Financial Success - God’s Way

Well, greetings brethren, hope you’re having an enjoyable Sabbath so far today.

I want to start out with a parable. Some call this a Mexican fisherman parable. Some just refer to as the fisherman parable. I think it’s also referred to as the businessman and the fisherman parable. So, regardless of what it is, parables have moral meanings, take the characters that are in it, and derive from that life lessons that can be applied, and the parable goes something like this:

A wealthy businessman, while traveling, stopped in a small fishing village, and he noticed a fisherman relaxing by his boat very early in the morning and asked, “Why aren’t you catching more fish?” Fisherman replied, “I caught enough for today.” This man explained, “But if you catch more, you can make more money and buy better equipment, better boat, better fishing poles. Then, over time, you could buy more boats. And with time, if you continue that way, with more boats, you hire more people. Then you could open up a processing plant. Eventually, you’d be rich.” The fisherman asked, looked up, “And after that?” The businessman smiled proudly. “Then you could relax.” And the fisherman replied, “But I’m doing that now.”

Brethren, it’s a very short parable, but it has profound meanings, profound meanings for even us, God’s people. God wants us to succeed in every way. That’s what the Bible is about. It’s a success story told in advance for those who do the things that God wants them to do. And God doesn’t just want you and me to succeed. At times, I have to stop and remind myself with the tremendous knowledge that we’ve gained over time, the tremendous plan that He has for my parents, for my family, extended family, relatives that I don’t even know. God has this amazing success plan for them.

And God wants us to succeed in every area of life, and He also, within those various areas, wants us to understand what His plan for financial success is as well. God wants everyone to succeed financially. But what is financial success? Maybe a very short question, but it’s a very important one. It’s not as easy to answer as you might think. In His introduction to the booklet, Taking Charge of Your Finances, Mr. Pack says, “It is God’s desire that all people enjoy prosperity, happiness, and security.” He goes on to say, “Every family should have the peace of mind that their needs will be provided for, that there is a long-term plan in place to ensure this.” Now, having worked in the business sector my entire life, this financial definition, this definition of financial success, is perfect. The enjoyment of prosperity, happiness, and security with the peace of mind that my needs, as well as those of my family, are provided for now and in the future.

I would encourage you to go read that booklet because that is a perfect summary; that is financial success in a nutshell. Now, the world might agree with what I just read. The world would agree that financial success is the enjoyment of prosperity, happiness, and security with the peace of mind that my needs, as well as those of my family, are provided for now and in the future. There’s not going to be a disagreement between us and the world regarding that statement that Mr. Pack made. But the world doesn’t agree on how to pursue or achieve it. That’s where God’s people and the world part ways.

Consider the following. Two people can aim for the same goal and end up in entirely different places. Take marriage as an example. Most men and women, when they become engaged, or they’re dating or courting, their goal is to have a happy, successful marriage. However, if their understanding about what is a happy, successful marriage and the approach to achieving it differ, ultimately, oftentimes, it’ll end in failure. They have different perspectives on it. They have the same goal. “I want to be happily married with this man for the rest of my life.” “I want to be happily married with this woman for the rest of my life.”

But that’s where the rubber hits the road. That’s why in God’s Church, we dedicate a lot of time of counseling prior to marriage and teaching people how to date and court and get married so that when two people come together, a man and a woman, they think the same way. They know that the approach to achieve that happiness in their marriage is God’s way, not necessarily his way or her way, but God’s way. And that’s why marriages in the Church are so successful.

But again, that’s where the world diverges. The way in which they approach marriage is completely different. The same with financial success, brethren. And that’s going to be our focus today. Financial success God’s way. Not my way, not the world’s way, not maybe even your way, but Go’s way. Let’s turn to John chapter ten. John chapter ten. Here’s a verse that’s often used in the world to defend financial success the way the world thinks it should be.

John chapter ten. We’ll only read the second half of verse ten here. It’s a verse or a portion of Scripture that we know all too well. “I come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Now, more abundantly there, brethren, is one Greek word, and it’s perissos. Perissos. And that means super-abundant in quantity or superior in quality. Now, false prosperity ministries look at this verse and say that financial abundance is an outward sign or proof of a Christian. False ministers point to this, and they’ll say, “Don’t criticize me. Don’t criticize anyone who claims to be Christian and has extreme wealth, absurd wealth, obscene wealth that they drive around with the highest quality cars and clothing, brand-name clothing.”

Their ministries are the believe it to receive it, or name it and claim it, or sow it and grow it. They use this verse as foundational to financial abundance. But brethren, they don’t understand what Christ taught. They don’t understand what God says. And all of us, we have to admit coming into the Church, when God started opening up our minds, we didn’t understand everything that Christ taught. Even to this day, there are areas in our individual lives, I may have an area that I’m struggling to understand. And you may have a different area that you’re struggling to understand. But we’re all striving to understand God’s way.

Some people read verse ten and argue that Christ promised super-abundant finances and the very best things that money can buy. Again, as an outward sign that we’re followers of Christ, that we’re Christians. But did He? Does life include super-abundant finances? Because that’s what that word means, more abundantly, super-abundant finances and possessions. Does life consist of those? Most ‘believe it and receive it’ ministries would say yes, in fact, that’s all they preach about. But what about what Christ said in Luke chapter twelve? Let’s turn there. Luke chapter twelve.

Does an abundant Christian life include money and possessions? Because you can’t argue that Christ came to give us life and life more abundantly, super-abundant in quantity, and superior in quality. The question we’re asking, does that include finances? Does that include material possessions? Luke chapter twelve, verse thirteen. “And one among the company, His disciples said, ‘Master, speak to my brother, tell him to divide the inheritance with me.’ And Jesus replied, ‘Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you?’” I’ll stop there for a second.

Now, one way to clearly understand the meaning of a word is to understand what it doesn’t mean. And that’s what we’re about to learn. We’re about to learn what abundant life, more abundantly, doesn’t mean. Verse fifteen. “And He said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness for a man’s life...” Now that word life is the exact same word over in John ten, the second half of John ten. “A man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

Abundance here is perisseuō. Perisseuō, which is derived from the word that we read over in John ten, perissos. It means to superabound in quantity or quality, to be in excess. Christ qualifies John ten. Brethren, a man’s life, a true Christian’s life, does not consist of the excess of money, or the very best things that money can buy in this world, period. But I said earlier, God supports financial success. And I will tell you, as we’ve read here, it does not support financial abundance. Financial success and financial abundance are not equal. And we’ll see that because financial success is God’s way. Financial abundance is the world’s way. They are different.

But again, God wants us to be financially successful. I can prove that as well. Let’s go to Third John, Third John. Third John, and verse two, a verse that we’re also very familiar with. “Beloved, I wish above all things...” So this is the Apostle John, the last of the original apostles. “I wish...” I’m going to listen very carefully what this apostle is about to say, “...above all things...’ what? Above all things? Above all that we know about God’s way of life? Yes, “...above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.”

Now, that’s where those worldly ministries would say, you have a problem. Because God inspired the apostle John to wish above all things, financial prosperity, material prosperity. I will not argue that point, that God wants us to be prosperous financially, and in terms of material possessions, the things that we have. But I won’t agree that it means superabundance. In fact, that word there, in this verse, both words, I desire that you prosper, and that your soul prospers. It’s the same Greek word, euodoō, euodoō, and it simply means to succeed in reaching a goal.

So, brethren, financial success, the acquisition or having material possessions, comes down to what your goal is. So, let’s be clear. God wants us to have an abundant life. And He wants us to prosper financially, or achieve the goal of financial success. They’re not the same. Some would love it if the abundant life that Christ talked about in John ten, superabundance included financial and material possessions, that would be nice, wouldn’t it? For some, maybe you, even the young people are thinking that. But it’s not. And it’s not nice. And it’s not good. And we’re going to see that.

Because before we return to Luke twelve, for that important caveat that I mentioned, let’s look at financial failure from God’s perspective. Proverbs thirteen. What is financial failure? Before we look at what is financial success? Proverbs thirteen. Let’s go to King Solomon. No one would argue he’s one of the richest man to ever walk the planet. Sure, he has some things to say about it. Proverbs thirteen, and verse seven, “There is he that makes himself rich yet has nothing. There is he...” he continues, “...that makes himself poor, yet has great riches.”

Solomon was rich beyond our imaginations, brethren. One estimate is that in today’s dollars, US dollars, he collected the equivalent of approximately one point seven billion in gold every year. Not over his lifetime, every year, one point seven billion. Some commentators put his net worth between, on the low end, a hundred and seventy billion. On the high end, trillions of dollars. So he knew what superabundance of money represented, or superabundance, or superior quality in the possessions that he had.

And King Solomon likely had all of that in mind, all of his wealth in mind when he wrote this. The meaning behind that phrase, “that makes himself rich,” it’s interesting. If you go to the Hebrew, that phrase means to be rich, or to pretend to be rich. It’s very important when it comes to us, brethren. Again, we’re talking about goals. The words yet and nothing are ayin, which means to be or have nothing, to be nothing or have nothing, to not exist, a non-entity. And kol, the word in there, means whole or all, all.

So anyone, and this is Solomon speaking, who is or pretends to be rich, they have an abundant bank account, they have very large retirement funds, or they have the finest of material possessions. Solomon said, not me, he was inspired to say, is or has nothing at all. Now the problem is, he realized this too late in his life. He chased after money, he accumulated wealth, and he knew that it amounted to nothing in God’s eyes. And that was the important lesson that he learned, that wealth is meaningless to God, brethren. It has no meaning.

In most Israelite countries, people pursue wealth. In the United States here, taught from a very young age to be independently wealthy, financial advisors coming out of college to put you on the path so that when you hit sixty, you can early retire and not have to worry about working anymore. Certainly not the case in many of the third-world countries where brethren live. Let’s go to chapter eleven. Let’s see what else Solomon says about riches. What could be worse, brethren, than finding out that our wealth is meaningless to God if we have wealth? It’s a supposition, Proverbs chapter eleven. What could be worse than finding out that our wealth is meaningless to God?

Proverbs chapter eleven and verse four. “Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” In other words, you can accumulate all the wealth you want in the world, you cannot buy salvation. When God’s wrath comes to the earth, not even the richest men alive could buy their way out of the problem that they’re going to face. So the only thing worse than finding out that an area of our life amounts to nothing, brethren, is dying and becoming a total nothing forever. That is ultimately the goal, choose life or death God puts before us.

And it’s extraordinary how much financial success or financial abundance play into both. I found it startling that riches, not just sin, when I read this, are tied to God’s wrath and death. Sure, we can talk about sin and how the wages of sin is death. But think about what He’s saying here. Could the two be tied together somehow? Could riches and sin be tied together somehow? Of course they can. Let’s go to First Timothy chapter six. Sin and money? Interesting. First Timothy chapter six. Again, brethren, we’re just talking about right now financial failure before we set up the rest of the message for financial success God’s way.

First Timothy chapter six. Now, what I’ve said, what the Apostle Paul told young Timothy, makes even more sense. Verse nine, “But they that will be rich...” Now remember, I think we heard earlier in the sermonette, you got to take into account the audience. And we know the Bible was written to God’s Church, to God’s people. “But they that will be rich...” he must be... he’s not talking about just the world, is he? He’s talking to folks inside the Church. “They that will be rich.” There’s no qualifier there. “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

Verse ten, and I’m going to read it as it is laid out in the Greek in Bible Hub. “Our root for all kinds of evils is the love of money, which some, stretching after, have been seduced away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.” Now those verses are packed with negative impact. Think of plants. The more roots a plant has, the healthier the plant. Conversely, the more money that we have, the easier it is for sin to flourish. More money, more sin, more roots, more leaves on the plant. All kinds of sins are nourished through the love of money, which is a root. And roots are conduits. They’re not the actual nourishment itself.

Recently, I talked about cutting off sin’s fuel sources. And I mentioned the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. All of those flow easiest through these roots, the love of money. If you’re battling lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, or pride of life, let me tell you what will serve as a channel for all of that to nourish sin, the roots. And the root is money. Anyone who has excess money or material possessions and says he does not love money is simply deceiving themselves. Anyone who accumulates that, we heard recently, Rockefeller, when he asked him, how much is enough? He said, “Just a little bit more.”

Look at all what people with more than enough can fall into. When you have more than enough, temptation, snare, of course, that’s the devil, snare of the devil, foolish lust, hurtful lust, drowning, destruction, perdition, seduction, sorrows are all here. That, brethren, is not the definition of financial success by any means. And it’s all related to love of money. Please don’t say to yourself, “This doesn’t apply to me. I don’t have a lot of money, Mr. Houk. I don’t want or desire to be rich.” This phrase, “that will be rich,” it’s interesting. That’s why the Greek is so important. What we’ve learned over the years about diving deep, mistranslations. It means simply to be willing, disposed, or inclined. It does not mean strictly those who want or desire. And verse ten explains nine, a willingness to be rich. Otherwise, if I run into a lot of money, I’m okay with that. I bet if I pulled the room, what if you came across a million dollars? Would you be okay with that? I’d be okay with that. Who would say that? That’s what this verse is saying. Anyone willing or predisposed to being rich can fall into all of these.

So willingness to be rich is the same as a love of money. And if we are willing to accumulate cash or things, it makes us susceptible, brethren. And believe me, I’ve lived in third world country. Poor people can be as susceptible to this as people in Israelite nations, developed nations, because they desire to be rich. They would be okay with being rich. And when you’re okay, you open yourself up to that. If you become rich, you certainly fall into these.

Now, we can respond to these verses about financial failure, along with many others we could have gone to that support them in one of two ways. Usually, people react to these types of verses, these types of teaching one of two ways. They react with sadness, like the camel who tried to go through the needle, I mean, the young rich man who tried to enter the kingdom, or they could rejoice like Peter and the other apostles, when they said, “What’s waiting for us, we’ve left everything to follow You.”

You can either react to these with sadness, or react to these with joy. Young people, anywhere in between... The older in the Church and young people, it’s one of the two ways that you’re going to react. Remember, God wants us to experience happiness, security, and peace of mind, knowing that our needs will be fulfilled. And the greatest need that we should have is to want to enter into God’s family for all eternity, into the kingdom.

Luke chapter twelve. I told you there was a caveat, Luke twelve. Luke twelve, because I’m hitting hard. The fact that life more abundantly does not, or made the case that it does not include the abundance or more abundantly or the super abundance or superior quality of the things and the money that we can get. But I do want to make this caveat, Luke chapter twelve, back there again, verse fifteen. “For a man’s life...” we read this, “...consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.”

Here’s the caveat, brethren. Note what Christ did not say. He didn’t say life consists not of things. He carefully inserted the abundance of. Notice the difference. That means money and things have a place or have places in our lives. There’s nothing wrong with having things and having money. Or we’d fall into the other dish and think that Christians have to live destitute and have nothing. A Christian shouldn’t fall into that way of thinking either. It’s not biblical. God wants us to succeed financially. He wants us to have things. What He doesn’t want us to have is a super abundance of those things or money.

Because if you think that way, if you think that you cannot have any things or any money to prove yourself to be a Christian, quite frankly, I would say that’s self-righteousness. Thinking the other way or thinking this way is as wrong as thinking that superabundance or having life more abundantly includes money and material possessions. It’s right in the middle. Brethren, let’s continue. Verse sixteen, “And Christ spoke a parable saying, The ground of a rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do? Because I have no more room where to bestow my fruits.’”

And He said, “This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much good stored up for many years.” Sounds like the advice the rich businessman was trying to give to the fisherman. “Take ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Brethren, let’s call a spade a spade here. Rich man’s goal was to build treasure for himself. That is how the world measures or views financial success. Super abundance of things, of money.

His reasoning for accumulating wealth was to secure peace of mind. That’s the world’s way. “Take ease.” That’s what he said. Now that I’m rich, now that I have more than I can ever use, now I can relax. I don’t need to rely on anyone to eat, drink, and be merry. Anyone is what I said. That would include God. This man was trying to live in the lap of luxury, to be at great ease and comfort. He was trying to buy himself happiness. Verse twenty, “But God said, ‘You fool...’ “Wait a second. Now that’s pretty strong language. “This night your soul shall be required of you. Then who shall those things be which you have provided?”

Verse twenty-one, “Then Christ said, so is he...” Three of the worst or hardest words to take in. “So is he who lay fool...” referring back to fool, “...who lays up or amasses treasures for himself...” And here it is, brethren, “...and is not rich toward God.” Wow. That was a great parable until Christ made it personal. It was okay to talk about that rich man because I can compartmentalize and put that everywhere, put that on someone else. But “so is he” means any one of us could fall into that category. And the word God used there was fool. That’s what He was referring to.

“So is he.” It’s referring to, again, the word fool that God used. Now, that word is aphrōn. It’s not the same as raca, worthless, or fool, moros, used in Matthew five, twenty-two. So this word can be used. We’re told not to use either one of those words over in Matthew five, but this word we can use. And I would say, use it on ourselves if we fall into this category. This is all it means, brethren. It’s not a big deal what this word means. It just means mindless, stupid, by implication, ignorant, specifically egotistical, practically speaking rash or morally unbelieving. That’s all.

It’s translated as fool, foolish or unwise. Now, perhaps the translators chose milder language because they were like the rich men. You wonder, you wonder if those translators back then put that word in a little softer because they were convicted. Maybe they had a lot of money stored up, but make no mistake, both God and Christ condemn any man, not just a Christian who strives to become independently wealthy. God called that man mindless, stupid, ignorant, morally faithless, who is specifically egotistical and is practically speaking rash in the way He conducts His life.

It doesn’t sound like a case study in personal success or financial success. And the entire context revolves around financial and material possessions. On the other hand, God, Christ, the apostle John, Mr. Pack, all promote and teach us how to reach success, prosperity, God’s way. There is a distinction, for Christians achieving financial success and becoming independently wealthy are not the same. I work in the business accounting office. I’ve been here for many years now, and I’ve given a few people financial advice over the years.

The first step to reaching success is to set the right goal. Sound familiar? It’s the first of seven laws. You guessed it, the laws of success. But pay careful attention. The operative word in that statement, that first law is the right goal, not a goal, the right goal. So if you come to me for counsel, or your minister, about personal finances, be aware that I’m seeking out trying to figure out what your goal is, what your ultimate goal is. And the goal that I’m listening for, the goal that God is wanting you to set in your life, which is the right one, is to be rich toward God. It’s foundational to financial success. Or Christ wouldn’t have used it here in this.

There are two objectives to achieving financial success God’s way. And that’ll be the balance of the message. The first is to be rich toward God. How? In what ways? How can we do that? Jeremiah chapter nine. I’ll just spot through some of these. Brethren, we must be rich toward God if we want to be financially successful God’s way. That’s the first objective. Goals have objectives. And we’re going to go over two that will ensure that you will reach the financial prosperity that God wants for you in your life. It will ensure that I will reach the financial prosperity, which is, remember, all it is, is reaching a goal, successfully reaching a goal.

Jeremiah chapter nine, verse twenty-three. Here’s one way we can work towards being rich toward God. Verse twenty-three, Jeremiah nine, “Thus says 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 glories glory in this...” so where you start underlining, “...that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord which exercises loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.”

Brethren, being rich toward God begins with understanding and knowing Him. In this we can glory. We have more knowledge about the Father than at any time in modern Church history. We are extraordinarily wealthy in that regard. Think about it, what is the law of loving kindness or the law of kindness worth us? What have we learned recently? The law of kindness, what is it worth to us? What about knowing and understanding that God exercises loving kindness? That’s rich.

We live in the Laodicean age. Christ tells us that the Laodiceans claim to be rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing. And there’s no reason for me to doubt that their claim wasn’t true. There’s no reason that it was true. I believe that they were financially wealthy, abounding with money, abounding in possessions, increased with goods, that’s what it says. But He also says they don’t realize they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

So they’re not financially successful. Why? Because they are not rich towards God. One way to be rich towards God is to know and understand who the Father is. And quite honestly, brethren, the splinter groups don’t know who the Father is. And we are extremely wealthy in that regard. Proverbs twenty-two. Proverbs twenty-two. Not only is knowing and understanding who the Father is makes us wealthy, not only does it make us wealthy in that regard, but Proverbs twenty-two verse one says the following, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. And loving favor, kindness rather than silver and gold.”

Brethren, we carry God’s name. It is an extraordinary privilege that we have. Growing up, I carried the Haulk name. And my parents expected a certain level of conduct, whether we were playing sports or in school, going on to college, raising a family. My mom and dad hold the last name Haulk very near and dear. We carry God’s name. Brethren, we live by the authority of Jesus Christ. We must imitate Him in every possible way. When Christ said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father,” think about that, how that might apply to us.

If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Christ. If you’ve seen Christ, you’ve seen the Father. If A equals B equals C, then C equals A, or B equals A and C. Christ was speaking of His character. He wasn’t speaking of His physical appearance. And how do we become rich in Christ’s name, God’s character? Brethren, when we study with that intent, when we pray with that intent, we meditate fast and exercise God’s spirit. We’re making ourselves rich toward God because we’re developing His character.

It says here, let’s not lose this crucial point before we move on. It says we have a choice, though. God’s character or great riches. We must choose. Why? Because a major obstacle that keeps us from abounding in God’s character is money. Dinero. l’argent in French. Okane, I think that’s Japanese. Den’gi, I think that’s in Russian. Mal. I can see the emails coming to me, “Mr. Hauk, that’s not how you pronounce it, and that’s not what the word is.” But, it’s normal for God to put options before His people. It tests us. It tests what we’ve learned, what we’re willing to apply. It reveals who we truly are. So brethren, we must be rich in the knowledge of who God is, and then we must be rich in His character.

Let’s go to another thing that we should be rich in. Let’s go back to First Timothy chapter six. I can’t cover all the areas that we need to be rich toward God in, brethren, but here’s an important one. Remember, in First Timothy chapter six, this portion of Scripture is about fighting the good fight of faith. But in verse seventeen, it says, “Charge them that are rich in this world.” And again, He’s not saying, “Timothy, go out to the world and anybody you see rich on the street, charge them the following.” He’s saying anyone that is under your care within God’s flock, charge them the following.

Even if He were talking to the world, wouldn’t He be talking to us too? “Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded.” That means arrogant. “Do not trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works.” Brethren, another way that we can be rich towards God is being rich in good works. We can listen, we can take notes, we can study all the messages. But beware, everyone who calls himself or herself a true and a faithful Christian, God knows if we’re financially successful as much by our faith and our good works as He does by the amount of money in our bank accounts.

Paul explained to the Ephesians that we are created by God in Christ Jesus for what? For good works. I go to that verse quite often, “Which God ordained for us.” He gave us a wealth of good works that we can do in our lives. That means we can accumulate wealth toward God every single day through our actions with or without a penny. I don’t need money to do good works, brethren. Think about it. In fact, we should do much of or most of our good works without the use of money. Christ came so that our lives would abound in the knowledge of God.

Brethren, I could go on, talk about good works, character, faith, all verses that say we need to be rich in faith. God chose the poor of this world rich in faith. Christ, it says “The riches of Christ in us, which is the hope of glory.” That’s what the apostle Paul told the Colossians. The riches of Christ in us, the hope of glory. To be rich towards God means that we need to be rich in the character of Christ. I said it. I said that earlier. His sacrifice, His humility, the way He thinks, the more we imitate Christ, the richer we become towards God.

You know what Paul told the Hebrews? Paul told the Hebrews that “Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ more than all the riches in Egypt.” And reproach means shame, rejection, and suffering from family and friends and colleagues because we reject the world and we obey God. You want to be rich towards God? Esteem the reproach, the shame of following Christ, imitating Him, and being rejected by whether it be family or friends, or work colleagues, if you want to be rich toward God.

These are what Christ was referring to when He said He came that we may have life and life more abundantly. That is our first objective, brethren, to financial success God’s way. We must be rich toward Him. Now let’s go to the second objective. I could have spent sermons and messages on how to be rich toward God. Let’s go to Proverbs thirty. As I said earlier, King Solomon was rich, and he pursued the pleasures of life. The Bible tells us he had seven hundred wives and princesses. Now, if that doesn’t make you shake and tremble, and three hundred concubines. But the Bible also says his heart was not perfect with God.

He also saw people, on the other hand, Israelites and Gentiles alike, who struggled in poverty. And that’s the setup for Proverbs thirty and verse seven. “Two things I required of you...” Now this is King Solomon praying. Imagine later in life. We say it’s a dollar short and a day late, as the saying goes. “Two things I have required of you. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.”

Now, brethren, this is one bold prayer. I don’t imagine that any of us has said to God very often, “I require this of You, Father, deny me not this before I die.” Pretty bold prayer. What’s nice about it is it reveals King Solomon’s desperation and the realization that he was personally struggling because of super-abundant wealth and superior possessions, and that he needed God’s help. That’s the most revealing. His prayer was about spiritual survival at that point. He was going too far and had gone too far. Vanity, lies, self-reliance, forgetting God were rooted in money.

He had too much of it, but he was wise enough to understand that no money would make him desperate, willing to compromise God’s way, and dishonor God. We are not exempt from that, brethren. Both extremes will have the same effect on us. If it had an effect on the wisest man, it can certainly have the same effect on us because this is not an Old Testament issue. This is not merely a recorded prayer. No one is immune to vanity, self-reliance, compromising on God’s way, forgetting God, dishonoring Him, especially us, God’s Church.

God’s objective is to protect every member of every congregation, of every pastorate in the world, and He gives us a personalized finance plan to achieve that. I call this second objective, brethren, the first one being rich toward God, the second one, sufficiency to serve God. Sufficiency to serve God. It applies to every Christian, and I want to look at three. Let’s turn to Second Corinthians chapter eight. Keep moving along. Look at three types of Christians.

Second Corinthians chapter eight and verse one. “Moreover, brethren...” He’s speaking to the Corinthians, remember the audience, so appropriate that we heard that in the earlier message, we do you to wit of...” it’s a fancy way of saying “we want you to know about” “...the grace of God...” grace, interesting, “...bestowed on the Churches of Macedonia. How then a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy...” you can add that to the list of life more abundantly and being rich toward God, joy, “...and their deep poverty.” Think about the widow with two mites, “...abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” You can add generosity to the list of things to be rich toward God.

But it’s not finished. Verse three, “For withing their power...” that’s what that means, “For within their power, I bear record, yes, and beyond their power...” beyond where they could, “...they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty.” In other words, they were begging us to receive their gift and take upon us the partnership. They were in partnership with the apostle, the fellowship of ministering to the saints.”

Here are the three types in God’s Church. There are saints with more than sufficient, there are saints with sufficient, and a few other saints with less than sufficient. Just think of it that way, more than sufficient, sufficient, and less than sufficient. And regardless of where you are in the world today, brethren, no matter what continent you’re on, what country you’re in, what small village you might be in, or major city you might be in, you fall into one of these three groups. But God’s brilliant plan is designed to produce financial sufficiency that allows each of us to serve God to the maximum.

The wealthy Corinthians needed to learn what financial success God’s way required. The Macedonians understood it. The other saints who needed it were dependent upon it, believed in that. Verse seven, “Therefore, as you...” remember the audience, still Corinthians, “...abound in everything, faith, utterance, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love...” You can add those to the list in terms of being rich or abounding. There is that word again, abound. “Of life more abundantly and being rich toward God.” You can add that. “See that you abound in this grace also.” There is that word ‘grace’ again.

What grace should they abound in? In other words, be super-abundant in. It says here, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...” verse nine, “...that though He was rich...” and that means wealthy, brethren, think about the riches of Christ before He became man. It makes Solomon look like a poor pauper. “Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich.” There it is. He was telling the Corinthians, God has a purpose for you. And part of that purpose is that Christ made Himself poor so that you Corinthians could be rich, financially rich, have more than sufficient to help those who had less than sufficient.

And verse ten, “And herein I give my advice. Now there perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of which you have. For if there be first a willing mind...” and first implies the second, “...it is accepted according to that a man has, and not according to what he doesn’t have.” In other words, if you have excess, there is a purpose for it. When you get beyond sufficient in your life, in your particular life, that excess has a specific purpose.

I will say merely being willing to give of our wealth is not enough. We will see that again shortly. Paul is saying that whether you have a lot or a little, it is accepted if you give, not if you are willing to give. God accepts when you give. Show me your faith, I will show you my works. Tell me you are willing, then let us see you do it. Verse thirteen, “For I mean not...” Now, here is his objective. This is what Paul is saying. “My objective isn’t that other men be eased and you be burdened.” That isn’t the purpose of God’s financial plan for all of us. He doesn’t want you to become in the third category. He does not want you to give so much that you have less than sufficient.

He’s not trying to make our lives hard and others easy by doing this. “But by an equality...” Wow. There is a word. “Now at this time...” now at this time, at this moment, Corinthians, because you find yourself rich or wealthy, abounding in financial and finances. “Now at this time, your abundance may be a supply for their wants or needs, that their abundance may also supply your needs.” In other words, if it happens to them and you were in the reverse, we’d do the same thing. We’d ask the Macedonians the same thing as we’re asking you. “That there may be,” here he goes again, “that there may be equality.”

Now, “that there may be equality” is equally powerful in Greek. That is hopōs. That word “that” is hopōs, which means in the manner that or intentionally. “There may be,” that phrase, is ginomai, ginomai. It means to cause to be. And equality doesn’t mean equality, brethren. It means equity. In other words, it’s saying to intentionally cause equity, not equality. Equality is a mistranslation. A working definition of financial equality would be everyone receives the same resources. And the assumption is that everyone starts from the same place, where it remains there and achieves that. Everyone has the exact same amount of money, the exact... That’s not what God is saying.

Equity is very different. Everyone has what they need to achieve a similar outcome. Everyone has what they need to achieve a similar outcome. And the assumption is that each starts from different circumstances, and the result is fair because, regardless of the resources that each one has, they still achieve the same outcome, which is serve God. Equity, biblically speaking, does not mean we all must have the same income, the same lifestyle, the same possessions to be financially successful. That’s not what it’s saying.

Now, where did the apostle Paul get that idea? Verse fifteen, “As it is written,” well, he read it somewhere, “He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” You know what that’s from? Exodus sixteen: eight. He’s quoting sixteen: eight. Some of you may remember the subject of that chapter in Exodus. I gave a sermon back in July. The title was “Lessons from Manna.” And I laid out five powerful lessons that we can learn from it. Well, here’s number six that you can learn from manna. Financial equity helps identify the one true Church. Financial equity helps identify the one true Church.

In God’s Church, he who gathers much has nothing over what they need or what is sufficient for their life. And he who gathers little has no lack of what is sufficient for them to live with dignity as an ambassador of Christ to have their needs met. The Bible tells us clearly that the early Church distributed as every man had need, not equally to every individual. Think about that. Remember the working definition: everyone has what they need.

Brethren, if we want to reach financial success God’s way, our second objective must be sufficiency to serve God. No two members of God’s Church have the same needs, yet we all must serve God. What is sufficient for one member in a congregation to serve God is not the same for another member in the same congregation. What it takes to serve God for members in Nigeria is not the same as what it takes to be sufficient in France, or the US versus Peru, or Mexico versus England. Sufficiency is all relative. The outcome should be the same. We all should be serving God.

How can we be sure that we have sufficiency to serve God? Second Thessalonians chapter three. Second Thessalonians chapter three. What is enough food, drink, and clothes for my family and me? What’s the ideal living arrangement and vehicle for me? Should I have some savings, if possible? How much savings? What is too little or too much savings for me? These are all important questions, brethren. All important.

Now, if you’re expecting exact figures, you’re not going to get them. I don’t have those answers. God knows what they are. He has a plan on how each of you, including myself, all of us, can have enough for our lives. First, if we want enough to serve God, ultimately, here’s the first key. If you want enough, and you want to know the secret to that second objective, which is sufficiency to serve God, here it is. Work. If we want enough to serve God, ultimately, we must work. And certainly, I’m referring to able-bodied members in the Church.

We should be hearing Second Thessalonians three verse six. Listen to this. If you’re going to talk about strong language, you don’t see this very often. I think it’s six times, sixteen times maximum, you’ll hear this phrase or some version of it. “We command you, brethren,” Thessalonians, and everyone else, “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...” Again, that’s sixteen times roughly, you’ll find that statement.

Now, he’s speaking with the authority in the name of Jesus Christ, “...that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly.” Disorderly? What does he mean by that? “And not after the tradition which he received of us.” In other words, you saw how we acted. We’re going to read that in a second here. “For yourselves know how you ought to follow us, imitate us, for we did not behave disorderly among you.” What do you mean disorderly? What does he mean by that? Disorderly, that’s a strong word. “Neither did we eat any man’s bread for not.” In other words, we weren’t freeloaders among you.

“Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example to you to follow. For even when we were with you, we commanded you.” That’s the second time command is used there. “If any would not work, neither should he eat.” No qualifiers. “For we hear that some of you walk disorderly.” That’s what he was talking about. When he talks about separate yourself from disorderly people, separate yourself from individuals within the Church who are capable of working but are not working.

“And exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ,” there it is again, speaking in the name of Jesus Christ, “that with quietness they work and eat their own bread.” That’s sufficient. When you work enough to eat your own bread, that is a level of sufficiency that allows you to serve God orderly, in an orderly way. Those who can work must work. And the apostle Paul included himself.

Brethren, Mr. Pack is an example. At 77, I think recently or not too long ago, the official retirement age was raised to 67, versus 65. I don’t know anyone who works harder and longer hours than Mr. Pack. And he’s 10 years, he’s a decade beyond the official retirement age. Talk about an example that we should follow. And if I follow that, I would ask that you follow me. And if you follow me, I would ask that those to your left and your right and everyone around the world to follow each other in this. If you are able to work, work.

My wife and I, we pray to God, “Give us this day our daily bread.” How many of you pray, give us this day our daily bread? Hmm. We don’t pray, “Don’t give us any bread.” And we never prayed for a lifetime’s worth of bread. It’s not what it says. Because we are able-bodied, you know what we’re actually asking God? We’re really asking God to give us daily work. Because if we don’t work, we shouldn’t eat.

When I say, “Give me this day my daily bread,” I’m asking God, “Give me an opportunity to work and eat my own bread so that I am not a freeloader or relying on anyone else.” Again, I’m talking about able-bodied men and women in the Church. When I talk about women as well, we don’t... if you’re married, they can certainly work if they want to. But men, we have a responsibility, a higher responsibility. I’m not against women working. My wife works here at headquarters. It’s wonderful to be able to work with her. But in years past, I would prefer that she stay home and raise my daughters until such time they went off to school, and then if she wanted to work, she worked because she wanted to. Nothing wrong with that.

Work is God’s design, brethren. He expects people who can work to work. It develops a sense of responsibility, discipline, dignity, and order, what this world certainly lacks. Brethren, often but not always, people who suffer unhappy, disorderly lives are simply because they’re not working hard enough. The opposite can be true. Often but not always, people who have disorderly lives work too much to buy too much stuff, thinking it will make them merry, as I referred to previously.

Brethren, those who can work in the Church of God must work in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a command. Work enough to provide enough. And that’s not just food. Paul told Timothy, “But if any provide not for his own, for his own self, and especially for those in his own house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel, worse than an unbeliever.”

Think about the state you were in before you were called by God into the Church, into the truth. Pretty bad, if you think about it, right? Don’t want you to think about it or linger on it too much. But anyone who’s able to work in the Church and doesn’t, doesn’t provide for his own, men again, put the majority of that weight on you, and for your household, it’s worse than before you became a believer.

I’ll let you in on a secret. The more girls my wife and I had, the harder we had to work. And some might say, “Oh, your wife didn’t provide for the...” “Oh, yes, she did. She provided for the home. I went and got the money. She’s the one who went and bought the bread. She’s the one who stretched the pennies in our house.” Good thing I wasn’t in charge of that aspect of providing for the home. She was an expert at it. I trusted her with that part of it. We worked as a team to provide for our home so that we wouldn’t be worse than before we came into the Church. Men, enough means finding ways to support yourself, your wife, and your children financially.

So, what else is enough? Let me spot through this. Number two, sufficiency to serve God means we can pay tithes, give offerings, and save. All three? Yes, all three. Moses told Israel in Leviticus twenty-seven that every tithe, suggesting there are multiple, every tithe is the Lord’s. And he added that they are holy to the Lord. All the tithes, the different tithes, are holy to God. Moses commanded them in Deuteronomy sixteen to appear before the Lord at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles seven times in the year, three times in general terms, but seven times specifically on high days, not empty-handed.

And number three, Solomon said in Proverbs twenty-one, listen very carefully, there is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man spends it up.” In other words, they don’t accumulate any level of savings; they just eat it all, drink it all, use it all up. Those are three important elements to what is sufficiency to serve God. And God says in Malachi chapter three and verse eight, “Bring all your tithes,” first, second, and third, “into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house and prove and test me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts.”

Brethren, if we are striving to be enough, to have enough, enough to serve Him, we must obey His commands and give tithes. First, second, and third, all three belong to God. The first tenth of the gross earnings we give to God is so that he can do the work. The second tenth is set aside for us to attend His feast and rejoice and learn to fear Him. Remember to be rich toward God. It’s an investment in becoming rich towards God. Anything left from that tenth, either before we can anticipate or after when we’ve spent, and we’ve come home, we give back to God. That tithe belongs to Him. It’s holy. Excess tithe, we call that second tithe.

And the third tenth, Deuteronomy twenty-six, which is only every third year, is God’s way of caring for the elderly, the widow, those who may have lost work for a temporary point of time, or unable to work, and some who are permanently unable to work. That’s how God takes care of that group of people every third year. I often spoke to my daughters about personal finance and budgeting when they were growing up to give them a solid foundation. That’s my area of, if you will, expertise. Not perfect at it, but certainly a lot of experience in that area. And with as much experience as I had with budgeting, finance, cash flow, all of those elements, I had never given them this advice.

The first time my wife and I, we had to give all three tithes, we had no choice but to adjust our lifestyles to make it through that year. We were living paycheck to paycheck. I couldn’t make any more money. We couldn’t make any more money. We couldn’t increase our income, so we cut expenses to receive these promised blessings, and blessings came to our lives. But do you know what one of the greatest blessings that I learned in the third tithe year? Gives me chills just thinking about it. God taught us that it was possible to provide for a family: four girls and a wife, at that level, every year.

Just this past week, I was speaking to a man in Africa. He didn’t know what I was going to talk about. We were talking about life, and you know what he discovered years ago and still does to this day? I didn’t prompt him. He said he lives as if he were in a third tithe year every year in Africa. And what is the one thing he does in the off years, in years two and three, before he enters into a third tithe year again? He gives bigger offerings. That year, that’s his year to give more offerings. Not just the third tithe that he owes, but bigger offerings, the seven times of the year that he’s commanded to do so. Brilliant. I’m going to pass that along.

Here’s the advice I gave and often reiterated to my daughters. All four of them, even two that aren’t in. I mean, this is sound financial advice. This is financial success God’s way. Try to live each year. Not everybody can, but here’s a suggestion. Try to as if you are in a third tithe year. Remember, there is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise. There’s savings. There’s a reasonable amount of savings. The two years between your third tithe years allows you to make bigger offerings and put away enough savings for unseen emergencies. Pay bills if you have a temporary job loss.

Maybe a couple months is enough for you to get another job. Maybe as you get older, maybe you need three months of salary and savings. Use the third tithe year to try and do that. Cover insurance deductibles if you have insurance. The higher deductible you put, the less your monthly premiums are. They work together. If I have enough in savings to cover, and I don’t touch that, just like I don’t touch my third tithe in any year, if I don’t touch that and I have that in reserve, I can drive down my premiums on my car insurance.

Brethren, third tithe years, I want you to think about this, don’t have to be nail-biting years. Third tithe blessings come from obeying, not nail-biting. God wants to do miracles. He wants to bless you. But again, it’s not because you’re nervous about this, that, or the other in your third tithe year. He wants you to do it with confidence and trust in Him. And it also can create a level of discipline, financial discipline. Maybe you have a down payment on your car to lower your monthly payment, and you have that. Build it back up.

Brethren, with a reasonable amount of savings, we will likely not need assistance from the Church or elsewhere. So it’s wise. Make sure you pay your taxes. Christ said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s.” We cannot claim that we are serving God. Sufficiency means that we’re able to pay our taxes, and we should pay those taxes. We cannot claim to be serving God and cheating Caesar at the same time. It just doesn’t work that way.

Brethren, all what I’ve talked about, working to provide enough, paying your tithes, offerings, generating some savings, reasonable amount to cover those emergencies, we’re paying taxes, it’s about obedience. We submit to God and Caesar in that order. Integrity as a Christian is not selective. Again, we must serve God and give tribute to Caesar: the taxes or the government fees.

Here’s another one. There’s one thing worse than money. We know money to be a root of all kinds of evils. Well, that other one is false money: the love of credit cards. Not credit cards, the love of credit cards. We must each live within our means, and that’s all relative. My means when I had a wife and four daughters is different than your means. Maybe you don’t have any children. Maybe you’re single. It’s all relative. Live within your means. We heighten our risk of falling into a snare of the devil and covenants when we spend beyond our means, and credit cards, brethren, are dangerous to that.

I use credit cards often. I have credit cards that give me cash back every time I can pay one of my bills or buy groceries or put gas in my vehicle. I want that money back. I’ll take the money of Mammon. No problem. So I have two rules when it comes to credit cards, because the love of credit cards is almost a worse evil, because it’s not real money. We’re living beyond our means at that point. Spend on your credit cards knowing you can pay it off each month to avoid interest. And in those rare instances when I don’t pay it entirely, speak for myself, my balance does not exceed my ability to pay it entirely the very next month. I usually don’t get my balances if it crosses over a month, more than 10% of my limit.

Those are just rules that I have. It keeps your credit score up. It’s a benefit. What about mortgages or car loans, and apartment leases? Is that okay? Certainly it is. Well, it says, “Owe no one. Owe no man anything but to love one another.” When I pay my mortgage, or I pay my rent, or I pay my car payment in that month, I don’t owe them anything. I love them. They love me. Next month comes around, I owe them again, I pay them again. So there’s nothing wrong with having a mortgage or an apartment lease or a car loan because you need to have a car, many of us.

Okay, let’s wrap up here. That’s living with sufficient. Sufficiency to serve God without... I can’t finish without covering excess. This will be quick. Ecclesiastes five and verse thirteen, “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.” “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.”

That’s excess, brethren. When you get beyond all the things that I just described, making enough money to pay all your tithes, to pay your taxes, to generate savings for emergencies, when you go above and beyond that, and you start to accumulate, it says here, “I have seen a sore evil under the sun. Riches kept for the owners, kept for themselves, thereof to their detriment.”

Brethren, think of Laodiceans. There’s nothing wrong with having adequate or nice places to live, but we don’t need penthouses and mansions, and much less, we don’t need two homes. My wife and I had two cars when we came into the Church. We worked in different areas of Cleveland. When we came to work at headquarters, we reduced to one. We get by just fine with one vehicle. It’s wise to have enough savings for unforeseen circumstances, but savings in the tens or hundreds of thousands for retirement is simply not for all the reasons I laid out today. When in doubt, ask your minister. Solomon was inspired to record for us how God sees financial and material riches.

I intentionally did not go to verses we all know. Sell all you have. They had all things in common. Acts two: forty-five, “And sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all men as every man had need.” For what purpose? Same one Paul said to the Corinthians, to create equity so that those who have more than sufficient can help those who don’t have, and to do the work.

In member services under the library, it’s on the sixth one down, helpful articles. You can go under the subhead finances. There’s common, paying one portion of Christ’s price, those who forsook all, the other tithing questions, all valuable things for those of you who fall into the category of the Corinthians that have more than sufficient, as I’ve laid out today. Sufficiency to serve God.

Brethren, financial success for a faithful Christian is not super-abundant wealth or excess of material possessions. You can include owning a car, maybe not two. We all need a roof over our heads. We don’t need two unless there’s some compelling reason. If there is, check with your minister if you have any doubt. Common is as much a part of being rich toward God as working, tithing, offering, saving, and living within one’s means. It, too, is how we serve God and likewise counted as treasure for Him against the time to come.

Brethren, the world defines success as having more money and more possessions. God defines financial success as living with less of both and trusting Him more. So if we are rich toward God and living with sufficiency to serve Him, in other words, no lack and no excess, we are not failing; we are succeeding. That is financial success God’s way.