Speaker 1: Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are so glad
Speaker 1: you're here. This is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren.
Speaker 1: So let's join Rick right now for the final part
Speaker 1: of a message called Lessons from a Shrewd Money Manager.
Speaker 2: The seventh thing that we learn in money management is
Speaker 2: that money shows how much. Money shows what I love most.
Speaker 2: It shows what I love most, and that's the next verse.
Speaker 2: In verse thirteen, Jesus talks about the fact that money
Speaker 2: really reveals my priorities. It shows what I value, what
Speaker 2: I love most. Verse thirteen, Jesus says no servant can
Speaker 2: serve two masters. You ever try to serve two bosses.
Speaker 2: Doesn't work. It doesn't work. It's a stress on you.
Speaker 2: It says he will either hate the one and love
Speaker 2: the other, or he'll be devoted to one and despise
Speaker 2: the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Now,
Speaker 2: once you circle the word cannot, this verse is filled
Speaker 2: with deep spiritual truth, and let me pull out a
Speaker 2: few of them.
Speaker 3: Number one.
Speaker 2: Notice here he says it is impossible to live with
Speaker 2: divided allegiance. He doesn't say it's difficult to live for
Speaker 2: God and money or it's hard to live for God
Speaker 2: and money, or it's stressful to live for both God
Speaker 2: and money. He says, you cannot, it's impossible. You cannot
Speaker 2: serve God and money. And so the real stress in
Speaker 2: your life going on right now is not what's in
Speaker 2: the economy that's symptomatic on the outside. What's the real
Speaker 2: stress is what's going on inside you. You have a
Speaker 2: divided heart, and the heart of the problem in your
Speaker 2: stress is a problem of the heart.
Speaker 3: It's you're trying to serve two gods at once.
Speaker 2: You can't say, my number one goal in life is
Speaker 2: to make money, and my number one one goal in
Speaker 2: life is to serve God. You can't have two number
Speaker 2: one goals. One has to be subordinate to the other.
Speaker 2: You have to decide what's going to be God in
Speaker 2: your life, God or money. And if God is God
Speaker 2: in your life, then money takes a subordinate role. It
Speaker 2: takes a secondary position. It's not as important as doing
Speaker 2: what God wants you to do. And if God says
Speaker 2: do something but it costs me money, I still do
Speaker 2: what God tells.
Speaker 3: Me to do. You can't have two gods.
Speaker 2: Now, God doesn't want your money, it's all his anyway,
Speaker 2: what you think is yours is really his. What he
Speaker 2: wants is what it represents, your heart. He wants your
Speaker 2: heart now, he says here in this verse, no servant
Speaker 2: can serve two masters. In other words, I'm going to
Speaker 2: have to choose what I'll love most in life. You
Speaker 2: know it doesn't work. He lays it out in black
Speaker 2: and white. He isn't vague. You see, tell me how
Speaker 2: you're spending your time, and tell me how you're spending
Speaker 2: your money, and I'll tell you what you love most.
Speaker 2: Now you may say, well, I love Jesus the most.
Speaker 3: Well, it doesn't matter what you say. What matters is
Speaker 3: what you do.
Speaker 2: I mean, I could say to you, I think it's
Speaker 2: important to spend time with my kids.
Speaker 3: Do you do it?
Speaker 2: No? Then it's not important to you. I could say
Speaker 2: I think it's important to read the Bible.
Speaker 3: Do I do it? No?
Speaker 2: Then I don't really believe it's important. It's not what
Speaker 2: I say is important, it's what I do. If you
Speaker 2: want to know what you love most, look at two things.
Speaker 2: Look at your calendar and look at your checkbook stubs,
Speaker 2: or your bank statement or your credit card report. Because
Speaker 2: the way you spend your time and the way you
Speaker 2: spend your money shows what you value most. He says,
Speaker 2: money shows what I love most. Now write this down.
Speaker 2: Love people use money. Okay, write this down, love people
Speaker 2: use money. That is the biblical basis from money management.
Speaker 2: I am to love people and I am to love God,
Speaker 2: and I am to use money as a tool. Now,
Speaker 2: if you get that reversed, you're in trouble because if
Speaker 2: you start to love money, you're going to use people.
Speaker 2: If you love money, you'll use people. But if you
Speaker 2: love people, you'll use money. And when anybody starts to
Speaker 2: love money, they will use people to get more money.
Speaker 2: And there are plenty of users in this world because
Speaker 2: to them, money is more important than people. Money is
Speaker 2: to be used, not loved. Now, there's nothing.
Speaker 3: Wrong with making a lot of money.
Speaker 2: In fact, I pray for you that you I pray
Speaker 2: for those who are members of Saddleback Church. I pray
Speaker 2: for my flock that you will be financially successful.
Speaker 3: I pray for that for you.
Speaker 2: Why not so you can be some fat cat, but
Speaker 2: so you can make a difference, so you can be
Speaker 2: do good in the world, so that you can further
Speaker 2: the gospel, so that God can use you in ways
Speaker 2: that you can't be used if you have nothing, no resources.
Speaker 2: So I pray for your financial blessing all the time.
Speaker 2: And there's nothing wrong. You ought to make all you can,
Speaker 2: and save all you can, and give all you can. Okay,
Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with that, as long as it doesn't
Speaker 2: become your god, as long as it's not in first
Speaker 2: place in your life. How do I know that God
Speaker 2: has first place in my life? Look at my time
Speaker 2: and look at my money.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: The choice, he says here is always between God and money.
Speaker 2: It's very easy for money to become a god. Now
Speaker 2: follow me on this. When I live for my money,
Speaker 2: it becomes my master. When I give my money, it
Speaker 2: becomes my slave. When I live for money, it masters me.
Speaker 2: When I give my money, I'm telling where it goes.
Speaker 2: I'm in control. When I say I want to save this,
Speaker 2: I want to spend this, I want to invest this,
Speaker 2: I want to go give this. That means I'm in control.
Speaker 2: Money serves me instead of me serving money. And if
Speaker 2: God gives you something and then tells you to give
Speaker 2: it away and you couldn't give it away, you don't
Speaker 2: own it.
Speaker 3: It owns you.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are possessed by their possessions. Oh,
Speaker 2: I could never give that up. Then it's your idol.
Speaker 2: It's your idol. And so he's saying, here, learn to
Speaker 2: love God most Now, finally, number eight, the best use
Speaker 2: of money, not the only, but the best use is
Speaker 2: to invest it in getting people into heaven. And at
Speaker 2: least some of your money you should use in this way.
Speaker 2: It's not the only way, but the highest use of
Speaker 2: your money is to invest it in getting people into heaven. Now,
Speaker 2: in verse nine, we have one of the most misunderstood
Speaker 2: miss in interpreted verses in the entire Bible. Most people
Speaker 2: don't know what this verse means. In fact, when you
Speaker 2: read it, it sounds crazy. In verse nine, Jesus says this,
Speaker 2: I tell you use worldly wealth, that's the money your income.
Speaker 2: Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves. What I
Speaker 2: was supposed to buy friends, so that when it is gone,
Speaker 2: you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Remember how the
Speaker 2: unjust guy, the steward, he goes out and he gets
Speaker 2: some friends by cutting down their dead. He says, use
Speaker 2: worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so when it's gone,
Speaker 2: you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. He's talking about heaven
Speaker 2: there and does that verse shock you? Let me tell
Speaker 2: you what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean go out
Speaker 2: and buy friends. It doesn't mean you can buy your
Speaker 2: way into heaven. It doesn't mean you can purchase your
Speaker 2: eternal self.
Speaker 3: Salvation is a gift. It is free.
Speaker 2: You can never earn it or buy for it. By it.
Speaker 2: It's a gift. What it does mean is this, use
Speaker 2: your money to build relationships that are going to last forever,
Speaker 2: eternal relationships, by winning people to Christ. Use your affluence
Speaker 2: for good influence, use your affluence for insuance. He's saying,
Speaker 2: whenever I use my money to help somebody become a believer,
Speaker 2: to follow Christ, to become a Christian, then that person's
Speaker 2: going to be in heaven forever and ever and ever,
Speaker 2: and they're going to be an eternal friend, and they're
Speaker 2: going to be eternally grateful because I use some of
Speaker 2: my money to help them get into heaven. And he says,
Speaker 2: if I use some of what I make my worldly
Speaker 2: wealth to make friends for eternity, I help people come
Speaker 2: to Christ, then I'll not only be rewarded in heaven,
Speaker 2: but I'll have these friends.
Speaker 3: Forever.
Speaker 2: It's the longest term investment you could ever think of.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: Notice in this verse it says use worldly wealth to
Speaker 2: gain friends for yourself. So when is gone, you'll be
Speaker 2: welcomed into eternal dwelling circle. Welcomed into what's he talking about.
Speaker 2: He's talking about who's gonna meet you when you get
Speaker 2: into heaven. Imagine getting to heaven and when you walk
Speaker 2: through the gates, there's a crowd of people who are
Speaker 2: there because you use some of your money to help
Speaker 2: them become believers, and they go, Oh, Mary's.
Speaker 3: Finally here, She's finally here.
Speaker 2: We've been waiting for you. You're the last one to die.
Speaker 2: We're glad you're here. All of us are here because
Speaker 2: of you. Will that be worth it?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yeah?
Speaker 2: And so when he says, take some of your money
Speaker 2: and use it that way. When you take some of
Speaker 2: your money and you use it to help somebody go
Speaker 2: on a peace trip and they go on that piece
Speaker 2: trip and somebody comes to Christ, that person is heaven gonna.
Speaker 2: I'm here because of you. When you use some of
Speaker 2: your money to go on a piece trip yourself and
Speaker 2: somebody comes to Christ and that peace trip, then they're
Speaker 2: gonna be people in heaven saying I'm here because of you.
Speaker 2: When you take a friend who's not a believer in
Speaker 2: Christ yet and you take them out to lunch and
Speaker 2: you buy them lunch and you just be a friend
Speaker 2: to them and you love them and you help them
Speaker 2: with the problems they're going through, and when the time
Speaker 2: is right, you invite them to church and you tell
Speaker 2: them your testimony, you share your story, and they become
Speaker 2: a Christian. You have just invested for eternity. When you
Speaker 2: buy a Hallmark card for somebody who's just had a
Speaker 2: loss in their family and you write a little word
Speaker 2: of encouragement and a Bible verse and tell them that
Speaker 2: Jesus loves them, and then he has a plan for
Speaker 2: their life, and you just you're building that relationship. You're
Speaker 2: making a friend for life, and when that person comes
Speaker 2: to Christ, they're going to greet you in heaven. When
Speaker 2: you take some of your money and you buy it,
Speaker 2: go buy a Christian book that was meaningful to you
Speaker 2: and you give it to a friend, you have just
Speaker 2: invested in eternity, because when they come to the Lord,
Speaker 2: they're gonna be there. He says, so that when you're
Speaker 2: welcomed into eternal dwellings are there. When I walk into heaven,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be greeted by thousands of people because
Speaker 2: I've helped thousands of people come to Christ. Step across
Speaker 2: that line, and there's gonna be people that go, Rick,
Speaker 2: come here because you you help me know the Lord,
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna be greed. I want when you walk
Speaker 2: into heaven, I want there be a crowd to welcome you.
Speaker 2: I don't want you walking into heaven and nobody's there
Speaker 2: to greet you, because nobody's in heaven because of you
Speaker 2: as your pastor. I want you when you walk into heaven,
Speaker 2: people going, look, he's here, Bob's here. Bob, you help
Speaker 2: pay for my expense to go to the Men's retreat,
Speaker 2: and at the Men's Retreat.
Speaker 3: I accepted the Lord. Jerry's here, Jerry, Jerry.
Speaker 2: You took me on that white ot a rafting trip
Speaker 2: that saddleback did and sitting around a campfire, I gave
Speaker 2: my life to Christ with a group of men. Thanks Jerry.
Speaker 2: I'm your friend forever. I'm a friend for the next
Speaker 2: one trillion years. That's the stuff that's going to last.
Speaker 2: I want people in heaven cheering you because you invested
Speaker 2: your life the way and time and money the way
Speaker 2: Jesus says to Now, let me give you a little
Speaker 2: wisdom sage advice. You know I'm a grandfather now, so
Speaker 2: I can give you grandfatherly advice. Okay, here's the grandfatherly advice.
Speaker 2: Don't waste your money on stuff because stuff doesn't last.
Speaker 2: Stuff doesn't last. I don't care what it is. It's
Speaker 2: all temporary. It's gonna rot, it's gonna rust, it's gonna
Speaker 2: wear out, it's gonna go out of style, it's gonna
Speaker 2: get stolen, it's gonna lose its value. Stuff doesn't last.
Speaker 2: Nothing on this earth is going to last. This building
Speaker 2: is not going to last. Those trees are not going
Speaker 2: to last. Your car is not going to last. That
Speaker 2: piece of art at home is not going to last.
Speaker 2: In fact, on this planet, there are only two things
Speaker 2: that are going to last for eternity, only two. One
Speaker 2: of them is the Word of God. The Bible says
Speaker 2: heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will
Speaker 2: never pass away. Why because truth is eternal. So you
Speaker 2: invest in in truth, you invest in God's word. Number two,
Speaker 2: there's one other thing that's going to last for rather
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's people one of two places, heaven or hell,
Speaker 2: and where I spend my time and my money may
Speaker 2: determine where some people spend their eternity. So I want
Speaker 2: to suggest that the best investment of your life is
Speaker 2: not and your money is not in the stock market,
Speaker 2: but the best investment of your money is in the
Speaker 2: Word of God and in people, because it's the only
Speaker 2: stuff that's going to last everything else you're leaving behind.
Speaker 2: People say, well, you can't take it with you. That's true,
Speaker 2: but you can send it on ahead. And you send
Speaker 2: it on ahead by investing in people who are already
Speaker 2: going there, and you do it while you're living. You
Speaker 2: can't do it after you die. You can only do
Speaker 2: it while you're living. Do your giving while you're living,
Speaker 2: so you're knowing where it's going. As a pastor, I've
Speaker 2: done a lot of funerals, and most of you probably
Speaker 2: don't know that. For people who don't have clothes or
Speaker 2: suits to wear at a funeral, you know in the
Speaker 2: bodies in the caskets. Funeral homes sell what's called funeral suits.
Speaker 2: Funeral suits and funeral suits are just their nice suits.
Speaker 2: They look like any other suit, and you put the
Speaker 2: body in those funeral suits, and then they put them
Speaker 2: in the coffin so they look real nice tigh coat
Speaker 2: and hold it the The only difference between a funeral
Speaker 2: suit and a regular suit is this.
Speaker 3: They don't have any pockets. Why they don't need them.
Speaker 3: I've never seen.
Speaker 2: Anybody's in Oh, I need a pocket in my suit.
Speaker 2: When I'm in that casket.
Speaker 3: You don't need it.
Speaker 2: You're not taking it with you, but you can send
Speaker 2: it on ahead. The Bible calls it storing up treasure
Speaker 2: in heaven. Did you know that while you're here on
Speaker 2: earth you can actually be investing in heaven for yourself?
Speaker 2: Jesus said it several times. It's called storing up for
Speaker 2: yourselves in heaven. Look at this verse on the screen.
Speaker 2: Jesus said this, store up for yourselves treasure in heaven.
Speaker 2: Did you know you can store treasure in heaven? And
Speaker 2: notice who it's for? It's not for God. It says,
Speaker 2: store up for yourself. Are you sending anything on a head?
Speaker 2: Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and
Speaker 2: rust don't destroy it. It's not gonna rod, it's not
Speaker 2: gonna rust, and where thieves can't break in nobody can
Speaker 2: steal it. The economy isn't going to take it away.
Speaker 2: It's the only one hundred percent sure investment for where
Speaker 2: your treasure is there, your heart will be.
Speaker 3: Also.
Speaker 2: I heard about a guy saw a cartoon a while back,
Speaker 2: and he gets to heaven and they take him over
Speaker 2: to his home and said, here's your home. He's just
Speaker 2: got this little shack between two giant mansions. And he says,
Speaker 2: you know, how come I don't have a mansion. They said, oh, well,
Speaker 2: this is all the material you sent ahead. You send
Speaker 2: in any material ahead? Or are you spending it all
Speaker 2: on interest payments for yourself? You invest in people who
Speaker 2: are going there. That's an eternal ira and it pays
Speaker 2: dividends for trillions of years.
Speaker 3: Let's bow our heads.
Speaker 2: As we close. Let's do some honest evaluation. Does God
Speaker 2: really have first place in my life? If God looked
Speaker 2: at an audit on me right now and looked at
Speaker 2: my schedule and looked at my checkbook or my credit card,
Speaker 2: how I'm spending my time and money? Is God really
Speaker 2: first place in my life? Can God trust me with
Speaker 2: what He's allowed me to have? Am I acting like
Speaker 2: it's all mine rather than's just on loan from God?
Speaker 3: Am I forgetting that?
Speaker 2: One day I'm going to give an account of what
Speaker 2: I did with what he loaned me. There's the way
Speaker 2: I'm using my money show that God can trust me
Speaker 2: with more? Or is my track record saying no, he
Speaker 2: can't trust me with even what he's given me?
Speaker 3: Am I looking ahead? Am I planning my spending?
Speaker 2: Am I procrastinating or acting quickly on getting out of debt?
Speaker 2: Do I need to face some facts and sell off
Speaker 2: some stuff and maybe even move Have I loved money
Speaker 2: instead of using money? Have I realized it's a spiritual
Speaker 2: test and that God can't trust me with spiritual power
Speaker 2: if he can't trust me with material possessions. But you say, Lord,
Speaker 2: I want the way I use my money to show
Speaker 2: that I love you most, that I trust you most.
Speaker 2: I know I can't serve two masters, and I choose
Speaker 2: you God to be God.
Speaker 3: In my life, not money.
Speaker 2: And help me to use it, to invest it, to
Speaker 2: spend it, to give it, to share it all. Wisely,
Speaker 2: help me to realize that the best investment is to
Speaker 2: in getting people into heaven. Lord, I know that my
Speaker 2: messed up finances are a symptom of a messed up life,
Speaker 2: and I need you to be the manager. I need
Speaker 2: you to come in and clean house. I've tried finances
Speaker 2: my way and they don't work. I want to do
Speaker 2: them your way. I want to learn your financial plan,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to wait any longer.
Speaker 3: I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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