Money Talk (Part 1 of 2)

Bob Lepine: Welcome to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Today we'll address a sensitive subject that many consider personal and private. Is this subject sinful or a blessing from God? Is it possible it can be both? Let's find out what the Bible has to say about money.
Alistair Begg: Father, it is only by your grace that we are able to open up your book for on account of your grace you have made yourself known. And it is only by your grace that we can speak of it or hear from it in a way that will be life changing. So our confidence is in you. Our look is to you. Our minds are for you. Speak then in the stillness as we wait upon you for Jesus' sake. Amen. Now we are probably just one study away from the conclusion of our studies in 1 Timothy. I invite you to turn there. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 17. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Paul in this letter is providing practical instructions for the conduct of God's people within the framework of the church. It is therefore no surprise to us that very quickly he addresses the matter of money because money is inevitably one of the barometers by which we might be able to gauge the temperature and strength of our own Christian experience. He addresses it in relationship to those who are called to leadership in the church when in the third verse of the third chapter he makes it clear that the person who is going to be an elder must not be someone who loves money. Deacons in verse 8 of the same chapter are to be individuals who are not pursuing dishonest gain. In the matter of family care in the fifth chapter and in verse 8 an individual who does not provide for his relatives has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. A quite staggering statement. If we were to put a test out for people and say how would you determine who was an unbeliever? I doubt whether this would even appear on most of our lists. And yet it is right here on the list. Why? Because in the use of resources we either declare our affinity to Christ and our obedience to Christ's word or the very reverse of it. When he gives instruction concerning the payment of pastors in verse 18 he is quite categorical. The scripture says do not muzzle the ox while it's treading out the grain and you should notice that the worker deserves his wages. So throughout the six chapters there is quite a bit of instruction regarding wealth, riches, resources, money. But it takes until the sixth chapter before he gives any kind of sustained treatment of the subject. And it crops up in relationship to false teachers in verse 5. And he identifies these individuals in part as those who regard godliness as a means to financial gain, letting us know that in the first century they were also confronted by the circumstances that we face in the 20th century. How often has it been that your neighbors or your friends or your work colleagues have said to you but I saw Mr. So and So on the television and it would appear to me although the individual would say I I don't know obviously their motives but I just get the feeling that some hour or another what it is they are conveying is more tightly linked to their ability to accrue to themselves riches than ever would be countenanced in the New Testament. And the unbelieving world often has a keener sense of smell in relationship to this than some who are in the family of God. Now it is in that context that Paul then gives instruction to Timothy concerning the nature of godliness as being in contentment a great gain. And he provides instruction in verse 9 for a particular group of individuals. In point of fact it may be a very large group but it is a group namely the people who want to get rich. And he says people who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and so on and we consider that in a study past. Now in identifying this group he warns Timothy as a pastor to stay away from it. And he is urging him not simply to keep his life clear of a preoccupation with money and with wealth but also from all of the dishonesty and all of the false teaching which is so much a part of it. And I think it is at least possible that we might regard verses 11 to 16 as a parenthetical statement in so far as he is addressing the issue of finance. In seeking to give directives to Timothy he moves away from it marginally only to return to it once again in the 17th verse. So his subject in verse 6 and following is money, finance, wealth. In verses 11 to 16 he gives a special charge to Timothy not simply in relationship to wealth but also in relationship to false teaching and then he returns to the matter at hand in this 17th verse. His concern this time is not to deal with those who want to get rich but to give a word to those who are rich. And Timothy must remind these people of the dangers to be faced and of the duties to be fulfilled. Those are the two headings under which I'll gather the rest of this instruction. For people who are rich there are peculiar dangers to be faced and there are significant duties to be fulfilled. Now in noticing first of all these dangers let's not miss the obvious which it confronts us in the text namely the presence of rich people. There are folks that you will meet from time to time who say well churches shouldn't have rich people in them. Well you have to say the New Testament churches already made a hash of that because they clearly had rich people in them. Otherwise there would be absolutely no point whatsoever in Paul giving instructions to the pastor of the church in Ephesus to give a warning to rich people. If there were no rich people to warn no need for a warning. Jesus moved amongst the poor. He slept outdoors but he also entered the house of rich men. Paul moved in his ministry from throughout the whole gamut of human experience and was the beneficiary of the kindness of others was in the homes of those who clearly were exceptionally prosperous and yet at the same time was unprepared to make much of it. Now I say don't let's miss the obvious but it should be obvious to us that we do not have here something which I perceive certain people might like to have namely a denunciation of rich people. There is a perversity among some people who feel that it is incumbent upon them simply to denounce anybody who has done well or who has prospered. And they may try and clothe it with doctrinal principle. I fear that it is more to do with jealousy than it has to do with theology. Because the Bible is very clear. In the Old Testament God tells us that it is he who gives a man or a woman the ability to get wealth. In 1 Samuel chapter 2 when Hannah prays that glorious prayer in part of her prayer she says the Lord sends poverty and wealth. He humbles and he exalts. He is master sovereign over the affairs of time and over the affairs of individuals and over the affairs of governments and over the affairs of businesses and over the affairs of our personal investments. He sends poverty and he grants wealth. When we read our Bibles with open eyes we discover that there is no sin in wealth if it is acquired honorably and if it is used wisely. Otherwise how could Paul ever exhort the Corinthians in his second letter to be generous in their disbursement of funds for the well-being of the churches elsewhere where they not the recipients of God's generosity to them in the provision of financial resources. So don't let's miss the obvious in going past but let's come to this matter of the dangers. What are these dangers to be faced? Well there are two, maybe more but two I want to suggest to you. Number one, arrogance, arrogance. The approach which regards others with a haughty spirit. The perspective which becomes used to throwing its weight around and getting the better of those who are less well off. There is a peculiar danger and a unique temptation which attaches itself to those who have become the recipients of significant financial resources because money opens all kinds of doors that do not open to those who do not have the money. Money will buy you a thickly padded wider seat on an airliner. Money will mean that you no longer have to stay out with the rock in the terminal but may go through those sliding glass doors into the other kind of rock which is in there. But it is money which opens the door essentially. It is money which allows individuals to gain access to places that others are denied access to. And if those who then have that access and we're thinking now of Christian people if the believer who is the the beneficiary of those things doesn't look out then he or she will fall foul of the notion that their intrinsic worth is directly related to their financial status. So that my monetary value becomes the determining value by which I assess my place in society which is what pagans do. But the Christian does not have to say oh I do not have this money. Oh I do not want this money. The Christian is to say I have this money. Therefore I have a unique responsibility and I face a pressing danger. And the danger is that I will now try and treat people as though somehow or another they are less significant because they do not have what I have. Now you can follow that through in your own study uh in Romans chapter 12 and in James chapter 1 and in other places but time forbids me from going any further with it. The first inherent danger is the danger of arrogance. And money doesn't bring with it discernment. And money doesn't bring with it class. And money doesn't bring with it kindness. Because we all know people who have a lot of stuff and they're obnoxious. If securing a certain financial platform made you a certain kind of way then of course they would be the best people always to be around. But in point of fact it can do the very reverse and that's why to be entrusted with financial resources is a peculiar challenge. And those of us who always would be looking to others who have and assuming that if that were our condition then we would be in in tremendous shape and we wonder why these poor souls are the way they are is largely due to the fact that we don't have much concept of what would be involved in such a responsibility. Danger number one then is that we treat other people with contempt. We are arrogant. Danger number two is the danger of misplaced security. The danger of misplaced security. You see the rich individual faces the temptation to count on what they have accrued. No such danger confronts the individual who doesn't have a savings account. That individual does not lie in his bed and say to himself well I can go off to sleep because I have X amount of dollars in my savings account and I can put my head on the pillow. Because there is no savings account and there are no dollars in it. Well you say but I would like to have one. That is a different problem. That's not this morning. The problem we're addressing this morning is the person who has a tremendous amount of resources. They are rich. They are wealthy. By any standards they are rich and wealthy. They are identifiably rich and wealthy within the local congregation. It's virtually impossible to conceal it. And the temptation is to say well I have all this therefore I'm okay. And they place their confidence in wealth. Now it's straightforward, isn't it? The danger of misplaced security, the danger of arrogance. How then are those individuals to confront these two dangers? Well there are hints here in the verses I think that are a help to avoiding the dangers. Number one, hint number one is by noticing that little phrase that in verse 17 in this present world, in this present world. In other words our bank balance is significant only in this present world. It does not have ipso facto an eternal dimension to it. It may have which is the point that Paul is making to Timothy. Riches well used will have eternal significance but riches simply hoarded and abused are only of significance in this present world. And how long are we in this present world? A very short time. And indeed we may be in it a lot shorter of a time than any of us understand. And in a moment ours may be the obituary and the people will be wrestling in the drawers of our desks looking for those jolly things that we told them were there so they can find out whether they have any resources left to them at all. And all that we have attached significance in if we have, all that we have put our head on our pillows with if we have, all that is made us the person as we drive around that we consider ourselves to be will be a flat out total irrelevancy. And once again as when we emerge from our mother's womb we will be naked and even more helpless. In an instant I was there for the birth and I've been there for death. The birth is a wriggling mass of humanity. There is life and there is hope. In the death there is nakedness and nothing. And you could wrap yourself in dollar bills if you want but they will rot with you. And so he says if you just think for a moment that all that you have is only in the frame of this present world and the present world is not all the world because there is eternity to face then if you can grab a hold of that, if you can turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face then it will help the proclivity that is part and parcel of wealth to arrogance and to misplaced security. That's why Jesus says in Luke chapter 12 a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. That's the baseline in verse 7 of this same chapter. We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. Naked in, naked out. It's hard to hide stuff on your person when you're naked. That's the first hint because our bank balance is significant only in the present world. The second hint lies in the fact that life itself, wealth itself is so uncertain there in the same verse. Wealth which is so uncertain. That's why people on Wall Street jumped out of buildings. You see if your flat bust broke you don't have to worry about a Wall Street collapse. That's not something you have to think about. Then you can check that off your list. I mean you can go through your days worrying about where you're going to buy a hamburger but you don't have to worry about whether the market's up or down 45 or 150 points. It's not a concern to you. But if that becomes the fixation, if that becomes the security, if that becomes the dependence factor, if you forget that in an instant that may all disappear, then you'll be tempted to say again and again this is what really matters. And God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah and he says let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the strong man boast in his strength, let not the rich man boast in his riches. The three things that sell magazines in the in the airport. I was in the airport in San Antonio and Houston yesterday and in both cases I did a pirouette around the magazines when I was looking for a newspaper. And let me tell you what they are all about. Bodies and bucks. That's what it's all about. It's about the right body and there are there are right amount of cash. Well so what is the Christian to do? To go around saying I'm such a poor person, I'm such an ugly person, I'm such a poor, ugly, wonderful Christian. Well you may be a poor, ugly Christian and we can talk about that afterwards but no that's not our posture. That was monasticism. That was hair shirts. That was beds of nails. That was live your life in a closet time. That was one attempt at dealing with it. The real challenge it would seem is to have it and not be held by it, is to be entrusted with it and not be bombastic. And how will we be prevented by realizing number one the currency is only good here. Soon as you cross the border it doesn't mean a thing. Well I have a lot of dollars in my pocket. Well tough. We take kroner here. Oh we do. What's a kroner? See. Hello. I'm so glad to be up here in heaven. I brought quite a quite a stash with me. I'm sure we'll be able to put it to good use somewhere. Don't be ridiculous. It's for the present age and it's so uncertain. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. He's titled today's message Money Talk. We'll hear the conclusion tomorrow. In the meantime we have a special offer for you today at Truth for Life. It's Alistair's book The Christian Manifesto Jesus Life Changing Words from the Sermon on the Plain. And today you can download it as a free e-book. In this insightful study of Luke chapter 6 Alistair explores Jesus teaching about the values in the kingdom of heaven. And you'll discover that what matters in God's kingdom is vastly different from what matters on earth. You'll also learn what Jesus meant when he said blessed are the poor, blessed are those who weep, blessed are those who are reviled on account of his name. This is a book that will realign how you view the priorities of this world and the priorities of your own life. The e-book comes with a companion study guide so you can dive deeper and take notes about what you're learning. The e-book and study guide are both free to download today at truthforlife.org/manifesto. And by the way if your Bible study group is looking for its next topic The Christian Manifesto is an excellent option. You can share the link with everyone in your group and that way all of you can download the e-book and the study guide while they're free. And then together you can learn to live life valuing the things that heaven values. Once again the link is truthforlife.org/manifesto. And these free resources are made possible because of the financial support that comes from listeners like you. So if you are among those who in the past year have given generously to Truth for Life thank you for your partnership. We are grateful for you and for your passion to spread the gospel through the clear and relevant teaching of the Bible. I'm Bob Lepine. Thanks for studying the Bible with us today. What are wealthy Christians to do? How can we have money without being held by it? Tomorrow we'll consider this challenging question along with the distinct responsibilities that fall to those who are rich. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the learning is for living.