Multiply | How to Multiply Your Money
Do You Struggle To With Your Finances As A Christian?
James Greer
Aug 28, 2022 32m
If you struggle with your finances as a Christian, the first step to improving your finances is to realize that everything you have belongs to God. This includes your money. God will multiply your money through your giving. Learn what to do with what God blesses you with. Be aware of what He is doing in your life. Video recorded at Pineville, Louisiana.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Good morning, Journey Church. Well, we're continuing our series on how to multiply. Last Sunday was how to multiply our peace. But listen, this Sunday on how to multiply your money. But you know, if you multiplied your money and you didn't have peace, it wouldn't do too good, would it? Last Sunday, I taught you about something that says we're saved and going to Heaven by what we believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. But we maintain our peace and our witness by how we behave. That's right. We believe, saved. We behave, we maintain our peace. And I gave you a couple of verses and one of them is, you know, you shall love your neighbors as yourself. Another one is by this all men shall know you're my disciples by the way you love one another. In other words, by the way we behave, the way we treat others, the way we acts of kindness, way we talk, the way we respond, the way we forgive, and the way we care for others. I want to tell you a couple of stories that happened this week, and then I'll get in how to multiply your faith.
He's not here, but he often plays our drums. Kurt Fuquay. Oh, man, Kurt, he's so sweet. Well, anyway, Saturday I was coming back from fishing. he had Tony's girlfriend, Lana, with him and an older couple hit the media, wrecked their car, spun around, blew out. Kurt being the guy he is, he puts his flashes on, turns over and has her call 911. Of course, he goes over and checks on her and they're all shook up. And it's raining. he says, Y'all just get out and y'all come get in my car. And car's total. And they said, we were going to go to Orange Beach and we were going to meet our friends there, our family there for two weeks, and I just don't know what we're going to do. Kurt says, I'll tell you what. Tony came by and picked her up. he loaded them all up in his car, got all their luggage, put it in his truck, drove him to the airport, made sure they get a car and loaded them all up and sent them off. That's an act of kindness. I mean, let me tell you another act of kindness he did to me that's even more important.
About three weeks ago, Claudia and Sharon and Kurt went down to Baton Rouge. And many of y'all know Robert Fuller that's been in his last stages of Parkinson's. And anyway, because Kurt being a nurse, Sarah allowed him to sit and they were able to take Sarah out and get something to eat, and she got to get out of the house a few minutes. But how important as Robert passed this morning about 2:00. And yeah, it's really bad. And you know, Sarah's heart went into arrhythmia. I think sometimes what you could say is their hearts were so connected. Anyway, they had to bring her to the hospital. She's still at the hospital at three or four this morning. So pray for them and their family. I think you can be that, you know, and so pray for them. And a lot of y'all knew them. Another is our own, I love this one, Randy. Randy Wiggins was in Baton Rouge this week also, like going on Baton Rouge. And somebody ran in the back of his truck. he had messed the front of it up last week. I think he hit a deer and got it fixed and got it out. And then somebody ran in the back of it. I don't want to ride in that truck. But anyway, they deployed their airbags and totaled their truck and the lady got out and she said, I didn't even see you till I hit you. You know, she had two dogs in the back. Four dogs. They got thrown all over the place. Anyway, the lady goes on to tell Randy she has a friend in Alexandria that has cancer and she really needed to get there and didn't know how she's going to get there. Randy puts her in the truck and the two dogs. Dog shit all over his truck. But anyway. Shit. Did I say shit?
I hope I did. Anyway. Did I? Okay. All right. Anyway, let's get to it. Randy, stopped and drove to Alexandria. We got some good people at our church. Amen. You believe in Lord Jesus Christ, and you're saved. The way you behave helps you maintain your peace and as a witness for Jesus Christ. Let's talk about how to multiply your money. I'm going to do my best. One of the hardest things you have to learn is most people really don't believe God wants you to multiply your money. They get confused. They confuse humility and contentment with God's multiplication. Humility is a really misunderstood word. It's not going around saying, Well, I'm just so bad and I'm so sorry. No, you're not. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Humility is you get to the point that you really care more for other people than just focus on yourself. Humility is, I'm willing to pull over on the side of the road. I would've probably kept get going, but Kurt loads them up and brings them. Humility is loading that lady that ran into the back of my truck and not getting out and cussing her out. Instead, you load her up and you drive her to Alexandria. That's thinking more of other people than yourself. That's called humility. Contentment is this. God wants us to be content with what we have, but God does not want us to be lazy. I love in Luke Chapter 2:28. Simeon, he was there and he looked and he saw the child in his arms. And it was Jesus who was in his arms and he praised God.
They said, Lord. he said, Now I can die content for I have seen Him, the promised one. I've seen the Savior that you've given me. See, what he had done, he tied content not because of laziness, but because he got to see Jesus as God had promised. See, true contentment comes as we fulfill the promises of God. God has already promised. One of the first things he promised, he said, Be fruitful and multiply. he promised us that before he told us not to get the fruit. Like I said, if we've been out fruitful and multiply, we may not have gotten fruit. And Proverbs 10:4 says, A lazy person will end up poor, but a hard worker will become rich. Okay, you ready? We're going to get to the outline. Point number one. You have to believe and understand that God wants to multiply your money. You have to believe and understand that God really wants to multiply your money. I told you in Genesis 1:22, God said, be fruitful and multiply. After that, we're going to stay in Matthew 25:14 through 30. So if you have your Bible or your phone or you can look up the notes on there, we're going to say in Matthew the rest of the whole service. But I'm doing it in the living translation because I love the way that it says it. In Matthew 25:14, it says this, and again, the kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by a story of a man.
It's giving us a story, a picture, and saying Jesus Christ, He's gone to Heaven, but He's coming back. He's gone to another country, and he calls together His servants. That's me and you. And he loaned them money. Say, loaned. Uh-oh. he loaned them the money. What He'd loan them money? To invest for Him while he was gone. See, the really reason that I love this translation, it tells you the truth about whose money it is. Most of you think your money is yours. God just loaned it to you. So everything that you have, every good and perfect gift came down from Heaven to you. God made it real clear. he said, I want you to know I'm in Heaven and what you have, your money is on loan from me and it's a loan for me for you to invest while I'm gone. Uh-oh, that changes the picture already. Amen. In fact, 1 Chronicles 29:11 says this. It says, the Lord, you're the great and you're powerful. You have the glory, the victory, the honor, everything in Heaven, everything on earth belongs to you. You ready? Riches and honor comes from you. Then he goes in verse 15 and he tells us this. he gives one of them $5,000. Back then that was a lot of money. And one $2,000 and another $1,000. And to the last, he divided it into proportion to their abilities.
And he left on his trip. Everyone won't have the same amount of money and they don't have the same talents. Y'all want me to give you a free insight? It's not biblical to divide the money equally to everybody. God didn't say that. God didn't say, okay, everybody, come on room. Everybody come in room. Everybody come. And today, when you leave church, we're going to give everybody the same amount of money. Well, I don't know where you get that. Jesus didn't do that? he said, look, some of you can handle five, some of you can handle two, some of you can handle one. And I think he knows what he's talking about. Amen. You know what? I think he's even smarter than the government. He's the one that appoints them. Everyone can't be a millionaire. A lot more could be. But everybody can multiply and most can double what they started with sooner or later. Now me, I multiplied it and lost it and multiplied it and lost it again. So you can do that. God will multiply your money according to your ability and willingness to give it back. God will not give you what cannot go through you. God gives you $1,000 and you learn to double the $1,000. You'll be just as happy and content as a person that had $5,000 and doubled it. It's according to your ability. It's not how much money you have. It's not how much talent you have.
You ready? It's what you do with what you got. The real way to multiply your money is consistently save over a long period of time. Consistently save over a long period of time. Some of y'all, that means every week put it in the bank. Some of y'all mean y'all have a retirement fund. So every week y'all put it in the retirement fund. But it simply means consistently save over a long period of time. You do it now, you do it over a long period of time. One day you're going to have more than you started with. And you're going to find out at the end, Jesus got upset with the person who did not do that. I know somebody personally that never made over minimum wage. When he retired, he had more money than he'd ever had, and he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. And at that time, he had more money in the bank than I did, and I was making ten times more money than he did. But he learned. His mother taught him at an early age how to handle money. Just think if young people at an early age could learn how to do that. I had a friend that I worked with personally that won millions of dollars at the casino in Marksville. I just couldn't get him to tithe it to the church. But anyway. Ask me if he had tithed, would I take it? Yes. But he didn't.
Anyway. Within a few years, he was broke. So it wasn't a matter of how much money he had. It was a matter of what he did with the money that they have. So don't fool yourself. So the number one thing you have to do is evaluate where you're at right now. That's what we don't want to do. Nobody wants to evaluate where you're at. In other words, you got to say number one, number one, Am I a good steward with what God has already given me? That means the hardest thing to do, especially in today's society, is learn to live off what you got. And it is hard because things are higher. There's tougher. But you have to learn to live off what you're making. Number one. Number two, are you consistently saving over a long period of time? Only you know if you have savings accounts or you have retirement at work or what kind of things you have. That might be $5 a week. I don't know. The question is, are you doing that? Number three, are you tithing at least 10% to the church as a way of giving to God? You say, Well, I can't. It doesn't matter. See, if you're making $100 a week or $10,000 a week, the 10% is equal. Did you see what it first said? God loaned you the money. It's not yours anyway. God's just doing that because he wants your heart. In Luke 11:42, it says you should tithe.
Yes, but you should do more. Point number two, point number two, real important. You need to understand how to use the seed/money given you from God. You've got to learn how to use the seed or the money given you by God. If I gave you a whole bag of seed and you go put it in the closet, it is not going to grow. It just won't happen. And I'm amazed how much seed God gives to people. And they don't plant it and they don't use it. Because he tells you He's going to give you seed. Every Sunday when I'm preaching, if your heart's receptive, if you're getting God's Word, that's the seed. A lot of people come to church every Sunday and don't receive His Word. They go home the same way. In this life, he gives you seed and he needs you to use it. he ain't going to go plant the seed for you, water it and keep it up and trim it and do all that. That's your job. he says in verse 16, he said, then the man who received $5,000, he began immediately to buy and sell with it and soon earned another $5,000. God does not tell us what to do. he just tells you, I don't want you to end up how you begin. Notice God didn't tell him what to buy and sell either, did he? Did you know when me and my wife first got married, I worked all day and I would buy an older car and have her drive it till I could sell it.
And she hated it. I can remember that Red Fairlane. She said, would you please hurry up and sell it? I'd say, well, in back then, if I could make $200, that was big. And so even when we were first married, God would give me insights to do different things, to buy, to sell, to make money on the side while I was working. Because I didn't have money to save. But she would drive them and then I'd sell. Then I'd get another one. Then I'd get another one. Then I'd get another one. And that's how we made our extra money. God will give you the. Seeds. Let me give you an idea. Most people don't understand the seeds that God is giving you. Seeds are really nothing more than ideas that come to you. They can be instructions that you get or somebody gives you. They can be answers to prayers or commandments to obey. That's seeds. But once you get them, what are you doing with them? I'm amazed how many seeds are never planted. Well, how do we do it? We consistently save over a long period of time. Insight number two, you've got to know the difference between good debt and bad debt. Bad debt is this. Me and Debbie, when we were young, man, I thought if I could get, back then it was Sears and JCPenney's credit cards.
And we got them, and we charged. There was a problem. You had to pay them back. And back then, you know, when you had to pay them back, it was $20 a month for the rest of your life. And so I just think I'm never going to get these things paid off. And we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid. And we finally got to the point if we made an extra something, we were going to pay those dudes off one day. Now, this was a hard lesson to learn. Then we finally paid them off. Then we agreed we're not going to buy anything, back then it was over, I think $50 or $100 unless we both talk to each other. So we wouldn't go out and buy anything unless we talked to each other, make each other accountable because we didn't want to get back into that. But once we finally paid those off, we didn't do that. Be careful about credit cards. If you have credit cards, pay it off at the end of the month. That's called bad debt. Because of the high interest rate, you just pay it, just pay on it. That's bad debt. Things like buying a house can be a good debt or bad debt. It can be a great investment if you buy it right. Right? But if you can only afford a $100,000 house and you go out and buy a $500,000 house, that's bad debt.
If you go out and buy a new car when you should be driving an older car, that's bad debt. I know you're saying, well, you're out there driving a new car. I know what you think. Yeah, but I paid for that sucker, too. What I'm saying is anything that causes you additional problems that you can't pay for is bad debt. Good debt is stuff you borrowed, but it has reoccurring income. But you make sure it does. For instance, I know a young man that went and bought a car. But did you know what he does to pay for the car? he works full time, but he Ubers at least a lot of times on the weekend and it pays his car. I know another guy that works full time, but he uses his computer technology to make his extra money. I know another guy that goes on a beautiful vacation that's at our church, but he saves every single week, and he plans for the vacation ahead of time. I know another person at our church that built a shop inside of his house and bought equipment, but he works on cars to make the extra money. So those are all investments that they had to spend, but it all brought reoccurring. I know another one of our young guys that bought some rental property, but that's not for everybody. You understand? So you got to know the difference between bad debt and good debt.
Amen. You understand what that is? Okay, so you got know the truth set you free were you not in bondage. Number three, be aware. This is probably the most important thing that God ever taught me about multiplying. Be aware who's opening the doors for you and who's not. Be aware who's opening and closing doors for you. When I was young, if I was trying to make an investment and the door shut, I would get so upset. Then I matured and realized what God was doing when he shut the door. I say, Oh, praise God. I wasn't supposed to have that anyway. But sometimes God opens doors, and you don't know where they're coming from. And so there was a man with $2,000, right? And he went right to work. So now he's multiplying it by going to work. And he earned another $2,000. But if you become aware of who's opening doors, who's blessing you, and where the wealth comes from, then you become more aware of what to do. Deuteronomy 8:18 says to remember this. he said, you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is Him who gives you the power to get wealth. Sometimes God opens doors at work and gives you a raise. Sometimes he gives you a promotion, right? So it's different ways. So sometimes it gives you work on the side. But Revelation chapter 3:7 and 8, this is it.
He who opens and no man can shut. he opens doors. he shuts doors that no man can open. Then he tells you why. I know your works. You cannot just not do anything and say, God, open the door and double my money. You're out there working and say, God, I know your works. I see. I have set before you an open door and no man could shut it for you have little strength and have kept my word and have not denied me. Be aware of God opening and closing doors. Sometimes it's with somebody else. Sometimes it's a friend. Sometimes it's a job. Sometimes it's an opportunity. But I'm going to tell you, God opens and shuts doors. You ready? Not only as a way of multiplying your money, but a way of God directing our lives in every area of our life. But you've got to be careful who's doing it. Don't get under pressure at work and come pray here. God, open another door and give me another job if you're not doing what you should be on that job because it might be the devil to get you out of that job to get you in a worse job. See, see. But in the same way, God many times, he opened and closed His doors as a way of guiding and directing our lives. Number four, Do nothing. Not planning will cost you. Doing nothing and no planning will cost you. Every year, except for the last year or so, me and Debbie, the first year we planned our spiritual life, our financial life, and our personal life.
We'd sit down and we'd make plans. But see, there was a man who received a $1,000. he dug a hole and put it in the ground. And he hid his money. Said he did for safekeeping. he didn't do anything bad. Y'all know what the prodigal son did with his money? he went out and blew it all. You know what this guy did? he just dug a hole, and he hid it. Didn't use it. See, it does matter. You ready? What we do with what God gives us. See. Because after a long time, God's coming back. Their master returns from a trip, and he calls to him to give an account for his what? This is what people don't like to talk about in church. Y'all ready? You going to give account for your money. You're going to give account to God. Not your mate. Not me. But to God. he said, I'm going to come back. And you're going to give an account for it. It's an important insight that you understand that because he shows you how he did that. he went to the one in verse 20. he goes on and says, the one that gave $5,000, hey, guess what? he brought back $10,000. And he goes on and he said to him and his master praised for his good work, you have been faithful.
He was faithful. You're faithfully putting something in the savings or faithful working and handling a small amount. And he told him, so now I'm going to give you many more responsibilities. And really says, Enter and enjoy the Lord. Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned for you. Now his task is joyous. He's enjoying what he does. And the master praised him for his work. Isn't that something? So he wanted him to do that. And then in verse 22, he says this. Next came the man who gave received $2,000. And he reported and he said, Sir, here's $2,000 more. I've doubled it. And that's something. he said, good work, his master told him. You're a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a small amount. Now I'm going to give you much more. Then the man came had $1,000. he said, Sir. You ready? I knew you were a hard man. I want you to start thinking about something right now. How do you perceive God in your life? I was afraid of you. I was afraid you would rob me. Whose money was it? And he was afraid he's going robbing from it. For what I earned. God is the one that gives us the power to make money. So I hid your money, like God didn't know where it was, in the earth. Here it is. You'd think that sounds pretty good, but when you're afraid of him and you think God is going to rob it, I don't think you're making God very happy.
Do you? And so God was not happy with him. Get this. How you see God greatly determines how you give to God and how you serve God. he saw him as a hard God. he saw him as somebody that was going to rob from him. The truth is he was robbing from God. People come to church all the time and think that. I thought that for years and years and years I'd go to church and the preacher would preach about money and I'd say, oh, he just wants my money. I really just think that that's why I hate to preach on money, because so many people, especially if they're first timers, it's like, oh, here he comes. I knew he was going to preach on money. he wants my money. You think we work on commission or something? For insight, I don't take any money from church. But anyway, I used to think that. And then it took me years before I tithed. I thought that was my money. And then I gave a little bit, I thought, oh, I feel better now. I gave God some of my money. It took me forever seemed like. I'm a slow learner. To realize it was all God's money. That changed my entire life. There's nowhere, no way I'd be where I'm at today if I didn't learn to start giving to God.
I can remember who was preaching. I can remember the verse he was preaching. I know it was Luke 638. I can remember. Exactly. Then I went home and said, hey, I'm going to tithe. And I can remember doing it. I can remember I didn't go to the mailbox and get another check or anything like that. I can remember I lived just as well after I tithed as I did before I had. And then I can see how God gave opportunities after that. And I don't believe that I would have had the opportunities I had in life if I had never started tithing. Because really, Malachi 3 says, when you don't tithe, you rob God. So first of all, it's not our money. Second of all, God doesn't need your money. And third of all, God wants your heart. Matthew 6:23 says, where your treasure is, your heart goes. The truth is, God knows our heart will follow our treasure. It just will. he went on and said in verse 26, I got to go, go, go! It says, but the master replied, You're a wicked man. You're a lazy slave or servant. Since you knew I would demand your profits, you should at least had put the money into the bank where you could have gotten interest. At least you could have consistently saved on a regular basis and then you could have doubled it. That's why I say it's so important. But then look what he says.
Take the money from this man and give it to the one that has $10,000. You do understand, sometimes the reason people have more than others is because the people that had money didn't use the money the right way. But even worse than that, for the man who used well what he is given shall be given more and he shall have abundance. But the man who is unfaithful, even with the little responsibilities, he shall be taken from him. And then listen to what he says. And throw this servant out into darkness where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When I was younger and I read that, I used to think the servant was thrown into hell. But he wasn't thrown in hell. If you're saved and you're God's servant, you're still God's servant. But don't you hate to be saved and living like that? Instead of having abundant life, instead of having freedom, you're living in bondage and hopelessness. But it's never too late. That's the wonderful thing about God. Did you know God is the God of the second chance and third chance and a fourth chance? There's been a time when I didn't tithe, and I didn't give. God was still good to me. There's a time that I tried to invest, and it went wrong and I went broke. There's been times I've lost everything. God gave me another chance. So that's not really it. God is just such a good God. But I think he honors principles.
But more than that, y'all ready? He'll honor your heart. he doesn't care if you're young, you're old. he just wants your heart. he just wants you to say, God, what I want to do is just please you more than anything else. To please him, first of all, you've got to have him as your Lord and Savior. Today when I said he wants to be your Lord and Savior, I want him to be your saviors for us going to Heaven. But I want him to be your Lord. The one who's in control of your life where you can let go of control with your life. In other words, when God says to do something, just do it. When God says this morning, why don't you surrender your problems to him, surrender to him. If you're worried, he said, come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, let me give you rest. If you don't have peace, he is the God of peace. If you have unbelievable financial problems, hey, God says let me help you make a plan. The Bible says plan carefully, and then eventually you'll have plenty. Maybe you just say, God, I haven't been planning. Would you begin to give me the insights? I've been focusing on the problem so much, and today I want to start focusing on the solutions and sometimes to see just the solution to the problem. There's as many different problems as there is people here.
But God has a solution for yours. So whether it's to come accept Jesus as your Savior, then you get the Holy Spirit that can guide and direct you, or it's to give your problem to him, your worry, your concern, whatever it is. I pray that you'd do that today. Would you stand? Father, I thank you for your word. I think you that it's our heart that you want. God, you also said that you're the comforter. I'd like to pray for Sarah right now as a church. God, we pray that you would comfort her and fill her and that you put the right people around her right now. I pray for the people here today. I pray that you would comfort them. Pray for the Rawlins. I pray for those that need solutions to their financial problems, God. God, I don't want to be insensitive because I know what it's like to be broken. Sometimes when you're hearing somebody's preach like this in your broke, you think that nobody cares. God cares. he knows you and he knows your heart. he said, a broken and contrite heart will be near to God. Just come to God and let him comfort you. Maybe you need to intercede for somebody. Maybe you need to join the church. Maybe you need to follow through in prayer. Maybe you need to make sure that you let God meet your needs this morning. There's nothing too hard for the Lord. I ask it in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
He's not here, but he often plays our drums. Kurt Fuquay. Oh, man, Kurt, he's so sweet. Well, anyway, Saturday I was coming back from fishing. he had Tony's girlfriend, Lana, with him and an older couple hit the media, wrecked their car, spun around, blew out. Kurt being the guy he is, he puts his flashes on, turns over and has her call 911. Of course, he goes over and checks on her and they're all shook up. And it's raining. he says, Y'all just get out and y'all come get in my car. And car's total. And they said, we were going to go to Orange Beach and we were going to meet our friends there, our family there for two weeks, and I just don't know what we're going to do. Kurt says, I'll tell you what. Tony came by and picked her up. he loaded them all up in his car, got all their luggage, put it in his truck, drove him to the airport, made sure they get a car and loaded them all up and sent them off. That's an act of kindness. I mean, let me tell you another act of kindness he did to me that's even more important.
About three weeks ago, Claudia and Sharon and Kurt went down to Baton Rouge. And many of y'all know Robert Fuller that's been in his last stages of Parkinson's. And anyway, because Kurt being a nurse, Sarah allowed him to sit and they were able to take Sarah out and get something to eat, and she got to get out of the house a few minutes. But how important as Robert passed this morning about 2:00. And yeah, it's really bad. And you know, Sarah's heart went into arrhythmia. I think sometimes what you could say is their hearts were so connected. Anyway, they had to bring her to the hospital. She's still at the hospital at three or four this morning. So pray for them and their family. I think you can be that, you know, and so pray for them. And a lot of y'all knew them. Another is our own, I love this one, Randy. Randy Wiggins was in Baton Rouge this week also, like going on Baton Rouge. And somebody ran in the back of his truck. he had messed the front of it up last week. I think he hit a deer and got it fixed and got it out. And then somebody ran in the back of it. I don't want to ride in that truck. But anyway, they deployed their airbags and totaled their truck and the lady got out and she said, I didn't even see you till I hit you. You know, she had two dogs in the back. Four dogs. They got thrown all over the place. Anyway, the lady goes on to tell Randy she has a friend in Alexandria that has cancer and she really needed to get there and didn't know how she's going to get there. Randy puts her in the truck and the two dogs. Dog shit all over his truck. But anyway. Shit. Did I say shit?
I hope I did. Anyway. Did I? Okay. All right. Anyway, let's get to it. Randy, stopped and drove to Alexandria. We got some good people at our church. Amen. You believe in Lord Jesus Christ, and you're saved. The way you behave helps you maintain your peace and as a witness for Jesus Christ. Let's talk about how to multiply your money. I'm going to do my best. One of the hardest things you have to learn is most people really don't believe God wants you to multiply your money. They get confused. They confuse humility and contentment with God's multiplication. Humility is a really misunderstood word. It's not going around saying, Well, I'm just so bad and I'm so sorry. No, you're not. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Humility is you get to the point that you really care more for other people than just focus on yourself. Humility is, I'm willing to pull over on the side of the road. I would've probably kept get going, but Kurt loads them up and brings them. Humility is loading that lady that ran into the back of my truck and not getting out and cussing her out. Instead, you load her up and you drive her to Alexandria. That's thinking more of other people than yourself. That's called humility. Contentment is this. God wants us to be content with what we have, but God does not want us to be lazy. I love in Luke Chapter 2:28. Simeon, he was there and he looked and he saw the child in his arms. And it was Jesus who was in his arms and he praised God.
They said, Lord. he said, Now I can die content for I have seen Him, the promised one. I've seen the Savior that you've given me. See, what he had done, he tied content not because of laziness, but because he got to see Jesus as God had promised. See, true contentment comes as we fulfill the promises of God. God has already promised. One of the first things he promised, he said, Be fruitful and multiply. he promised us that before he told us not to get the fruit. Like I said, if we've been out fruitful and multiply, we may not have gotten fruit. And Proverbs 10:4 says, A lazy person will end up poor, but a hard worker will become rich. Okay, you ready? We're going to get to the outline. Point number one. You have to believe and understand that God wants to multiply your money. You have to believe and understand that God really wants to multiply your money. I told you in Genesis 1:22, God said, be fruitful and multiply. After that, we're going to stay in Matthew 25:14 through 30. So if you have your Bible or your phone or you can look up the notes on there, we're going to say in Matthew the rest of the whole service. But I'm doing it in the living translation because I love the way that it says it. In Matthew 25:14, it says this, and again, the kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by a story of a man.
It's giving us a story, a picture, and saying Jesus Christ, He's gone to Heaven, but He's coming back. He's gone to another country, and he calls together His servants. That's me and you. And he loaned them money. Say, loaned. Uh-oh. he loaned them the money. What He'd loan them money? To invest for Him while he was gone. See, the really reason that I love this translation, it tells you the truth about whose money it is. Most of you think your money is yours. God just loaned it to you. So everything that you have, every good and perfect gift came down from Heaven to you. God made it real clear. he said, I want you to know I'm in Heaven and what you have, your money is on loan from me and it's a loan for me for you to invest while I'm gone. Uh-oh, that changes the picture already. Amen. In fact, 1 Chronicles 29:11 says this. It says, the Lord, you're the great and you're powerful. You have the glory, the victory, the honor, everything in Heaven, everything on earth belongs to you. You ready? Riches and honor comes from you. Then he goes in verse 15 and he tells us this. he gives one of them $5,000. Back then that was a lot of money. And one $2,000 and another $1,000. And to the last, he divided it into proportion to their abilities.
And he left on his trip. Everyone won't have the same amount of money and they don't have the same talents. Y'all want me to give you a free insight? It's not biblical to divide the money equally to everybody. God didn't say that. God didn't say, okay, everybody, come on room. Everybody come in room. Everybody come. And today, when you leave church, we're going to give everybody the same amount of money. Well, I don't know where you get that. Jesus didn't do that? he said, look, some of you can handle five, some of you can handle two, some of you can handle one. And I think he knows what he's talking about. Amen. You know what? I think he's even smarter than the government. He's the one that appoints them. Everyone can't be a millionaire. A lot more could be. But everybody can multiply and most can double what they started with sooner or later. Now me, I multiplied it and lost it and multiplied it and lost it again. So you can do that. God will multiply your money according to your ability and willingness to give it back. God will not give you what cannot go through you. God gives you $1,000 and you learn to double the $1,000. You'll be just as happy and content as a person that had $5,000 and doubled it. It's according to your ability. It's not how much money you have. It's not how much talent you have.
You ready? It's what you do with what you got. The real way to multiply your money is consistently save over a long period of time. Consistently save over a long period of time. Some of y'all, that means every week put it in the bank. Some of y'all mean y'all have a retirement fund. So every week y'all put it in the retirement fund. But it simply means consistently save over a long period of time. You do it now, you do it over a long period of time. One day you're going to have more than you started with. And you're going to find out at the end, Jesus got upset with the person who did not do that. I know somebody personally that never made over minimum wage. When he retired, he had more money than he'd ever had, and he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank. And at that time, he had more money in the bank than I did, and I was making ten times more money than he did. But he learned. His mother taught him at an early age how to handle money. Just think if young people at an early age could learn how to do that. I had a friend that I worked with personally that won millions of dollars at the casino in Marksville. I just couldn't get him to tithe it to the church. But anyway. Ask me if he had tithed, would I take it? Yes. But he didn't.
Anyway. Within a few years, he was broke. So it wasn't a matter of how much money he had. It was a matter of what he did with the money that they have. So don't fool yourself. So the number one thing you have to do is evaluate where you're at right now. That's what we don't want to do. Nobody wants to evaluate where you're at. In other words, you got to say number one, number one, Am I a good steward with what God has already given me? That means the hardest thing to do, especially in today's society, is learn to live off what you got. And it is hard because things are higher. There's tougher. But you have to learn to live off what you're making. Number one. Number two, are you consistently saving over a long period of time? Only you know if you have savings accounts or you have retirement at work or what kind of things you have. That might be $5 a week. I don't know. The question is, are you doing that? Number three, are you tithing at least 10% to the church as a way of giving to God? You say, Well, I can't. It doesn't matter. See, if you're making $100 a week or $10,000 a week, the 10% is equal. Did you see what it first said? God loaned you the money. It's not yours anyway. God's just doing that because he wants your heart. In Luke 11:42, it says you should tithe.
Yes, but you should do more. Point number two, point number two, real important. You need to understand how to use the seed/money given you from God. You've got to learn how to use the seed or the money given you by God. If I gave you a whole bag of seed and you go put it in the closet, it is not going to grow. It just won't happen. And I'm amazed how much seed God gives to people. And they don't plant it and they don't use it. Because he tells you He's going to give you seed. Every Sunday when I'm preaching, if your heart's receptive, if you're getting God's Word, that's the seed. A lot of people come to church every Sunday and don't receive His Word. They go home the same way. In this life, he gives you seed and he needs you to use it. he ain't going to go plant the seed for you, water it and keep it up and trim it and do all that. That's your job. he says in verse 16, he said, then the man who received $5,000, he began immediately to buy and sell with it and soon earned another $5,000. God does not tell us what to do. he just tells you, I don't want you to end up how you begin. Notice God didn't tell him what to buy and sell either, did he? Did you know when me and my wife first got married, I worked all day and I would buy an older car and have her drive it till I could sell it.
And she hated it. I can remember that Red Fairlane. She said, would you please hurry up and sell it? I'd say, well, in back then, if I could make $200, that was big. And so even when we were first married, God would give me insights to do different things, to buy, to sell, to make money on the side while I was working. Because I didn't have money to save. But she would drive them and then I'd sell. Then I'd get another one. Then I'd get another one. Then I'd get another one. And that's how we made our extra money. God will give you the. Seeds. Let me give you an idea. Most people don't understand the seeds that God is giving you. Seeds are really nothing more than ideas that come to you. They can be instructions that you get or somebody gives you. They can be answers to prayers or commandments to obey. That's seeds. But once you get them, what are you doing with them? I'm amazed how many seeds are never planted. Well, how do we do it? We consistently save over a long period of time. Insight number two, you've got to know the difference between good debt and bad debt. Bad debt is this. Me and Debbie, when we were young, man, I thought if I could get, back then it was Sears and JCPenney's credit cards.
And we got them, and we charged. There was a problem. You had to pay them back. And back then, you know, when you had to pay them back, it was $20 a month for the rest of your life. And so I just think I'm never going to get these things paid off. And we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid and we paid. And we finally got to the point if we made an extra something, we were going to pay those dudes off one day. Now, this was a hard lesson to learn. Then we finally paid them off. Then we agreed we're not going to buy anything, back then it was over, I think $50 or $100 unless we both talk to each other. So we wouldn't go out and buy anything unless we talked to each other, make each other accountable because we didn't want to get back into that. But once we finally paid those off, we didn't do that. Be careful about credit cards. If you have credit cards, pay it off at the end of the month. That's called bad debt. Because of the high interest rate, you just pay it, just pay on it. That's bad debt. Things like buying a house can be a good debt or bad debt. It can be a great investment if you buy it right. Right? But if you can only afford a $100,000 house and you go out and buy a $500,000 house, that's bad debt.
If you go out and buy a new car when you should be driving an older car, that's bad debt. I know you're saying, well, you're out there driving a new car. I know what you think. Yeah, but I paid for that sucker, too. What I'm saying is anything that causes you additional problems that you can't pay for is bad debt. Good debt is stuff you borrowed, but it has reoccurring income. But you make sure it does. For instance, I know a young man that went and bought a car. But did you know what he does to pay for the car? he works full time, but he Ubers at least a lot of times on the weekend and it pays his car. I know another guy that works full time, but he uses his computer technology to make his extra money. I know another guy that goes on a beautiful vacation that's at our church, but he saves every single week, and he plans for the vacation ahead of time. I know another person at our church that built a shop inside of his house and bought equipment, but he works on cars to make the extra money. So those are all investments that they had to spend, but it all brought reoccurring. I know another one of our young guys that bought some rental property, but that's not for everybody. You understand? So you got to know the difference between bad debt and good debt.
Amen. You understand what that is? Okay, so you got know the truth set you free were you not in bondage. Number three, be aware. This is probably the most important thing that God ever taught me about multiplying. Be aware who's opening the doors for you and who's not. Be aware who's opening and closing doors for you. When I was young, if I was trying to make an investment and the door shut, I would get so upset. Then I matured and realized what God was doing when he shut the door. I say, Oh, praise God. I wasn't supposed to have that anyway. But sometimes God opens doors, and you don't know where they're coming from. And so there was a man with $2,000, right? And he went right to work. So now he's multiplying it by going to work. And he earned another $2,000. But if you become aware of who's opening doors, who's blessing you, and where the wealth comes from, then you become more aware of what to do. Deuteronomy 8:18 says to remember this. he said, you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is Him who gives you the power to get wealth. Sometimes God opens doors at work and gives you a raise. Sometimes he gives you a promotion, right? So it's different ways. So sometimes it gives you work on the side. But Revelation chapter 3:7 and 8, this is it.
He who opens and no man can shut. he opens doors. he shuts doors that no man can open. Then he tells you why. I know your works. You cannot just not do anything and say, God, open the door and double my money. You're out there working and say, God, I know your works. I see. I have set before you an open door and no man could shut it for you have little strength and have kept my word and have not denied me. Be aware of God opening and closing doors. Sometimes it's with somebody else. Sometimes it's a friend. Sometimes it's a job. Sometimes it's an opportunity. But I'm going to tell you, God opens and shuts doors. You ready? Not only as a way of multiplying your money, but a way of God directing our lives in every area of our life. But you've got to be careful who's doing it. Don't get under pressure at work and come pray here. God, open another door and give me another job if you're not doing what you should be on that job because it might be the devil to get you out of that job to get you in a worse job. See, see. But in the same way, God many times, he opened and closed His doors as a way of guiding and directing our lives. Number four, Do nothing. Not planning will cost you. Doing nothing and no planning will cost you. Every year, except for the last year or so, me and Debbie, the first year we planned our spiritual life, our financial life, and our personal life.
We'd sit down and we'd make plans. But see, there was a man who received a $1,000. he dug a hole and put it in the ground. And he hid his money. Said he did for safekeeping. he didn't do anything bad. Y'all know what the prodigal son did with his money? he went out and blew it all. You know what this guy did? he just dug a hole, and he hid it. Didn't use it. See, it does matter. You ready? What we do with what God gives us. See. Because after a long time, God's coming back. Their master returns from a trip, and he calls to him to give an account for his what? This is what people don't like to talk about in church. Y'all ready? You going to give account for your money. You're going to give account to God. Not your mate. Not me. But to God. he said, I'm going to come back. And you're going to give an account for it. It's an important insight that you understand that because he shows you how he did that. he went to the one in verse 20. he goes on and says, the one that gave $5,000, hey, guess what? he brought back $10,000. And he goes on and he said to him and his master praised for his good work, you have been faithful.
He was faithful. You're faithfully putting something in the savings or faithful working and handling a small amount. And he told him, so now I'm going to give you many more responsibilities. And really says, Enter and enjoy the Lord. Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned for you. Now his task is joyous. He's enjoying what he does. And the master praised him for his work. Isn't that something? So he wanted him to do that. And then in verse 22, he says this. Next came the man who gave received $2,000. And he reported and he said, Sir, here's $2,000 more. I've doubled it. And that's something. he said, good work, his master told him. You're a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a small amount. Now I'm going to give you much more. Then the man came had $1,000. he said, Sir. You ready? I knew you were a hard man. I want you to start thinking about something right now. How do you perceive God in your life? I was afraid of you. I was afraid you would rob me. Whose money was it? And he was afraid he's going robbing from it. For what I earned. God is the one that gives us the power to make money. So I hid your money, like God didn't know where it was, in the earth. Here it is. You'd think that sounds pretty good, but when you're afraid of him and you think God is going to rob it, I don't think you're making God very happy.
Do you? And so God was not happy with him. Get this. How you see God greatly determines how you give to God and how you serve God. he saw him as a hard God. he saw him as somebody that was going to rob from him. The truth is he was robbing from God. People come to church all the time and think that. I thought that for years and years and years I'd go to church and the preacher would preach about money and I'd say, oh, he just wants my money. I really just think that that's why I hate to preach on money, because so many people, especially if they're first timers, it's like, oh, here he comes. I knew he was going to preach on money. he wants my money. You think we work on commission or something? For insight, I don't take any money from church. But anyway, I used to think that. And then it took me years before I tithed. I thought that was my money. And then I gave a little bit, I thought, oh, I feel better now. I gave God some of my money. It took me forever seemed like. I'm a slow learner. To realize it was all God's money. That changed my entire life. There's nowhere, no way I'd be where I'm at today if I didn't learn to start giving to God.
I can remember who was preaching. I can remember the verse he was preaching. I know it was Luke 638. I can remember. Exactly. Then I went home and said, hey, I'm going to tithe. And I can remember doing it. I can remember I didn't go to the mailbox and get another check or anything like that. I can remember I lived just as well after I tithed as I did before I had. And then I can see how God gave opportunities after that. And I don't believe that I would have had the opportunities I had in life if I had never started tithing. Because really, Malachi 3 says, when you don't tithe, you rob God. So first of all, it's not our money. Second of all, God doesn't need your money. And third of all, God wants your heart. Matthew 6:23 says, where your treasure is, your heart goes. The truth is, God knows our heart will follow our treasure. It just will. he went on and said in verse 26, I got to go, go, go! It says, but the master replied, You're a wicked man. You're a lazy slave or servant. Since you knew I would demand your profits, you should at least had put the money into the bank where you could have gotten interest. At least you could have consistently saved on a regular basis and then you could have doubled it. That's why I say it's so important. But then look what he says.
Take the money from this man and give it to the one that has $10,000. You do understand, sometimes the reason people have more than others is because the people that had money didn't use the money the right way. But even worse than that, for the man who used well what he is given shall be given more and he shall have abundance. But the man who is unfaithful, even with the little responsibilities, he shall be taken from him. And then listen to what he says. And throw this servant out into darkness where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When I was younger and I read that, I used to think the servant was thrown into hell. But he wasn't thrown in hell. If you're saved and you're God's servant, you're still God's servant. But don't you hate to be saved and living like that? Instead of having abundant life, instead of having freedom, you're living in bondage and hopelessness. But it's never too late. That's the wonderful thing about God. Did you know God is the God of the second chance and third chance and a fourth chance? There's been a time when I didn't tithe, and I didn't give. God was still good to me. There's a time that I tried to invest, and it went wrong and I went broke. There's been times I've lost everything. God gave me another chance. So that's not really it. God is just such a good God. But I think he honors principles.
But more than that, y'all ready? He'll honor your heart. he doesn't care if you're young, you're old. he just wants your heart. he just wants you to say, God, what I want to do is just please you more than anything else. To please him, first of all, you've got to have him as your Lord and Savior. Today when I said he wants to be your Lord and Savior, I want him to be your saviors for us going to Heaven. But I want him to be your Lord. The one who's in control of your life where you can let go of control with your life. In other words, when God says to do something, just do it. When God says this morning, why don't you surrender your problems to him, surrender to him. If you're worried, he said, come unto me, all that labor and are heavy laden, let me give you rest. If you don't have peace, he is the God of peace. If you have unbelievable financial problems, hey, God says let me help you make a plan. The Bible says plan carefully, and then eventually you'll have plenty. Maybe you just say, God, I haven't been planning. Would you begin to give me the insights? I've been focusing on the problem so much, and today I want to start focusing on the solutions and sometimes to see just the solution to the problem. There's as many different problems as there is people here.
But God has a solution for yours. So whether it's to come accept Jesus as your Savior, then you get the Holy Spirit that can guide and direct you, or it's to give your problem to him, your worry, your concern, whatever it is. I pray that you'd do that today. Would you stand? Father, I thank you for your word. I think you that it's our heart that you want. God, you also said that you're the comforter. I'd like to pray for Sarah right now as a church. God, we pray that you would comfort her and fill her and that you put the right people around her right now. I pray for the people here today. I pray that you would comfort them. Pray for the Rawlins. I pray for those that need solutions to their financial problems, God. God, I don't want to be insensitive because I know what it's like to be broken. Sometimes when you're hearing somebody's preach like this in your broke, you think that nobody cares. God cares. he knows you and he knows your heart. he said, a broken and contrite heart will be near to God. Just come to God and let him comfort you. Maybe you need to intercede for somebody. Maybe you need to join the church. Maybe you need to follow through in prayer. Maybe you need to make sure that you let God meet your needs this morning. There's nothing too hard for the Lord. I ask it in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
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