“The Problem and Purpose of Gaining Financial Freedom”

 

Introduction: In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus spoke a parable saying,

 

“… The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. “

 

God does not have a problem regarding money; it is man who has the problem. Let me repeat that; lest it went right on by you. God does not have a problem regarding money; it is man who has the problem. Most of man's unhappiness orbits around money.  

 

Most think that man doesn't have enough money, and he has too many bills. He doesn’t get paid enough. His boss isn’t treating him fairly. His wife spends all of the funds. He just isn't good at following a budget, and certainly there are just too many bills.

 

Mankind's greatest problems are due to the fact that he leaves God out of his financial decisions. Therefore today, we are going to focus our attention upon the PROBLEM and PURPOSE of money in gaining financial freedom.

 

Problem Number ONE: God is not in your finances. We have a perfect example in Luke 12:17 of a rich man who "thought within himself." He had all of his plans made without consulting God. How many times do we sing the words, “everything to God in prayer" without putting those words into practice? Our plans are never as good as God's plan is.

 

God's people should never be making financial investments in anything unless God has given the go ahead to complete the task. It is literally a tragedy waiting to happen when we fail to consult God prior to making a financial decision. For example:

 

I am not saying it is wrong to own a new car; however, we shouldn't go to the dealership and purchase the car without getting on our knees before God and asking Him for wisdom. We ought to fast and pray. We need to get down on our knees and beg God to show us the proper way to spend our money.

 

God wants to be a part of your life. Together, husbands and wives should take things to God in prayer. Mothers and fathers need to spend time together in prayer with their children to keep God involved in all aspects of the family.

 

We should get God so involved in our lives that we don't purchase anything without inquiring of Him if we should purchase it. After we seek the throne of grace, we must then be patient until He gives the answer. It isn't always an immediate answer, but He does always answer.

 

The rich man in Luke 12 wasn't being a fool because he wanted to build bigger barns. However, he was acting very foolishly when he "thought within himself" without going to God first and asking Him for direction. This man had his entire life planned out by telling himself that he could relax after creating adequate storehouses and eat, drink and be merry. The only problem with his plan was that he didn’t have any idea of the length of his life, and neither do we. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. We read that in

 

Proverbs 27:1, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.”

James 4:14-15, “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.”

 

Only God knows when we will pass into eternity. Therefore, God knows us better than we know ourselves. Shouldn't we confer with Him before making any rash decisions?

 

Problem Number TWO: Money is not the answer to all your problems. Man’s problem with money stems from his belief that money is the answer to all of life's problems. Money is not the answer to life's problems.

 

I have counseled with people over the years, and the conversations all go about the same. No matter how they tried, they always came up a little short at the end of every month.

 

Pastor, we are making $20,000, but if we were making $25,000 we could make it just fine. Pastor, we are having a hard time making it on $35,000..If we could just have another $4000.00 a year, we could do it. What do we do?

 

The truth of the matter is that these people didn’t need more money. They just needed to change their attitudes on managing the money that God had supplied to them.

 

Problem Number THREE: Your money is not yours. Most people think that their money is a result of their own abilities and education, and that their efforts at their jobs earned them their salaries.

 

Deuteronomy 8:18 disagrees with this idea, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” God deserves the glory for all of a man's successes, for it is He who gives that man the wisdom, strength, ability, and opportunity to accomplish any and everything.

 

The reason that our attitudes are wrong in this area stems from one problem – pride! The man asked himself, "What shall I do? Where should I bestow my fruit?" He uses the personal pronoun “I and MY” fourteen times in this passage. He did what he did thinking that HE was doing all the action. In reality, it was God who gave him the ability. He thought that he had many years left to live. But in reality, God told him in verse 19 that he would be entering eternity that night.

 

Careers, fortune, and ambitions can be wiped away in one moment of time. There have been people who were almost, if not completely, ruined by one day.

 

Remember October 19, 1987? It was known as "Black Monday."  Things were going great the day before, but on this day in History, something enormous happened. The stock market plunged 500 points from the opening bell to the closing bell. It dropped 500 points in an eight hour window of time. In this short period of time, there were individuals who lost not only millions, but multiple millions and some even into the billions of dollars. They got up that morning extremely rich, but when they pillowed their heads that same night, they were very poor.

 

Anyone can lose his fortune before this day is over. Our lives are not our own, for we have been bought with a price. We must glorify God in and through our bodies which are also God's. Our minds, thoughts, health, strength, and wealth all belong to God. The man who doesn't think he belongs to God is a fool. We must not misplace our priorities through prideful living.

 

Problem Number FOUR: Charging is spending money you do not have. Now this point is not a problem if you keep charging within your budget, and completely pay off your charge card at the end of every month. Otherwise, charging is spending money you do not have. Christians need to keep their families out of financial bondage.

 

Some Christian men need to speak up and tell their families that nothing else will be charged on a credit card, and the bills are going to be not only paid, but paid off.

Some Christian ladies need to use their character to tell their families that not another dime will be charged on a charge card.

 Both spouses need to work together to get their attitudes right when dealing with their finances.

 

Some people try to blackmail God by saying, "I have faith and trust in God to provide the money to pay my charge card off when the bill comes." It is more honest to trust God to provide the money needed before we use the credit cards.

 

Problem Number FIVE: You cannot serve God and money. Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:24 where we read, “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.”

 

Mammon is the false god of worldly gain. You cannot serve God and money; you must serve one or the other. If a man isn't serving God, he is either serving himself, or serving someone or something else.

 

God also says that people who constantly need just a few thousand dollars more will still never have enough money. Because, even if they get the money they think they need, they will need just a little bit more a few more miles down the road.

 

We shouldn't be slaves to money, because we can have complete confidence and trust in God. This truth can be found in Matthew 6:25-34,

 

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: (29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? (31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

 

The Gentiles were seeking food and clothes, but the Heavenly Father already knew what they needed. In this passage, the phrase, "take no thought" is used three times in verses 25, 31 and 34. This means that we shouldn't be drawn in so many directions that we are consequently frustrated and upset at God, Who is in control.

 

Please let verse 33 sink into your thinking and activities of life as it is the theme of our church year, and quite frankly, it ought to be the theme of your life, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Put CHRIST FIRST even in your decisions regarding money. Money, the substance that we think that we cannot live without, can ruin us in a moment, if we let it. Don't let money ruin or control you. Instead, use money for the glory of God and see what great things God can do through your finances.

 

Please, let me remind you that two-thirds of all the parables in the Bible deal with money. In my opinion, that makes money a very important subject. Money is not a bad thing, but loving it is just plain wrong! God isn't shy about what He says about money in His Word. He wants His tenth, and He wants us to be proper stewards of the other 90%. He expects us to use the money given to us for His purposes.

 

As this message comes to an end, let me share with you three main reasons God allows us to use His money.

 

Purpose Number One: God wants to supply our needs and those of our family. In I Timothy: 6-8 we read, “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.” The first reason or purpose for money in our lives is being content with basic provision, "having food and raiment"

 

Food does not always mean three meals a day. Sometimes it is just enough food to keep us alive. Raiment does not always mean a closet stuffed full of clothes. Sometimes it is just enough clothing to provide an outfit.

 

We would be wise to get back to being content with just basic provisions. The Bible says in Proverbs 30:7-9, “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”

 

God only promises to give us enough food, water, shelter, and clothing for contentment. The more we become content with what God gives us, the less important material possessions become.

 

The song writer said, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."

Concerning the basics of life, the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

 

Purpose Number Two: He wants us to use His money to invest in eternity. Heavenly investment is the second reason that God allows us to have money here on earth. We find this principle in Matthew 6: 19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth; where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” God wants us to lay up our treasures in heaven and not make our priority this earth.

 

We shouldn't be investing too much here on earth, for when we die, all those things in which we invested here on earth will be gone.

We should be investing by seeking His righteousness, His work and His cause, so that our real reward is in heaven. 

 

The natural man is selfish. He wants to accumulate and hoard the temporal things of earth. The rich man in Luke 12:19, has already been mentioned.  He was concerned with building bigger storehouses for his wealth, so that he could retire and "eat, drink and be merry."  The Bible called this man a fool.

 

Purpose Number three: God gives us money so that we may bestow it upon others. Money has not been loaned to us by God to waste or use selfishly, but to give according to His leading. In Luke 6:38, Jesus gave us a promise for this kind of giving. “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

 

I am always amazed at the people all over this nation that stand on street corners and freeway ramps with signs that say, "Will work for food" or something to that effect. Yet they are often young people who still have the ability to work. God's Word says that we shouldn't be helping those who can work, but choose not to. There are special circumstances where good people no longer have the physical ability to work. About these cases God says in Psalm 41:1, “Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the
LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.”

 

God gives us money so that we can help those who can't help themselves. In the Book of Acts, we find that the church at Jerusalem was sent relief from another church because the church at Jerusalem got into financial bondage.

 

God's people must determine what is most important to us. What is our number one priority in life? Our number one priority should be to give more to God this year than last year.
We ought to constantly be living in a way that allows us to give God more of our time, talents and treasures than we gave the previous year.

The Bible speaks of how people will be ashamed at His coming, because of what they haven’t done for Him. Too many of our good church members would be ashamed of their tithing records, if Christ were to come back right now. We ought to be able to look back over each year and say that we did our dead level best in our giving to the Lord.

 

God wants the tenth part, but more than wanting your money, God wants your soul. Financial Freedom begins by giving to God first. Then let Him help you with the remainder. With that said, I close with the words from Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

 

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If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon “The Problem and Purpose of Gaining Financial Freedom” then right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.

 

Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in

 

Acts 16:31, “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.”

If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, please let me know. Send an e-mail to pdmikBBM@aol.com and I will send you some literature that will help you in your Christian life.

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In His Amazing Grace,