Faith, Finances and Freedom (Sun, May 5, 2013)

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

(2 Cor 8:9 explains the way a person can become truly rich by being free from the entrapment, enslavement, and idolatry of money.) Perhaps even more than being a slave to sex and romance is the enslavement to money. In this sermon we consider: What is your view of money? Who owns your money? What should you do with your money? Is money your master who rules and controls you, or your slave whom you control and rule over? 

When you look at the Bible, Jesus talks about money more than about sex. Sometimes you may not think that money is not that big of problem, but it is subliminal, it doesn't attack you as obviously like sex does, and it is a problem of all human beings. In fact, the first temptation of Christ is about money. Satan tempted Him, "If you are the son of God, make this stone bread." So in saying, Satan says that you need this bread to survive, and what's the other meaning of bread? Money. But Jesus rejected this, He said, "Man does not live on bread alone but on the words of God." Man does not live on money alone. The devil's temptation is to makes us a slave of money, so even if we are not thinking about it, we are controlled by our thought of money.

Let us examine what the Bible says about money in 3 parts:

1. Faith: Who owns your money? You?
2. Finances: What should you do with your money?
3. Freedom: Is money your master or your slave?

I. Faith (What is your faith in regards to money? To whom does your money belong to anyway? You?)

• Ps 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
• Ps 50:10-12 (God has no need for anything we have), “for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and 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.”
• I Chron 29:11b,12a,14b,16 “…for everything in heaven and earth is yours.” “Wealth and honor comes from you...” “Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” “O Lord our God, as for all this abundance…it comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you.”

Everything/all our money belongs to God. So whether you have a million pesos or five pesos, it’s not really “yours”. The first foundational principle for good financial management is to remember that our money belongs to God. And not only money, but everything and that includes our life. God is the Owner and we are the managers.  Genuine peace and security comes from embracing this truth.  Therefore, we have a holy obligation to exercise good stewardship over our money; we should not use or regard money primarily according to our own desires or ideas or the expectation of others. Do you truly believe that all of your money belongs to God?

II. Finances (Why does God give us money? What should we do with it?)

1. To honor God with your money. Prov 3:9 – “Honor the Lord with your wealth.”

   However you use your money, the most important things is to honor God with it. What has been the practice of the church for the last 2000 years as act of honoring God with their money? You give tithes, which is 10% of your earnings. Traditionally, giving 10% of what you have is a basic obligation to God. And if you are unable to do this, the Bible says in Malachi, you are robbing God. But then again, this is not a legalistic matter; it is a matter of your HEART. God gives you 100% of your money, and He asks only 10% of it. It’s a good deal! If you are a Christian, don't think that God needs your money, God already owns of it, but he asks 10% of it so that we always remember that when we give it, we thank God who gives us 100%, not to mention He gave us His one and only Son. And not just in giving tithes, but also in spending it. Honor God! If you use the money not thoughtfully and prayerfully, you are dishonoring God.
2. To responsibly provide for our needs and the needs of our family. I Tim 5:8 - “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
3. To pay debts and taxes. Rom 13:7-8 - “Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue... Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”
4. America is the richest country in the world but it also has the biggest debt in the world. Because they spend more money than they have which of course leads to debt. Logically, if you owe money, you should pay it back but rich people don't want to pay back. And if you don’t pay back, the debt remains. If everyone is like this, the whole country is in debt. If you owe a debt, you pay it back. Don't think, "Oh he is rich, no need to pay him back," That sinful thinking! That's wrong! It is stealing from God if you do not pay back a debt that you owe. As a Christian you must be responsible and paying back a debt is simply honoring an obligation. But this principle is the most violated one in the world. God always blesses honesty and integrity before Him and with one another. Seriously pray about it for this a very serious matter.


5. To enjoy what God gives us. Ecc 5:19 – “Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.”
6. To be content with whatever we have (or don’t have). Phil 4:11b-12 - “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Heb 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 
   
   

   Pray also that you learn to be content, this is very important. Paul is content, whether he has little or much, because his joy, his comfort, his security, his confidence, his stability, his everything comes from God. Contentment is an act of the will. It is a decision to accept the sovereignty and grace of God in every area of life. So if money affects you in a way that you think you are not content, then you are sinning against God. So learn to be content with whatever you have. Since I come from a rich country, America, and I think it's fair to say that this is a relatively poor country, I realize that both rich and poor people sin in different ways albeit they still sin. Rich people are proud because they have money, and poor people have that thinking that because they're poor and they have rich relatives, that they should be given money from them. Alas, you're thinking not about God but about where the money comes from. Also, poor people think or act that those with more money are better than them. This is a sin against God! Rich people are not better than poor people just because they have more money. "The rich person must enjoy his low position and the poor person must enjoy his high position," as said in James. If you think that you have to act humbly to a rich person but you act normally to a person "equal" to you, you are discriminating against God. Everyone, rich or poor, will one day have to stand in the judgment seat of God and will receive what is due to him. When you see a rich person, think, "I don't need your money or your riches, but what I want is to help you. I want to be able to benefit you and bless you."

   If you're not content, changing it will not make it happen. Same goes for relationships. If you are not content as a single person, you will still not be content even if you get married. That is why you need to be content. If you are poor and you are not content, you will not be content even if God makes you rich. Receiving more money does not make you content. Contentment comes from realizing the love of God, in that Jesus loves me and died for me. Contentment is realizing that I have everything I need because Jesus died for me and gave everything for me.
7. To share with the “worthy” poor and those in “legitimate need.” 2 Cor 8:14 – “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.” Prov 19:17 -- “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
   
   

   In serving others, you honor God with your money by helping people who are in truly in need (the truly poor, needy, handicapped people). But there is a very important point here. Prayerfully consider this: If one supports the poor without discretion, prayer and wisdom, it simply promotes a dependency unto death, and a beggar's mentality that makes that poor person useless and dependent forever. So be prayerful when you use your money. Usually those who pretend to be poor, always have money to spend on themselves but very reluctant to give to God and to others.

   Honor God with your money by helping those who truly need your help. Be prayerful that you may not give it to people who will use the money recklessly and make them dependent on you. Rich churches in America and Europe give to poor churches in certain parts of the world which make these poor churches sick. Even if you are a rich church, you should be prayerful in using money. And we go back to the standard biblical principle of life which is that you must be content in your present situation.
8. To serve others and express our thanks to God. 2 Cor 9:12 – “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.”
9. To save for the future. Prov 21:20 – “The wise store up choice food and olive oil...”
10. To leave an inheritance. Prov 13:22 -- “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children...”
• It is important not to leave a debt for future generations.  It is good to position our children to continue their lives of faith on what we have built on.
  
  

III. Freedom (Is money your master or your slave?)

A truly rich and free person. If money is your master, you have no freedom: You think it, breathe it, and walk it. You cannot serve both God and money. Either God is your God or money is your God. You can't say both for you are not honoring God as God, you're honoring money and using God. How can you find the freedom from money so that money does not control you whether you have plenty or little of it? Realize that God is the one giving you security, stability, and confidence in your life.

According to Jesus, one of the richest people in the Bible is the poor widow who gave an offering of a few cents: “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on’” (Mk 12:41-44). She's the richest person because she gave everything she had. In the world, nobody will notice this, but God noticed it. That even though you may not have much, but because of the grace of Jesus, you give. She gave because she loved God and the temple. She did not give hoping to get something from God, as the prosperity gospel teaches people to expect. Her joy was in God, not money. She is not only a rich woman, but a truly free woman. 

How can one be truly free from the control of money? 2 Cor 8:9 explains how true freedom from money happens. Freedom is freedom. It is not affected by quantity because you are free. The verse teaches us about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you think of money, whether little or big, do you think of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? Realize, whether your have little or not, that the grace of Christ is foundational to your life. Unless you know that Jesus became poor to make you rich, you will not know what it means to be truly rich. Unless you know that your riches comes from Jesus poverty you will never be truly rich. If you don’t know Jesus’ richness given to you, you will live like one who is poor, regardless of whether you have much money, or no money. If you know that only Jesus can make a person rich, God will give you wisdom on how to use your money with regard to others.  You will use money first to honor God, and only second to serve/help others/the poor/your family. In giving to God/others, we overcome self-centeredness, self-indulgence, greed, fear and idolatry. We must control money, not let money control us through our insatiable lusts and desires.

Practical Application: 

My “simplistic” view of money as a God fearing responsible Christian is:

1. Make as money as you can.
2. Save as money as you can.
3. Give away as much money as you can.
   
   

1. Tithe: To honor God with your money, make a commitment to your local church and offer a tithe. Mal 3:10 - “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… test me in this….and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven…”

2. Contentment: Learn contentment in Christ. Phil 4:11b-12 - “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Heb 13:5 - Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Track your expenses and spending habits and make a budget.

3. Others: Prayerfully find ways to help those with legitimate needs outside of your own household.  2 Cor 8:14 – “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.” Prov 19:17 -- “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”

4. Self-control: Learn to say ‘no’ to big and small indulgences in order to live within your means.

5. Stewardship: Attend workshops or read books in order to learn basic financial principles and money management

Keeping a God-centered perspective enables us to live in freedom by being a steward rather than a slave of money. The important thing is not how much or how little money we have, but whether or not we are wise stewards of what He provides.

Remember that your money belongs to God (Ps 24:1), not you. Remember that only Jesus makes us rich (2 Cor 8:9), not money. Money on its own never makes anyone rich. The poorest widow was the richest woman (Mk 12:43-44). May God bless you with lots of money or.......with little money.