(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

The title for the sermon this morning is balanced with your finances, balanced with your finances. The previous sermon that I preached in this perfect man series was living a balanced Christian life and I wanted to then play off this idea of being balanced. One major area that we all participate in is of course money, wealth, finances and we must remember that we need to remain balanced with our finances as well. Now look at 1 Timothy 6 and look at verse number 6. I want to just lay an introduction here because you know we all need money. It's a tool to purchase, to sell, to make a living for ourselves. It's what we use today but I want you to not lose focus because one of the titles that I had for this perfect man series comes from verse number 6 which says but godliness with contentment is great gain alright. I want you to gain greatly alright but what I really want you to gain in is godliness with contentment alright so as I preach about money and wealth I don't want you to lose sight alright. I don't want you to lose sight that the most important thing is godliness with contentment. I want you to live a happy life that reflects the will of God in our lives okay. That is truly great gain. You know if you are poor well hey if you've got godliness with contentment that's even better than any wealth you can possibly have but then it says in verse number 7 for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. So just keep that in mind whatever wealth and prosperity you develop in this life you're not going to take it with you okay. I don't care if you purchased 30 homes, 30 houses and you've got this massive portfolio once you're in heaven you're on the same page as me, me means nothing once we pass away just keep that in mind okay because this life is just temporary it's just a vapour. Look at verse number 8 and having food and raiment let us be there with content hey if we're aiming for contentment as long as you've been fed in your clothes and I'm sure you've been fed in your clothes you're definitely clothed and you've been fed hey this is enough to be content with to be thankful with what God has given us. Then notice verse number 9 but they that will be rich so it's not just anybody that's rich it's those that are their will is to be rich their desire is to be rich you know the purpose of life is to make as much money and to be wealthy and prosperous for these people and they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts look at this which drown men in destruction and perdition, perdition means damnation. If you have this desire to just make as much money my goal in life is to be wealthy and to have this asset and that financial position you're going to bring destruction, perdition in your life but that's not I want God in us with contentment is what we're aiming for okay again is there anything wrong with being rich no okay but if your heart desires this is what I want in my life this is what's going to happen to you verse number 10 for the love of money is the root of all evil now is money the root of all evil no it's the love of money right loving money you know you know people that you know make money and then they kind of bury it in the backyard no one's going to touch my wealth it's going to be buried with you I mean who cares you know what I mean but people just love money it blows my mind the love of money is the root of all evil Brevin you know you start down this track of just trying to be this rich wealthy that's your that's your heart's desire Brevin it's going to open up doors of other evil that will develop you know temptations, problems that you weren't expecting look which while some covets it after listen when it says which some you know Timothy is a church pastor Paul is telling Timothy there are some in your church Timothy there are some brethren that have coveted after money you know yes they're saved and they're in church but really the house is ours just to make as much wealth as they can they've got that love of money they've got that covetousness in them which some covet it after look hey they have erred from the faith Brevin if you chase money you are not going to be a faithful Christian you know you're not it's one or the other all right have erred from the faith and look and pierce themselves through with many sorrows Brevin do you want to live a life that is full of sorrows or do you want to live a life that is godly and content that is true riches that is true riches okay you see the more wealth the more you have in life it does add sorrow right you you own you having you know investments and and and there's nothing wrong with investments and you own in house and nothing wrong with owning a house but you having more and more things creates more so more things to think about you know what if this happens what if that happens what if the housing bubble bursts what if my investment drops to zero you know what if Elon Musk puts out a tweet about my stock and then it plummets 50% these are the sorrows that the wealthy people have that's not that should not be out our life our life is to be content with just food and rainments if you can start there then you're not a good place I'm happy that I've been fed I'm happy that I'm clothes as I said to you the title for the sermon this morning is balanced with your finances balanced with your finances now let's go to another passage that we must turn to very familiar one Matthew chapter 6 so let's go to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew this is all introduction so far okay Matthew chapter 6 verse number 19 Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 19 and you guys know these verses very well I'm sure Matthew 6 19 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and still now you understand why you can have many sorrows if you lay treasure on the surface why because thieves can break in and still and yes our government is a thief of your of your wealth and your finances all right we're muffin rust off corrupt yeah it'll just you know whatever you have it's generally trajectory and down eventually as we always say it's not gonna get burnt up anyway by God okay but anyway look instead instead of laying up treasures on this earth that's number 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven does God want us to be rich yes does God want us to desire to be rich yes but not on earth in heaven lay up your treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust off corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor still for look and this is the main reason why for where your treasure is there will your heart be also okay so if your desires to just be wealthy on this earth your hearts gonna be on temporal carnal earthly things all right now again is this saying it's wrong to have any kind of wealth any kind of prosperity on this earth it's not saying that okay one great way to measure whether you're doing okay when it comes to the spiritual Department of Finances is where is your heart at if you say pastor Kevin I actually been blessed with possessions and wealth but my heart is just to serve the Lord Jesus Christ my heart is for his kingdom my heart is to save souls my heart is to live a Christian life that praise God for you you know you may have some level of prosperity in the surf but really your heart desires in heaven you know your priority is the laying up of treasures in heaven praise God for you that's a great way to measure where is your heart let's keep going to verse number 22 the lights of the body is the eye so the point is that light enters the eye that allows us to see okay it says if therefore thine I be single now that word single is to be whole like it's a whole number a single number rather than a decimal if your eye is single meaning that it's it's wholly looking in one way if therefore thine I be single thy whole body shall be full of light all right but if thine I be evil or harmed if you kind of partly blind or you have cataracts or something if I be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness you know if you don't see well you won't be able to work well basically okay if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness what is the Bible saying here that you can either see clearly or you're gonna see darkly okay if thine I be single holy you know this is about being where your heart is your heart is either holy in heaven or your heart is holy on this earth you can't have a mixture of it you know you can't feel I can see clearly but then you're full of cataracts because you're so concerned about the finances and and making a rich life for yourself on this earth you're not gonna be able to see clearly okay you're gonna walk a life of darkness you know you got it it's one or the other brethren then it keeps going verse number 24 no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other ye cannot serve God and mammon the word mammon is the word for riches okay you can't serve God and riches you can't like treasures in heaven and earth you got to choose one or the other okay you're gonna have your eye single single upon what single upon laying up treasures in heaven now this sermon is not about laying up treasures in heaven okay this sermon is about your treasures on this earth your finances your wealth upon this earth and I want to give you a biblical perspective on these things and while I'm preaching this I don't want you to lose sight I want you to remember that we're commanded to lay up our treasures in heaven okay we're commanded to just be thankful just for food and raiment okay and be careful with the love of money brethren some have covered it after you may have covered after these things you may cover up these things in the future I don't know okay so we're gonna be balanced we still have to live a life just have to work a job have an income pay our bills buy things I mean you know we've got to have a balance in this area of our life now the reason I wanted to preach on this not only because I'm going for the perfect man series but as you guys know we were able to purchase a second home here on the Sunshine Coast you know about mid last year sometime and my biggest concern at that time was because you know Australia like even even right now you know as we're getting you know as our nation is getting ready for to go to you know cast their vote you know for the government you know for Australia you know one of the major talking points is house affordability you know and when it comes to Australians just like you know it's like you know it's everyone's dream to buy a house and it's like it's like everyone's purpose in life is just that's what I'm hearing anyway from from the candidates it's like it's all about owning a house and you just think I'll get I'll gain political points if I can somehow promise young people that's a lot you know if it's fun my way to buy a house you know the crazy thing is the more people you try to get into the housing market the higher the prices just got to go anyway I'm not gonna talk about that right now but anyway that's the whole just we just got to help young people you're gonna make the house prices going higher you know you're just gonna create a greater financial bubble in that area but anyway you know you know and this is this is what Australia is condition you just gotta be this homeowner and my biggest concern was having a second property on the Sunshine Coast might send a wrong message to the church and so I was really thinking about this woman you know because here's the thing I don't want anyone to think oh man passes Kevin's got a house in Sydney he's got a house in the sunshine could maybe we should be buying a house you know that's that's the wrong way by now but you know I don't want to start you know influence in your mind and you know maybe you're content to just rent maybe you're just content with the food arraignment you've got and the last thing I want to be is this sort of example or like a a bad example maybe you know now I'm not happy past has got two houses I need to have at least one surely passed able to do this you know that that should be the goal of my life well that's why I wanted to preach this sermon okay because I have no desire to be rich brethren have no desire in fact if you've seen my house and many of you guys have moved my property you know we don't live some excessive life and we try to live as basic as minimal as possibly can with a family that we have I have no desire to be rich on this earth okay my I do have a desire to earn enough to provide for my family to make sure we go day by day and we have enough to to enjoy you know I don't I don't want to have a love of money I don't want to cover it after these things I don't I don't think about it you know and we bought the house the housing market went crazy after that and it's like well the real estate called me up did you know your house is worth this much I don't care but if you sold it now I don't care I think I didn't buy a house to be rich I didn't buy a house to make I need a roof over my head I need a roof over my family said that's that's the whole thing and this is why I wanted to preach this so please you're there in Matthew please turn to Matthew chapter 8 I just want to get some things settled into your mind Matthew chapter 8 Matthew chapter 8 now again if you're in a position to buy a house don't let me be someone that discourages you from that if that's what you want to do I mean that's your decision I'm not here to tell you you know what to do in every little case but you know I hope I can give you some principles here that you can start thinking about when it comes to your finances but Matthew chapter 8 verse number 19 now whose steps are we to follow in our Christian life steps of Jesus Christ okay Matthew chapter 8 verse number 19 it says in a certain scribe came and said unto him master I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest and Jesus safe unto him the foxes have holes and the birds of the year have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head Jesus look even the Fox even the bird have a place to live they've got a house right because I don't I don't have a place to lay my head are you sure you're ready to follow me we know that Christ ministry was for three years okay and it was a busy three years you know that you know he was going from place to place it's a city he had no time to buy a house you know he was not a homeowner Jesus Christ okay if you're not a homeowner and you think man I'll never buy a house well then hey follow after Jesus Christ it didn't seem to be a big issue for Jesus he was happy to write let rest his head wherever it could possibly be and he's just telling the reality to this person if you want to be one of my disciples during this free ministry of mine you're not gonna have a place to rest your head either okay and it says there in verse number 21 and another of his disciples said unto him Lord suffer me first to go and bury my father but Jesus said unto him follow me and let the dead bury their dead sounds pretty harsh Jesus says look I'm only here for three years this is this is a fuller ministry you know the Lord God walking on this earth God manifesting the flesh of Son of God you know to eventually die for our sins and rise again from the dead you know to follow Christ during this time Rick really required you to basically give it all up and just follow after him for those years okay get prepared for the ministry the work that Jesus Christ had for his disciples and his apostles so the reason I wanted to read that to you is because that passage gave me a lot of comfort as a young one of the reasons I delayed a long time to get married was I had this idea that I had to buy a house I'm gonna buy a house before I get married I got married when I was 22 people saying was I was young but I don't know I would have been I would have been married when I was 20 maybe 19 but you know in my mind was I've got to buy a house I've got to afford I've got to get to this point where I just have to you know because you get drummed into that by society by media by family and friends you know that this is the pinnacle of the Australian life to own a house and you know we I just at some point I just said you know what forget this honey let's just get married let's get married and if we have to rent for the rest of our life so be it you know and and looking at Jesus Christ the fact that he had no place to rest has had gave me a lot of comfort well if he wasn't that important for Jesus why is that so important to me you know and here's this crazy thing about it once I gave up on the idea of buying a house then the Lord opened the door for me to buy a house it's just like sometimes they're just things in your life that you just have to surrender and say God all right you know that's not where I'm gonna place my heart and my heart's not on the treasures of the possession you know what I'm just gonna do what you can and it's like many times like well that's what I was waiting for here you go you know once your desires not there anymore but your desires just on the Lord God Lord what do you want in my life then many times the doors just open up the doors that you thought God did not want if they just open up because it's about where your heart is where is your heart is it on the earth or is it upon laying up treasures in heaven now you say well see it's it's you shouldn't own a house because Jesus never owned a house well look in the same chapter verse number 14 Matthew chapter 8 verse number 14 and when Jesus was coming to Peter's house Peter owned a house all right he saw his wife's mother laid and sick of a fever and he touched her hand and the fever left her and she arose and ministered unto them so Peter had a house Peter was a homeowner okay now Peter was a disciple of Christ did he give it all of course he gave it up okay but he still owned a house okay he went on the work with Jesus Christ but he still had a place for his mother-in-law elderly you know he still looked after his family so he still had the resources and the ability to make sure that his family was taken care of don't forget that he was working a job before he was called to the ministry he was a fisherman and I guess on a fisherman wage was enough to buy a house so you know I mean just just the thoughts there okay I'm not saying that it's sinful wrong to buy a house because Peter had one and Peter was a disciple is one of the most famous apostles that we read about in the Bible okay and so it's not it's not wrong or rights to own or not own you know I don't measure someone I don't look at someone are you a homeowner how many houses do you have you know I'm not impressed by the guy who's you know you hear on the news he hasn't even turned 30 years old but he owns 30 properties how did he manage it's not impressive to me who cares that stuff is irrelevant okay this life is a vapor it's all gonna burn like I said oh yeah okay but is it wrong it's not either you know if you're not positioned to to have to rent well praise God if you got food arraignment if God gives you the ability to buy a house and praise God has given you that ability to buy the house you just do things unto the Lord you know don't say your heart and your mind and your all your thoughts and and labor just on how much I can make on this earth please don't do that you know it's fine either way you know I don't I don't think someone's better or worse or anything in that case just because of what your bank account looks like or how many houses you own it's it's irrelevant to me it's irrelevant to me and so this is why I wanted to preach this because I'm there in a position where I own two houses and I've got a granny flat at the back of my I kind of own three properties in a sense okay and you know the the properties in Sydney have given me the ability to have another income stream you know too because I don't know enough from church like if I was just relying on church I'd be done on the finance of the church I could not sustain myself my family and my 11 kids it's impossible you know the Lord's opened door for me to have a different income stream which obviously is a help it's it's it's it's the situation that I've found myself in and it's been a blessing all right so you know sometimes people might think well past and I've had it said to me pastor you're one of these rich pastors I've had that said to me you're one of these rich pastors because I own two houses and I said to that person are you renting yeah how much do you own the bank nothing I owe over a million dollars to the bank who's richer I owe over a million dollars to the bank now I'm servicing I'm not saying that's problems I'm servicing that okay but you owe nothing to the bank you're renting who's actually wealthier you're wealthier you're wealthier than me I'm not some rich pastor and I don't desire to be rich I have no heart in that area you know and I want the same thing in your life that you have no will or desire to just be this wealthy rich person hey but if God opens the doors I'll say hey take those doors that God opens you know remind yourself where is my heart is my heart in heaven or it's my heart on this earth all right can you please turn to our Proverbs 22 turn to Proverbs 22 verse number 7 now one thing that I have I haven't been asked this question too much these days but I was asked this a lot from different people you know asking me for a financial advice you know how is it that you know you've had one income and we've always had one income even before we got married Christina quit a job so we could learn how to live on one income how is that you can have one income how is that you can buy a house how is that you can have 11 kids you know what are your financial secrets I don't have any I don't I'm not some wise investor this is not a sermon about hey invest your money in X Y & Z this is not what it's about okay I just want to give you some biblical principles here all right and in conversation with people sometimes we will say well you know I don't want to get into debt because they think that is a sin okay that is not a sin okay that is not a sin I mean we are we are actually encouraged you know if to give sometimes we've you know for people that might be struggling and you're putting someone in debt and that point if you're going to give someone you expect that to be returned you know obviously that's not a sin you're trying to help someone out in a situation you know sometimes you might give and expect it to be returned or you may just give it willingly freely and not expecting anything to be given return no different ways that you can give in church sorry to to the brethren or people that you know but that is not a sin it's just that you have to understand the reality of that in Proverbs 22 verse 7 it says the rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender okay being a servant is not a sin you know you go to work and if you've got an employer you are a servant you've got a master of you it's not a sin to be a servant it's not a sin to be a borrower it's just the reality of life that you have to understand that if you're going to get into debt if you're going to get a mortgage and buy a house you've become a servant to the bank and I don't trust those banks okay but that's just right I'm so today they tell me how much I have to pay how often I have to pay if their interest rates change it's I can't I can't do anything about that you know it's their call basically you become a servant to the bank you know the bank becomes your master in that area of your life okay you say is it wrong you know I would encourage you not to get into debt but it's not a sin you know if it's something that you need to do for a period of time to achieve something you know it's not wrong okay but you gotta be careful with that you got to understand that you're a servant you become a servant okay under that bank or that financial system now turn to another passage please go to Genesis 13 go to Genesis 13 please something else I want to talk about just very briefly before I get into my main part of the sermon is what are the differences between liabilities and assets okay and again this is not some big financial lecture or something okay but liabilities and assets okay liabilities and assets now look at Abraham here in Genesis 13 verse 1 Genesis 13 verse 1 it says and Abram went up out of Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and lot with him into the south verse number 2 and Abram was very rich in cattle in silver and in gold all right so was rich was Abraham a rich man he was he was was Abraham a faithful man yes did Abraham was Abraham's heart you know settled in heaven of course we know that he was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God you know his heart was in heavenly in the heavenly things in the spiritual things but he's very rich what's he rich in cattle silver and gold you know when it comes to silver and gold obviously we know that these are you know silver and gold have been considered money since the beginning of mankind basically since creation okay since to this day silver and gold is still considered to be money that's not going to change but the other thing is very rich in is in cattle in cattle can you measure your wealth in cattle or possessions yes you can you know sometimes again here in Australia people think that you know if you own a house you've got an asset it's not an asset it's a liability okay what's the difference you know an asset is something that puts money into your pockets a liability something that takes money out of your pockets if you buy a house you're paying that mortgage okay it's money out of your pockets and if you buy a house you live in the house you're paying bills money out of your pockets things break down in the house money out of your pockets constantly money out of pockets all right it's a lot bit oh man but you've made so much yeah only if you sell it but then if you sell it you still got to buy something else over your head and everything's gone up I mean everything's just relative like people have this twisted idea of what wealth is but you know buying a house the first thing I'm not saying it's wrong or sinful or if you have to borrow it's you're you're in sin I'm not saying that I'm just saying you're done saying it's a liability people think I'm gonna buy a house I'm gonna be rich no it's not like that say but pastor you're gonna have to sit in here and you're living off that income you have to understand something okay I lived in that house for some 10 years and it only became an asset after I've pumped in I don't know how much money to that house after some 13 14 years moved up here and could actually rent the place out and now it sounds put money to my pockets okay you don't just buy a house and now I'm wealthy no you're servicing that loan you're paying the rates you're paying bills you're paying all this you know it's it's a liability now here's the thing what is an asset can a house become an asset it can become an asset okay once you have an income stream coming out of that property that is paying the mortgage it's it's it's taking care of all the different liabilities and it's still leaving money in your pockets that's become an asset when we look at Abraham here that he's rich with in cattle you know when you when you when you have to buy your first cow they go look I need to provide for myself let's say you're a farmer right you know I can sell the milk and we can we can we can butcher that cow for some meats and you know you yeah you know it can help you it can provide for you hey I need it you know maybe a bull there to do a bit of plowing and they can reproduce yeah but you know you got to first go and buy that cow okay it's a liability at the beginning and then you got to buy that bull it's a liability buy some cows and bulls all right and some calves maybe it's all a liability it's all just money out of your pocket but eventually eventually those animals start to procreate you know eventually you can start selling the milk and start selling the meats and whatever it is that you're trying to do with those animals eventually it just starts to produce it so and it can become an asset at that point it starts as a liability but it you know it started it started as a liability it's become an asset Abraham's going to a point where of course his cattle at the beginning would have been a liability but he's gone to a point where they obviously you know they've bred they've multiplied and now is able to actually live even off the the produce not just himself but maybe sell it to others the servants that he has to take care of the needs with his cattle his silver and his gold you know it's quite interesting because the cattle is more of an income stream if you want to look at it that way and the silver and gold is just like savings just sitting there you know in the case that he needs to go and purchase something but it's not actually generating any income at this point in time it's the cattle that's actually generating the income for him and the Bible says that he's very rich in these areas all right just some points that I'm trying to bring out which I'm going to pull out later in this sermon all right so as I said to you you know I'm not some wealthy man I don't own two houses I'm not here saying hey that's important that's important for your life you know or I look at you differently if you're if you're renting or you're a homeowner nor do I have a desire to be rich brethren I have no desire okay like I said to you I got to a point where I said God if you want me to rent from the rest of life so be it and like a month later I was able to buy my house it's just how God operates all right and we bought a little house there's a three bedroom house we had Isabel Nicholas the twins and then we said hey you know what this house is going to be a bit tight with the twins right now with twins you know four kids what happens when they become teenagers and we wanted more kids and then so we have to sell that house and buy the house that we currently have there in Sydney which was bigger and and yeah and then we had more kids and then you know I mean why did I buy the house because you were just looking forward to that price of the house going up past you know what I bought that house thinking that that this hasn't bubbled about to burst I'm thinking I'm buying this house at the highest peak and I'm just being an idiot buying a house hey but the opportunity presented itself I still need a roof over my head let's just do it we need a bigger place for my family that that's that's my mindset I need a place for my family I need a place to make sure that they're taken care of they've got security they've got stability that that's all you know that's all it is and then why did I build a granny flat at the back of the property because of my mind in my heart I said look I want to be a pastor I want to get out there and what hey but how am I gonna provide for myself you know am I am I sure that I'll be able to provide for myself from the church you know it will have to work as part-time job in fact I did work a part-time job when I started this church I was still working as a bookkeeper for a construction company you know part-time job just to make sure that I felt that too I felt that I was comfortable and then I thought well if we get this granny flat built for me it's like well we can rent that out and that can help me be a pastor you know that can help provide for my needs to be a pastor I didn't build it thinking man what a way to make some more money yeah get rich not that did not play into my mind at all why did I build that granny flat why do I have two properties there that bring in rental income because I wanted to start a church and pastor a church not to be rich okay my heart where was my heart was my heart on earthly things no my heart's on heavenly things all right and I'm not saying that anyone's accused me of that I'm just trying I just want to explain to you why I'm a homeowner why I own a couple of houses all right then we're up here we're renting we're very thankful that we're we were able to rent we had to offer more and money in advance to rent even before the rental market on the Sunshine Coast got crazy but I was very thankful for the house that we could have thankful that God gave it was very small very if you came to my house you knew how small it was with 11 kids okay then what happened we had COVID you know the kids weren't allowed to go outside to the park so my kids had to basically play in the backyard it's tiny backyard tiny grass the kids ripped it to shreds okay mud you know and with our family outside it's not that we're this crazy family but we've you know people opening doors and and touching the walls you know those wear and tear on the house you know wear and tear and things you know anyway you know the doors open to return back to Sydney we went back to Sydney but one thing I want you to you know you know I'm just telling I'm just telling you this not cuz I'm some great man I just want you to understand what what is what develops in my mind okay is I knew those wear and tear on the house you know and the real estate said look you know the grass is destroyed I said look it was fine until COVID it was fine I said look but if you need to relay grass just you hold on to the bottom of my bunch you guys keep the bond you fix the grass they came to check the house we did a bond clean and just because so much hands on the walls and kids and stuff like that they said look the house needs to get repainted I was like all right I'll pay for the repaint another house did I have to no I did not have to okay why I don't care about money okay what I was thankful that this family whoever owns the house was willing to let rent this house out to a family at the time that with nine kids which became 11 kids when no one else wanted to rent out to me I was just thankful that this family said yes we'll rent this house out to you I was thankful that this gave me the opportunity to start a new life at this church so I said all right you can keep my bond here's $2,000 to fix the house however you want okay and and then I told the real estate I said look we are coming back okay because why not what's the other thing that I've covered the perfect man series the testimony of a good reputation having a good report I said I don't have to pay for this stuff okay it's where into is expected but I want you to be happy as a real estate I want you I want the landlord to be happy and I'm not trying to just you know do the you know leave this tight life no no I've got a hold on you you have it because I know it's gonna come back and you know at some point I want to come back and I want to have a good report that we were good tenants even with 11 kids and I want you to put in that report that whatever damages were made that we cover the cost we made sure that it was all taken care of because I don't care about money it's not I'm not trying to be wealthy I just what's what what godliness with contentment is great game a good report a good reputation wherever you go wherever you deal with okay that's more important than wealth and finances well anyway the doors you know developed where we knew we're going to come back to the Sunshine Coast we're looking at the rental market it's going crazy it's going insane and I told my wife listen this time if we get back to the Sunshine Coast I want to make sure we find a house that's gonna be big enough for our family it's gonna give us a backyard where the kids can run around playing not just tiny thing during cold I guess destroyed with mud okay and I said and we're looking at the price I'm look man we're gonna have to pay like a thousand dollars a week just to rent a house that's gonna tailor for our family at that point I'm thinking which is by housing I mean paying a mortgage is gonna be less than rent in this house right and doors open up for me to buy the house here on the Sunshine Coast you say why you know are you trying to buy as many houses no I don't care it's about coming back to the Sunshine Coast make sure my family have a roof over our heads and that I can be back and being a pastor in this church full-time that's it where's my heart is it about riches is about owning a house you know some of you guys were more excited about the house than I was you know it's just a house it's a place they're great I mean I love it don't get me wrong I'm thankful to God for them that I'm very I love it you know but my heart's not there oh your house has gone up in price I don't care who cares I'm not gonna sell it you know why why so they don't have to refine to have the hassle looking for something else you know and anyway we are getting too sidetracked I just want you to understand that just because I have some financial you know I don't know maybe I'm in a stronger financial position than some of you or that I own two houses that I think this is you know what life is about and the pinnacle I only have those things because I have a family and because I want to serve the Lord Jesus Christ that's it okay my heart is not to be rich all right now I told this sermon what did I total it being balanced with your finances balancing your finances okay now I just want to tell you a couple of things about our financial system all right our financial system is unbalanced I want to understand our financial system is unbalanced okay I didn't bring any notes with me but if I had a $10 note right now okay and you say what can you buy with $10 I can buy this or that with $10 maybe you got something to sell me and I and I give you a $10 note and I you know by the time I hand that $10 note to you by the time you're using that $10 it's worth less than when I used it when when the when the government's made that $10 note it had a greater purchasing power when they created it then the time that it landed in my hands and I could buy something like that every time that $10 notes gets passed on it loses value okay so it doesn't you know because here's the thing we we are tricked into thinking we lived in a balanced financial system but it's unbalanced and I'm not going to go into all of it right now but I looked some some data up for you guys since 1923 our Australian dollar has lost 98% of its value since 1923 like I mean think about that right what does what does God say sorry I looked at that before in Proverbs 11 verse 1 a false balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight a false balance is an abomination to the Lord our financial system if it's lost 98% of its value Australian dollar it's an unjust weight it's an abomination to the Lord the financial system of Australia and this world is unjust you have to understand this okay so for example $10 in 1923 today would have the purchasing power of $4,275 so when you talk to like like you know you know an elderly person and they say in my day you know I worked for a whole fortnight and I only made $10 well that's like over $2,000 today like you know we only had $10 look how much you're making yeah I mean your $10 was worth a lot more than what $10 is today all right I mean a lot more okay it's lost 98% of its purchasing power let me just give you another thought about this the first 50 cent coin that was minted in Australia first 50 cent coin was rounded it's around 50 cent coin and it contains 80% silver okay so obviously the silver used and the metals used to make that coin would obviously have been of a lower value than what you could exchange it for right okay but that 80% silver in that coin today is worth about $15 okay so if you find around 50 cent coin don't go and buy some gummy bears with it it's worth $15 all right don't use it your normal transactions you know so what's happened they don't make that coin anymore they don't put silver in our coins anymore because the value has dropped okay our purchasing power every day drops and and there's there's numerous you know factors around that the main one being inflation okay but I'm not here to teach about economics at this point I just want you to understand that our financial system is unbalanced it's unjust it's an abomination to the Lord all right but we're tricked into thinking like you might get a pay rise oh man I've got to pay rise yeah but inflation is probably outpaced to pay rise and actually you'll we've less money than what you had originally okay but well we're tricked oh man make it was money not really all right there's a saying that goes around cash is trash and truly it is truly cash is trash all right can you please turn to Genesis 47 Genesis 47 verse number 13 let me just show you one story in the Bible which kind of illustrates this idea really well where cash is trash Genesis 47 verse 13 and we're looking at the story of Joseph when he became the second most powerful man in all of Egypt and God reveals through a dream that Egypt will have seven plenteous years and then seven years of famine and so because Joseph was able to interpret the dream he got himself a promotion and he was given the responsibility to to handle the situation what are we going to do seven years of famine how are we going to take care of the nation of Egypt and the surrounding nations well we get to this point where you know there's been seven years of plenty and Joseph does a very wise thing it says it's a time of plenty we're going to gather as much as we can to prepare ourselves for those seven years of famine anyway the famine hits here in Genesis 47 verse 13 and there was no bread in all the land for the famine was very sore so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine and Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the corn which they bought and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house so they've gathered all the corn the wheat or the harvest and people are buying that from them during these seven years of famine okay verse number 15 look at this and when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan can money fail yes Australian dollar has failed 98% it's fine it's failing it's just constant failure we get to a point where it's a complete failure okay where money is just irrelevant we've got to feed ourselves we've got to look after ourselves when it comes to food or money food obviously our pay like if there is a lack of food obviously you don't care about making a big paycheck you know eating money is not going to feed you you're more worried about the wheat you're more worried about the bread you're more worried about making sure that you're fed and this is when money loses value money loses value can fail anyway it says when the money failed in the land of Egypt in land of Canaan all the Egyptians came unto Joseph and said give us bread for why should we die in thy presence for the money faileth and Joseph said give your cattle and I will give you for your cattle if money fails now using money sorry cattle as as like a bar tool to buy food and verse number 17 and they brought their cattle unto Joseph and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses and for the flocks and for the cattle of the herds and for the asses and he fed them with bread for all the cattle for that year when that year was ended they came to him the second year and said unto him we will not hide it from my Lord how that our money is spent our Lord also have our herds of cattle there is not aught left in the sight of my Lord but our bodies in our lands people are coming trying to food Joseph we've given you all our money we've given you all our resources all our cattle all we've got left is our own bodies okay verse number 19 therefore shall we die before thine eyes both weed our land by us and our land for bread and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh and give us seed that we may live and not die to the land be not desolate so says look we'll become your servants you know we'll serve you we'll work for your kingdom just feed us I mean this is the last thing they've got to sell themselves verse number 19 and Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh for the Egyptians sold every man his field because the famine prevailed over them so the land became Pharaoh's I just wanna show you an example where money has failed and where you're now you're you're paying things with your assets okay and because Joseph was smart enough to be prepared for some hard times he was able to make most of that opportunity for him Pharaoh and the kingdom of Egypt it became obviously a very wealthy land to buy up all the land to have all these servants on under them okay they obviously Joseph had the you know God-given ability to see ahead of time and prepare for those hard times but I just want to show you there is stories in the Bible where money fate was like this okay and as I told you our money is failing all right I know there may have been a time in the past where you know if you've made a thousand dollars you could hide it under your bed you know and and it still was worth something maybe a few years later and that's my savings it's not like that anymore you know I mean cash is so cheap you know you probably hear about low cash rates it just means our cash is so cheap it's so cheap that's why everything's going up in prices because they're just producing it on mass you know we live in this debt-based system it's not even based on anything it's just a promise that it's worth something in the future and really what we're doing we're stealing from future generations it's going to get harder and harder every generation that goes by for them to have any sense of value all right please turn to Malachi chapter 3 turn to Malachi chapter 3 all that was an introduction all that was introduction I could have gone into other things but I'm going to use a lot of things that we've talked about so far into the next points that I have here okay we want to be balanced with our finances okay we live in an unbalanced system and you're not going to balance it you just have to understand I'm operating in an unbalanced system and that's just the reality of life okay hey but I'm gonna be content with food arraignment hey I'm gonna lay my treasures in heaven not on this earth okay that's a great start that's a great start all right now Malachi chapter 3 verse 8 I've got I've got how many points I have for you I've got six points I've got six points for you of how to be balanced with your finances okay point number one is pay your tithe okay pay your tithe what's a tithe it's ten percent all right Malachi chapter 3 verse 8 will a man rob God yet you have robbed me but you say wherein have we robbed he in tithes and offerings now brethren the offering was a shadow symbol symbol symbolizing the offering of Jesus Christ it was fulfilled in Christ the tithe was never fulfilled there is no fulfillment of the tithe okay the tithe is not some typology of something new in the New Testament there's nothing like that okay the tithe was never stopped he was never asked God never asked hey that's we're done with that tithe this is a concept through the Bible that God would want you to give ten percent of your increase okay to the house of the Lord okay and the house of Lord he is near life after the stretch I'll pass the Kevin I you just want money it's not about me so giving to the house of the Lord it's not about me obviously you know trying to make a living of the church I'm going to be reliant on those tithes hey but if ever in church decide not to tithe I'm still okay I've got other things that's keeping me going all right I've got other things keep me going but here's the thing it's not about me it's about you look at verse number 10 so verse number 9 ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me even this whole nation brethren I don't want you to be cursed you know I don't want you to be struggling financially and and you say well I can't afford to tithe you can't afford not to tithe okay you're going to find that if you don't tithe you say but how does it work pastor Kevin to take 10% and give it to the church how am I better off how am I better off well let's keep going there verse number 10 bring you all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house Reverend the house in the Old Testament was the temple the house in the New Testament the house of God New Testament is your local church and look if you don't want to give your tithe to new life at this church fine find the church that you want to give your tithe to it's not about me okay it's about you I want you to be blessed okay I want you to live in accordance to God's will bring you all the tithes of the storehouse there may be meat in my house so this is look this will take care of my house but not just that and prove me now here with okay prove me save the Lord of hosts if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it God says look this is a test okay prove me give your tithe to the church and you'll see me open the windows of heaven it's going to happen you will receive a lot more from the Lord God greater blessings than your 10% okay that you've given to the house of God and again yeah I know in our mind numerically doesn't make sense if I'm 10% let worse off worse off okay that I have less no but you've got the blessings of God see when it comes to Christians we don't just look at a financial value in our bank accounts we're seeking to please the Lord we're seeking to live after his will after these commandments and we're seeking his blessings in our life these are the true riches being blessed by God I want you to be blessed you know if you don't give your tithe you know I'm not upset with you I'm just saying I want to challenge you okay you know you might find yourself you know struggling financially I kind of put my tithe listen if you give your tithe I tell you now you're gonna be better off you will do a lot better because God's gonna step in and hey when you give your title what are you doing you're laying up treasures in heaven you're putting your heart and love toward the Lord God and his work in his kingdom how is God not gonna bless you when you do that of course he's gonna bless you but it's more than just being blessed this is the other aspect of giving your tithe verse number 11 and I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground neither shall your vine cast of fruit before the time in the field say if the Lord of hosts it's not just a blessing that you get when you tithe but also when you tithe the devourer gets rebuked by God say who's the devourer I'm not entirely sure okay it might be Satan it might be it just might be you know the the laws of you reap what you sow kind of idea just the laws of the universe you know as I said to you earlier everything breaks down you know you live in a house you're gonna have to replace this you're gonna have to repair that things break down but what is happening here is that if you give your tithe God says that things aren't gonna break down like they normally do things are gonna last longer okay because when things break down you're taking money out of your pockets and you're fixing it and the money that you're taking out of your pockets I wouldn't be surprised if it's your tithe that you haven't been given okay or maybe even a greater amount than the tithe that you've been given okay so it's not just the advantage of being blessed by God but it's the advantage of things not breaking down you don't have to replace things over and over again taking things to you know maybe a mechanic over and over again you know these things get taken away from you when you don't give your tithe all right so pay your tithe you know there's a blessing there's a promise from God and you know I was 20 when I first heard the doctrine of tithe I never heard of it before it was such a foreign concept and at that time I was saving up to get married you know and you know I get in my mind I'm trying to buy a house I'm just thinking man I've got this money in the bank I've never tithed before God I'm trying to stay up to get married you want me to take 10% of this and give it to church and then whatever else I earn moving forward I'm just gonna give 10% of every increase that I have I said well I don't know God you said there prove me prove me now here with and I've done it and I've never stopped to this day I still give my tithe to the local church okay and I've been blessed it's just it's just true and so you bless financially maybe a little bit but I've been blessed with 11 kids and blessed with a good marriage I don't have a lot of stress in my life I'm quite a happy person you know my life we've never gone without you know any any bills we've never had to struggle paying bills you know my car my van broke down nothing wrong with it now I didn't have to even pay anything to get a fix you know I guess the devourer tried to get his way but there's nothing wrong with it you know it's just that there are God's blessings involved and you guys know I don't drive around a BMW you know my van and my crawler they're like 14 years old or something I think I'm content with what God has given me I'm not trying to leave this rich wealthy life you know but one thing that I've seen with God even though it was so hard for me at the beginning cuz I'm trying to say let's get married and God you want me to take this money out of my I'm just gonna do it God it's just what I've been blessed I've been black I know I've been blessed now and I'm so thankful for everything that God has given me so point number one brethren is pay your tithe you know pay your tithe and you know just prove just just test God out it's in his word okay you know it's not what I say it's what God's Word says all right and there'll be meat for God's house we'll be able to do more with the finances that come in this Jesus Church and you'll be blessed and the devourer will be rebuked for you you please turn to Romans 13 turn to Romans 13 point number two is pay your bills pay your bills as soon as possible pay your bills Romans 13 verse 6 Romans 13 verse 6 for for this cause pay tribute also this is your taxes for they are God's ministers speaking about the government attending continually upon this very thing attending continually upon this very thing okay you continue giving your taxes your tributes for the government verse number seven render therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom to him custom fear to him fear honor to him honor look at verse 8 oh no man anything but to love one another for he that love for another have fulfilled the law you know when you pay your dues you are showing love to the person that you owe that money to the Bible says oh man no man so oh no man anything they were passed the Kevin if you take a mortgage you owe him money well think about it for a minute okay when you have a debt when you have a bill or something you're usually given a due date aren't you like if you get your electricity bill you might have I don't know 15 days 30 days I don't know what it is you know to pay that bill well you don't owe anything until it's due okay so I'm saying to you we don't want to owe no man anything make sure that you pay your bills when it's due or even I would recommend pay it as soon as you get the bill who cares when it's due you know it's gonna be due eventually just pay it that's why that's how I that's how I live you know well I don't care what bill it is you know I look at that bill I don't care when it's due that's why I don't even know when bills are due these days I don't care when it's due as soon as I get that bill I say okay I'm gonna take money and pay it you know I don't care if I had some plans to use it that week that financed the money for some other issue no the bills come first okay what we when you pay your tithe and you pay your bills or you know your mortgage whatever it is your rent your mortgage electricity bill your water bill what you're doing is you're training your training yourself to live within your means live within your means take care of just deal with all the liabilities pay all that stuff off and then what you're left with is what you can live on and you're not going to fall backwards in your financial position in life okay you get this sometimes you get this thought well my bills aren't due till next month so I'm gonna enjoy my finances until then and then I'll pay for it yeah but you may not have the finances at the end of the month to pay that bill then you fall behind your bills and now you do oh man something now you are actually not fulfilling something that God has requested us from his word so I've taken the simple principle I've always paid my bills as soon as I get it there's a time in my life where you know I wasn't earning too much and you know had family and all that and my mother told me that when she would pay bills because before they had internet banking all that that she would have these envelopes and one envelope had electricity written on it one envelope had water written on it so every time my dad got his paycheck my mom would take a portion of that paycheck and put it into these envelopes and then when it was time to pay I guess I had to go to the post office or something with Bank I don't know to go and pay their bills that she would already have an envelope with that money already built in into envelope so it's not something that have to worry about later on she goes okay look we've already put $100 here it's only five dollars more this bill so you put five dollars more that in that envelope then you go to the bank or whatever it was and you pay your bills that way and so I thought hey that's a good principle that's a good philosophy you know and so there was a time when I was kind of struggling a little bit financially just just to take care of things so I'm gonna apply that now we've got the advantage of internet banking and be paying things like that so I always okay I know roughly what our electricity bill is every month for every quarter I know roughly what my this bill is roughly what this bill is and then I would divide it by how many paychecks that I would get so I used to get paid paid every fortnight for example so I divided by every page so let's say I've got a bill every quarter and I get paid every fortnight so that should be at least six payments that I would get then I wouldn't okay I know it's gonna be about $100 then I'll divide $100 divided by six so every time I got a paycheck I would just pay B pay in advance for that bill and then once I did get the bill it's like oh you got two dollars left to pay it's like it praise God two dollars left to pay sometimes I overpaid I go you got credit on your camera well praise God then I don't have to pay that much next time you know and so I always wanted to make sure that that part of my life was dealt with and then I knew that whatever was remain I could live on this you know we could you know buy clothes we could we could go out we could enjoy ourselves with whatever was left once all that was dealt with but the Bible says oh no man anything you know please pay pay your bills as soon as possible the Bible also says in Psalm 37 21 the wicked borroweth and payeth not again but the righteous show of mercy and giveth the wicked borrower and payeth not again Brevin if you're not paying your dues whatever that is you're wicked okay so but I'm not borrowing yeah but here's the thing you know let's say you're paying for electricity and your bill comes you have borrowed you have borrowed that electricity for that previous month which is then calculated for you to pay that bill you do everyone borrows to some extent it's just that you're not always borrowing money but you're borrowing services okay and then once that service period ends they send you the bill hey pay it if you don't pay it it says the wicked borrower and payeth not again you know I've let people money in my past and they've never paid again and I don't I'm not again I'm not chasing people up for that it just shows me a wicked that's your higher I don't care you know I did it out of the goodness of my heart to be generous and I'll leave the rest up to the Lord God so point number one Brevin is pay your tithe number two is pay your bills as soon as possible and number three the third point that I have for you is create a financial buffer create I'm not if this is the best terminology to say this create a financial buffer I think it's dangerous to live paycheck to paycheck now when you start oh yeah when you start you're living paycheck to paycheck you know you start you know but you got to start saving that money up somewhere you got to start you know don't forget what did Joseph do when he was expecting seven years of famine hey he started to create a buffer not just for the whole nation of Egypt but for the whole land of Canaan you know the Bible says I'll just quickly read it to you in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 1 Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 1 it says cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many days then it says in verse number 2 give a portion to 7 and also to 8 for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth it's an interesting principle give you a portion to 7 and also to 8 for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth you know what's saying here have a bit of a buffer you know have seven portions or eight put you don't know what evil might turn you know again Joseph had the you know the Lord God telling him that the land of Egypt was going to go for seven years of famine he had that ability but brethren you know we are living in evil days we don't know you know okay I'm living paycheck to paycheck what if you lose your job how you're gonna survive now you know try to find ways to you know you know I would say you know look for opportunities where you might be able to develop other income streams or other types of savings because cash is trash you know there are other places that you can bank your money you know placing in different assets or different you know classes of investment you know just for that rainy day not to be rich not to be like I just can't wait to be rich just knowing that there are evil days upon the earth just you know start to diversify where you put your finances that's point number three and I'm not here to tell you I give you recommendations what you should do there okay because you know that's that's your business but I think it's wise I think we see biblical principles based upon this can you please turn to Proverbs 11 Proverbs 11 please Proverbs 11 point number four Proverbs 11 and again this might seem contradictive just like paying your tithe seems contradictive that I'm better off paying my tithe than not paying it this also seems contradictive okay point number four is be generous be generous actually before I get into that be generous I'm gonna tie in the financial buffer and the be generous think situation okay what kind of financial buffer have I created in my life well I don't just leave paycheck to paycheck you know I've made sure that we have sufficient money in our bank account that if I were to lose my job or we'll just go for some fun at the financial difficulty that I've got enough money in the bank even though it's cash is cash is trash but just some quick money to pay bills to pay for food you know for at least several months before I can find my feet again okay and it's just this buffer that just sits in the bank you know and as my family has increased so has that buffer increased in relation to my family because obviously more mouths to feed etc etc okay and I've just got that sitting there so instead of my bank account being at zero I won't say what it is but you know it's over 10 grand and then you know if something were to happen and I have to eat into that 10 grand for example well then the next thing once I've been into it because of a difficulty the next thing I do is try to build that buffer up straightaway immediately it's kind of like the idea of paying my bills as soon as possible I look at I'm just paying myself back getting back to that buffer that I need to to make sure that if something happens you know we're not just begging people to help us out or something like that okay there are other buffers you know there are different investments that people might put their finances into hey those are other buffers as well but point number four brethren is be generous be generous with what you earn okay problems 11 verse 24 problems 11 verse 24 there is that scatter of and yet increase of and there is that we've hold of more than his meat but he's tender tender to poverty what is it saying there if you withhold your finances you know you're not generous with it you're gonna tend to poverty but if you scatter if you give your finances out and you're generous and yet increase of whoa how's that work seems contradictory it's just how God's Word is it's just how it operates you know it's not again it's not about dollars it's about God's blessings is that doing things the right way you know it's it's good to be generous when someone is going through a hardship you know it's good to be able to step in and help someone out in a time of need look at verse number 25 the liberal soul that's the soul that gives out liberally shall be made fat no wonder I'm putting on weight no I'm just kidding shall be made fat and here that watereth shall be watered also himself and you go and water someone else's garden say but I'm using my water here God's gonna make sure that you're watered as well there's something about being generous in a time of need where God looks down and blesses it okay and again it doesn't make sense you would think in order to have more just gonna hold on to it all be generous when you find someone that isn't a financial need you know get I've got some rules around how I give to people you know if someone's not working a full time job for example and they're in a financial difficulty I don't want to help that person because I believe every man should be out there trying to work a full-time job if you're working a full-time job and you got a family then you fall into financial difficulty yeah I'll step in and help you out you know because that's a different situation okay and you know there have been times where people have gone through a difficulty and our church have gotten together and helped them out financially praise God for that praise God for that and this goes back to point number three which is create a financial buffer I told you how I've got this buffer and when someone I find that someone is in a financial need and I'm able to help them I pull out of my buffer you know I don't have to look for this wealth elsewhere I said well I've got that buffer there for my yeah when we go through hard times hey but someone else is going through a hard time I pull out that buffer and give to them okay and then I'm thinking okay now I just need to rebuild that buffer up back to where it was before okay but be generous you know the Bible says in Luke 6 38 these are the words of Jesus give and it shall be given unto you good measure press down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that you meet with all it shall be measured to you again it's amazing words the more you give you know I mean don't give to some lazy bum all right make sure it's a person in need going for a hardship and if they need some financial help you're able to help them out hey you've created that buffer hey you know what it was meant for me but hey I guess I put this buffer together because the Lord knows you needed this and you go and you give you know and then I don't even think about anymore once I give it that's it usually when I give I don't expect people to pay it back you know I don't know it's you know God's blessed me and God's using me to bless someone else and I know if I give God's gonna make sure I get my needs taken care of anyway if I go and water someone else's someone else is gonna water for me you know this is just again it's contradictive it's contradictive to this world you know the more generous you are the more blessed you're going to be but it's just the truth of God's Word okay point number five is look for asset opportunities just look for it all right I'm not saying have a desire to be rich but I'm saying instead of just having just cash after cash because it's all it's all going down down down during 98% lost value like I said to you look for a place that you can park that cash and maybe turn it into an asset a place that actually puts money into your pockets rather than just taking money out of your pockets okay now I've made this point number five on purpose because the world will tell you make this point number one all right no no no point number one is pay your tithe point number two is buy your bills okay point number three is create that financial buffer point number four is be generous do all of these things and then if you still have leftover consider well where can I park this money and create an asset where can I you know put this money where it actually puts money back into my pockets okay but it's a lower priority okay after all these other major things that you do in your life the world will tell you make this number one if you make this number one yeah you know what your heart will be upon this earth your heart will be upon treasures on this earth okay you can't serve two masses you make this a lower priority in your life not the first priority in your life all right and the last one that I have can you please turn to go back to our first Timothy chapter 6 where we started to go back to first Timothy chapter 6 first Timothy chapter 6 point number six brethren to be bound to your finances is don't place your confidence in your wealth okay however God blesses you financially whatever you you manage to make in life don't put your confidence please be careful it's so easy it's so easy to put your confidence in your wealth I know I'll just be just fine you know because I've made I bought two houses I know I'll just be fine I know just be fine because I've got this much money in assets and in income and in investments brethren you if this happens you're unbalanced you're unbalanced okay your confidence is in the Lord the Bible so you say there in first Timothy 6 the Bible said we really looked at this when we looked at the balanced life of Job and Job was another rich man in the Bible but he says in Job 31 verse 24 if I have made my gold my hope or have said to the fine gold thou art my confidence says if I've done this he hasn't done this is what he's saying I've never made gold my hope I've never made gold my confidence says Job he says in verse 25 if I rejoice because my wealth was great and because mine hand had gotten much because I've never done that you know the suffering is not because I've ever had trust or I ever rejoined look how wealthy I am compared to I that's not Job okay Job was a wealthy man but he didn't rejoice about it I think is the greatest man on the earth because he had wealth okay the Bible also says in Proverbs Proverbs 11 28 he that trusteth in his riches shall fall but the righteous shall flourish as a branch you're gonna flourish you'd be righteous you'd be right and be righteous through your finances but here that trusteth in his riches shall fall okay so I don't care how much you make I don't care how rich you are in the eyes of this world if you trust in your riches God promises you will fall okay you you will live a life that is destructive and you're there in first Timothy chapter 6 look at verse number 17 it says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who give us richly all things to enjoy Brethren nothing wrong with being rich but if you are rich don't trust in uncertain riches okay trust in the living God who gave you these riches who gave you these blessings he's given you these gifts that's who you trust okay this is so important in order for you to have be balanced in your finances can you please turn to March of the sixth when was done now March of the sixth I just want to end on this one March of the sixth was number 34 you know I don't like teaching about tithing I really don't because I don't want to be perceived as trying to you know take finances from the church you know that's what pastors are you you know preachers religious leaders often you know it's just about you know how much money you know pastor you're looking for to buy a private jet or something you know you know I don't but here's the thing I have to preach it and it's not because we just need money in the church I just want you to be blessed I went to the will of God you know you're missing out on so much when you don't give to the things that God wants you to give toward and again I know you know if you have a worldly perspective on finances and money I know it just doesn't make sense how is it that if I give 10% that I'll be better off how is it that if I'm generous to others that I'll be better off how is it you know if I take care of my bills first before I take care of my pleasures how is it that I'll be better off but you know you need to understand that yes while this world looks at all the financial factors that go to the financial system all the different powers and and effects you know whether it's a cash rate or the interest rate or or whatever you know whether it's war with Ukraine and Russia and whatever you know that affects the financial system whatever that's what they look at but there's one factor that as Christians we look at when it comes to finances and wealth it's the factor of God's blessings it's a factor that God can multiply things beyond our understanding and I can't I can't write that down in a spreadsheet for you it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense okay this is why we serve a living miraculous God that does things that you just wouldn't expect to happen and look at mark 634 mark 634 and Jesus when he came out saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd and he began to teach them many things and when the day was now fast spent his disciples came unto him and said this is a desert place and now the time is far-pressed send them away that they may go into the country round about into the villages and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat hey this is common sense yeah this is logical from the disciples point of view Jesus look we've got too many people here send them back into the towns into the villages so they can go and eat something and then you know they can take care of themselves yeah it makes sense makes sense from an earthly perspective it's not even wicked I tell them to go back and make sure they can feed themselves it's not even wicked and then it says in verse number 37 he answered and said to them give you them to eat and they said to him shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat you know Jesus to feed all these people we didn't we can't afford it what are you talking about verse number 38 he's safe unto them how many loaves have ye go and see and when they knew they say five and two fishes five and two fishes to feed this mass number of people it's it's not not logical it doesn't make sense Jesus giving my tithe it doesn't make sense Jesus being generous when someone has a knee it doesn't make sense Jesus oh you know to what we can't afford to feed everybody on two fishes so where am I up to yeah two fishes and five loaves listen 39 and he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by 50s and when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them and the two fishes divided he among them all and they did all eat and were filled and they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes and they that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men how can you pastor Kevin can you write this on a spreadsheet can you tell me what investments Jesus Christ did none it's impossible it's the blessings of God Jesus takes what he has the two fishes the five loaves looks up to heaven he blesses it he thanks God this is what we have and then 5,000 men are fed that's men well the women children it's probably 10,000 people there potentially okay being fed by two fishes and five loaves and then listen and they're still left over so 12 baskets full of fragments you know they couldn't finish what God had given them this is the God we serve the same Jews that perform this miracle is the same Jesus Christ we serve you know what to be bound to her finances doesn't make sense from an earthly perspective okay so if bouncer finances is to do what God asks us to do it in accordance to his word and say God all I have is these two fishes and five loaves and he's able to feed the 5,000 he'll take care of your needs you just put God's work first you put his service first you put his will first you put his word first you know don't worry about the financial advisors out there hey they might say some good things here and there but really what I want is God's blessing I'll put your money into this crypto it's not sinful by the way but you know you don't know it's going to get up to this I'd rather put my whatever I have my loaves and fishes into God's blessings it's what it's I mean I don't think I don't think even crypto could afford to feed these 5,000 men on two loaves and five fishes five fishes and two fishes and five loaves okay God can multiply and he has any and he has multiplied in my life and I don't even know how people say to me can you give me financial advice I don't know just do what God says and you'll be fine I can't write up a spreadsheet for you I don't even budget for everyone I don't even budget I don't even sit there work okay go it's much coming I don't even do that I just give my tithes pay my bills what's left we live on this and then God just multiplies it it's in God's hands God you do whatever you want with it you know I don't want to be rich I have no desire to be rich you know and I just want to make sure you know my heart and your heart is in the Lord God your confidence is in the Lord your trust is in the Lord you know your trust is in the promises that God gives us in accordance to his word so brethren as I said it's hard for the sermon was balanced through your finances all right let's pray actually before we pray let me just quickly give you those points once again number one pay your number two pay your bills as soon as possible number three create a financial buffer number four be generous number five look for asset opportunities and number six don't place your confidence in your wealth okay let's pray