Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
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A Biblical View of Money – Stewardship part 2

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Opening Prayer

Let’s just start by praying here. Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us. And before we get in the Word here, we want to lift up all the churches in our nation and around the world that are partaking in the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. We pray that they would, the pastors would preach your Word boldly, Lord, that they would stand for life and that they would tackle the issues of abortion and things like that, Lord, that they would speak out against that evil, the slaughter of innocents in our land. Lord, we do pray for our country that you would end abortion in our nation, Lord, that we would no longer view children as a curse, Lord. You would help our nation to see children as a blessing, that evil would be brought to an end. We also lift up Daniel and Manette and Hadassah and Gideon as they travel around the world to go minister to our missionaries in Southeast Asia, God. Give them safe travels, give them energy and strength as it’s a long way to go with two little ones, God. Get them there safely. May their trip be a blessed one full of great encouragement for the Cook family. And God, we pray for the preaching of your Word here today, Lord, that you would illuminate your Word to us, that you would speak to us, that we would see your heart, Lord, and know you better. Convict us and encourage us and build us up as a church. We pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.

All right, since we’re saving Sanctity of Human Life Sunday for our church for next week, as Pastor Mike shared, we are going to continue and wrap up a series on money that we started four weeks ago. So the last three sermons, we talked about the heart: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We talked about giving and generosity, how we’re called to be generous with our finances just as God is generous to us. And then last Sunday, we delved into the parable of the talents from Matthew 25, verses 14 through 30, where Jesus illustrates that the kingdom of heaven is like a master entrusting his wealth to three servants before departing on a journey. And we’re going to read that passage again today, and this is going to be part two of last week. So you can turn to Matthew chapter 25. We’re going to read verses 14 through 30 again.

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, “Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, “Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

(Matthew 25:14–30)

Review of the Parable of the Talents

The master here representing Christ, just a quick review. He distributed talents, which were vast sums of money, according to each servant’s ability. So five to one, two to another, and one to the last. And we talked last week, this isn’t just about abilities or skills, though that principle extends here. Jesus was speaking directly about financial resources. And each talent, as I shared last week, was worth roughly 16 to 20 years of wages, or about a million dollars or so in today’s money. And we saw, we are to use his resources for his glory. Like the dominion mandate in Genesis 1, where God wanted us to cultivate and subdue the earth under his lordship, or the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus sent us to make disciples with all authority residing in him, we were called to faithful obedience with what God has given. So the two diligent servants, they invested wisely, they used their money wisely, and they doubled what they were given. And so they were rewarded with greater responsibility and the joy of their master. But the fearful, lazy servant, he buried his talent in the ground and he earned condemnation and loss, and it says he was cast into outer darkness, which is a sobering picture of unfaithfulness leading to eternal separation.

So this parable, it challenges us to be good stewards, and stewardship is faith in action. We are to use and multiply what God entrusts us, not to hoard it or squander it. And that means working hard, as God designed us for labor from the garden onward. It means investing righteously to generate more resources for his kingdom. We talked about avoiding profiting from evil, whether through direct sin or indirectly with investments in companies that promote unrighteousness like abortion or pornography, I mentioned. And I also encourage you all that as God’s people, we need to work together to use his money in a good way that can yield much fruit. But ultimately, we need to remember that money is just a tool. It’s a tool. It’s a resource to fuel generosity, to support the church, to advance missions, to claim even areas like education from secular hands, as I talked about. So when we steward poorly, holding back or giving meagerly, as the American church average is just 2–4%, God’s work is hindered. And missionaries go unfunded, pastors burn out bi-vocationally, and families, they lack Christian schooling options. But faithful stewards, which is what God’s called us to be, multiply what God has given for eternal treasure so that we can sow generously and we can trust God to continue to provide and multiply. So that’s a review of last week, since this is part two in the same section.

Today, we’re going to build on this foundation and explore further how to steward wisely in practical areas. We’re going to talk about debt, provision, planning inheritance, saving prudently, and a couple more things. Because God has equipped us not for selfish gain, but to advance his kingdom. Church, may we press in and learn to honor him with every dollar, amen? So to love the Lord with your money and obey his commands requires you to recognize he is the one who has given you the money. And you are to use it for his glory to further his kingdom.

Providing for Your Family

So to start this morning, in order to be faithful servants, one of the things we see in Scripture, one of the ways we’re to steward our money, is God has tasked us with caring for our family—for ourselves, but for our family. The family can easily be overlooked, and it can also be given too high of a priority. Some people spend tons of money on things their family does not need, at the expense of other things that God has laid out for us to do. And some people put their family behind the needs of others. For example, some choose to make sure their kids are fully funded to go to college, make sure that they can take lots of trips and vacation and do all these great things, which are all wonderful things. If you’re funding your kids’ college, I’m sure they’re very happy. I’m not saying that that is wrong by any means. However, if you’re doing it at the expense of the other things that you do—you’re not giving, you’re not tithing, you’re not lending, you’re not doing those other things—then that’s wrong. But on the flip side, there’s also people who give to others to the detriment of their family, not providing for basic needs, and their family misses out because other people have come first, and this is also wrong. If you look at 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 8, it says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Worse than an unbeliever. That’s a pretty harsh statement right there. We’re not providing for your relatives and especially the members of your own household. And of course in Ephesians chapter 5 and 6, the husband is told to love his wife and care for her as if she was his own body. We’re told to bring up our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and not exasperate them, not provoke them to anger. Men, providing for your family is of the utmost importance. It is your responsibility before God. This does not mean you must take them on expensive vacations, though there is a time and a place for that. This does not mean your wife has to have all the fanciest clothes and makeup, though there is a place for those things as well. And I do believe you do need to make providing her with clothes and those things, things that she needs. But church, you are required—men, you are required—to care for your family, to show them love and provide for their needs. And then if you have extra to do other things to bless your family, by all means, but again, [audio unclear] handling your money in a biblical way. It shouldn’t mean, I’m not going to give to my church, I’m not going to bless those other people in need because I’m using my money in another way over here. When God gives us money to bless others, those others include our family. And I would even say it includes your family first, as they’re your first responsibility. So work hard to care for them, and then trust the Lord to provide what is needed. Those who abandon this responsibility deny the faith, as we saw, and are worse than an unbeliever. So men, don’t be that man. Teach your family through action that you work hard to provide for them. And teach them to give generously to the church and others as you do so. This is good stewardship. And it is a wonderful trait. Young men, endeavor to work hard and develop skills that will allow you to provide for a family. And young ladies, work hard to be the woman who loves and serves your family, your church, your future husband and children one day, but look for a man who works hard. You want to look for a man who’s working hard. He will work hard to provide and take care of you, and beware the lazy man. For as Ecclesiastes says, “Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through idleness the house leaks.” You don’t want that for your home. So look for a hardworking man, young ladies. And men, when you go to work to provide for your family, do it knowing that God created you to do it. And then work at it with all your might. That is faithfulness. Going to your job every day to provide for you is faithful obedience to God. Now it can be easy to forget that sometimes. You’re working, you’re working, you might not really like your job. You are being faithfully obedient to the Lord. A faithful man who can find? Scripture says, be a faithful man. And ladies, I encourage you, recognize the work your husband does to provide for your family. It goes a long way.

Inheritance

Now we’re going to talk about inheritance. I have shifted views on this over time for various reasons. I’ve read some Christian authors who encourage parents to leave their kids something really small so that they have to work to earn it, and to give your money to like the church or to ministries when you pass. And while I think it’s great to take some percentage of your money and decide to leave it to the church, I think that that line of thinking is missing out on what Scripture has to say about the topic. So we’re going to look at some Scriptures. In God’s Word, inheritance is a big deal. It’s talked about a lot, and there were proper ways to go about it. Even in the New Testament, we’re called heirs according to the promise, right? Ephesians says we have obtained an inheritance through our Father, through Jesus, and of course it’s talking about the spiritual inheritance here, but the idea is pervasive throughout Scripture, that our good Father gives good gifts and gives us an inheritance. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.” So a good man leaves an inheritance not just to his own children, but to his grandchildren, it says. If we’re really thinking about this, it makes sense. If we are handling our money the way that we should, we’re working hard, we’re saving, we’re investing, we’re being disciplined with the budget, being generous to those in need, and God is increasing our harvest, as we saw in 2 Corinthians, so that we can be even more generous, part of that generosity would be passing it along to our children and to their children, taking care of your family, enabling them to do well. It’s hard to make it today as a young person starting out. If you want to be a young man who loves the Lord and you want to marry and have a family, affording that can be difficult today. Houses are expensive, but what a blessing to be in that trying and in those difficult financial times to receive some sort of inheritance from your parents or your grandparents. That is a blessing that enables a young family to thrive and to care for themselves. But if you want to do that, it takes sacrifice and intentional thought and planning and good handling of money by the people who came before you and then by you. So I just encourage you, church, to think about what you will leave behind for your family. The years go by faster and faster and faster. And before you know it, you’re going to be there. Some of you are already there. And hopefully you’re leaving behind a spiritual legacy, of course, but I’m also talking about a financial legacy.

Let’s turn to Psalm 112. I’m going to read Psalm 112.

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

(Psalm 112)

This man here who fears the Lord and delights in his commands says wealth and riches are in his house. It’s a general principle, not a promise. If you fear the Lord and delight in his commands and walk in his ways, increase so you can continue to do so. Again, we saw that in 2 Corinthians. But if you look at verse 2, it says, his descendants will be mighty on earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed. Blessed because this man fears the Lord and delights in his commands, so he’s passing on a spiritual legacy here, but also blessed as well because of his wealth and riches that without a doubt he passed on to his children. I do want to share a caveat here though. I encourage thinking about and leaving an inheritance to your kids, but you should also prayerfully evaluate your children and your grandchildren’s situations as well. Will the money be a blessing or a curse? There are a lot of tools in the world. And hopefully, if you’re leaving behind a spiritual legacy and you’re training your kids to love the Lord, and you’re training, if you’re using your money well and you’re training them how to use money well, then if they inherit money, they are prepared to use it well. But if you pass on a tool that someone’s not equipped to use well, sometimes those tools can cause damage. And so you should also bravely consider, is this going to be a blessing or a curse? If you think of a smartphone, for example, it’s amazing. It’s amazing that we lived without these things at one point. Extremely useful tool in the hands of the wise and disciplined who know how to use it well. You can get directions, you can get information from the internet, you can talk to AI now, you can keep a calendar, you can do all sorts of useful things with it. Incredibly useful. You can even invest and manage your money from your smartphone, useful tool. At the same time, it can be used to satisfy the lust of the flesh with pornography. It can be used to secretly text people and commit adultery. It can be used for many wicked and wasteful things as well. It’s just a tool. And that’s what money is as well. Money is a tool. And that tool in the right hands becomes a huge blessing. And in the wrong hands, it can also be a curse. So as you’re thinking about inheritance, think about how are my children going to use this money, will it actually be a blessing? And if you think the answer is no, you should really be working on, okay, how can I help them get to a place where this would be a blessing? But I know many, many people who if they received a large inheritance would spend it not only foolishly, but on things that would not advance the kingdom of God, but would actually fight against it, and things that would hurt them. The money would become hurtful instead of helpful. Well, that might sound unfair. I think parents just need to consider that and also consider need. Inheritance doesn’t have to be evenly divided. Use your wisdom as you seek the Lord as you’re trying to discern how to pass your money on to your children. But again, all of this about inheritance is about thinking beyond yourself [audio unclear], dominion, building God’s kingdom long after I’m gone. I don’t know what God—I’m sure as they get older we’re going to see different gifts and talents, and he’s going to use them in ways that are probably beyond my imagination right now. But I hope and pray that they’re going to do that, and I’m working to see this church standing and thriving and doing the Lord’s work long after I’m gone as well. I pray that when I am at home with the Lord, my children and children’s children and their children are out making disciples, taking dominion, and that our church is standing here doing the same thing. Amen. So if you want to see your descendants walking with the Lord and doing even better than you, I hope you do. If you want to see this church far outlive you, thriving and plowing ahead for God’s kingdom, then think beyond the moment with your money and think beyond yourself. You can help see those things become a reality by being a wise steward with what God has given you. By investing it as we talked about, by saving it, by working it so that you can help your kids and grandkids and church at crucial and important times in their lives when they have need, so that you can leave an inheritance that will set them up to do even better than you. And as I mentioned, that’s only one aspect, the financial, of setting them up to do better. Don’t neglect the other parts, especially the spiritual component. Pass to your children what the Lord has given you. Endeavor to be the best parents that you can be and set them up to be even better parents than you were. Teach your kids to love the Lord and be wise and be good stewards so that you are happy to pass your finances along because you know that they’re going to be used well.

You can set up an investment fund for your grandkids. Compound interest is a powerful thing. It doesn’t take a whole lot. Maybe take some of that future inheritance and help your kids get into a house in the crazy housing market. Maybe set up your grandkids so that they’re enabled to do even better with their grandkids because you invested a little bit right now. If you’re a young person, what can you do to set your kids up well? If you’re one of these young married people right now having kids, there’s many of us, praise the Lord. But what can you do for your kids that you don’t even have yet if you’re not there? Again, think long term. Starting an investment account is something that is going to give time for them to grow and set them up. But church, my encouragement really is, in all this, start thinking beyond yourself, beyond this moment. Think generationally to bless the little Olinicheks and the little Rolands and the little Bonds and all these people that are going to be walking around taking dominion and making disciples on the earth long after we are gone. Long after we’re gone.

Debt

So another topic here, moving on: debt and lending money. So debt is an obligation to pay something, to pay someone else. And if you are lending money, you’re the one giving it to someone else. However, lending implies it’s not a gift, but something to be repaid, just so we’re clear. Scripture has a lot to say about both. Romans 13:8 says, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other.” Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” The borrower is slave to the lender. A little bit further, in Proverbs 22 it says, “Be not one of those who give pledges, who put up security for debts. If you have nothing with which to pay, why should your bed be taken from under you?” Don’t give up your house, putting it up as security for something. Psalm 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.” Deuteronomy 15:1–2: “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor.” Deuteronomy 15:7–8: if among you one of your brothers should become poor, you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need. Exodus 22:25: “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.” Plenty more similar Scriptures, but I want to draw some stuff out of those ones I read.

Remember, we are looking to be obedient to God with his money, walking in wisdom in how we steward. So with that in mind, generally speaking, we should avoid debt whenever possible. I say this because while it is fantastic if you can avoid it all the time, it is not possible for most of us today. With the prices of homes especially, it’s beyond the reach of most anyone to buy a home with cash, your first home. It’s a very, very difficult thing. Or if you were to buy or start a business, it can be difficult to do so without some sort of loan. But as you do these things, do them in mind of what God has said: the borrower is slave to the lender. Whoever you are borrowing from, you owe them and are under them until you pay off that debt. And pay it back, you must, for Scripture says it is the wicked who borrows and does not pay back. If you borrow money, you are to pay it back. And while there is a risk in almost anything we do, including loans, Scripture says we should be careful not to put up things you can’t afford to lose as collateral. Don’t mortgage your house away to start a risky business and end up losing your house. If you are going to take out a loan of some kind, make sure it is for a necessary reason, and make sure you’re taking on something that you can actually afford. If you have a budget, this is easier to figure out.

With all that being said, in our culture today, the problem is not that people are afraid to take on debt. The problem is that people will take on debt for all sorts of things. I think I shared last week that you can create payment plans for DoorDash orders now and things like that. So our culture is taking on debt for things it doesn’t need. That is the general problem. And I think that applies to the church as well. People tend to look at, for example, what is the most they can afford to spend on a house, and they go right up to the limit, or maybe a little bit more. And I’ve heard guidelines like, at most you should spend a third or so of your income on housing, mortgage, utilities, all that stuff put together. And realistically, I think wisdom says, spend much less than that if you can. I understand we live right now in kind of a crazy housing situation. House prices are high, interest rates are maybe not historically high, but they feel high because of where we were just at. Often though the trouble I think is we decide what we want and then we go look for it and try to like make our budget fit it, instead of deciding here’s what we can, and then what can we find. People do this with cars as well, buying cars they can’t afford. They end up paying interest on top of the crazy prices of vehicles themselves. I think I read the other day that somewhere around 50% of new car loans are over a thousand dollars a month. It’s crazy. It’s crazy. And then we have credit cards, which in my opinion are incredibly useful tools that have great benefits, again, when used properly with great discipline, but when used improperly without great discipline, without understanding how the tool works, they become snares instead of tools. And so people put vacations they don’t have money for on credit cards, they put furniture they can’t afford on their credit cards, they spend money they don’t have. I remember talking to someone and they wanted furniture, and like, yeah, the furniture we want is like $12,000, plus it’s going to be $15,000. And I was like, oh, I guess you’re going to be saving that for a bit. “Well, we just went and we put it on our credit card.” And I was like, well, did you have the money? “Well, we had the credit.” And I was like, those are two different things, two different things. Okay. That’s not a good use of that tool. Not a good use of that tool. This is not obedience to God in stewarding money well. It is not.

And the problem with all of this in our culture is really the heart. It’s wanting stuff. We’re refusing to live within the means God has provided to us. Instead of praying and trusting and making do with what he has given, we go out and find someone else who will give us more money for the things we want and then charges us interest for it, and then we dig our hole even deeper. Debt is very often really a trust and contentment problem. Not always, but often. Church, I encourage you, don’t become a slave to the lender. Don’t spend money you don’t have. If you’re going to take out money for something, make sure it is necessary and make sure you have a real plan to pay it back. And I would also say, seek counsel before you do it. Ask some people who know what they’re talking about, hey, is this a good idea? It takes humility to do this. None of us like going and asking counsel about big decisions, but humble yourself a little bit, go to someone who knows what they’re talking about and say, hey, here’s what I’m thinking. Do you think this is a good decision? Our country is enslaved. The average household in America has $41,000 of non-mortgage debt, and on average, excluding mortgages, the average household in America pays over $400 a month in just interest on credit cards and things like that. God has called us to be wise and disciplined with our money, church. He has called us to trust him and be content with what he has given us. So if you’re struggling with debt, make a plan to get out. Again, ask for that counsel, get some help. For some people, this is an issue where they need someone to help them work through it and you need the counsel to get out, but for some of us it might just be a heart problem, something that needs to be confessed and repented of, but either way don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Saving

On the flip side of debt you have lenders, which we’ll come back to in a moment. First we’re going to talk about saving. One of the reasons people go into debt sometimes is because they haven’t budgeted well and they haven’t saved money. And saving, Scripture says, is wisdom. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” So, planning. Proverbs 27:23: “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.” Do any of you have flocks or herds today? Probably not. In other words, know what you have and what you may need so you can prepare. A lot of their money is like, oh look what I got, I got flocks and herds and we’re taking care of them. But if you don’t know what’s going on with them, you don’t know their condition, you’re not giving them attention, they might be dying. You need to know what you have and what you may need so you can prepare. You have a good reason to have a budget for spending. Proverbs 30, verses 24 and 25: “Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer.” Proverbs 6, verses 6 through 8: “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” The idea of these Scriptures is that wisdom prepares. Wisdom saves. Saves up resources, saves up money for when it will be needed. It plans ahead. That doesn’t mean you don’t trust God to provide what you need. It means you are stewarding well. You are intentionally deciding to forgo spending money on something you might want, to save up for when you might need something later—for short-term, long-term plans, and of course even longer-term plans like retirement. One day, you likely will not be able to work to provide. [audio unclear]

Lending

A lot of people think that those who give out loans are all rich and greedy. And sometimes that’s the case, but often it’s not. Sometimes we need something that we don’t have funds for, and other people have the capital to make it happen, which is a blessing. It’s a blessing. In Scripture, God set up things for his people to protect those who had to take out a loan. But he doesn’t say you can’t make money off of your money. A legit means of business is loaning money for things and getting interest, assuming you are not charging an unfair or dishonest amount, trying to take advantage of someone. If you’re not doing those things, there’s nothing wrong with that. If we look at a few more verses, Exodus 22:25: “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.” Leviticus 25:35–37: “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.” Deuteronomy 15, verse 1: “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed.” And Deuteronomy 23:20: “You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”

So my question is, what do we see about the heart of God here? He is concerned for his people. He’s concerned for the poor and protecting them. And if you operate in a way that you loan people money as a business, be fair, be just, and be full of mercy. Don’t take advantage of people, especially those who may be considered poor. There’s a lot of businesses out there that are specifically set up to try to take advantage of poor people who are in bad situations, and they charge crazy interest. That’s wrong. But when it comes to lending money to your brother, to those who belong to Christ, special care should be taken. We see commands in the Old Testament not to charge your brother interest. We see release granted after a certain time. We see commands to take no interest or profit from your brother who becomes poor. You shouldn’t be lending him money to look to make a profit off of him. And these were commands to Israel, but it is a reflection of God’s heart. The lending to your brother—lending as a business is about making money. That’s what it’s about. And even if you put your money in a bank to get interest, they’re using your money to make money, and then they’re giving you a little bit. So that’s not wrong. But when it comes to lending to your brother’s need, the intent is not to go make money off of your brother in need, it’s to help your brother who’s a part of your family. His Father and your Father are the same. Doesn’t mean you must lend to him. It doesn’t mean you lend to him for things he doesn’t need. In a business situation, you don’t need to care whether or not the person needs the money if you think they can pay you back. If they want to go buy a bunch of useless stuff with it and they can pay you back, then that’s fine. But here, you’re concerned about helping your brother with something he needs. So in a lending-to-your-brother situation, you’re not lending him money so he can go buy a Corvette. You’re not lending him money because you are—you’re lending him money because he has a need and God has put you there to help meet that need. Not about making money, it’s about using your resources to help. Back in Psalm 112, it says, the man who fears the Lord—wealth and riches are in his house. That general principle about giving and being equipped to give even more. Verse 5 says, it is well with the man who is gracious and lends. That’s not encouraging us to make money off lending, but to lend to those who are in need and to do so graciously. And verse 9 says, he has given freely to the poor. His righteousness endures forever, and he will be exalted. Again, echoing 2 Corinthians about giving.

The Sheep and the Goats

Go back to Matthew 25 here though and look at this as well. And this is less about lending. [audio unclear] We’ll read through verse 40.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?” Then he will answer them, saying, “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

(Matthew 25:31–46)

Now notice there, it says the extent you did these things to one of these brothers of mine. Jesus is again talking about taking care of those who are his. As you fed his brothers, as you cared for them, you did that unto him. But for those who did not, he says in verse 41 what we just read. If we belong to Jesus, we love him and we trust him and obey him, including with our money. We are generous in giving and we especially look to take care of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need. Faith without works is dead, church. Faith without works with money is dead. Wake up, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Call Sin What It Is

In conclusion, we see again, we are stewards. Remember, we are stewards to use the money God has given in the way he has instructed. So steward well, church. Steward well. And one last important piece of this, I think, will help us recognize bad stewardship for what it is. We need to recognize this. At our life groups on Friday, we talked about how the word “sin” had disappeared from our culture. And I think the main reason that this is the case is because the church has stopped talking about sin. Who’s going to talk about sin if it’s not the church? Like the world’s not going to talk about sin. If sin is disappearing from the culture as a word being used and people aren’t familiar with it, it’s because the church has stopped talking about it. The church has stopped calling things sin. You see this in worship songs today. A lot of worship songs avoid using the word sin. They’ll say things like “mistakes” or “shame.” Many gospel presentations from pastors avoid talking about sin. There’s been multiple funerals over the past years, and the word sin is raised once when they’re sort of presenting the gospel. And if sin does get mentioned, it’s not defined. It’s kept very vague, and sins aren’t actually named. This is harmful to our culture, and it’s harmful to us. We are already prone to try to minimize our own sin, to try to make it not important. So we need it called out for us. If we say, oh, I made a mistake, and we think of it that way instead of recognizing when we’ve sinned, then we just don’t take it as seriously. And if we say we messed up, we’re less likely to deal with it properly than if we recognize, yeah, I messed up and I sinned. It was sin. But what are Christians to do when we see that we have sinned? We’re supposed to take it seriously. We’re supposed to repent. Christians repent. They turn from their sin.

I think far too many of us look at how we use our money as somewhat inconsequential. We think, okay, it’s our money, so in the end, we’re going to use it however we want. The problem is it is not your money. It belongs to the Lord. He’s called you to steward it well. Now there’s certainly such a thing as wise stewardship and unwise stewardship, and I’m not saying that there are not mistakes and decisions that are made in ignorance and that aren’t sin. There’s plenty of things you can do with your money that might not be the most wise, but they’re not sinful. But church, hear me on this. There is such a thing as being sinful with how you choose to use your money. And you do no one a favor when you just call your sin a mistake or, oh, like I’m struggling a little bit, I got to get this right. If you have been sinful and disobedient with your money, what should you do? You confess it to the Lord, confess it to your spouse, you confess it to someone else if you need to. What do you do with your sin when it has had a hold on you? You bring it into the light so it can’t continue to grow. You expose it. You expose it. You repent. You turn away from it. You cry out to the Lord for help and then start walking in obedience.

Closing Charge

We started this series off in Matthew 6 because it talks about the heart: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We can have all sorts of knowledge about God and his Word and still be walking in disobedience because of a hard heart. Church, ask yourself, where is your treasure? Where is your heart, and may it be for the Lord, amen. So church, repent if necessary and ask the Lord to give you a heart for him. Ask him to help you to turn away from a love of money or just bad stewardship so that you can use what he has given you for his glory in the way that he has called you. So as you do that, as you ask the Lord for a heart for him, then go and work hard and rely on the Spirit of God that dwells within you. You go and you work hard and be generous with your money. Work hard, support your local church. Work hard, provide for your family. Work hard and leave an inheritance to your children’s children. Work hard and avoid debt as much as you possibly can. Work hard and save wisely so you’re prepared for the unexpected and the expected. Work hard and lend and give freely to your brothers and sisters who are in need. Work hard, all to the glory of God, serving him and not yourself. Amen.

Closing Prayer

And I ask, Lord, that you would help us to continue to mine it, that we would see more of your heart, that as I just kind of scratch the surface of some of these things with money, God, that you would encourage people to go dig and see what else your Word has to say about money, that as a church, we would steward well what you’ve given us. God, I pray that you would enable us here to pass on a wonderful inheritance to our children, that we would raise them to love you, to know you, to be good stewards themselves, God, and that there’d be lots of our descendants going around the earth, taking dominion and making disciples, God, using the gifts and things that you’ve given, but help us to be a part of passing on good things to them. God, help us to steward well, and I do pray, Lord, that you’d help us to see our sin for what it is, Lord, if there’s sin in our hearts, if we’ve been handling money sinfully, that we would turn from it, we would repent, we would confess, and that we would begin to walk in obedience, that we would not make excuses, that we would not minimize, Lord. There’s a blessing, Lord, that comes from obedience, and we thank you for that. And Lord, I know even just talking to some other people in the last couple of weeks, the weight that sin has and the weight that gets lifted when there’s repentance and there’s confession and turning. And so I pray, Lord, that we would experience that as we turn from our sin and turn to you, God, that you would lift a weight off of the shoulders of your people. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.