William Borden, a Yale graduate and heir to great wealth, rejected a life of ease in order to bring the gospel to Muslims in Egypt. Refusing even to buy himself a car, Borden gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. In 1913, after only four months of zealous ministry in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five.
King Tut, the Egyptian boy king who died at age 17 and was buried in a tomb surrounded by the wealth of his great empire. Like other Egyptians of his time, he expected to use all his gold and jewels in the afterlife. His tomb was lost in the sands of the Valley of the Kings until being discovered in 1922.

Alcorn asks us to “consider the contrast between the graves of these two men. Borden’s grave is marked by a simple tombstone – obscure, dusty, and hidden off the back alley of a street littered with garbage. Tutankhamen’s tomb glittered with unimaginable wealth.”

Both men died at a very early age. Alcorn tells us, “Tut’s life was tragic because of an awful truth discovered too late – he couldn’t take his treasures with him. William Borden’s life was triumphant. Why? Because instead of leaving behind his treasures, he sent them on ahead.” (The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn, 34-36).

I. Foundational Truth about God’s Stuff

What about you? Are you living a life of triumph or tragedy? A lot of it depends on your understanding and your practice of what you do with all of the stuff that you have at your disposal. I want to begin this morning by sharing with you some foundational truth about “His stuff.” Often in worship services reference is made at offering time to giving God His tithes and our offerings. In some ways that’s incorrect because the very first foundational truth that I want you to catch is that God owns it all.

It’s all about God. He created, He sustains and He owns it all!

There are several scriptures that clearly make this claim.

From Job 41:11, there’s a discussion between Job and the Lord. The Lord is making His case before Job, who is complaining about all that has happened to him. Remember, this is taking place at the end of the story and the Lord says to Job in verse 11, “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under Heaven belongs to me.” God owns it all.
Psalm 24:1, “The Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world and all who live in it.
Haggai 2:8, “The silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the Lord Almighty.”
Deuteronomy 8:18, “Remember the Lord your God for it is He that gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
I Corinthians 6: 19 and 20, “You are not your own, you’ve been bought for a price.
Gen 1:1, In the Beginning, God…, is supported throughout scripture. God creates! He sustains!

God owns all of it. It’s all His. The air you breathe, the pavement you walk on, the house you live in, the food that restores your body and the clothing on your back – God owns it all. It’s all about Him! The sooner we recognize that truth the better off we’ll be.

Now, there is a second foundational truth that I want you to see as well. What we think about – and how we handle all that is His – is central to our spiritual lives and our spiritual joy. In essence, what I’m saying is that faith and finances are inseparably linked. I don’t know about you, but I find it very interesting that Jesus talks more about the topic of money than He talks about the teachings of Heaven and Hell combined. More than fifteen percent of everything that Jesus teaches about in scriptures relates to possessions and money. Why such an emphasis? Because of this foundational truth… (Repeat truth) There is a basic connection between our spiritual life and how we think and handle money and possessions and things. We may try to separate our faith from our finances, but God sees them as inseparable.

Let me show you a prime example. In Luke 3 John the Baptist is preaching to the crowds. They’ve gathered to hear him and to be baptized by him. There are three different groups that ask him what they need to do in order to bear the fruit of repentance. Look at Luke 3. Beginning in verse 7, “John says to the crowds comingout to be baptized, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?’” Not quite the way to win friends and influence people by addressing them in that manner. None-the-less, this is John the Baptist. In verse 8 he says, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” And then the groups that heard that word ask him first, “’What should we do then?” In other words, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, what should we do? John’s answer in verse 11 is that essentially everyone should share their clothes and their food with the poor. Then in verse 12 the tax collectors ask the same, “What should we do?” In verse 13 he essentially says, “You tax collectors shouldn’t pocket extra money.” And then soldiers ask, “What should we do to produce this fruit in keeping with repentance?” And John says, “Be content with your wages and don’t extort the money.”

Each time it would appear that these groups are asking a very spiritual question. “How do we show that we have a repentant heart, spirit and attitude?” What would you say if people asked you that? I think I would have a tendency to say, “Worship God with all your heart, have a passion for Christ and let the peace of Christ rule in your heart.” Do you see what John says? Each answer that he gives relates to money and possessions. Nobody asked him about that. They asked him what they should do to demonstrate the fruit of the spiritual transformation that they’d experienced.

The same thing happened in Luke 19. Zacchaeus says to Jesus, “Look Lord! Here and now I give half my possessions to the poor and if I have cheated anybody out of anything I will pay back four times the amount.” And in Jesus response, He gives a spiritual answer to this comment about giving. “Today salvation has come to this house.” Zacchaeus’ new approach to how he was going to use his money showed his transformed heart. That is what Jesus says.

In Acts 2 and 4 you can see the connection again. There were Jewish converts who eagerly sold their possessions and gave them to the needy because of their transformed lives in coming to Christ. Their habits with their pocketbooks changed. They recognized that God owned it all. How they handled all that was His was directly related to their spiritual life. In Acts 19 there were some Ephesian occultists who showed that they were truly converted when they burned their magic books that were worth what today would have been millions of dollars.

How you handle all that is His – all that He’s allowed you to have – is directly related to your spiritual life, your spiritual development and your spiritual joy.

It’s about God....So what’s the truth about what God wants you to do with all that is His? The truth is that He wants you to give it away!

(Read Luke 12:13-21)

We have here a story of the rich man who spent all of his wealth on himself. He planned to tear down his barns and build larger ones and store up for himself so that he could retire early and take life easy. The Lord calls him a fool and says that very night his life would be demanded of him. You will get what you prepared for yourself. The greatest indictment against him, the proof of his spiritual condition, is that he was rich toward himself and not rich toward God. It’s about God and what is created, sustained and owned by Him. It’s not about us and what we refer to as ours.

When another rich young man (Luke 18:18-29) pressed Jesus about what he needed to do to gain eternal life Jesus told him to “Sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come and follow me.” The man was obsessed with earthly treasures. Jesus called him to do something higher and that was to give them away. Jesus knew that money and possessions were the man’s god. He realized that the man wouldn’t serve God unless he took those possessions off the throne of his life and put God there.

Please understand that when I tell you this truth that God wants you to give His stuff away, I’m not saying that God doesn’t believe that persons should have treasures, things, possessions or money. I’m not tearing down the wealthy for the sake of the poor. All I’m saying is that the word from the Lord is that we are to store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven not on Earth. (Matt 6:19, 20) And the way you do that is by giving what He’s given to you away for the sake of the Kingdom. Instead of storing up treasures for yourself, hoarding and keeping and stockpiling and amassing wealth and things, all that is His, He wants you to take what is His and store them up in Heaven. It’s about Him – not you and yours!

What Jesus is talking about it in that Matthew 6 passage is deferred gratification. You see, the man who finds the treasure pays a high price now by giving up all that he has now, but soon He’ll gain a fabulous treasure. If you keep your eyes on the treasures of Heaven, the short-term sacrifice you make now will be with joy. You see, present joy comes as you anticipate future joy. What’s this treasure in Heaven? Well, it includes power, which we read about in Luke 19: 15-19. It includes possessions which we read about in Matthew 19:21. It includes pleasures that we read about in Psalm 16:11 and Jesus promises that those who sacrifice will receive a hundred times as much in Heaven (Matthew 19:21).

Now, that is ten thousand percent, quite a return on your investment!

Indeed, Jesus is our ultimate treasure. Everything else pales in comparison to Him and the joy of knowing Him. A person, Jesus, is our first treasure. A place, Heaven, is our second treasure. Possessions and eternal rewards are our third treasure. (Delete if “Principles of Giving” is not used.And so, as we look at some principles of giving that flow from these two foundational truths, keep in the back of your mind these questions:) What person are you living for? What place are you living for? What possessions are you living for?

Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven. He wants you to give away all that is His. Store up those treasures in Heaven, why? Because it’s right? Yes, but not just that…because it’s smart? Yes, but also because such treasures will last! You see, Jesus’ appeal isn’t just an emotional one. It’s very logical. Invest in what has lasting value.

Folks, you will never see a hearse pulling a U-haul. You can’t take it with you. Remember it’s all about God. He’s created, sustains and owns it all. He wants your spiritual life and joy to be enhanced by giving it away! (Message could end here or move on to 2 Principles….)

Principles of Giving

Therefore, let me give you a couple of principles about giving away all that is His.

1. The very first principle is like that first foundational truth: God owns everything and I’m His manager. God has entrusted or stewarded you to care for what is His. He’s not giving it to you. He’s entrusted it to your care. As a steward you have no sense of entitlement to His stuff. You are simply the manager.

When you realize that all that you have is His, it’s very easy to give away God’s stuff to do God’s work and, when you do, you discover a peace and a joy that you never had when you thought it was yours.

A man rode up to John Wesley and told him that something terrible had happened, “Your house burned to the ground.” And Wesley response was, “No, the Lord’s house burned to the ground, that’s one less responsibility for me.” His response wasn’t an attitude of denial, but it was a bold affirmation of truth. God is the owner of everything and I’m simply a manager.

We get into trouble when we start thinking that we’re the owners – my stuff, my field, my house, my tape player, my car. We need to be thinking like stewards and investment managers. We need to always be looking for the best place to invest the owner’s money. It’s about Him and all that’s His!

2. The second principle is My heart will follow God’s money. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus was saying that our hearts will follow His money. Show me your checkbook and/or your credit card statements and your receipts and I can tell you where your heart is.

(Example) Suppose you have an interest in the stock market and you decide to buy some shares of a popular stock. Maybe it’s General Electric or Hershey Foods. When you buy those shares do you know what you find yourself doing? You check the financial pages. When you look at magazine articles or news articles you’re looking to see every word that relates to General Electric or Hershey Foods. You see, your heart and interest follows your money.

Now, just suppose that you’re giving to people who are going on a mission trip or suppose you’re planning to support a family who is looking to minister to those is a third world country. When you see an article on that country or this family you get hooked. If you’re sending money to plant churches here in North America or other parts of the world and you find that there is a crisis – maybe it’s a natural disaster in part of a world where you’re supporting – you take interest, watch the news and fervently pray. Just like the compass needle that points north, your heart will follow your treasure. Where your money is, there will your heart be also.

I’ve heard people say, and I’m sure you have too, “I want to have a heart for missions, for the persecuted church or for youth, children or worship.” Jesus tells us exactly how to get it. Put His money in it and your heart will follow. Now, sure, you can throw money at something and pretend, but I’m talking about sacrificial giving for which your heart has to follow. Do you care about eternal things, lost souls, helping the poor and touching the needy? Look for ways to give what is God’s, His possessions and His money to that need and that hurt and that Kingdom building adventure opposed instead of just getting more for yourself. God wants your heart. He isn’t just looking for donors in His Kingdom, those who stand outside and just give money as an act of philanthropy or grace. He’s looking for disciples who are so immersed in a cause that they give to it. He wants people so filled with a vision for eternity that they dream of investing money, time and prayers where they will matter most.

Giving isn’t the only thing we can do with His money. We need to feed and clothe and house and transport our families, true, but when the basics are taken care of why shouldn’t the rest go toward treasures in Heaven? Think about it this way, if you are laying up treasures here on earth – and that could include amassing a real nice house with a lot of stuff in it, a nifty car or two or three, a nice bank account and a great retirement plan – if that’s what you’re spending your life on, then every day that you live you are moving away from your treasure. Death means loss because you can’t take it with you.

However, if you’re laying up treasures in Heaven, looking for every way you possibly can to give every day of your life, then you’re moving closer towards your treasures in Heaven. For you, death is gain. One road leads to despair and another to rejoicing. Which road are you on? Is your life one of triumph or tragedy?

Truly, when you realize and live out the truth – that your stewardship is all about God – then you will know the triumph He desires for you! Amen.

WELCOME