it can be misused does not mean that it's evil. That is really a snare of satan to make us unpractical and often to get us out of faith in our dealings with money. So, here it is: riches, wealth, money, is something good. Just heave a little sigh of relief! You're not wicked for having money in your pocket or even in your bank account. It's a funny thing about God's people and I've been associated with them for nearly 50 years. When they're poor, they think money is evil. When God blesses them, then they change their minds! God has never changed His mind. And He has listed it in the list of things that are good.
The next thing I want to say is brought out in a statement in the prophet Haggai, just before the prophet Zechariah, if you know where he lives. Haggai 2, just one or two verses. The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts. It's very important to understand that. The word silver, in Hebrew 'kesef', is also the modern Hebrew word for money. Just as in French the word 'argent', is the word for silver and the word for money. So God is saying: the money is Mine, the gold is Mine. It's awfully important to understand that all the wealth in the world actually belongs to one person. Who is that? God, that's right. And then he goes on to say in that context: The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former. God directly relates the glory of His house to the possession of wealth. In other words, wealth belongs to God and its primary purpose is to be used for the work of God.
I've heard preachers say more than once in a rather self righteous way: I never preach about money. I have to say that such a preacher is delinquent. It's his obligation to preach about money. People think the New Testament doesn't have much to say about money, but that really is not borne out by the facts. Most of us know there's one chapter devoted to love. It's a beautiful chapter. 1 Corinthians 13 has 13 verses. Many fewer people know that 2 Corinthians contains 2 chapters devoted exclusively to money; chapters 8 and 9. And between them they contain 39 verses. So you could say the New Testament gives three times as much space to money as it does to love. That's not the right conclusion. But the conclusion is that what you do with your money, has got a lot to do with how much love you really have. You cannot separate your love from your money.
In Acts 20, Paul gives us a little picture of the motivation of his own ministry and preaching. I believe it's really an example that we need to bear in mind. He says for instance, in verse 20, reminding the people among whom he had been working for about two or three years. He says: I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. It's helpful for God's people to know His plan for dealing with money. So we have no right to keep back that part of Biblical truth from God's people. I think there's a kind of tradition grown up in Britain, that it's not nice to talk about money in church. You know who's behind that tradition? Satan, without a doubt. It suits him very, very well. It also suits stingy Christians who don't want to be challenged with the need to give. And then in the same chapter, in Acts 20:26-27, Paul says again: Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. The whole counsel of God includes what we are to do with our money. So if we are called to minister the word of God, we have no right to keep back the truth about money.
I think because of that sort of religious attitude and tradition that you don't talk about money in church, I think many, many, many of God's people have been robbed of the blessing that God intended them to have. Remember, God is for us, He's on our side. He's not trying to cheat us, He's not trying to rob us. Everything He tells us in His Word is for our good, it's to help us. Jesus Himself had a lot to say about money. I want to just turn to a couple of passages in the gospels where He deals with this question of money. The first is in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:24: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. That's a general principle, and then Jesus applies it specifically in the area of money. You cannot serve God and mammon. Some of the modern translations in place of mammon say money. Which renders the meaning correctly, but I don't think it gives a full understanding. I think mammon is not just another word for money. I think in the Bible it represents an evil spiritual force that controls and enslaves people through money. So that those who are controlled by money, are being controlled by something in the spiritual realm that is evil and destructive. And Jesus says all of us have to choose. One thing we cannot do is serve two masters. The two masters that He refers to are God and mammon, or money. He puts this issue so clearly we need to look at it. Always of course, Jesus will put God first and then the alternative. He says: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one - who is the one there? God - and love the other - who is that? Money, mammon.
See, that's a very penetrating verse. If you love money, you're hating God. We don't like these very clear-cut issues that the Bible presents to us. But that's it. If you love money in the sense that it controls you and motivates you, you may not be aware of it, but your attitude to God is described by Him as one of hatred. Then he gives the other alternative: or else he will be loyal to the one - who is that? God - and despise the other - that's mammon. So if we are loyal to God in this matter of money, we will not let money dictate to us. I have in my own life, years ago, come to the place where God called me to step out in full time service, quote, full time. At that point, this is many years ago, I was faced with the decision: no man can be my disciple, unless he forsakes all that he has. And at that point in my life, when I was about 31 years old, God specifically called me to serve Him in the land that was then Palestine.
In making that decision, I didn't make a dramatic commitment, but God put me step by step through it to the point where I had to forsake everything. My own country, my family, my profession as a fellow of Kings College Cambridge, my finance, my career, everything. I had to step out in naked faith. And I believe that anybody who is called to that kind of service, in some way or other will be brought out to a point where they have to decide: are you going to trust God? And you are not going to allow money to dictate to you. That doesn't mean that you'll be deprived of money forever. But it means that you'll be brought to a point of decision where money will not dictate the decisions you make in life. It's a remarkable thing about the early church. As far as I can see they never based their decisions on how much money they had. They never said, If we have enough money we'll go and preach in Antioch or Corinth or Rome. They simply went because they knew that was God's will.
See, they had been delivered from slavery to mammon. And that's the will of God for each of us. He'll bring it about in a different way in every life. But at one time or another, if you want to be a truly free person, you have got to come to the point where money is not going to dictate to you. And that it must be a point of faith. The only alternative is faith. So there's the decision: whom are you going to serve? God or mammon. It's true, I think with most of us we don't like these clear-cut issues. We'd rather have it a little bit blurred. We'd like a little soft music and religious language. I find that God, when He really is dealing with us, eliminates the soft music and the religious language and brings us down to what the Americans call the nitty-gritty. God deals in those areas. Notice the choice is not whether you'll serve. It's only whom you'll serve.
About 13 centuries before this, Joshua had spoken to the children of Israel after they had entered the Promised Land. And he said: Choose this day - what did he say? whom you will serve - not whether you will serve. And he said, Are you going to serve the true God or are you going to serve the gods your fathers served or are you going to serve the gods of this land? But serve you must. Man's nature is such that ultimately he will serve. That's not your choice. You choice is whom will you serve? And you cannot serve two masters. Later in Israel's history, when they had become a backslidden nation, the prophet Elijah challenged them. He said, How long will you limp along between two opinions? If Baal is god, serve him, if Jehovah is God, serve him. But make up your mind whom you are going to serve. And unquestionably, in the life of each one of us as God deals with us, we will be brought to the point of making that decision. Not whether I will serve, but whom I will serve. We cannot serve God and money.
And then in Luke 16, Jesus had more to say along this line. I'll begin at verse 9: And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail - or the alternative reading is, when it fails - they may receive you into everlasting habitations. And Jesus had just told the story about a rather unscrupulous steward who was going to lose his job and lowered the bills that were due to his master in order to get favor with his master's debtors. In other words, the lesson without going into details is be astute in the way you use money. See, Christians don't have to be foolish. In fact, they should be wiser than the people that don't have God to counsel them. And He said make friends for yourselves with what the world considers mammon. That when you fail, or when it fails, they may receive you into eternal habitations.
This is such a beautiful picture to me because Ruth and I have such a vivid picture always before our eyes of people in the Third World and the oppressed nations. And we are continually urging people to use their finance to bring God's Word to these people who are crying out and starving for it. And sometimes I tell those people, you give maybe ten pounds or $20 or whatever it is, and you don't know what happens to that money. But it goes to some remote Third World nation and brings them the Word of life. And people come to know the Lord, they're saved, they receive eternal life. And then they pass on to the next world ahead of you. But when you die and enter eternity there will be people there saying, Thank you. Because of what you gave, I'm here. If you hadn't given, I would have never known this way of life. So be wise with what you do with your money. Use it to make friends for eternity.
And then Jesus goes on with another principle. A very, very important one; verse 10: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Quite apart from the subject of money that's an extremely important principle. If you are faithful in the little things, God will give you the bigger opportunities. But if you're unfaithful in the little things, you'll never have the bigger opportunities. Because, God tests us in the small things. Many of the issues or decisions that we consider small and unimportant are actually decisive in our lives. Because God is watching us to see how we'll act. And if we are faithful in the little, He'll give us the bigger opportunity. But if we aren't faithful in the little, He is much too wise ever to entrust us with anything bigger.
See, a lot of people have the attitude: this isn't a very important job, it doesn't really matter how I do it. But if God were to give me a really important job, then I really would do it well. I want to tell you God will never give you that job. Because He tests you in the small things. And then He applies this particularly to money in verse 11: Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? In other words, if you don't deal faithfully as a Christian with your money, God will never commit to you the real spiritual riches. Again, He tests you; are you faithful in the material, then He'll begin to pass on to you the spiritual. See, there may be some of you here tonight you're really longing for a greater spiritual ministry, for more spiritual gifts. And you may be praying and fasting - well, that's all good. But maybe the key to your problem is what you do with your money. Because if you're faithful with that, God will begin to open to you spiritual riches.
This is why I so much regret the teaching that money isn't important. Because in some ways, it's decisive. What God is going to entrust to you spiritually, depends on what you do financially. Let's look at a statement by Paul in 2 Corinthians 8. 2 Corinthians 8. This is one of the two chapters that deal exclusively with money. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. And twice in this chapter, he speaks about money as the test of our sincerity. 2 Corinthians 8:8. He's giving directions about what to do with money and he says: I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love. And then in the last verse of the same chapter he says: Therefore, show to them and before the churches, the proof of your love. What is the test of sincerity? What is the proof of love? What they do with their money, giving. That's a very searching thought, isn't it? If we claim to love God and be His servants and be concerned about the things of His kingdom, but we are not faithful in money, we're hypocrites. Our love is not sincere.
And then one final thought again from Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount again, Matthew 6:21: For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Jesus was so down to earth. He didn't say, Give your heart; He said invest your money. Because, where your money is your heart will follow. If you want to have more concern for the work of God? You want to be more zealous? I'll tell you one way: invest more. That's really a basic principle. We would like to invert it and say, Well, where my heart is my treasure will follow. Jesus said no. Where your treasure is your heart will follow. I hope I've succeeded somehow in persuading you that what we do with our money is important. Maybe there are some of us that need to reevaluate our attitude to money, our thinking about money the way we handle money. Let's let the Holy Spirit search us. And put His finger on areas where maybe we haven't been faithful. Maybe we are encountering frustrations in our lives, things aren't going the way we think they ought to. The root problem may be we're not handling our money aright.