Restructuring Our Finances (Part 1 of 2)

Is having wealth a burden or a blessing? How do we steward those resources?

What does your bank account reveal about you? Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg shares some basic biblical principles to help us manage our assets in a wise and God-honoring manner. Well, we're resuming our studies in Nehemiah. We're picking up the threads which we found in chapters 8, 9, and 10, where God's people had determined that they were going to make a significant commitment to God. This had come about as a result of a simple request at the beginning of chapter 8—it's recorded for us—when the people had asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law of Moses.

And if you have your Bible, you will see that in the first verse of chapter 8. They knew what they were doing insofar as they were asking for the scroll to be brought out and to be read. They probably had no likelihood of understanding what the implications were actually going to be for them when the Scriptures were read to them in this way.

It probably was unlikely that any of them had envisaged the implications being so far-reaching as they had proved to be as unfolds for us in the subsequent chapters. The clear teaching of the Bible had been matched by serious thinking on the part of the listeners, and that had produced, in turn, as we found in verse 38 of chapter 9, a binding agreement. The Word of God had been spoken clearly, the people had been thinking sensibly, and as a result of the two things coming together, they realized that something was going to have to happen. Indeed, this is only the way in which the Word of God should be taught and responded to.

If we are not making the connection between its teaching and its application, then we are severely missing the point. And as the people had heard the Word of God, realized what it was being said, they then made this binding agreement. And in verse 38 of chapter 9, we are told that they confirmed their commitment by putting it in writing. And every so often we'll say to somebody, I wonder, would you give me that in writing, please? I'd like to have that in writing.

I would like to have it as a record. I think it would be important for you to append your signature to it. I would like for you to seal that as an indication of your commitment. And I wonder if you have little places in your past, flyleafs in your Bible, pieces of literature somewhere around your home or in your personal belongings to which you can turn, where at a particular moment in time, as a result of clear teaching and sensible thinking, you made a commitment to the Lord, and you put it in writing. And you wrote down on a page somewhere, Lord, I am committed to you in relationship to this. I determine that as you enable me, I am going to do this.

I want to serve you, I want to follow you, I want to be your man, I want to be your woman, I want to be your teen, or whatever it might be. And as a result of that, you laid down something of a spiritual milestone. I would hope that you can't find hundreds and hundreds of these things, but I would hope that each of us can at least find some—points along our spiritual pilgrimage, where as a result of the clear instruction of God's Word and that coming home to our hearts as a result of the ministry of the Spirit of God, we said, That's it, we're going to do this. That's exactly what these people did. It was going to have implications for their families.

It certainly was something that would affect the generations that would follow them. And in verse 29 of chapter 10, we discover them making this straightforward statement as a further emphasis of the nature of their resolve. And then we're told that they bound themselves with a curse and with an oath. In other words, they said, God helping me, I will do this, and if I don't do this, may this happen to me.

They were very serious. To do what? Well, to follow the law of God, given through Moses the servant of God, and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our Lord. In other words, we're going to obey the Bible. Now, just in case that seems a wee bit too much, or a little vague, or a bit as if you're hitting golf balls and you're just hitting them at a four-hundred-yard target down at the end, whereby you say, Well, we're going to hit golf balls towards the end of the field. Once you put flags out there, you find out whether you're hitting your target or not. And they determined that they would put three flags out in front of them so that when their children said, What do you mean we're going to obey the commands of the Lord our God?

What do you mean we're going to obey him wholeheartedly? Tell me what that means. Show me what it means. Make it real in your experience for me.

I need to see it. I need to understand it. And so they did. And we noted that this commitment to obey God from their hearts demanded three things. First of all, it demanded the realigning of their focus. This is all history now.

I'm just bringing you up to speed. It demanded the realigning of their focus. On that occasion we said that they began to think in terms of God's purposes rather than their preferences. Secondly, that they began to think in terms of responsibilities as opposed to rights. Thirdly, that they began to think long-term effect as opposed to short-term enjoyment. Those were the three implications.

Which would have been obvious to anyone living around them. Their focus had been realigned, and they were not talking rights, they were talking responsibilities, they were not talking personal preferences, they were talking God's purposes, and they were not talking about immediate gratification, they were talking about a long-term goal for the sake of God's kingdom. The second flag that they put out concerned the redirecting of their families. The redirecting of their families. And on that occasion we noted that this changed the gathering of their families to where and to what, the guiding of their families, and the giving of their families.

They determined, as we see here in verse 30, that they would not give their daughters in marriage to the people around or even take their daughters for their sons. Now, this was all as a result of having heard the book, having thought about it clearly, and determined that it must have implications in their lives. But the third element to which we now turn is as challenging as the other two. Not only does this obeying God from the heart realign my focus and redirect my family, but it's going to reconstruct our finances. And so this morning we're going to talk for a while about money. And we're going to talk about them and money and ourselves and money.

So prepare to be a little uncomfortable. Of all the good gifts which God provides for us to enjoy, the two which bring the greatest human benefit and which, when misused, the greatest human evils are undoubtedly sex and wealth. And think it out for yourself. Of all the gifts that God has given us as humans to enjoy, the two that bring the greatest joy and, when misused, the greatest problem are sex and wealth. As a result of that, and because the evils are so stark—and they are clearly stark—the response of many through the ages has been to succumb to the temptation to adopt an entirely negative attitude towards both subjects.

As a result, then, to say, Well, since this can be very bad and this can be very bad, the best thing we can do is avoid them completely. And the result of that, of course, is a commitment to celibacy on the one hand and a commitment to poverty on the other hand, which is the response of medieval sainthood. But if you read the medieval period, you will recognize that those who adopted a vow of celibacy and a vow of poverty were unable to deal internally with the ebb and flow of their hearts in relationship both to the desire for that which money can buy and also as it relates to the desire for sexual fulfillment. And right up until the present day, our world is littered with evidences of the fact that nowhere in the Bible does it demand that the normative response to sex and wealth would be celibacy and poverty, but rather that the Bible would give to us significant principles to be applied in order that money would be seen not as an evil to be shunned but as a good gift to be shared. And you can cross-reference this in your own study by simply getting your concordance and looking up money and checking it through, and you'll turn to various passages both in Old and New Testament. And this idea of a church understanding the place of money is nowhere more clearly expressed than in Corinth, where in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 Paul says to the Corinthians, remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will also reap generously. And so, in recognizing the privilege of giving within the framework of the local church, he says each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Now, there are a number of basic principles as it relates to the issue of money that are contained there. And even a moment or two study would allow you to make note of them, and helpfully so. But I'd like to try and tackle this issue in the context of Nehemiah's day for a moment or two, if I might.

And so, if your Bible is there, that will be helpful. What the people were doing with their resources in Nehemiah's day was an indication of their priorities. In other words, if you took their checkbooks and looked at their stubs, you would see where their priorities lay.

The fact is that this morning, to a greater or lesser degree, that will be true for most of us, at least those who use checkbooks. And when we follow the events as they're described for us here in chapter 10, I want you to notice with me two things. First of all, that on account of their willingness to obey God from the heart, and thereby having their finances redirected, there were opportunities which they chose to reject.

There were opportunities which they chose to reject. And there are two that are outlined for us here in verse 31. First of all, in relationship to the Sabbath. When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day.

Well, now, where did they get this? You need to turn back to the book of Exodus with me, and to chapter 20 for a moment. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Exodus 20, verse 8. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. Because of the principle of Sabbath rest established by God in the work of creation.

Now, it becomes immediately apparent that in relationship to living in the world of their day, this was a bizarre state of affairs by any stretch of the imagination. Any businessman could tell you that if you would only spread the opportunities over these days, and especially the Sabbath day when there was great movement throughout the city, then you could do far better than ever you were going to do out of six days. And there were probably some who sought to justify the expressions on the Lord's day on the Sabbath by suggesting that if only they worked on the Sabbath, they would have more to give God.

And so, with the end justifying the means, God would be so pleased that he got this extra stuff that he wouldn't mind the fact that they blew out one of his commands fairly straightforwardly. But you see, if we're going to obey God from the heart, if we're going to observe this here, you either obey God from the heart, you either do what you say you're going to do, or you don't do it. And so they said, We're not going to do it. We will not trade on the Sabbath. Secondly, they rejected the opportunity to work the land on the seventh year. That's in verse 31b. Every seventh year we will forego working the land and will cancel all debts.

If your Bible, if your finger is still in Exodus, you can look in Exodus chapter 23, verse 10, for six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Who says? God says. Who's God?

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer of life. Other people don't do this. Aliens don't do this. But, says Ezra and those thirteen who interpreted the word of the law for them, either you want to do what the word says or you don't want to do what it says, and this is what it says. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave.

Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. But this is crazy! Six years we've been working this thing. There's no reason why our seventh year couldn't be a good year. There's no reason why we couldn't get a lot of stuff out of this.

And we could give it away, you know, if we had it. And so they could try and justify it. But the plain, bald statement of Scripture was absolutely clear.

Don't do this on the Sabbath and do this on the seventh year. And the people said, That's fine, we'll do it. You get the impression of the sort of dramatic, radical impact of the word upon their lives? Bring out the book. Out comes the book. They read the book. They understand the book. They do the book.

It's not really that difficult. And when you have a congregation of God's people that are completely committed to this kind of ongoing process, then you will make an impact for God in your generation. The leadership of God's people must be committed to the exact same thing—that we will read the book, we will understand the book, and we will do the book, no matter who says it's crazy, no matter what it might mean. And so there were opportunities that they rejected. Now, the practicalities of this we dealt with in chapter 5, and in another few weeks—couple of weeks, maybe—we will realize what happened to these people when they reneged on the commitment that they made here in chapter 10.

And if you want to read ahead, it's pretty interesting and very revelatory. So then, there were opportunities that they rejected, and secondly, there were responsibilities that they accepted. And beginning in verse 32, they run through the list of their commitment to the duties of the house of God. And there, in verse 32 and 33, they make clear that their commitment to God's house—to the temple, in this case—is going to cost them something. It's going to cost them to be a worshiper. It's going to make demands upon them in terms of who they are and what they have, and it's not going to be the fragments of their lives, it's not going to be the shavings, as it were, at the end of the wood. It's going to be the very heart of the matter, they say. Worship, says the Bible, that doesn't cost me anything, is no worship at all.

And any attempt at worship that doesn't give of myself and who I am and what I have means that I lose all the blessing of worship that is contained in it. They said, Now, look, we're going to give money. We're going to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God. You'll read somewhere else it says you're supposed to give half a shekel. It says half a shekel, now they're giving a third of a shekel. What are they doing?

Diminishing the thing? No, it probably has to do with shekels and weights and measures and different things, or it has to do with a timing factor. We can rest assured that they were not trying to get by for thirty-three and a third when they were supposed to be going at the level of fifty percent. Their commitment affected the money they were bringing in. Also, verse 33, they were going to put the bread on the table. Also, they were going to bring the grain for the offerings. Also, they were going to make sure that there was wood to burn on the altar of the Lord our God. A wonderful picture here in verse 34 of the families determining when their time for the contribution of wood for the altar is going to be.

Kids could look down on the altar and see it burning there with all the offer of sacrifice and of atonement and of renewal, and they'd be able to look along at their dad and say, That was our Sunday. That was our commitment. We brought the wood for today, didn't we, Dad? We have a part in this, don't we, Dad? We're committed here, aren't we? See, how are our children ever going to know?

Well, they'll know by our attendance, and they'll know by our use of resources. They brought their fruit—their first fruit. Verse 35, The first fruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. We're going to go out, and we're going to pick fruit.

The last few weeks I've been in gardens and in people's homes, and they just have these wonderful grapefruit growing there, and all manner of fruit. And presumably the picture was, now we're going to go out and pick the fruit together, and when we pick the fruit, there's going to be a number of baskets. But you all know, kids, that the first basket is going where? It's going to the temple.

That's right. And why is it going to the temple? Well, it's going to the temple because it is at the temple that we declare our worship and our love for God. And why do we declare our worship and our love for God in relationship to these things? Because, Dad, God made everything, and he made us, and he gave us this, and he gave us it all richly to enjoy, and it's all his, and it's ours on loan, and we're just simply taking back an offering to him that God may be glorified and praised, and those in need may be ministered to, and the aliens around us may see the difference that comes when a people say, Bring out the book, and they read it, and they do it. And the same with their flocks, and the same with their children.

Verse 36. As it is also written in the law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, of our herds, and of our flocks, to the house of our God. Have you done that with your children, parents? Did you do that soon after they were born? Soon after they became yours?

Get down by their crib and kneel down there and say, Hey, this is the first one, and they're all going to be yours, but the first one's yours, Lord. And we give him to you. We give her to you. If our Christianity costs us nothing, it's worth nothing. You're listening to Truth for Life. That is Alistair Begg with a message he's titled Restructuring Our Finances.

We'll hear more tomorrow. As we're learning, the radical impact of God's Word on your life can influence future generations, and the Christmas season gives us an opportunity to be intentional in how we mold and shape our children. Rather than getting caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of overspending and overextending yourself, we want to recommend to you a book that will help you slow down, take a deep breath, and meditate on Jesus as you prepare for the celebration of his birth. The book is titled O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. It's a 40-day devotional that will guide you and your family through a meaningful daily worship together throughout the Advent season, starting in late November all the way till early January.

Each day you meditate on Jesus through a sequence of prayers, a scripture reading, there's a creed or a catechism, a prayer or a cataclysm, a benediction, all of these taken from historical writings that have greatly influenced Christians throughout the centuries. Tomorrow is the last day we'll be talking about O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, so ask for your copy today when you give a donation online at truthforlife.org slash donate or call us at 888-588-7884. And by the way, if you ask for a copy of the book with your donation and you'd like to purchase additional copies to share with family or friends, your pastor, your Bible study group, you'll find them in our online store where they're available for purchase at our cost of just seven dollars. This is a cloth covered book with gold embossing. It comes in a keepsake box, making it beautiful as well as meaningful.

It's a gift that you can give that will be treasured for years to come. Extra copies are available while supplies last at truthforlife.org slash store. And just a quick reminder for pastors and church leaders, registration is now open for the 2024 Basics Conference hosted by Alistair. The conference will take place in May at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Alistair will be joined by special guests Sinclair Ferguson and Rico Tice.

Seats tend to fill up quickly, so register online today at BasicsConference.org. I'm Bob Lapine. You don't have to have a lot of money to be guilty of loving what you have excessively. Tomorrow we'll learn how to spot the warning signs that reveal an unhealthy obsession with riches. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.