A Word to the Wealthy (cont'd)

Some of you are believing in God, and I'm sure some of you are going to be blessed with more resources. But first you've got to be faithful over what you have and make sure you are demonstrating that I honor God with everything that He blesses me with. You've heard it said that he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much.

Well, the inverse is also true. He who is unfaithful with little will be unfaithful with much. Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. You know, God is not in the habit of pouring out His blessing into a closed drain.

So when we ask Him for more blessing, more favor, more money, we need to make sure we're being faithful with what He's already given us. Today, Pastor Paul encourages you to make sure your drain is open, the pipes are not clogged, so that when he pours blessings into your life, you'll disperse some of that blessing to others. Stay with us now or stop by pastorpaul.net to listen on demand.

That's pastorpaul.net. Here is Pastor Paul with today's message, a word to the wealthy. Sometimes you do all the right things and instead people punish you. For instance, way back in the book of Genesis, what did Abel do? Abel gave God a generous offering that pleased God. Cain gave God a typical afterthought offering that displeased God. And God told him, you had the opportunity to please me too, but you've held on and you've had the wrong spirit. And what was Cain's reaction? Because he's upset that God rejected his offering, he takes it out on Abel, who did nothing wrong.

Abel gave an offering that pleased the Lord and his brother rose up and killed him. Sometimes when you do good, you get punished for it. You know, the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. Sometimes you do good and you get fired for it. You ever gotten fired for doing good? You ever gotten reproved for doing good?

It's called living in this world. And so God is noting that kind of corruption. And that was what James was rebuking, not their wealth.

So I want to wrap up the message by giving you a third point just to make sure you understand what I'm saying here and jot this third point down. There is a right way to handle wealth. These people could have been approved by God if they had handled their wealth correctly. They're being rebuked for the corruption that they've allowed it to cause. See, when you have money, all money does is brings out who you really are.

Think about it. If a person is dishonest with a little, you give them a bunch and I hope you don't think they're suddenly going to go honest. Jesus told us that wouldn't happen.

Remember what he said in Luke 16? Whoever can be trusted with little can be trusted with much. He said, but whoever is dishonest with little will be dishonest with much. It's just going to bring out who you really are. Money gives you the opportunity to show more people in more ways who you really are. And if who you are is not good, then wealth will be a curse in your life and not a blessing. Amen.

It'll be a curse. And have you ever seen people when they got a hold of money, they went all the way crazy. That's cause cray cray was in them.

Cray cray was in them. But when you broke, you can't afford to be so crazy. But when you have a lot of money, you're crazy can go to the next level.

I've seen it happen. So I've seen people the worst thing that happened to them was they got a hold of some money. And so you need to understand there is a right way to handle wealth. I'm saying that again because some of you are believing God and I'm sure some of you are going to be blessed with more resources. But first you got to be faithful over what you have and make sure you are demonstrating that I honor God with everything that he blesses me with.

There's a right way to handle wealth. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 6. It's the last scripture I'll refer to in this message. 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 17 through 19. Here's what Paul said to his spiritual son Timothy. He said, 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. See life is not truly in things. When people go after money as though that is the end all that's when they step into snares.

That's when their life goes wrong. That's why Paul said earlier in 1 Timothy 6 that's why he gave the phrase that so many people misquote. He said the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. How many times have you heard somebody say well the Bible says money is the root of all evil. No it doesn't. It says the love of it.

That's what corruption is based on. I love it and I have it out of context. I don't have God's perspective on it.

I don't know how to treat people right with it. So the love of it creates the root of all kinds of evils. But you can have it and it not have you.

Isn't that good news? So those of you who want to see God bless you make sure that you understand there's no life in money. Money is just a tool. I often say money is a wonderful servant.

It's just a horrible master. When you let money master you now you've got a problem because you'll do anything for it. But if you make it serve you and you are fully dedicated to God then you make it serve God's purposes. Oh this is good.

I'm going to get the CD myself. So when you look at those three verses first Timothy 6 17 through 19 you could boil down the essence of what he says in three simple sentences jot these down the first of the sentences is be humble and grateful because this is one of the right ways to handle wealth to be humble and grateful. Jot that down when God blesses you with more than you have right now. Make sure you stay humble. What does that mean. Make sure you don't think you all that because you got a little coinage in your pocket. You're not all that. You just have a little money. That's all. Whereas you used to be believing God for your ends to meet. Least get close enough to speak to one another. Now you get to a place God may bless some of you and your ends are meeting all the time.

It's a non-issue and it'll be a different way of living because you've been you spent so many months saying Oh Lord how we going to pay this this month. All right. See you're acting like you've been bougie all your life. How many of you. I got to call you on it because you sit up here looking at me like I don't know what you're talking about.

All right fine. I'm a call you out. How many of you all have had seasons in your life where there was too much month at the end of the money. Amen. We all been there. Sitting up here looking cute. What's the matter with you.

We've been there. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Sheppard. To listen to any of Pastor Paul's recent broadcasts be sure to stop by pastorpaul.net and listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net or subscribe to the podcast to access this program anytime.

You'll find Destined for Victory at Apple Podcasts or many other places where you can get your programs. Now with more of the message a word to the wealthy here once again is Pastor Paul Sheppard. So if God blesses you to get to the place where by his grace. You have six months living expenses nine months living expenses maybe a year's living expenses sitting in the bank.

Won't that be wonderful. But if you want to be qualified to ever be blessed like that make sure that you understand there's no life in that money. And you have to remain humble and grateful.

Because the Lord blessed you with it. That's why that's why you have to learn that it is God who is to be honored every time you're blessed with anything. You honor him because the life isn't in the money.

The life is in the one who's going to bless you with how to use it for his glory. So be humble and be grateful. Now we just saw in Second Timothy that some folks in the end days they're going to be very ungrateful and you see them all around you. Don't be one of them. I tell Christians you got to talk practical with Christian be grateful for everything that God blesses you with and everything people do nice for you.

Be grateful. I don't eat I'm tell you now in case you ever go to dinner with me. I don't eat with stingy people who won't give a decent tip. If you have my table one time and I see you standing you're not coming back my table anymore. You mess up the dynamics.

I don't play that I don't like. This restaurant ought to pay him what they want him to have why I got already got to pay for the food now I got turned around to pay him to as last time you have my table. You too stingy for words.

Somebody comment. I'm not done with any old raggedy service raggedy service get a raggedy tip. That's good.

That's fine. But good service somebody coming attentive and looking at you and all you don't have to constantly call them every every three minutes please give me some more water. They just come they look in they stand and look to see what you need and they come and they ask and they present they tell you notice. I love that. Love that and go and break you off something real nice. The regular restaurants I go to the waiters know me.

There was one restaurant I used to go to that they fought for who was coming to my table. How the Reverend here. I'm going to ask him I got it.

Because we're going to break you off if you come to him right. And y'all that's sitting up there just got to pull out your calculator just to the right penny. I know I'm reading mail all over the room. I need to calculate I'm a bless you.

Where am I. Oh yeah. Be humble and grateful. Second thing you want to take away from this point is trust in God not money. Trust in God not money. Paul taught Timothy tell the people who are wealthy don't put their hope in uncertain riches. See just because the stock market might be good at one season. Doesn't mean it's always going to stay there. You can't put your hope in your 401k. We've all been through seasons where it suddenly became a 201k. Have we been there.

I can tell you what I used to be where. That's the nature of economics. Never put your trust in the money.

You always put it in God. Y'all think your job just love you to death. I dare for them to go through one negative cycle. They will fire.

They won't call it fire. They will lay off a bunch of y'all. I mean they don't care that you've been there for a long time. They had a bad bottom line. They'll let you go. Even the money back when they first started doing the currency they had sense enough to say in God we trust.

Now we don't live by it anymore as a nation. But back then they were trying to tell you we're going to be committed to trusting in God. And that's what you need to do whether it's on your money or not. Put your trust in God not in the money. And then the final thing I'll say and I'll let you go is the way you rightly handle wealth is help others and advance the kingdom of God. Make sure that when you get money in your hand you realize that not all of it is for you and not all of it is for now.

Those are two things you want to realize. Not all of it's for you. Some of it is for the kingdom. Some of it is to help others in need.

Jot it down. I'm teaching you how to be blessed. See a lot of folks here teaching on giving and they think there they go trying to get more of my money.

You missed the whole point. If somebody teaches you Bible principles on giving they're trying to set you up to be blessed. And the first thing you do is you help others and advance the kingdom of God.

Not everything you have is yours. The principle behind tithing which when people fight tithing they don't understand. When they say tithing is under the law we're free from the law. No tithing was before the law. Tithing is a life principle. It started in Genesis when Abraham had no organization to tithe to he tithed to Melchizedek. And later on you see Jacob tithing saying Lord everything you put in my hand I'm going to give you ten percent. That's before the law.

Jacob was before the law. Tithing has the law simply solidified the practice and put it in specific terms. But the principle has been here from Genesis. And it is when God blesses you honor him out of it. And the tithe is the ten percent of what God gives you as an honor. You give it to him as a gift of honor. And we got to learn that.

That's why even Beyonce wrote a tithing song. She didn't know it I changed the words. To the left to the left. Move the decimal one to the left.

Y'all not ready for me. Move the decimal one to the left. Meaning when God blesses you with a hundred dollars tithing says move the decimal one to the left.

You give him ten. Thank you Lord. This hundred came from you and I'm blessing you with it.

When you get a thousand move the decimal one to the left. That hundred says thank you Lord. And I'm trusting you to bless the rest. Now see some of y'all didn't have a problem when you had ten dollars you gave God one. But what about when he blessed you with a thousand. You still owe him a tithe and that's a hundred now. I don't know that's. Lord that's five twenty dollar bills.

You getting ready to curse your life. Don't get stingy on God. Because if you ever want to believe him so that one day you get a hundred thousand dollar check.

The principles got to be the same. Move the decimal one to the left. The first ten thousand is his. Some of y'all want a million. I'd love one day to get a seven figure check. With my name on the pay two line.

That'd be wonderful. But God already knows he can trust me. Because I live it. I lived it when I was a little boy getting a dollar allowance. Parents taught me to do that. Give God that dime. Take it to church. That's God's dime.

I took it literally when I was a little boy I told y'all before. Where the trustees counted the money. They had a little place where you could see through the stained glass. And I looked because I wanted to see the angels come get God's money.

Little boy. And I said oh that's where they take God's money after the offering. And I did. Little boy I'm looking in there because I want to see the angels. In my mind the angels were going to come down.

And do the exchange with the trustees. Don't laugh at me. I was young and dumb.

That's how real it was to me. I'm looking down. I want to see the angels come.

I figured the angels would fly down. Hey how y'all doing? Y'all had a good week? Everybody good? All right take care now. Zoom. They gone.

That's what I was looking for Jack. I now know we do give to the Lord but it doesn't happen quite that way. We fund and advance the kingdom of God. But the Lord already knows.

If I get a check for a million the first hundred thousand is spoken for. And then I'm going to still pray about now how much of the rest of this do you have designated for something other than my purposes? Because I tell you right now the more blessed you are the more God's going to require of you.

Just the way it happens. You're blessed to be a blessing. And I know of one minister who's so blessed financially God has blessed him to write millions of books and all that stuff. And he testifies I have to live a reverse tithe.

He testifies I have to live a reverse. There are other Christian businessmen who say the same thing. I now am so blessed financially I live a reverse tithe. Instead of giving God the ten percent I give the ninety and I keep the ten. Now wouldn't you like to be that blessed? That's what I'm talking about. Where I'm given a reverse tithe ninety percent go back into the kingdom. Oh better I'm down for that. But you couldn't qualify for that if you can't be trusted with what you got now.

Oh this is good. So you got to help others. Help others in advance the kingdom. Make sure that you understand that all of the resources are for his glory. He'll bless you to enjoy them. But you can't be self-centered like these folks were self-indulgent. Can't be self-centered. You're going to have to bless some other folks.

And the best way to show that you can do that with more is do it with what you have now. My grandmother was one of the poorest women in the church my dad told us when we were growing up. So your grandmother was one of the poorest women in the church. She never almost never had Sunday dinner without inviting at least somebody else from the church to come. And eat with us.

You know my grandmother ended up having ten kids. My father said there would be Sundays. Somebody coming over.

And we're thinking we don't have enough for us. He said and then God forbid if one of them preachers come. Go back in old days the Saints considered it an honor to have the preacher come to Sunday dinner.

And if a preacher or guest preacher or something ever came and came over Mother Shepherd's house. And my father said we get mad cause we knew he was going to get the big piece of chicken. Y'all remember back in the old some of y'all know the old days. You know that that daddy got the big piece of chicken. And then if the preacher came the preacher got the big piece of chicken.

See some of y'all glad you don't live in them days. I wish he would come in here taking my. Don't worry I'm not coming to your house for Sunday dinner have y'all all attitudinal. You see that piece of chicken Pastor Paul picked up here. But she was blessed as a poor woman to be a blessing. That's what we ought to strive to do. To advance the kingdom to help other people. And in so doing you will properly handle what God has given you.

And you position yourself for him to be able to give you more. Thanks so much for being here for this important message a word to the wealthy. Pastor Paul joins me now from his studio. Pastor I understand there are over 2,000 verses in God's word.

I'm told this. I haven't stopped to count them about money and possessions. And being a steward of the resources that God has entrusted to us is something I know is important to him. In your mind what is the key to making sure money doesn't become a problem for us as followers of Jesus?

Great question. I think we've got to keep a few things in mind. The first is clearly taught in scripture which is that the money might be in our accounts or in our pockets but it's not ours. The Bible is really clear we are stewards of what belongs to God. In the language of the parable of Matthew chapter 25 we are the servants. The master entrusted his property to us before he went away. That's a clear picture of what Jesus did. He saved us and then he gives us his property both material, financial and every other thing that he's given it is really ours to steward.

Meaning he's looking for a return on his investment in us. So we've got to keep in mind that it belongs to God. The second thing I want listeners to always remember is that money is a wonderful servant.

It's just a horrible master. Man I tell you I have been broke and I have had all my bills paid. I like the latter state much, much better. It is really fun when I don't have to sweat over money. And so I just make it serve the right purposes and then it works wonderfully. I don't know why some people are so against money like man money is good.

I don't know what you're talking about. It's just that you can't let it run things. You've got to make it serve the right purposes. One more thing we can't take it with us. We've got to always remember that there is no U-Haul that's going to follow our hearse.

We're simply not taking it with us. So while we're here, while we are stewards of God's money and God's resources we've got to make it do the right thing and we've got to make sure that our spiritual priorities remain intact because at the end we're leaving it all behind and what we've done for Christ is what's going to last. You know Jesus said you can't serve both God and money.

You will either love the one and hate the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. Thanks for a great message today pastor and for these great final thoughts. But before we leave you today we have what I believe is an outstanding thank you gift for those who were able to give generously to the ministry of Destined for Victory. It's a DVD video from Pastor Paul titled Get Your Hopes Up.

I know this will be a great encouragement to you. Just request it when you give your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Call 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.

You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. You ever been on one of those sin searches and you're looking at every area of your life trying to figure out what you did to trip up God's work? The Holy Spirit is with you all the time.

If he got a message to get to you he knows how to speak your language. How many know God knows how to speak your, you don't have to, well Lord if there's some in my life tell me, he will. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, What Are You Waiting For? Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ you are Destined for Victory.