[0:00]If you have your Bible turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8. One of the issues always of human beings is to have enough. Uh meet the needs to supply the work of God and uh Here in this passage of scripture that we're going to read is a clear statement that God's intentions for believers is for blessing. To meet the needs of having enough and contrary to uh some of the uh convictions of human being is that God isn't somebody that we have to coax for him to uh supply us with the needs to further his work. As the pastor has said this morning that uh our works are wholly funded by the people who are involved in those through their faithful ties and offerings, and God gives great promises that they will have enough always uh to supply the needs of his work. Revelation uh uh Deuteronomy chapter uh eight and verse 11 I want to begin. Says, beware that you forget not the Lord your God in not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes which I command you this day. Less when you have eaten and are full and uh have built goodly houses and dwelt therein. And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, that you uh then your heart is lifted up and you uh forget the Lord your God. Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Verse 15. Who led you through the great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions and drought, uh where there was no water, who brought you forth water out of the uh rock of flint. Who fed you in the wilderness with mana, which your fathers have uh not seen that he might uh humble you and that he might uh and he might test you, uh to do you good in the latter end. Verse 17, and you say in your heart my power and uh my uh might of my hand has given has gotten me this wealth. But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it's he, who gives you the power to get wealth that he may uh that he may establish his covenant with you. And into your fathers as it is this day. So I want to talk to you this morning for a few minutes about a revelation on money. Let's think for a moment as we look at the text, here the ownership of money. Very interesting that we uh begin to understand this, because one of the errors is very uh common is that we, we make the statements and we have the mentality this is my money. Uh almost every magazine that you pick up, uh any Christian publication you pick up even many worldly magazines, uh they'll be advertising gold, they'll be advertising silver, and promising you that the money that you have in your pocket are going to totally fail and the only way you're going to survive is if you buy golden silver because that'll hold its weight. And um I have no doubt that we have people here that you have a stash. You say this is my money. But uh you're mistaken. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 17 says, and you say in your heart my power and the uh might of my hand has gotten me this uh wealth. You say in your heart, Jesus said out of the heart the man the mouse speaks. So let's consider this text because this is the word of God and uh we get uh direction, we get uh balance in life by believing the word of God. And there's a clear revelation this here, and that the revelation is that God holds title, uh and governs uh worldly wealth. That's clearly stated that. I know that we have various mentality, we have various but the difficulty is we forget that God rules planet Earth. How many of you believe God rules the world? So let's uh read verse uh 18 again. Uh Deuteronomy 8:18, but you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gets you the power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant. Remember those words which he swore unto your fathers as it is this day. The covenant that God made with the uh fathers was a covenant he's going to bring them into that promised land. He's going to supply their needs and uh this passage has uh great understanding in that because the weight of scripture affirms that that is true. Uh in the book of Hagai chapter 2 and verse 8 says, the silver's mine and the gold is mine, says the Lord of host. Say, wait a minute, I put that in uh my hiding place, it belongs to me. I paid good money for that, but never forget that God has titled it to that. And he's very concerned about how you allocate that and how you uh uh how you uh beh hold that mentality you have. So Psalms 50 and verse 10 says, for every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. So two of Jesus' parables that are the most well known, uh are specifically to this uh issue. One is the parable of the talents and one is the parable of the pounds. Both of those in Bible days were units of financial measurement. So he tells those two parables and uh as he tells those two parables, the issue is their faithfulness is there. In Matthew 25 and verse 15 says, and unto one he gave uh 10 uh five talents and to another two and to another one and every man according to his ability. And uh he straight away took his journey. So here's a parable that's uh drawing out uh the uh kingdom of God and God's ministry at the moment. Uh the Lord Jesus is away, but he's coming back. We sang that chorus this morning. Jesus Christ is coming back again and one of the crucial issue is uh have you been faithful to that which the scripture says you do not own, but he owns? So the point is uh is the uh imagery of stewardship and clearly in these two parables, it demonstrates that we're accountable. We're accountable for what we uh uh hold, we're accountable for how we allocate that, and we're accountable for the mentality that we have. So this puts to rest the mistake. Don't talk about money in church. How many of you ever heard that?
[8:14]I'd probably two or three here, you're already disturbed because I'm talking about money. So just relax, we're going to get out of this alive this morning and so this mentality that you shouldn't talk about money in church. Uh I'm going to read numbers of scriptures this morning and those scriptures all have to do with how we handle money. And verse 16 of our text here, who led you in the wilderness with mana, which your fathers knew not that he might humble you and that he might test you to do you good in your latter end. So money is a test of life and as we consider that and ponder that, we need to take that to heart because it generally is described over and over in the Bible that there is a spiritual issue in money, and we need to examine that before God. So it's crucial this morning that we have a revelation and understand the uh the uh the subject of money. Uh there's a common mistake that is made and that is that money's evil. If you have money it's evil. If you are if you're broke and desperate, then you're spiritual. Neither of these are true. How many of you when you got saved, you could carry everything you had in a backpack? Let me see your hands. Look at that. Okay.
[9:43]So others of you, you're not honest, so you can answer when we get here. But many times people are absolutely desperate, but it's not wrong to make money, it's not running to have money. The Bible says it is not evil of itself, but first Timothy 6 verse 10 says, for the love of money, the love of money, is the root of all evil. Which while some coveted after, they have aired from the faith and uh pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So historically this is the mistake of the church. It was uh uh time in history when the Catholics uh began the vows of poverty and many of their adherents they began to uh drum into them that it's it makes you very spiritual. Uh if uh if you uh don't have any money, you're broke and you're uh take a vow that you're never going to have any money. How many of you there, you're really, really happy when you were broke? Let me see your hands. Nobody here. Because it's actually uh against nature. We have a nature and our nature is a motivation to acquire and to uh have our needs supplied. Uh this is a motivation, all except for all of you who destroyed that motivation smoking pot, that's one of the problems. Is uh you're motivated to go out and get a job and to earn that, but uh some of you that smoke pot, uh I can't help you, but uh if you'll obey God, well God will bless you anyway. So uh here God clarifies this and this underlies his intention to bless. Isn't that, that's good news. Can you say amen? God's intentions are to bless mankind and especially to those who have turned from sin, repented, and made Jesus Christ their Savior. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 7 through 9 says for the Lord your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of of water, and of fountains and depths that spring out of the out of the um uh valleys and hills. A land of wheat and barley and vines and trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey, a land wherein you shall uh eat bread without uh scarceness. Uh you shall not lack anything in it. A land whose stones are iron and out of hills out of whose hills you may uh dig bronze. So think about that for a moment, here's a land and God says, I'm bringing you into this land, that's the promised land. When you get in there, you be sure you don't remember uh you don't forget, but you be sure to remember that God brought you here and he brought you here to bless you. It's even going to have uh metals that you can uh uh that you can uh mine and have blessing from that. So blessing and cursing is spotlighted in the Bible. This is found in Deuteronomy 28 and verse 13 says, beware that you uh forget not the Lord your God. In not keeping his commandments and the ordinances and his statutes which I command you uh this day. Uh so as we begin to ponder this for a moment, we're dealing with a profound dimension. And that profound dimension is the is the uh is the purpose of God to bring blessing. Deuteronomy chapter 28:13, the Lord should make you the head and not the tail. And you shall uh be above only and you shall not be beneath, if you hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, uh to observe and to do them. Now there's a great example, one of the great examples of God's power is when he delivered them from the bondages of Egypt. You know the history, they were slaves to the Egyptian people, they came in uh for a while, uh they found favor with the ruler of Egypt, but time has uh rolled on, and finally they brought in they built the treasure cities and the storage cities of Egypt out of slavery. And uh God did a miracle for them. In Genesis chapter uh 39 uh gives us the uh the uh the blessing. Blessing is not just, oh bless you. Blessing is a spiritual dimension, it is a powerful spiritual uh force and Christianity is a religion spiritual power. Here's Joseph, Joseph, his brothers uh sold him into slavery. Remember that he wound up as a slave in Potiphar's household and here is what happened to him because his heart was right with God. Genesis 39 verses 2 and 3 and the Lord was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, uh the Egyptian and his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord uh was uh blessed all that he did to prosper him in his hand. So think about that now, here's Joseph he is a slave, but the uh the uh Potiphar is the fellow's name. Observed him and he saw that everything that he touched was successful and it's blessed his household. He makes him steward over his household, gave him authority and uh there was evident that God was blessing him. Uh how many uh people do we have that's working at Superior? Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. I'm not going to give an altar call. I'm just uh want to see. Uh I'm not sure Casey could give us the true count, but it seems to me there about 30 people working at Superior. It's very interesting, I was very observant when the recession came down, 2008, many people lost their jobs, many people who are in the building trades, they had to shift their emphasis and so on. But it was very interesting to me that Superior flourished. Uh even some of our men were sent to other countries to install uh their manufactures and uh they've continued to hire, they've continued to bless and that that even during the recession, they prospered, and I have no doubt that's because of the men who are living for God out of this congregation that were working superior because God does bless those who are obedient to him. So uh this is a a genuine uh dimension. In the course of history, uh the uh Ark of the Covenant was six miles from uh Jerusalem, all the time that Saul reigned. When David came in, he wanted the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. So he uh sent after that uh as it was on its way, the Oxen stumble, one of the uh workers reached out his hand to try to steady that uh and as he did he was struck dead. Because the instructions were only a priest has the right to touch that, anyone else are disobeying God's command. And David got really upset. He said, that's what you're going to be God. I don't want that thing up here because remember the Ark of the Covenant is the place where the Shakana glory dwelt. God's manifest presence was there and God's blessing followed the glory of God. So he said, I don't want that here. So they put it down in the house of Obeddom and uh as it went into the house of Obeddom, pretty soon uh news came to David. It's found in second Samuel 6 and verse 11, says the Ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obeddom the Gitite three months. And the Lord blessed Obeddom and all his household. Now think about that, simply because the presence of God that was uh was over the Shakana glory that dwelt over the mercy seat, because it was there, Obeddom's house is blessed. The Jews have traditions uh that relate to that time and their tradition is that God blessed the household of Obeddom in multiples of eight. Now, I'm dubious as to whether that's exactly true, but all traditions come from some event. So eight uh cows having calves, uh eight calves to women having eight babies, you know, we got we got trouble already, and so Chickens laying eight eggs, and so I'm dubious as to whether the exact is there, but something happened that was so visible that when they saw that, then uh uh David saw that, he heard that report and said, get that ark up here. We got to get that blessing on my house and so uh here is God's blessing. Matter of fact, God even blesses uh when opposing elements are aimed at you. When Joseph was in prison with the false accusation, uh it isn't too long until the prison warden saw and God's blessing Joseph. While he's in prison so much that he puts him in charge of the whole prison, and so uh God is a blesser. Can you say amen? How many of you believe God's a blesser? Jacob is up in uh in Uncle Leban's house in Haran up in Turkey now. And uh as he's up there, he's uh he's been scheming against and his brother said the next time I lay eyes on you, I'm going to kill you. So mama, uh Jacob's mama's boy, so he said, you go up to Uncle Leban's house and you lay out for a while and uh and it's all died down. And so he went up there. When he went up there, uh he took a liking to uh his uh beautiful daughter, uh Rachel and uh he uh made a deal with Leban. He said, I'll work for you seven years for nothing if you'll let me marry your daughter Rachel. And uh Leban said, that's a great deal. Yeah, that's good. I'll do that. So he worked seven years, comes time, payday, and so uh the Oriental uh uh way of marriage is all the secret in hide till you so and so forth. So uh Uncle Leban is a sharp trader, so he slips his uh weak-eyed daughter Lea in and so uh Jacob wakes up the next morning and the Bible said, and behold, it was Lea. And I'm sure uh there's some husbands here that you feel that's what you woke up to, that anyway, that's a different subject. So uh Jacob says to uh to um Uncle Leban, you you tricked me. And and well he says that's the custom. We can't we can't give away the younger before we give the older, but if you want Rachel, all you need to do is work seven years more and so uh he said that's uh that's good. So time rolls on and according to the uh to the uh record of the Bible, is that Uncle Leban changed Jacob's wages 10 times. I know some of you feel like that setting here this morning, but remember what I'm saying, God is a blesser and the uh the uh the charge has to be that before Jacob went out at the end of 21 years, he was a very, very wealthy man because God's blessing made a tremendous uh transfer of wealth to him because of the blessing and only because of the blessing because you can trust God with your life. So let's bring this down uh to the where the river meets the road. Here's a dangerous attitude that we have. We are such a blessed people this morning uh to live in America. Can you say amen? To live in America, if you don't feel blessed, why look at all the people that are here that shouldn't be here. They they snuck across and they're got jobs and they're taking jobs and doing very good and they're in church, that's where they ought to be. Can you say amen? So uh there's a dangerous attitude because you have to understand the fallen nature of mankind. The fallen nature of mankind is uh filled with pride, and we even read the the statement about covetousness warning us about that, presumption, and in Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 14 says, when you are blessed by this now, then your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt into the house of bondage. God worked a miracle for them as we'll find out. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and uh verse uh 11 says, beware that you forget not the Lord your God. In the keeping his commandments and the ordinances and his statutes which I command you uh this day. So here's a historical issue. Paul, or John rather, highlights that in first John chapter uh chapter uh two. Chapter 2:15 through 17, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the lust of the uh and and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust of it, but he that does the will of God abides forever. So here's a dangerous attitude that God highlights for us and this is constantly challenged as believers because the priority of our life ought to be and never leave is the priority of the Kingdom of God. That's why God says, I I have blessed you to establish my covenant with you. Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 18. For you should 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 unto your fathers as it is this day. Now they made an Exodus from Egypt. God brought deliverance, he crushed the gods of Egypt, he judged the finally winding with the firstborn that he that uh that uh Pharaoh that he took. And uh so he's bringing them out. Now here's a tremendous lesson for you. Exodus 3:22, when he's bringing them out, he says, you go and from the uh Egyptians, you request of them all the silver, all the gold, all the jewels that you have. And verse 22 says, but every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of her who sojourned in her house, jewels of silver and jewels of gold and rayment and you shall put them upon your sons and upon your daughters and you shall spoil the Egyptians. Now ponder that for a moment. Uh you say, well, God's not fair. He stole everything that Egypt had, but remember the years that they were in slavery. He's just he's just collecting a debt that he that they owed. And there's a solid precedent that's here. In Proverbs chapter 13 and uh uh uh uh verse 22. Uh says a good man leaves an inheritance his children's children and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. What a great statement that is. So that doesn't mean that God's going to steal it from them, but what it means is he's going to give you blessing because of your allegiance to Christ and the blessing's going to flow and the uh the uh the Leban's wages to uh to Jacob is a lesson for that. Listen to this. Genesis 31 and verse 1. Jacob heard the words of Leban's sons saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our fathers, and of that which uh uh what was our fathers had, he has gotten all this wealth. Well, uh that's not true. It wasn't uh that he stole it, but it was that God's blessing begin to bless his uh livestock and blessed the reproduction of that, and he went out a very, very wealthy man because this was a wealth transfer. This is a miracle of wealth transfer because of God's blessing. So we need to remember this morning, the principle is that uh we who are believers in Jesus Christ are stewards only of that which God gives to us. When Pastor Greg took the offering this morning, he stated clearly that this is the way. We don't believe in and uh in uh various schemes of raising money. We don't uh solicit money from those outside. We're not asking the public for this, it's from the blessing that God has given to uh the believers in Jesus Christ and our Bible conferences. Uh April is a conference month. I don't know how many conferences I've preached in, but I preach in Nogalas, I preach in Gallup, I preach in El Paso, I preach in Cape Cod. I'm preaching tomorrow in uh in um uh Menville, uh all of these conferences are Bible conferences, and God's blessing is upon these people and these conferences pay for themselves because they have people that give to that and they're blessed by that. One story I want to share with you as we bring this to a conclusion. Years ago we began a pioneer work in Mexico. I've just preached this month in Nogalison, Mexico. And so, uh there's a beautiful building that has been built there. Uh and uh years ago, the man who was uh who pioneered that and was pastoring there, said, Pastor Mitchell, can't we start a chicken farm? He said, we're going to start a chicken farm. Well, these people are so poor, some of them are sleeping under newspapers. And can't we just start a chicken farm and we can feed these people out of that? I said, pastor, you just preach the gospel, get these people saved, and God will take care of their sustenance because there's something that happens in these poor countries, it's called redemption and lift. It's a phenomena that happens when people get saved, suddenly they quit wasting their money on booze and cigarettes and drugs and in whatever else. And they begin to be liberal, and begin and and it was a liberal. God blesses them. You just, you just preach that. Now I preached in this building and I think it was a year before last it was finished, made complete. It's got a balcony in it. If you jam Mexicans in it, Mexican style, it'll hold 1500. It holds 1000 on the lower level. Now think about that. I asked the pastor, I said, uh, how much did this building cost? He said, a million dollars. And he said, it's all paid for. Now think about that. Same people, same place, same church. Only a different mindset is to preach to the people and begin to tell them about God's blessing if they will be obedience is called redemption and lift. It's a wonderful miracle. It was John Wesley who said, I can't keep my uh my uh congregation from becoming uh prosperous. Because they quit wasting their money on booze. They quit wasting their money on uh cigarettes and cigars. They work hard, they're motivated and uh they become prosperous. And he said, this is a natural result of what God does in their heart and the blessing of God. I want every head bowed, I want every eye
