How to be Wise with Your Money

Sermon Series

How to Face Our Future! – Part 13

"How to be Wise with Our Money"

Pastor Jerry

James 5:1-6

 

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Today we're going to look at "How to Be Wise With Your Wealth" as we continue in our series through the book of James. Question? How many of you are wealthy?  By world standards, by the very fact that we live in America, we're wealthy. And we need to hear what the scripture teaches about wealth. Many people wrongly believe that the Bible teaches that it's wrong to be wealthy. The Bible says that "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." God is not opposed to wealth; in fact, many of the people in the Bible were extremely wealthy. But, God is opposed to the misuse & abuse of wealth. He wants us to use wealth wisely, no matter how much/how little we have. The people in the entire NT times were either very rich or very poor. The system caused the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. The rich tended to manipulate and oppress the poor people. James lashes out at non-Christian use of money by the wealthy. This passage is a healthy warning to us to make sure that no matter how much money we have, we use it wisely. We're going to look at the wrong and the right uses of wealth according to the scriptures. James mentions four common abuses of wealth. I. THE WRONG USES OF WEALTH  The first key issue that James talks about is the ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH. He says, don't hoard it." (v3) "You have hoarded wealth in the last days." James speaks about three results of wealth hording: (1) spoiled food, (2) moth eaten clothes, and (3) rusting gold and silver. The point he's making here is that whatever you accumulate, deteriorates. God doesn't want us to get wealth just for the sake of getting wealth. It’s to be used not hoarded. There's a second issue he talks about. This is the issue of the APPROPRIATION OF WEALTH. God is not only concerned with what we've got but also how we got it. Don’t steal it. Don't use dishonest means to rip people off. There are a lot of different ways to make dishonest money. One way is to simply not pay your debts. In the NT, you worked on a daily basis. You were hired at the beginning of the day, you worked all day, and at the end of the day you were given your pay. You could work all day and the boss come out and say, "I don't like your work," then you went home with no money. James is criticizing this practice: "The wages you have failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you." (v4) The third issue that James talks about is the ALLOCATION OF MONEY -- how we spend it. (v5) "You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence." In the allocation of money don't waste it. One of the greatest temptations we have is we're tempted to spend it selfishly on ourselves. The more money you make the easier it is to waste it. Just because I can afford it doesn't mean I ought to buy it. James says don't waste it. The fourth key issue that James deals with is the APPLICATION OF WEALTH. He's talking about how we use it's influence. He says, don't abuse it. Wealth gives us much more power than simply buying power. When you have money, it gives you influence, authority. James said, "You have condemned & ruined innocent men, & they are powerless to stop you." Even today, a lot of people use money to manipulate others. II. The right uses of wealth and things we ought to practice. Let’s see what God has to say about how to manage my money. (1) RIGHT ACCUMULATION. Proverbs 21:20 "The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets."  This is the principle that the Bible says, we ought to save money faithfully. God says the wise person saves and invests his money. In order to develop the habit of saving you've got to do two things: (1) You need to learn to live on a margin. That means live on less than you make. (2) You learn contentment. You've got to learn contentment with what we have. What is the purpose of saving? Here's where the Bible differs from the world's thinking in a major way. The world thinks you save money for security. In order to have security you've got to put your security in something that cannot be taken away from you. Everything that I have in life can be taken away from me. There is only one thing that cannot be taken away from me and that's my relationship to Jesus Christ.  Why do we save? The Christian saves for stewardship reasons, not for security reasons. That's the right accumulation according to scripture. What about the (2) RIGHT APPROPRIATION. What matters to God is not so much how much money you make but how you make it. The Bible says in Proverbs 13:11 "Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows." What is gambling? A get-rich-quick scheme. Over and over again in Scripture the Bible teaches the value of hard work. Make money honestly through work. Scripture says you can make as much money as you can in your lifetime as long as you meet these four qualifications.

1. As long as it doesn't hurt your own health.
2. As long as it doesn't hurt my family
3. As long as it doesn't hurt other people.
4. As long as it doesn’t hurt my spiritual life.

What does the Scripture say about the (3) RIGHT ALLOCATION? The Bible says we are to spend money wisely. The Scripture says, "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as sure as haste leads to poverty." He's talking about planning your money and planning your spending. It is easier to get into debt than to get out of debt. The number one reason for financial pressure is not that we don't make enough but we don't spend wisely. What is the Key? Have a budget. (4) THE RIGHT APPLICATION. How do we use the influence that money has? We are to give money generously. This principle is taught over and over again in Scripture. Give and it will be given unto you. There are more promises in the Bible related to giving than on any other subject. God wants us to learn to be givers because He is a giver. If we're going to learn to become like God we've got to learn to be giving people. You've heard many people say, "You can't take it with you." That's very true, but you can send it on ahead. "Store up for yourselves treasure in Heaven." Matthew 6:20 "Where your treasure is your heart will be also."  How do you send it on ahead? The only way you can store up treasure in heaven is by investing it in people who are going there. There are only two things that are going to last forever: the word of God and people. Everything else is going to burn up at the judgment. Jesus is saying that when you use money and invest it in people who come to know Christ, when you get to heaven, they'll say they are there because of you. Jesus says, use your affluence for good influence. Then people will welcome you into eternal dwellings. How about you? Who's going to say in heaven, "I'm here because of you." We should use the right application and give money generously. Everything we give on this side of eternity is being accredited to our account on the other side in eternity. God doesn't need our money. He's wealthy. But he wants us. He wants what money represents. He wants our lives.