Restructuring Our Finances (Part 2 of 2)

You don't have to have a lot of money to be guilty of loving what you do have more than you should. Today on Truth for Life, we'll learn about the danger of loving money and the warning signs that can reveal whether or not we have an unhealthy and unbiblical obsession with riches. Alistair Begg is teaching from Nehemiah.

He's in chapter 10. We're in verses 30 through 39. We noted that this commitment to obey God from their hearts demanded three things. First of all, it demanded the realigning of their focus. 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. 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. 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 that says you're supposed to give half a shekel. It says half a shekel, now they're given 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.

Lovely picture. The 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 in this fellowship, aren't we, Mom? 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. 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? And 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 them to you.

We give her to you. If our Christianity costs us nothing, it's worth nothing. So they made this commitment in terms of the responsibilities they accepted for the duties of the house of God and also for the storerooms of God's house. When you look at verse 34–39, you realize that they were not simply making provision for the regular sacrifices but also for the maintenance of the temple service itself.

Let me quote one commentator to give you the flavor of this. The temple was of crucial importance for Nehemiah. It provided the religious and social cement to bind members of the community to each other and preeminently to God and his service. And it is within this context that we read here of tithing. And when you read the Old Testament and you take this principle of the tithe and you begin to add it up, you realize that it is not some kind of legalistic process whereby, of every hundred dollars we make, we end up with ninety and God's supposed to get ten. But rather, that tithing is within the framework of the fact that God, who is the provider of all that we need and is the owner of all that we have, he is the one who actually is Jew a hundred percent.

He owns a hundred percent. And God, in the Old Testament plan and purpose, in order to establish some semblance of normalcy for his people, establishes this principle whereby off the top of the hundred percent would come the first portion and would be given to God, to his people, and to his work. And what we find when we read the Old Testament is that that tithing process actually got up there to significant percentages and way beyond ten. And when we get to the New Testament, we essentially discover that the notion of a tenth being the Lord's is virtually assumed in New Testament parlance, and that it's a fairly good guide as a starting point for our giving to God. But it is not there in order to limit us, or ultimately to regulate us. And indeed, until I've understood that God has it all, then he is never gonna get ten percent.

As long as I think that he's supposed to get ten percent and I'm supposed to get ninety, then it's unlikely that he'll get ten percent then. And it's questionable whether as a church family we have ever taken seriously this simple guiding principle. Tithing, then, is a good place to begin. And if we think in terms of the temple being the focal point of God's purpose and dealings, then the focal point of God's purpose and dealings nowadays is in his church, in his people, as they gather as local expressions. And people ask me all the time, they say, Well, now, we have this amount of money, and we were thinking of giving so much over here and so much over there and so much over there, and perhaps we would actually give some to the local church.

What do you think? The answer is, I think the focus should always be the local church, because God's church is the pattern and purpose for reaching the world, and everything else is extraneous to it. Therefore, all other giving should be subservient to it and beyond it—not instead of it. That, of course, is a privilege that each of us has to work out in relationship to our own convictions and perspectives. But you may as well know how we would view it here.

We would anticipate that those who committed themselves to this church body, who said that they were committed to the giving, to the work of the gospel in this place, would do exactly that and not forgo the privilege of giving gifts to other ministries, but that the focus and emphasis of giving would be absolutely here. But it's hard. It's hard. Because nothing really shows up where we are like money does. Money this morning is the focus of so many in our generation. I don't know about you, but how many times in a week—certainly every day of the week—somebody sends you one of those letters that tells you you've got so much credit, right? The good news is you've got so much credit. The good news is you've got so much credit, and you get all these envelopes. If you were a crazy person and actually believed them, you'd be in debtor's jail. The only good place to put that stuff is in the bin.

Just directly. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, go directly to bin. It's the best advice I can give to all young couples. Stray it in the bin. Don't even open it. With apologies to all executives from banks that are here this morning.

It goes right in the bin for me. I don't have one, and I'm not getting one, God helping me. I don't think you should either. We don't need to succumb to the mentality in relationship to money that it really is the provider of everything, because it isn't. Somebody said money can buy medicine, but it can't buy your health.

Money can buy a house, but not a home. It can buy companionship, but not friends. Entertainment, but not happiness. Food, but not an appetite. A bed, but not sleep. A cross, but not a savior. Good life, but not eternal life.

Seneca, the Roman statesman, said, money has never yet made anyone rich. And yet in the sixties, in which I grew up, singing with the Beatles, the best things in life are free, but you can keep them for the birds and the bees. Now give me money. That's what I want. That's what I want. That's what I want.

Your loving gives me a thrill, but your loving don't pay my bills. Now give me money. That's what I want. Money don't get everything, that's true. What it don't get, I can't use. Now give me money.

That's what I want. Now, just in case we get all locked up here, and some of you business guys are saying, you know, I'm not making the shift here. We're way back eight centuries before Christ. We've got fruit trees and stuff.

I'm just—it's missing me. Okay, let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 6, and we'll use this as a concluding point of application this morning. The principle from 10 is clear. Commitment from the heart to God and his work redirects our finances. But just in case some of us manage to sidestep it on the basis of some kind of anachronism, let's go to 1 Timothy 6.

I think I find it totally uncomfortable. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 9 addresses the wannabes. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Okay, so this is a warning to people who are sitting saying, I think the answer to my life is to get rich. I think if I get a lot of money, I'll be okay.

These are the wannabes. Now, later in the chapter, verse 17 of the chapter, he has a word for those who are actually rich. It's a different word. It's not that it is ever wrong to be rich. There were obviously rich people, and there obviously will be rich people. Now, what is the word for rich people?

Well, this is what rich people are to watch out for. Command those who are rich in this present world, and you only need to look at the pictures on the television screens coming out of Cuba, coming out of Haiti, coming out of Bosnia, coming out of anywhere to realize that I don't know any of us that don't somehow find this one shooting straight back at us, irrespective of where we fit on the great hierarchy of finances in the continental United States. Command those who are rich in the 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. Or in the King James Version, who gives us all things richly to enjoy, that God is happy when we are able to enjoy things in the right way.

He is not somehow stingy. God is delighted when his people, who have been blessed, enjoy what he has given them, command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous, 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.

Very, very practical stuff. You see, love of money may actually be a bigger problem for the person who has little money than it is for the one who has lots of money. Because the one who has lots of money doesn't really need to worry about it anymore. He's got lots of money, so he doesn't have to focus on it necessarily.

The biggest problem is, what am I going to do with all this stuff? Now, let me tell you eight things that love of money leads to. I'm just going to give you these, and these are for your own study at home. Love of money leads to a loss of contentment. If we love money, we will never be contented. 1 Timothy 6 says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. Number two, love of money leads to a loss of trust in God.

Verse 17 of the same chapter. Number three, love of money leads to a loss of balance in our lives. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a trap.

They trip themselves up, they fall over, they go down into a hole. Fourthly, love of money leads to a loss of peace. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and have pierced themselves with many griefs.

Take some people trying to pay off their visa bill. Peace is the last thing they know anything about. They are not in a position to give generously to the house of God, because they're so dreadfully indebted.

And the reason they're so dreadfully indebted is because they love the idea of having a lot of money, and somebody told them, if you do this and this and this and this, you'll get all this. It leads to a loss of peace. Fifthly, it leads to a loss of an eternal perspective on life. Verse 19, laying up treasure in the wrong place. Sixthly, a love of money leads to a loss of usefulness. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24. Seventhly, a love of money leads to a loss of humility. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant. Eighthly, a love of money leads to a loss of hope.

You find that also in verse 17. Well, then, says somebody, how can I tell if I've got the problem? I mean, if this is what love of money leads to, I don't think I love money.

But thanks for telling me, because if ever I start loving it, I know what I can look forward to. These eight things. Well, hang on, let's just check and see if we do love money. There are a number of signs that I love money or you love money.

This is not an exhaustive list, but I think it's fairly helpful. Here are a number of signs that you or I love money. Number one, when money thoughts consume my day. When thoughts of money consume my day. Number two, when the blessings of others makes me jealous. Resentful of that car, that house, that suit, that purse, those shoes—I just can't cope with it.

Why not? Possibly because I love money, and I didn't have enough to get what she got or what he got. Thirdly, I'm probably guilty of a love of money when success is defined by what I have versus what I am in Jesus Christ. Fourthly, when my family is neglected in my pursuit of money, I'm gonna have a huge retirement fund, honey, and I'll be home soon. Don't worry, kids, I'll be back. Right now, you can't believe how good it's gonna be when I get through with this, because I'll have so much cash stashed. We're gonna have parties forever.

The fact that everybody's gonna be in wheelchairs with walking sticks has never occurred to this bright guy. When my family is neglected in the pursuit of money. Fifthly, when I close my eyes to the genuine needs of others. Sixthly, when I am living in paralyzing fear of losing my money. Seventhly, when I am prepared to borrow myself into bondage. And eighthly, when I give to God my leftovers rather than my firstfruits.

I don't know about you, but I find that a pretty challenging list. A friend of mine on the West Coast who worked on a pastoral team there for some years, in a kind of administrative position, was on the receiving end of a telephone call from an individual who said that he wanted to come and have some counsel from him. And Sam said yes, that he would meet with a person and talk with them. And they arranged a day, and they arranged a time, and at the tail end of the conversation, before he went off the phone, Sam, who had been asked for his counsel, said, Oh, by the way, George, when you come, bring your checkbook, won't you? And the fellow stayed on the phone a moment longer, and he said, Oh, Sam, he said, I didn't know you charged for me to see you.

Oh, no, said Sam, I don't charge. I just want you to bring your checkbook so that I can see where your heart is. And they made a binding agreement to God. And their children said, What does it mean? And they answered, Well, it's going to redirect our focus. It's going to realign our families.

And it's going to totally restructure our finances. Let's bow together in a moment of prayer. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise. You're listening to Truth for Life.

That is Alistair Begg helping us gain a proper perspective on money. I hope you're benefiting from this practical and encouraging study through the book of Nehemiah. If you missed any of the messages in this series, you can easily catch up online. All of the teaching can be streamed or downloaded for free through the mobile app or on our website at truthforlife.org.

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