Money and Eternity

Message Notes Delivered October 16, 2005
by John Rush

Theme: View Money in Light of Eternity.

Introduction:
Howard Dayton writes of the story of “A young Roger Morgan [who] came out of the Appalachian Mountains with the sole purpose of making a fortune. Money became his god, and he became worth millions. Then the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression reduced him to utter poverty. Penniless, he took to the road. One day a friend found him on the Golden Gate Bridge staring down into the waters of the San Francisco Bay, and [his friend] suggested they move on. “Leave me alone,” Roger replied. “I’m trying to think. There is something more important than money, but I’ve forgotten what it is.”¹

Let me ask you a stupid question: Have you ever thought what it would be like to be rich?

Solomon was rich:
- Annual Income of over $25 million
- His palace took 13 years to build
- He owned 40,000 stalls of horses
- He sat on an ivory throne overlaid with gold.
- He drank from gold cups.
- The daily menu of his household included 100 sheep, 30 oxen, plus deer and fatted fowl.²

Here's what Solomon said about money: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them.” Eccl. 5:10-11

Who are the wealthy?

Those who have enough money to pay for their needs and have discretionary dollars left over.

This means us. We are rich in this world. And this morning, I have commands for the wealthy.

Text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19: 17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

God does not rebuke the rich for being rich. He warns the rich about the dangers of wealth and encourages the wealthy to invest their money wisely. Why? Because money can be a source of trouble instead of blessing. Solomon also said, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” Jesus put it in more dire terms: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25).”

These verses tell us that our view of money has spiritual consequences.
What about people who are saved and have wealth?

View Money in Light of Eternity:
Think Right. Do Good. Invest Wisely.

Exposition:
I. Think Right:
A. You Will Be Tempted with Pride:

Proverbs 28:11 The rich man is wise in his own conceit...

Job 31:24-25, 29 “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained...then these would also be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.”

Daniel 4:30-321: 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king' mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying , O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.

B. You May Misplace Your Confidence:


There’s Only So Much Money Can Do, Even in This Life:

“The futility of riches is stated very plainly in two places: the Bible and the income tax form.”³

Someone wrote: Money can’t buy you friends, but your enemies treat you a little better.⁴

Money will buy: A Bed but not sleep; Books but not brains; Food but not an appetite; A house but not a home; Medicine but not health; Amusement but not happiness; A crucifix but not a Savior.⁵

Proverbs 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Proverbs 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall...

Proverbs 23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.


Money is so alluring because it is TEMPORAL POWER. It is the key to power in this temporal age. If you live for this age, you will have to live for money on some level. However, there is:

A TWO-FOLD problem with money:

1. Wealth is Fleeting in this Age.
2. The Age Itself is Passing Away.

“That money talks I’ll not deny,
I heard it once, it said, “Good-bye.” ⁶

C. You Can Find True Security: The Living God.

What is Your View of Economic Resources?
The Pie:

• "I have a Big Piece of the Pie and Am Working to Keep it for Myself."
  
• "I have a Small Piece of the Pie and Am Scrambling to Get My Share."
  

The Engine:

• The Engine of Capitalism Works!
  

The Cogs of Good Ideas + Pistons of Hard Work + Widgets of Thrift= Wealth Cranked Out!

God transcends the economy because He can make multiple pies and provide when the engine conks out! Deut. 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth...

God is to be our trust, our refuge, our hope, our security, our exceeding great reward.
God Lavishes His Gifts on Us: This is not some sort of legalism or ascetisim.
Nor is it a guilt-based message.

II. Do Good: Verse 18: That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate...

A. Do Good: v. 18
B. Be Rich in Good Works
C. Ready to Distribute
D. Willing to Communicate:

“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share.” (NIV)

Mark Hambourg said, “Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price for it.”⁷

We pay too high a price when we do not invest our resources in light of eternity.

III. Invest Well:

It is possible to have many dollars yet be poor because we are not rich towards God. The story goes of a very privileged girl at an elite school wrote a composition for her class. It went like this: “Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor.”⁸

How can we avoid this kind of poverty? By living in light of the eternal. It will bring blessing to our homes and make for a better entrance into the kingdom of God.

A. Lay Up Store: To Amass a Treasure!

Years ago I read where “J. Robertson McQuilkin, president of Columbia Bible College, pointed out in a speech that if members of the Southern Baptist denomination alone would give an average of $100 per year to foreign missions, over $1.4 billion per year would be given. They are nowhere near that level now. If they were, the fulfillment of the Great Commission could probably be financed rather easily in this generation by one denomination!”⁹

B. Good Foundation: The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock. The Foolish Man Built His House Upon the Sand.

C. Time to Come: There is a New Age Coming. God’s eternal kingdom.

D. Lay Hold of Eternal Life: The New Kingdom will not be temporal, but eternal. This is life indeed. This is where we should invest.

Revelation 21:1-5: 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Conclusion:

Use Your Money to Advance the Kingdom of God Here and Now before It Comes Crashing In In Its Fullness.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD...
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¹ Howard Dayton, You Money Counts: The Biblical Guide to Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing, Giving, and Getting Out of Debt (Gainesville, Georgia; Crown Financial Ministries, 1996), 147.
² Dayton, You Money Counts, 147-148.
³ Dayton, You r Money Counts, 147.
⁴ James S. Hewett, ed., Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton, Ill.; Tyndale House, 1988), 369.
⁵ Dayton, Your Money Counts, 148.
⁶ Roy B. Zuck, ed., The Speaker’s Quote Book, (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1997), 258..
⁷ Roy B. Zuck, ed., The Speaker’s Quote Book, (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kregel Publications, 1997), 258.
⁸ James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 373.
⁹ Ron Blue, Master Your Money (Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1997), 18-19.