Garwood Presbyterian Church

The Foundation For Financial Success

Matthew 6:24, Luke 14:33, I Timothy 6:6-10
#1 In "God's Guidelines For Financial Success"

Introduction In these economically difficult and uncertain times we are in, it is a good time to learn "God's Guidelines For Financial Success." Today, you are going to learn "The Foundation For Financial Success," because without this, the rest of what you will learn will not work.

1. A Short Self-Evaluation Test
   1. To see if you have "The Foundation For Financial Success" in your life at this time.
   2. With your credit cards, do you have debt on them, or are they paid off, with no debt?
      1. My Credit Cards Have Debt _____2. My Credit Cards Have No Debt _____
   3. When you get more money, do you spend more, or do you give more?
      1. I Spend More _____2. I Give More _____
   4. Who do you say owns your money and possessions, you or God?
      1. I Do _____2. God Does _____
   5. Now let's go over the answers.
      1. If you have credit card debt, you also have a shaky financial foundation. But if you have none, then you have a solid financial foundation.
      2. If, when you get more money, you spend more money, then you are on a shaky financial foundation. But, if, when you get more money, you give more money to others, then you have a solid financial foundation.
      3. If you say you own your money and possessions, and spend it like it is, then you are living on a shaky foundation. But if you say that God owns your money and possessions, and you spend it like it is God's, then you have a solid financial foundation for your life.
   6. How did you do? I hope you did well. But if you didn't, there's help for you in God's Word.
2. The Foundation For Financial Success - Acknowledge that God Owns Everything that You Have
   1. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it."
      1. The New Testament agrees. I Cor. 10:26 says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it."
   2. And, so, Jesus tells us in Luke 14:33, "Any of you who does not give up everything they have cannot be my disciple."
   3. And, so, we need to transfer everything we have to the Lord, and live as a steward.
      1. A steward is a person who takes care of another person's property.
      2. And that is us, as a Christian, taking care of God's property.
3. This Is Very Different From What the World Believes and Lives
   1. Donna Summers sang, "She works hard for the money, so you better treat her right."
      1. The world says, "You've worked hard for your money. You've earned it. It's yours!"
   2. And the world says it's how you can be happy. And the more you have, the happier you'll be.
      1. But Howard Hughes, the richest person in the world at his time, grew more and more miserable as he got older and older, and died in a personal hell of his own making.
      2. All the money in the world, cannot buy contentment. Only God can make you content, and only following God's guidelines for finances can make you financially content.
      3. The German billionaire, Adolf Merckle, who had a personal wealth of over 9 billion dollars, killed himself on January 5 last week because of his losses in this economic downturn.
   3. Ecc. 5:10 says, "Whoever loves money, never has money enough. Whoever loves wealth, is never satisfied with their income."
      1. Money and possessions do not provide contentment, but the opposite, because you "never have enough money" and are "never satisfied."
4. Money Can Tempt You Away From God, and Is a Trap Into Ruin and Destruction
   1. We read from I Timothy 6:9-10, "People who want to get rich, fall into temptation and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires, that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith, and, pierced themselves with many griefs."
      1. Including Adolf Merckle, and Howard Hughes, and many, many other people.
   2. But God knows that we need help to not fall into temptation and a trap with our money.
      1. And that is why, although there are about 500 verses on prayer in His Word of the Bible, and not even quite that many on faith, there are over 2,350 verses in the Bible on our money and possessions.
      2. And I will be presenting some selected ones to you over the next few weeks, so that you can be financially successful.
5. But Our Key Verse For Today Is Luke 14:33
   1. Jesus said, "Any of you who does not give up everything they have cannot be my disciple."
   2. And, so, today, you are going to have the opportunity to do that by transferring ownership of everything you have, all your money and all your possessions, to God.
   3. Then, when you lose something, you haven't really lost anything, because it's not yours any-way.
      1. When John Wesley lost his house because it burned down, he said, "The Lord's house has burned. That's one less responsibility for me!"
   4. And, if we transfer ownership of everything we have, then we wouldn't live for money.
      1. Making it easier to live for the Lord and love Him!
      2. Because Jesus said that you can't do both. He said in Mat. 6:33, "You cannot serve both God and money."
   5. And, if everything we own belongs to God, then we will want to give to others who have less than us, in Jesus' name, because of the love of God.
      1. And the Bible says that we will be rewarded for it.
      2. Jesus said in Mat. 10:42, "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because they are my disciple, I tell you the truth, they will certainly not lose their re-ward."
      3. And did you know that when you give to the poor that you are also giving to God and that He will reward you for it? Proverbs 19:17 says, "The one who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done."
      4. The Christian missionary, Jim Elliot, who gave his life up for the Lord, said, "He is no fool who gives up what they cannot keep, to gain what they cannot lose."

Conclusion: Do you want to transfer all that you have to God, all your money and all possessions, so that you can have financial success?Yes, I Do _____No, I Don't _____