The Heart of Money

So, I know I'm online, but my brother and his wife make it up here from Florida. Um I didn't know they were coming from Jacksonville. So, hey, you guys all have to say hi to them when they're done. Part of the family.

So, this is a family, but that's like really part of my family. So, um it's kind of cool. So, you know, I spent actually um the week in Florida seeing Mom and Janine. Um and my friends.

And uh that's why the tan. But when I came back, I didn't shave at all the whole time I was there, okay? Thinking, no big deal. I'll come back.

I'll shave. I go this morning to pull up my shaver thing, you know, and it's not working. I'm like, ah. I look at it.

So, now I've got a debate cuz I don't have shaving cream either. I'm either shaving with no shaving cream, which if you've ever done that hurts, like hurts, or I run real quick to the store, get a new shaver, and come back. So, I chose option two. So, I run to the store.

CVS is open 24 hours. I grab it. I come back. And it has to charge for 70 minutes before it can be used.

So, 30 minutes later, I'm in the same boat as I was. I either hurt or I just go in there. And I thought of Moses. He had a beard.

So, I'm here. Um Today, today I'm going to talk about money though, okay? And it's it's a topic that is um not taught properly in the church today in my humble opinion. Um and I have a unique um situation here where uh for those who don't know, um I pay all the bills of this place from my own tithes and offerings.

So, I'm not beholding to anybody. I can preach just preach the word. I don't have to worry about if everyone leaves, you know, whatever. I'm still, you know, the bills are going to get paid.

And so, I don't have to worry. I also don't have a deacon board, okay? So, I can't get fired. So, I can preach the word truly unfiltered.

And God showed me some things even this week that I'm going to share with you. So, um I'm going to start in Revelation actually three. Uh, chapters 14 through 20 or um, verses 14 through 20. And I'm reading now.

This is to the Laodicean church, okay? Many will say that we are in the Laodicean church age that these churches were different ages and um, whether that whether I I go all the way there or not, there's no way you can't say looking around that we have a lukewarm Christianity that is prevalent in this country and um, so there's lukewarm Christians and the Laodicean church was a lukewarm church and so let's read now what Jesus says. This is all red letters. This is what the spirit says to the churches.

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold or hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Because you say I am rich, I have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched miserable poor blind naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich in white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me. What hit me this week was why is this church lukewarm? Okay?

Verse 17 tells us the answer. Okay? Because you say I am rich, I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing and do not know that you're wretched miserable poor. The lukewarm church is lukewarm because of money.

Because they have money. And truly in the history of the world, there's never been a country quite like America as far as the wealth that's in this country. We're a very rich country, okay? Even the homeless people here generally have cell phones, okay?

It's just we we are we are truly a country with a lot of money. And you might say, "Well, Brian, that's the American dream to work hard and and and earn all this money." But but what we're taught in the church proper kind of goes against what the Bible says, okay? Um God is not concerned with your wealth.

He's not. He's concerned with your heart. It's all about the heart. This message is the heart of money, okay?

I'll tell you a secret. What you think about the most is what you love, okay? If you wake up in the morning and let's say you're in love and you wake up and you're all you think about is that person, okay? All right.

That person is an idol. They're taking precedence over God. If you wake up and everything that's on your mind is about money, how to how to make it, how to spend it, how to protect it, how to whatever, and it's not on God, okay? You've got an idol and it's money.

All right. Um whether it's your stuff, whether it's a person, and by your actions you will know what your heart is. Show me your checkbook and show me your time management, you know, day planner and I'll tell you what you love. It's it'll be apparent what you love.

The love of money can be with rich people, but also poor people, okay? If you wake up in the morning, all you're thinking about is how to get money, how to work more money. Believe it or not, that's become an idol, too, even though you don't have any money to spend, okay? That's not trusting God.

Do the things that God tells you to do, and then you trust God with the results, okay? Verse 20 says something very interesting. Jesus is standing outside, and he says, "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me." Okay?

So, the question is, why is Jesus on the outside of the lukewarm Christian's heart? Okay? Because money's there. Okay?

Because there's something in there that's more important than the love of God, and it's the love of money. All right? Now, the prevalent teaching in this world, in our culture, takes things that sound godly, okay? And twist it into a prosperity type of thought process, okay?

Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and you shall receive." I've heard that preached. Last week we were talking about praying bold prayers, right? You got to pray for bold prayers.

All right? And yes, you can be bold, but naming it and claiming it is not godly, okay? And here's why. I want you to get this.

If you're really desiring money, and then God gives you money, guess what's happening? You're moving away from God. Why would God give you something that will hurt you? Because you can't take your money with you, right?

Can't take it with you. What are you going to have in heaven? Your heart, and that relationship with Jesus, right? You're going to have that relationship with Jesus.

So, that's what God cares about is that relationship with him. We got to get that relationship right first. That has to be right. If your heart's not right and your relationship isn't right, it with God, then why would he bring more money into your life if that's going to drive you away from him?

Okay, do you get it? So, where the main church out there is saying, you know, if God blesses you, you're wealthy and God's going to do all these good things, you know, it's actually teaching something that's false. Because if all you care about is money, and you're praying about it, okay? Even when you're praying to God, if you're praying to God about money, you're still praying about money.

Still about money, okay? And I know I'm going to upset some people here. Oh, wait, I'm not done. Um it gets worse.

But but why would he give us something that would hurt us? Why would a married couple's Why would a a woman send her man to a strip club if they're married, right? That's not That's not helping the marriage any, okay? He is the groom and we are the bride.

Why would he give us something that's going to hurt our relationship with him? Okay? But if we get our hearts right towards God, and we're going to We're going to see in a minute in Matthew 25, then he will send the money where it's most put together, where it's used most, okay? I've got a lot of wealthy friends.

Okay? And they'll say God blessed them, and it's true, okay? God's blessed them, and it's true. It's technically true.

God's blessed all of us. We're all here, man. None of us are on an empty stomach. There's free donuts in the back if you're still hungry.

Um but think about it. Why would God, all things being equal, give more money to this kid than another kid? Like at Christmas time, I give all my kids the same amount of money, all right? Or I spend the same amount, depending on, you know, what they want.

Most of them now they just want money. It's easy for me. Um but I give them all the same. I don't give one more.

Why would I do that? Why would a father do that? So, why would God do that with you? You know, it it doesn't actually make sense.

He doesn't love someone else more than you. So, this thing where you're blessed only if you have money isn't true. Or that if you if you seek money and you claim it and you name it and and you're bold about it and you ask God and his blessings are coming and all this, why would he Why would he give that to one person over another? All right.

There was that show that movie um had Jim Carrey in it and he was like God for a moment or something like that, okay? And he just said yes to everything one time and there were like 300 people that won the lottery, you know? So, people are They're all praying to God to win the lottery, right? If you're buying a lottery ticket and you're praying to God to win the lottery, don't be surprised if you don't win it, right?

Um because your head's on wrong or your heart's on wrong. It's more true to say that people have who have money are the ones who know how to handle money. That's a more true statement, okay? And there's nothing wrong with that.

In Matthew 25:14, Jesus tells a parable. This is in the middle of three parables that are in the middle of his end times thing. It's the parable of the talents, okay? And you've heard this preached on lots of times.

Um and uh it's so rich. There are a lot of passages that can come from this, okay? But we're going to study and and learn hopefully a couple new things about the heart of God towards this money situation okay? These are in um his end times discourse in Matthew 24 and 25, okay?

So, this is an end times parable. God wants us operating a certain way near the end, okay? And and this is one of them. And I'm going to read now um Matthew 25:14-30.

5. 14th through 30. For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one.

To each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord's money.

After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. All of these parables that he tells about talks about him going somewhere for a while and coming back. That's what's happened, okay? Jesus came, he died, he was resurrected, he went back up to the right hand of God the Father, and he will come back to settle accounts one day, okay?

And so, these are just these are stories of him, all right? And so, he had He who had received five talents came and brought five other talents saying, "Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I've gained five more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant.

You were faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." He also who had received two talents came and said, "Lord, you delivered to me two talents.

Look, I've gained two more talents besides them." His lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many things.

Enter into the joy of the lord." The exact same reward for both of them, okay? Then he who had received the one talent came and said, "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground.

Look, there you have what is yours." But his lord answered and said to him, "You wicked and lazy servant, you know that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. So, you ought to have deposited in my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. So, take the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents.

For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And cast this unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. So, the master goes away.

Note, he gives the talents to the people. It's the master's money, okay? He's giving it to them. So, they're called a steward.

We are stewards. It's all God's, okay? God doesn't need your money. All right?

God has all of it, okay? We get to partake of the master's blessing. But the other thing I want you to notice is there's no mention of him helping the guy with the five. Okay?

Now, think about it. This is what we're taught, okay? If we do right and we pray and we pray and we pray, God's going to help us become successful. There's no mention of that here.

Okay? He's not going up to guy with five, "Hey man, Nvidia. Buy Nvidia." Okay?

He's not doing that. All right? He's He's there to to apply the principles himself. All right?

Because we're going to learn ourselves from applying those principles. We all have the same runway. So, what's being taught in the church that if you pray, God's going to help you with your money, is actually false based on this. Based on the fact that if all you're caring about is money, then when he gives it to you, you're going to come away from him.

And it's all about your heart. You can't take the money with you. Some may have more giftedness. Right?

Some had five, some have two, but the reward is the same if you spend them, if you apply yourself directly okay? And finally, doing nothing is wicked and lazy. God has given all of us gifts. And we are to apply those gifts.

We're not supposed to sit there wallowing and and doing nothing out of fear or out of worry or out of sadness. We're supposed to be applying ourselves, okay? So, those who become wealthy know how to handle money, not because God has blessed them, because they know how to handle money. If that were true, that you can only become wealthy if God blesses you, then why are atheists wealthy?

That doesn't make sense, right? The probably the 10 richest people in the world, I don't know if any of them are Christians. Certainly the Muslim sheiks or whoever aren't Christians, right? Whoever the prince of whatever, you know?

So, being Christian doesn't make you wealthy, all right? What this world teaches is simply not true. All blessings are from God, yes, but money isn't necessarily a blessing, certainly not to Jesus. He didn't think it was a blessing.

The rich young ruler, Matthew 19, comes up to him. Okay? Remember that story? Comes up, he's rich, he's He says, "What can I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus lists the 10 Commandments. He says, "I've done them all." Jesus smiles and he says, "Sell everything you got, give it to the poor, and come and follow me okay?" If Jesus really cared about money, he wouldn't tell him to sell it all, give it to the poor, and follow him.

What Jesus cared about was this guy's heart. And his heart, and he walked away because his heart, Jesus knew his heart, his heart was all about his money, okay? It's harder, Jesus then goes on to say in Matthew 19:23 and 24, he goes on to say that it's harder for rich man to get into heaven than a camel to get through the eye of a needle, okay? And in a wealthy culture, it's truly hard for people to be on fire for the Lord.

I'm a member of the yacht club, I'm a member of the chairman's club. I've got a lot of wealthy friends, okay? And all of them will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. I I I think all of them are Christians.

I I you know, that I know of, you know? We don't really sit around talking about it, okay? But all of them would acknowledge, I think. And they're good people, man.

They're good people. But I know that if Jesus came down and said, "Hey, sell everything and come and preach in a church somewhere." Not many of them would do it, okay? Because they've become used to that lifestyle, okay?

And and it's very hard for them. The reason I'm still a member there, even though I no longer live there and I don't have a boat, um but I'm still a member of the yacht club is because I want to learn how to reach those people. Cuz who's going to talk to them about Jesus? Most people are intimidated by them, okay?

But I'm not. But I got to get better at it. I I haven't been able to get the words, you know, quite right, okay? And so I'm learning.

I'm growing. I'm trying to go up there and hang out with them and still talk about something other than money or just life. Um but about Jesus. And so when you have nothing, it's kind of easier to give it up, actually.

It's harder for a wealthy person to be sold out. But the proper view of money is this, we are stewards. It's not our money. Every dollar you have in your bank account is not your money.

It's God's money. You're just a steward of it. And you have to be a good steward. Money is a tool.

Okay? It's just a tool. It was the master who gave the kids the talents. All right?

It's simply a tool to be used. It's a steward. It's not ours. If you handle it well, Jesus says here, you'll get more.

Why? If I had to turn my company over to one of my kids, I would choose the kid who's best able to handle running that company right? If you're good with money, it's very likely. Why wouldn't God then, if your heart's on right and you're good with money, why wouldn't God then make sure more money gets in your hands because it can flow through, right?

That's what he says in Matthew 25:28-29. Let's listen to this. This is Jesus now, not me. Don't get mad at me.

So, take the talent from him, the the useless one, the guy who did nothing with it, and give it to him who has 10 talents. Well, that's Why wouldn't he give it to the one who had five? Why didn't he Why give it to the guy who has the most? Okay?

That's not Is that fair? He's not communist, is he? You know, that's not a communism thought process. That's a capitalistic thought process.

This is Jesus saying, "Take it from the one who's done nothing with it and give it to one who has." And then Jesus Christ says, "For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away." Okay? So, I say all this to say, we've got to learn how to handle money in a biblical concept okay?

And so, if you've got your notepads, I really want you to have notepads because I'm going to give you bullet points. We're going to do a short course on money. Um the first rule of money from a biblical standpoint is Matthew 6:33, which says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added on to you." Okay?

You have to have God as the master and owner of your heart. Okay? That's what you're going to have in all eternity, not your money. Not the Rolex, not anything else.

It's not going to be that. You're going to have that relationship. That is the most number one rule of all for money. Seek first the kingdom of God okay?

You must spend more time with God, getting to know him, seeking to grow more like Jesus than you do spending time worrying about money. Until your heart is more full of God than money, not get You're not a person that God can financially bless, okay? Because your heart is wrong. If an alien were to come to America today and listen to this most of the sermons out there, he would think that God's purpose is to make you successful and happy.

That's his goal. He would think that. He wouldn't think It would be like the dog I saw something where the dogs were, you know, were talking and they feel like the their master is walking up They're actually the master and the the person's walking them, you know? It's It's It's backwards, all right?

It's not like that. It But that's what they would get. That's what they would think if they listened to a lot of sermons, but it's not that way. God has to be the center of it all, okay?

Second rule of money. 1 Timothy 6:6, "Godliness with contentment is great gain." Be content right where you are. Okay?

Always wanting more and it's the is the source of so much unhappiness. It's the source of source of so much destruction and distraction. It really is. Be happy with the car you have until it's dead and then you've got to get another one, okay?

Just be happy with it. It's fine, you know? Right, man? He just He didn't have a car for like 6 weeks.

And if he couldn't bum a ride to church, he wouldn't show up. I was missing him, you know? Um Yeah, I love you, dude. Um Be content with what you had.

Jesus says in Luke 12:15, he says, "Take heed and beware of covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Um I could use you as an example today, but I'm not going to. Um this guy is careful with his money.

I'll just say that. Um but to be content, okay? Just be content where you're at. It's key.

It really is. If you're content, no matter what. It was nice when I was living on the lake, but man, the place I'm in now, it's nice. We're going to get a little fire pit.

We're going to get a little thing. We can grill out. You know, it's it's nice. It's it's nothing wrong with it, you know?

Why not? And if if something happens down the road and my business stops, you know, I'm going to I there's certain things I'm going to do, but I'm not going to worry about it, okay? I have plenty. Most of us have plenty.

We really do. We just are in a culture where covetousness is is is just pushed on us. Commercials and Face and oh man, every time you get on Facebook, there's another the big thing now is they do these they almost sound like an uh uh uh like some guru is telling you about this thing or whatever, but it's really a sponsored ad, okay? But it but it seems like someone's just posting something.

So, be content with what you are. The third goal. So, first one? What was it?

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Second one? Godliness with contentment is great gain. The third one, be a good steward of the money.

That's number three. Be a good steward of the money. What does that mean? All right.

A, B, and C underneath your number three is going to be A, B, and C, all right? Told you you needed a thing. A, the first thing, get a job. Get a job, man.

A- and I and I know there's a lot of people struggling to try to find work, etc. But, there is work available, okay? If I were to lose everything in my business, okay? Let's say there's a war that happens and all of a sudden martial law is declared and no one's buying any commercial real estate anymore, okay?

And I have no money coming in. All right? I do have savings, but I would still go and I'd get a job. First thing I would do is call everyone I know, see if any of them have a job.

The next thing I would do is then go on all these ads. And then the third thing I do is go and get a job somewhere. And it doesn't matter if it's at Pizza Hut. Doesn't matter if it's at Uber.

It doesn't matter whatever. My My buddy owns 15 uh Little Caesars. He says all but one of his stores he's constantly looking for work, okay? Now, is making pizzas, you know, you could say beneath me?

No, because when money comes in, you then have the ability to pay bills, to do things. You have something you can work with, even if it's smaller than before, okay? You have something you can work with. So, I don't care what job it is.

Now, the beauty of all those little jobs at the place they're only 4 to 6 hours. That's a little shift, man. 6 hours, it's nothing. You know, go there and then you spend the other 6 hours finding a job.

All right? And then you sleep 12, that's still a ton of time. Okay? So, get a job.

You must have inflow coming into your thing. If you're a business owner, you have to have inflow coming in. If the sales have slowed down, you've got to do something to build those sales up. Or you've got to do the next thing, cut the expenses, which is live beneath This is number B, live beneath your means, okay?

I want you to take two columns, Not right now, but when you get home, okay? On the one hand, the income you have coming in. On the other hand, the expenses you have going out, okay? If the expenses are higher than the income, you need to cut the expenses.

But Brian, I don't want to cut my Netflix. You just got to do it, man. Um, you know, or whatever it is. Or if Netflix is too important, then get a second job and bring the income level up.

One of the two. But you can't have more going out than coming in, because the only way to balance that is by more debt. The more debt you have, the more debt you're going to have. And the borrower is what?

The servant of the lender. That puts you into bondage, okay? You have to get this right. And if you're a small business owner, you got to get it right yourself, okay?

Back in fourth quarter last year, the um government shut down for like 6 weeks. My business got turned off, cuz most of my business was SBA. I couldn't fund a loan. So I used that time.

So now all of a sudden, my income went like this. But my expenses are still there. It's funny, right? You still got to pay those bills.

So I let go of somebody, shaved $5,000 a month to get these back in line. Now this year, the income's back up, but the the expenses are still there. So guess what? I'm doing well now.

Why? Because my inflows are exceeding my outflows. And if something happens down the road, and it messes me up, I'm going to do the same thing. Okay?

Why? Because you can do that for a month, but if you're doing that month after month after month, you're going the wrong way. And God's not going to help you here. You got to You got to get control of your expenses.

You got to get control of your income. But Brian, I'm tired. I don't want to work a second job, man. Then cut expenses.

But Brian, I don't want to cut my Netflix. Then get a job. But don't keep doing what you're doing. You're not going to get anywhere, right?

You can't It doesn't match. All right, do you get it? This is basic money 101, okay? God has given you these things.

You're a steward. He You want him to come back and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." You don't want to come back and say, "Dude, take it from him. Give it to this guy.

He's Don't want to do that." You want to be the good and faithful servant, okay? Um Be a faithful steward. Why would God open the door to more if you're not faithful with where he's at right now, okay?

And this may be If it's bothering you what I'm talking about, man, just take it to the Lord. Um I want a bunch of people that are not lukewarm in my church. I want a bunch of people that are on fire. And money will keep you from being sold out for the Lord.

It will. It's the number one thing. Jesus talked about it all the time, okay? C underneath three of being a good steward.

Give God the first fruits. Prove in your actual money that God comes first. It's all about trust and relationship, okay? What marriage is good if you don't trust your wife?

Or if your wife can't trust the husband. Is that a solid marriage relationship? No. There has to be trust, okay?

God, Jesus is the groom and we're the bride. We can trust the groom with our money. But when we pay all our bills and then if there's a little left over, spiff God, we're not trusting God. Cuz God says, "Give the first fruits."

Okay? Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give to God what is God's." Okay? God says the first fruits are his.

It's Old Testament and New Testament. There's people out there that'll preach, "Don't tithe. It's not a New Testament thing." They're teaching incorrectly.

There's some that'll teach to say, "Well, you have to be a cheerful giver." So, let them start with 1%. They're teaching incorrectly. Okay?

On the authority of God's word, they are teaching incorrectly. Because when you sit there and say, "Ah, I feel happy giving God 1% instead of 10%." Who's on the throne? Us.

Will God ever tell you to do something that has you on the throne and not him? No. That's poor preaching. But it's prevalent.

Okay? Let's do this thing right, man. Let's give it right. Let's do what we're supposed to do.

If you don't give God the first fruits, you don't trust God. But Brian, I love him. I do trust him. Show me your checkbook, man.

I'll show you if you really trust him. If he gets the last instead of the first, you're not trusting him. And I am telling you, he will meet your needs if you step out in faith and trust him. He will.

I've seen thousands. The ministry I had before we did this was a biblical stewardship ministry. I have thousands of eyewitness accounts. Even my own mom.

Okay? When she started tithing, discovered that, "Wow, I don't know how, but everything gets paid." Okay? You got to give God the first fruits.

So, be a good steward means get some income coming in, okay? Get your your columns correct, okay? Live beneath your means. And then give God the first fruits.

And then number four, the fourth thing, so the first thing was I got to keep going back. The first thing was seek first God. Get Get Get right with God first, right? Then godliness with contentment.

Be content where you're at. Then be a good steward. And the fourth thing is stop worrying. Trust God.

If you do what I've just shared, you've got the the right side ledger, you've got some income coming in, and you're giving God the first fruits. Just let it go. Let it go because God's going to take care of you. He promises it in scripture.

I feel like the way I've set up this church, I feel like the way I flow my money is something that God's very happy with. Okay? And I feel his pleasure on me because I don't worry about money. And listen, I know what's coming.

I know it could hurt my business, but I'm not counting on the money I got saved. I just know God's going to take care of me. I know it. I know it so deep down that I know it.

Okay? You've got to trust God. Jesus said, "Do not worry, right? Look at the sparrows, they don't worry.

Look at them, they don't worry." Jesus said, "Do not worry." If God says do not worry, and then you worry, guess what you're doing? You're sinning.

You're sinning. Worrying is sin. First Timothy 6 17 through 19. Um command those who are rich, so Honestly, most of us truly are rich.

And if you compare America to the rest of the world, man, there are some people in the world making 30 bucks a month. Month. Okay? Um we are we are really rich.

So, he's talking to to this church age that we're in. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may hold lay hold of eternal life. There is a beamus seat judgment after we're all in heaven.

There's going to be another judgment, the judgment seat of Christ, where all of the works that we've done while we're here in the in the body, okay, are going to be brought before us. And if they're good works, we're going to get rewards. And if they're not, they're going to get burnt up. We're not going to lose our salvation.

We're already in heaven. We're good. But we're going to have rewards, and they're eternal rewards, okay? Money is a tool.

It's a great servant. But hear me out. I'm not saying if you give you're going to get. All right?

Between 1998 and 2008, I gave a million dollars away to ministry. A million dollars. That's a hundred thousand dollars a year. And I don't think on my tax return I ever had more than 250, okay?

So, by the the way this thing is taught in this world today I should just be loaded, rolling. Rolling with nothing to worry about. And then Lehman Brothers went down. And my business crumbled.

Okay? Wait. Brian, you gave all that money. Why did that happen?

Why did your business crumble? Because money is a tool for us to use, but it's also a tool that God can use to grow us and correct us, okay? I was cocky. I was arrogant.

I was the best. Just ask me. Okay? So God had to do something drastic.

Even though I given. So, this doctrine that teaches if you give, you're going to get, that's not true. You don't give to get. You give because Jesus tells you to and because that's the proof that you love him more than you love money.

Show it in real time in your money, okay? Now, what God did through that time was grow me and change me and get me to a point where there was nothing that I could do except hold on and hope that he was going to cover. And he did. My kids you guys kids don't know.

So, their mom also left. So, it's me and four kids. My business is in the toilet bowl, okay? I'm 60, 90, 120 days late on bills, all right?

I got American Express. American Express is tough, man. If you get on the wrong side of American Express, I won't I won't have one of them anymore after after that happened. So, I'm sitting there trying to handle everything, coming in the office.

American Express, I'll give you $30 on Tuesday, you know, they're calling me the next day. It's not Tuesday yet. I don't care, we're calling you anyway, you know? And then I have to get on the phone.

Hi, you want a mortgage? You know, so it was a really tough time, all right? But these kids don't don't remember it being tough at all. They don't remember that.

They were always fed. Our needs were always met. They were always met. We even took some vacations.

How? I don't even know. I don't even know. How did we take vacations at that time?

There's not a year's gone by that we didn't do at least one vacation. Ever. How did that happen when I'm that hurting on money? I don't know.

God provided. Okay? That's how it works. You've got to seek God first, okay?

And when you do and you start trusting him, you'll never have to worry about money again. I don't have to worry about money again. Okay? I just don't.

Do I have to be a good steward? Yes. Do I have to be aware of what's happening? Yes.

Okay? Do I have to do some things? Sure. Okay?

But I know God's got me. Okay? I'm not frivolous with my money. I know God's got me.

All right? God needed to humble me and that was a good thing. The blessings of God is not a Maserati. The blessings of God is a humble and contrite heart.

Okay? So, I say all that to say, you guys can come up. Seek God first. Trust him first.

Okay? Do the things he tells you to do. Simple obedience. And he will take care of you.

He just will. He's good. He's good. He really is good.

And you It's time for people, if you're not stepping out, to step out and try. Just trust him. Just see what happens, man. It's a beautiful thing.

To to step out and watch and then God delivers and then that builds your faith and then you get stronger and stronger. It's a great place to be. Okay? So, I'm going to pray over us and uh these guys are going to do a uh song and and uh we'll wrap up.

Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that uh your heart towards money and towards us was shown today. I hope that these people will understand what I said and that I didn't say anything in a way that would be confusing, Lord. I just pray that you be with them, that you help them to trust you more, to love on you more, to give more, and to be faithful stewards of your money. And um Lord, let it not be said of anyone in this church or under the sound of my voice that we love money more than God.

Let our actions show, Lord, that we love you more than we do money so that the things of this world no longer have a hold on us and we can truly be sold out believers for you. And it's in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.