[Rick Shabi]: You know, one of the things that you might’ve thought when you heard the treasurer speaking is, wondering would I talk about money today. And if you thought that you were right. So, but I will talk about money maybe in a slightly different way than what we have in the past. You know, the Bible is full of scriptures about money. How to use it, how to look at it. The sources say that there’s over 2,000 verses in the Bible that talk about money. And some of them don’t talk about just money, but also possessions. And the word mammon you’ve all heard of in Matthew 6:24, that talks about all those possessions and all those things that we might call ours. And God warns us in Matthew 6:24, that you can’t serve God and mammon. And when He says that, He kind of indicates that mammon can be a God to us as well. Money is a topic all over the world. Isn’t it?

We hear that, especially over the last year and the spending practices of the country and all the debate that goes over that. In council meetings, we talk about money, the church has been having an extraordinarily good year in income as it did last year as well. And we thank God for that and all the members for their faithful support of the church. But money is one thing that we have to learn a lot about. And God learns a lot about us by the way we handle our money. Two commandments relate directly to the way we handle our money. And money, by the correspondence or the commentaries and sources say, is the second most frequent topic that Jesus Christ spoke about. And that in itself kind of lends the importance of where money is and how important it is in our lives. Maybe sometimes even more important than we might give it credit for.

So, today, I want to talk about money because money has been around, or money and mammon, or money and possessions, or whatever we would call ours, the things that we accumulate for ourselves, it’s been around from the beginning of man. And it’s always been an issue. We can go right back to Genesis and the first two young men that were born on earth had an issue with money. And in those first two young men Cain and Abel, we can see two attitudes toward money and the things that God gave us in those young men. Abel, if you recall, we don’t have to turn to Genesis 4. I know you know the story. Cain and Abel, when they brought their offerings before God, Abel had one attitude toward it, he was very happy to bring to God; to offer the substance or honoring God with the possessions of the substance that He gave them. And God honored that offering of Abel. He had the right attitude. It wasn’t about him. He didn’t come in a grudging manner, he came in a cheerful manner to give to God.

Cain on the other hand, didn’t come with a cheerful attitude. He didn’t come with a willing to give God attitude. He came and looked at these vegetables that he was offering and thought, these are mine. I guess I have to bring them before God because He said to do it, but I don’t really want to do that. He was more about self. How could I keep these things for myself? And so, right from the very beginning, we see our possessions, whether they’re money, whether they’re notes, whether they’re flocks of herds that we might have or even vegetables that we might grow in their garden. What’s our attitude toward that? If you turn with me back to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 9, and these first two young men that we see. We see what Paul is talking about when he talks about attitudes that we have toward what God gives us.

In 2 Corinthians 9, and we’ll pick it up in verse 5, Paul writes this, and you can see Cain and Abel and these two attitudes that permeate society and mankind’s behavior down through the ages. 2 Corinthians 9:5, says, “Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised that it may be ready as a matter of generosity. And not as a grudging obligation.” I want you to want to do this. I want your heart in it is what he’s saying. Not something you have to do. When you mean something is when you want to do it.

“But this I say...” 2 Corinthians 9:6, “He who spares, sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So, let each one give as he purposes,” we can underscore “in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver.” Abel was a cheerful giver. Cain was not. He gave grudgingly.

And as we go down through history, we can see these two patterns of men’s reaction to the possessions or the mammon or the money or whatever you want to call it that they have. You can see that there’s a difference in hearts of how we handle those things and what it is that we do with them in purpose in our hearts and recognize what God would have us do. You know, if we look at Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Bible says they were wealthy. There’s nothing wrong with wealth. God gives us blessings. He expects us to enjoy them. He wanted to pour out blessings on all of us. The difference is, how do we handle it? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob handled it very well. They were always willing to give to God. Again, you don’t have to turn. I know you know the story in Genesis 14 when Abraham returned from his battle with the kings and brought the loot back to Sodom, and Melchizedek appeared to him.

It tells us in Genesis 14, he willingly gave a tithe of all. He didn’t have to be asked, he didn’t have to be reminded. He wanted to give it. He recognized that God was the one who had provided that victory for him and the loot that he had. Even went to the king of Sodom, came and offered to pay Abraham money, he refused it. Because it was God who had delivered the victory. It was God who had provided those things for him. And Abraham wasn’t about to take the money for it, or payment for it, because it was of God. And why would he take payment for something God had provided? We see the same thing with Isaac and Jacob. They had the right attitude. They exemplified one of those eternal verses that we could read back in Deuteronomy 8, where God gives us a foundational element of how we handle what he’s given us. Whether it be individually, whether it be as a nation that we’ll talk about later, whether it be as a church, Deuteronomy 8:18. God, through Moses, reminds Israel something that we would be well to remind ourselves. “So you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant, which He swore to your fathers as it is this day.”

Whatever we have, it’s been given by God. It’s not by our power, it’s not by our might, it’s not by how great and how smart and how industrious we are. We all work hard, we all do the things we’re supposed to do, but it’s God who gives the increase. It’s God who gives the wealth. Deuteronomy 8:19, it gives the other part of that. He says, “Remember...” but if we don’t remember. He says, “If you by any means forget the eternal your God, and follow other gods...” such as mammon, such as money. “If you by any means, forget the Lord your God and follow after gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day you shall surely perish.” Worship one God, recognize the God who provides everything, is what he’s saying.

David, a man after God’s own heart, he perfectly demonstrated this in 1 Chronicles. You know, David there is time in his life what he wanted to do was build God the temple. He wanted to build a house for God. He desperately wanted that. And God told him, “No, it won’t be you, David. It won’t be you who’s building that house.” David could have taken the approach. Well, if I can’t do it, you know what, forget everything. Forget everything. I’ll just kind of get on with my life and whatever you’ve given me I’ll just kind of consume it on somewhere else. But he didn’t have that attitude at all. Even though he was told no, and that had to be a disappointment for him, what did David do? With the wealth that God had given him, and that he asked of the people of Israel who willingly gave to him as well.

1 Chronicles 29, let’s just take the time to read through what David said. It’s always good to rehearse the prayers of a man after God’s own heart, especially in this situation where the people of Israel willingly brought to God an offering. Even though they knew it wasn’t going to be David that was going to build that house, it was going to be somewhere down the road that this was going to happen, but they still honored God and they recognized it was God and they wanted to give Him, their heart was in His work.

1 Chronicles 29:11-15, David’s words, of course, inspired by God he says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O eternal, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your right hand is power and might, in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, we praise Your glorious name.” And then David says, “But who am I, who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. We are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers. Our days on earth are as a shadow and without hope. O Lord, our God,” verse 16, “All this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. I know also, my God, that You test the heart and You have pleasure in uprightness.” You test our hearts. The things that You put before us, the good times, the bad times, how do we handle those? How do we handle those?

“As for me,” David goes on, “In the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things, and now with joy, I’ve seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their hearts toward You” (1 Chronicles 29:17-18).

Isn’t that a beautiful prayer? Isn’t that a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving? Even in the face of disappointment on David’s part, he still had the heart to give to God. And everything God had given him, he knew it was of Him and he wanted to do what God’s will was. And even though he wouldn’t be the one to do it, he would offer it, that he would make it available so that whoever it was down the road, or whenever time God’s will was, the work that needed to be done would be done. That’s the attitude toward wealth. That’s the attitude toward the money that God gives. That’s what He wants to see in all of our hearts. You know, his son Solomon ended up having just the opposite view. Solomon who started off with such a good heart toward God and asking Him for all of the wisdom that he could to judge God’s people as God gave him wealth too which turned out to be a real trial for Solomon.

Because of that wealth, he consumed it all on himself. And he turned his heart from God toward all the things of the world and all the things that he could do. The wealth didn’t turn out to be a blessing for Solomon. It turned out to be a real trial that he did not pass. I often tell our congregations down there in Florida. You know, we have trials of persecution, trials of tribulation, trials of bad health, it’s easy to turn to God. We look to Him and we know that we need Him to see it through. But what about the times of plenty? What about the times when the money flows freely? What about the time where there’s plenty of everything? What do we do with that time? How hard is it to keep our eyes and focus on what God’s will is during those times? And how important is it that we keep our eyes on God during that time?

The Bible has some examples of people who didn’t learn the lesson that they should have. You remember the servant Gehazi, he was the servant to Elisha. And you remember the story of Naaman when he came to Israel to be cured or be healed of leprosy. And he was healed of leprosy after he yielded to God and dipped in the Jordan for seven times. And he offered Elisha talents of silver, and changes of clothes. Elisha said, no, I’m not taking anything.

The healing came from God, why would I take payment for something that God has done for you? Gehazi was standing right there next to Elisha, he saw his example, he worked with him day in and day out. But as Naaman left, Gehazi just couldn’t get that talent of silver and those changes of clothes that were so important to him out of his mind. So, what did he do? He went and chased after Naaman. And he fabricated a story when he caught up with them and said, “Oh, my master needs this.” So, Naaman and gave him money. Naaman gave him the clothes. He came back, he came back. Elisha knew what had gone on.

He replaced worship of God and trust in God for that covetousness in the money and the things that he could get. He should’ve known better. He sat right there with Elisha, he knew exactly what the words were, but he did the opposite. And he paid a steep price, he paid a steep price leprosy was attached to him and his family forever. You can say the same thing with Judas Iscariot. He walked with Christ for three and a half years during His ministry. He saw how He was. He saw how He was generous with people. He heard all the parables. And the commentary says, I didn’t go and count them up, they say, 11 of the 39 parables that Jesus Christ gave, had to do with money, had to do with money.

How to use it correctly and how not to use it correctly. He heard all those things. And yet he could not get himself apart. He would not, or could not. I won’t say could not because he would not. He would not give up his love for that money. That was things that was preeminent in his heart and he was willing to sacrifice his savior for 30 pieces of silver. A wrong attitude toward money. You can’t serve God and mammon, Jesus Christ said. Judas worshipped mammon and that worship killed him, killed him. God looks very keenly at what we do, what we do, and how we handle what He gives us. He learns an awfully lot about us from our attitudes toward money.

Let’s go back to 1 Timothy, or forward to 1 Timothy. Paul again has something to say about money in 1 Timothy 6.1 Timothy 6:10, a memory verse as I often call it. We all are familiar with this verse. In verse 10 says, “For the love of money...” Not the money, there’s nothing wrong with the money, nothing wrong with the blessings that God may give us. “For the love of money...” And if you look that up, the love of money is avarice. A very intense. How do I use it for self? What can I get for me? And those type of things. So, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith.” Oh, sometimes that love of money, the inordinate interest in money can help us stray from the faith. “For which some have strayed from the faith and their greediness, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows.” Well, Judas would fit into that. Judas would fit into that category. Others we might name as well.

Then Matthew 19. We have a very poignant and if we look at it and apply the situation that a young man who approached Jesus Christ and put ourselves in his place, in Matthew 19, we might learn something about ourselves. Because I dare say everyone here would say, “Oh no, I absolutely love God more than money.” And I would agree. And I would think we all should. But let’s read Matthew 19. And this incident of the young man who approaches Jesus Christ, because he’s much like us. Matthew 19:20, we’ll see even verse 16, he approaches Jesus Christ and he says, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” When we come to God and we’re looking for eternal life. What do we need to do to have eternal life? And Christ goes through and He tells him, you know, keep these commandments.

You should notice He only gives, you know, commandments 6 through 10, He doesn’t talk about the first four commandments. But they’re kind of implicit when we go through the story here. In verse 20, you know, the young man said to him, well, “I’ve done all these things from my youth. I haven’t killed anyone, I haven’t committed adultery, I haven’t lied, I don’t covet. Everything is okay.” And then he goes, “what more do I need to do?” And Christ said to him, “if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven and come follow Me.” Now, that’s a hard thing to hear. If God came to us today and He said, clear out your bank accounts, give away your house, give away your car, have absolutely nothing; go forward, and have absolute trust in Me. Could we do it? Could we do it?

It’s a hard question to answer. I would think we would all say yes, but we won’t know until the time comes. And unless we’re thinking about those things and preparing ourselves to really trust in God, rely on Him, seek Him and absolutely know that He can provide everything. We may have the same response that this young man had. He went away in verse 22, sorrowful for he had great possessions. I’m not ready to give all that up. That’s what’s required to be, to have eternal life? Over in Luke 14. Luke 14:33, Christ says this about you and me who are His disciples and to all the disciples of His at that time and down through the ages. And verse 33 says, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has, who does not forsake all he has cannot be My disciple.” It doesn’t mean that we come into the church and we give it all away, no one is saying that. God doesn’t expect it. But would we be willing to?

The young man, I hope as he went through life, perhaps he thought about it, perhaps he prayed about it. Perhaps he asked God, “help me to become that way that I would be willing to give everything to You and worship You and You alone.” “No other gods before Me...” Because at this point in his life, that money was a pretty strong little god. There was God, but there were other gods besides God almighty in his life. That money, those riches were gods of his as well. One thing we can do is be asking God, would we be ready to do that? He’s not asking ourselves of that today, He may never ask it. But what’s in our hearts? Would we be willing to? Do we trust Him that much? Do we rely on Him that much, that we know that if that were to come to pass? He would see us through everything and provide everything we need.

It would be a big, big test of faith. You know, as you read through Matthew 19, and even the apostles as they saw what Jesus Christ had said to that young man, even they, you know, wondered among themselves. “Well, who can enter the kingdom of heaven? This is a hard saying Jesus Christ, who can do that?” You remember His response, “with men it’s impossible, only with God would that be possible. Only with His spirit, only with Him bringing us to that point in our lives.”

Individually, God has a lot to say about money. You can read through the Proverbs and you can see all the verses of what to do, and the principles of saving, the principles of using it, the principles of budgeting that we all talk about and living our lives. But you know with the end-time, money is going to be a real factor in society as well.

You know, Jesus Christ and in His Olivet prophecy. You remember what He said? He says, “as it was in the days of Noah, it will be in the days of the revealing of the Son of Man.” As it was in the days of Noah. They were eating, and they were drinking, and they were making merry. They were marrying and giving in marriage. It was a good society. There was plenty around. There wasn’t an austere time, it was a time of wealth as Noah built that Ark. He says it wasn’t the days of Lot, they would be doing the same things.

Sodom was a wealthy place. Lot and his family enjoyed living there. They had a lot of benefits, a lot of comforts, a lot of leisure time, so much so that when it was time to leave the angel had to actually drag Lot out of Sodom, because it was so comfortable there. They’d gotten used to the sin. They’d gotten used to the depravity, both those societies. They were violent, they were sexually depraved, and yet they had that wealth, yet they had that wealth. And Jesus Christ said, at the time of the end it’ll be a wealthy time as well.

And so, we live in a day where what do we hear? I heard it just this week, greatest economy ever, richest nation ever. I even heard yesterday a little blip that says how much the standard of living or the wage of people has gone up even in the last year. Even at the face of all this, none of these makes sense. None of it makes sense. When you look at the world around us, and the pandemic that the nation would be as wealthy, that the stock market would be as high as it is. None of it makes sense. Even when you look at the income of the church, how much we have in the face of everything that’s going on in the world. It’s as if there’s something going on that defies the imagination. The economists see it, they don’t understand really why things are going on the way they are. But we know in times of wealth, the Bible tells us, people can fall asleep.

People can develop the attitude, “I’m rich, I’m increased with goods, I have need of nothing.” The Laodicean attitude, right? I can be lulled asleep. The Bible in Mathew 25 talks about the 10 virgins. All of whom are asleep, asleep. Times are good. There’s plenty to go around.

It’s a time of trial, but a different type of trial that precedes a real-time of trial. When a power, an autocratic power comes about and then uses money as a weapon. If you don’t do what I say, if you don’t believe what I believe, all that money you have is good for nothing. You’re not going to buy, you’re not going to sell. And we begin to see the rudiments of that in our society around us today. Those things are there. And so, there’s much for us to think about.

In Mark 4, in Mark 4:19. In Mark 4, Jesus Christ is speaking of the parable of the sower and the seeds. And you’re very familiar with that. But as He talks about one, it certainly can talk about us, the seed that is sown among thorns. Let’s look at Mark 4:18, “These are the ones..” Mark 4:18, “These’re the ones sown among thorns: they are the ones who hear the Word.” That would be all of us that are sitting here today, listening wherever you’re listening. “These are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the Word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Now one time it was fruitful, but the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of this world, kind of reminds us with what Christ says in Luke 21 at the end of the chapter. Where He says, “Don’t be consumed with carousing, and the cares of this world, so that you’d be caught unawares. Watch and pray and be mindful of the times that you’re in” (Luke 21:34-36).

But these could be any one of us sitting here today. If we allow the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of this life, to crowd in and render the Word unfruitful, unfruitful. None of us want that to ever be what God would say of us or have that to happen to us. But it behooves us to be aware of the times, to be aware of what it is to enjoy what God has given us. And I don’t want anyone to walk away from here saying we shouldn’t be enjoying and doing what God, you know, providing and enjoying what He has given us, but we have to be aware that we don’t become so dependent on it, that when the time comes that we would choose money over God. It’ll be a real trial. It’ll be a real trial when the Beast Power comes and those words are spoken. If you don’t do this, then what you have is useless.

Now, let me close with just a couple of verses here. Let’s go back to Psalm 62. David who as you read through the Psalms, you see that God gave him insight into the end-times. You can see prophecy and the words that God inspired for him to write. In Psalm 62:10, he writes this he says, “Don’t trust in oppression, don’t vainly hope in robbery. If riches increase, if riches increase, don’t set your heart on them.” Set your heart on God. Set your heart on the kingdom of God. Set your heart on doing the things that God wants us to do so that we become rich in the way that He wants us to become rich. He’ll provide the blessings. Physically He’ll provide what we need. We have to yield to Him and allow Him to lead us every step of the way.

Let me just close here then in Luke 12. I can’t think of any better way to close than just reading Christ’s Words in Luke 12, I’m going to begin in verse 15 and not read the entire chapter. But it’s notable that in Chapter 12, He talks in verses 16 to 21, about a man who has so much and all he can think about is, you know, only about consuming it for himself. And God would say, you know if I am a blessing to you, you be a blessing to others. That’s the lesson of the next part of Matthew 25. When you see someone that needs, provide for them. God told Abraham in Genesis 12, I’ll bless you, you be a blessing to others. And that’s the same thing that He would have us do as well. But here in Luke 12:15, He says, Christ says, “Take heed and be aware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses.”

Let’s drop down to verse 22. He said to His disciples, that’s you and me, “I say to you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.” Verse 27, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you. O you of little faith?

And don’t seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after” (Luke 12:27-30).

That’s what they’re about. The riches. What we can gather, what we can do, what we can have for ourselves. How do we expand what we have for our benefit, as opposed to what God’s will is, or to benefit others? “All of these things the nations of the world seek after, and your father knows that you need these things. But you, you seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12:30-31).

Words of encouragement from God. “Don’t fear, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom, sell what you have and give alms...” (Luke 12:32-33). He’s not asking us to do that today. It’s more, would you be willing and will you be working in your minds toward that if the time comes? “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches or moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” May all our hearts be in God’s kingdom and His will.