Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Announcer (Male): You know, finances can be a tough subject, but today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, we're going to begin a powerful series called Financial Fitness. In this series, Rick's going to open up the word and tackle the tough stuff, show you how to manage what you've been given with wisdom, faith, and purpose. I'm sure like me, as you apply these biblical principles, you'll start to experience real financial freedom and more peace.

So let's get right into it. This is part one of a message called The Foundation of Financial Health.

Pastor Rick Warren: First, we're going to study two of my favorite books of the Bible: the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes. They're in the Old Testament, written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and I love these books. And they are literally filled, chock-filled with advice on how to get out of debt, how to stay out of debt, how to prosper, how to have financial stability, how to save, spend, invest, not waste your money, make the most of it, how to have money work for you and not you work for money, and a lot of principles. We're going to be looking at the laws, the financial laws that are in the Bible, in God's Word. And there are 20, 30 of these we're going to look at during this, this series.

Now, before we look at Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and we start looking at these laws of financial freedom, laws of financial fitness, laws of financial blessing in your life, I want us to look at first what Jesus said about it.

You see, Jesus talked more about money than he did heaven or hell. Did you know that? He talked more about money than heaven or hell. Why? Because we spend more time thinking about money than heaven or hell. We spend much of our time thinking about how to get it, how to make it, how to save it, how to spend it, how to invest it, how to protect it, how to, you know, insure it, and all the other things. And it, it dominates much of our lives.

And so Jesus had a lot to say about money management. He also told us that money management is a spiritual discipline, that God is actually watching how I handle my wealth, to see what he can trust me with with true spiritual riches in heaven.

Jesus, when he told the parables, you know, the stories, the famous stories of Jesus, over half of the parables Jesus told deal with material possessions. So there's a lot of material in the Bible on how to get out of debt, how to stay out of debt, how to control money instead of having it control you.

Now, this weekend, before we begin Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, I want us to look at Matthew chapter 25. If you have a Bible, you might want to open to Matthew chapter 25. We're just going to look at the, the story that Jesus told there. If you don't, pull out your message notes and all of the verses we're going to look at are there. This is called the parable of the talents.

Now, many people misunderstand this parable because it has the word "talent" in it. And when we hear the word "talent," we think of gifts, abilities, uh, you know, your shape, your personality, your spiritual gifts, your heart, the things you love to do, what you're naturally good at. The word, the English word "talent" actually comes from this chapter in the Bible. Before there was this, Jesus told this story, the word "talent" didn't exist.

But a talent is actually a measurement of money. And while this does have application to your talents, your gifts, your abilities, this is actually a parable, a story about money management. A talent was a specific weight of gold, and there was a Babylonian talent, there was a Greek talent, and there was a Roman talent, which was a specific amount of money.

So we're going to look at it. Now, in this chapter, we're going to start in verse 14. We have the story of a, of a rich businessman. And Jesus tells this story of a guy who's very, very wealthy. We can know that by what he gives his servants to take care of. And he says, I'm going to go away on a trip, and I'm going to be gone for a long time, so I'm going to put you in charge of my property.

And he divides up his wealth. You know, in those days there weren't any banks. And so you didn't keep your money in a bank. So he's got all of his wealth at home, and he divides his wealth up among his three servants, and he says, I expect you guys to make the most of this. And when I come back, we'll see what happens. And so he's gone for a long time, and later the, the businessman comes back home and he says, okay, give me an account. What'd you guys do with my money?

And, uh, and they tell the story, and two of the guys have a good report, one of the guys has a bad report. And then Jesus draws some spiritual truths out of this. Out of this story, we learn seven foundations for financial fitness. If you ever needed to take notes, you need to take notes this weekend. Because these are foundations that base the stability of your life on in order to become all God wants you to be.

Now let's look at it together. They're on your outline. In Matthew 25 verse 14, we hear, we see the beginning of the story. And it says this, "The Kingdom of Heaven," Jesus said, "will be like a man going on a journey," this businessman, "and he called his three servants together and he entrusted his property to them."

Now if you're taking notes, I want you to circle the word "his" there on that verse. It says, "He called his three servants together and entrusted his property to them." So when we're talking about money here, whose money are we talking about? The money owned by the master or the money owned by the, the servants? Yeah, the master. Okay, it's not the servant's money, it's the master's money, but he's giving it to them to take care of. This, by the way, is called stewardship. You've heard this word before. A steward or stewardship, that's the Old English word for manager. Any of you who are managers or involved in management in a business are actually stewards. A steward is a manager, and stewardship simply means management.

We are called to be stewards of our time, manage your time. We are called to be stewards of our influence, we are called to be stewards of our health, of our minds, of our relationships, of our opportunities. Everything you have, you are to be a steward of or a manager of.

Now, he says here, "He entrusted his property to his servants." Now, this is the first law of financial freedom, and it is this: the law of possession is this, you might write this down. Everything I have belongs to God. I need you to settle that one right up front. It's not my money. It all belongs to God.

You say, wait a minute, but I worked for this. Where do you think you got your body to work for it? Where do you think you got your mind to work for it? Where do you think you got your energy to work for it? Where do you think you got your intelligence to work? Everything you have is a gift from God. So you don't really own anything in life. It's all on loan. Someday I'm going to write a book, and the first sentence of the book will be, "What you think you own is really on loan."

You see, I didn't own anything before I was born. I didn't bring anything into the world. I've been there at the birth of all my babies and grandbabies. None of them came in carrying a satchel full of money. Okay? You didn't bring anything into the world. And I've been there at the other end too, at the funerals. Nobody takes it out with them. You never see a hearse driving a, you know, a U-Haul with it. Okay. So, you only get to use it while you're here. It's God's money. God loaned it to somebody before you. He's loaned it to you for 80 years, and he's going to loan it to somebody else after you die. You don't own it. It's all under management. The Master owns it all. God is the owner.

Now, this is really important because we tend to forget it. We forget, and when we forget it, you know what is the sign that you've forgotten that it's God's and not yours? When you think it's yours, you worry about it. Worry is the sign that you think it's all yours.

Now, let's say you had a beach house, and you said, Rick, I'm going to Spain for a year, and we're going to let you and Kay use our beach house for a year. So we use your beach house for a year, and then you call up a year later and go, you know what? We think we're going to stay, we're having a good time, so we're going to stay another year in Spain. Use our beach house for another year. And so then on the third year you call up again and say, hey, go ahead and use it for a third year. By this time, I'm starting to think, this is mine. You come home about year four and you say, I'm ready to move back in. I say, what do you mean? You're not moving. This is my house. You know, possession is nine-tenths of the law. It's mine now.

And we tend to think because God has loaned it to us for an extended period of time that it's ours. It's not. If you would remind yourself of this first truth every day, you'd worry a whole lot less.

Now, in the next verse, verse 15, it says, "This master, he loans his money out and he says, to one servant he gave five talents of money, and to another he gave two talents of money, and to another," it says, "he gave one talent of money." Okay? Now, what's he talking about here? Well, a talent, literally, a Roman talent is 71 pounds of gold. Think about that.

Now, today, yesterday, gold was $1,600 an ounce. Okay? So that means if you got a talent of gold, you got $1.8 million. This is not a small investment. Okay? If you got two talents, which he gave to one guy, he's just giving you $3.6 million to take care of while he's gone. If he's given you five talents, he's just giving you $9 million to take care of. This is not a small amount. He's really trusting. And God has made a huge investment in you. We'll talk about that later.

But the first law, the law, God possesses everything. It all belongs to him. And then this is the second law, and it says, he gives one five talents to one, two talents to another, and one talent of gold to another guy, each according to his ability, then he left on his journey. This is the law of allocation, and it is this: God has loaned me money.

I just talked about that. You don't really own it, he's loaning it to you for 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 90, at the most 100 years. Now you notice in this story that Jesus tells, everybody gets a different amount. That's obvious. We're not all equally wealthy, we're not all equally, uh, you know, have the same economic status. It says some, some guy gets one talent, some guy gets two talents, some guy gets five talents of gold.

But the point is this: everybody gets something. Now, there are no "no-talent" people in the world. If you're breathing, that is a blessing. If you are alive, that in itself is a blessing. Now, everybody gets something, and they all began to go out. Now, notice the next verse, verse 16, they're on your outline. "The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work." Circle that phrase, "put his money to work."

"And gained five more talents of gold. And so the one with the two talents also doubled his money." "But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and just hid his master's money."

Now, there's a couple of things I want to point out here. And the first is this: Money is a tool to be used. You put it to work. You use money and you love people. Now, if you get that reversed, you're going to be in trouble because if you start loving money, you will use people.

No, people are to be loved, money is to be used. You are to never love money. You are to use it. It is a tool to be used. You say, well, wait a minute, isn't money the root of all evil? Doesn't that what the Bible says? No, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible does not say money is the root of all evil. It says the love of money is the root of all evil.

Money is totally neutral. It can be used for good or bad. It can be used by Hitler to, you know, bomb Europe, or it could be used by churches to spread good news and feed the hungry. You can use it on very selfish-centered purposes, or you can use it for very unselfish purposes. You can use it to create businesses and products that bless the entire world. Money is a neutral thing. It's neither good nor bad. It's what you do with it.

But he says, "put your money to work." One of the things we're going to learn in the next several weeks together is how to put your money to work. The reason why most people are in debt, and the reason why most people never get out of debt, is because they are always working for their money instead of having their money work for them. You got to reverse this. This is a whole different way of thinking about money.

You got to learn how to put your money to work for you instead of you working for money. If you work for money, you will always be needing more. You will always be in debt. But if you learn how to make money work for you, then money becomes your servant. Money is a wonderful servant, it is a terrible master. It is a terrible master. And you know it's a master when it's causing stress in your life. Then it's mastering you, it's controlling you.

Now, he says he gives the money out to these three servants. One goes out and invests it, puts it to work. Another goes out and puts it to work. The third guy goes and hides it in the ground. Here's the point: You get to choose what you do with what God gives you. You don't get to choose what you're given. Some people are given one talent, some people are given five talents, some people are given ten talents, some people are given two talents. It's just different amounts. But you do get to choose what you do with it. And what you do with it is what God is watching.

Now, when you get to heaven one day, God is not going to say, why weren't you more like your brother? Why weren't you more like your dad? Why weren't you more like your mother? Why weren't you more? No, you are only responsible for the talents you've been given. And I'm talking about not just money, but your time and your abilities and all these other different things. When you get to heaven, God is never going to compare you to anybody else. He's not, and you can't say, well, look, you only gave me one talent, you gave that guy five talents. God isn't going to say, who, who are you talking about? God wants to know, what did you do with what you were given? What did you do with what you were given? Not what I gave somebody else, but what I gave you.

So God says, you get to choose what you do with the money I give you. Now, what can you do with that money? You can waste it. There are plenty of ways to waste it. You can spend it, you can use it, you can invest it. You know, there are all different, you could hoard it. There are lots of ways that God lets you choose which way you want to do it, but you will have to give an account one day for the reasons you chose to do what you did with the money he loaned to you while you were alive. This is a test. One day, you're going to have to explain it.

And that's why in verse 19 it says, "After a long time, the master of the three servants returned to settle his accounts." Circle the word "accounts." He said, "He returned to settle his accounts." This is the next law, the third law, and the third law is the law of accountability. And the law of accountability is this: One day God will audit me. One day God is going to audit me. He's going to come and settle accounts.

There's going to be a final exam on the life God gave you. It will be a life audit, not by the IRS, but by the G-O-D. And the difference with between the IRS and the G-O-D is God has all the records. You don't have to bring any to that audit. He's already got it. He's seen everything you've ever done with your time, with your words, with your money, with your life. The times you used it for good, and the times you just flat out blew it.

But you will give an account one day, and it is foolish to go through life thinking that I'm not going to have an audit at the end of life. You think God would create you, put you on this planet, and then at the end say, now what did you do with your life? I put you, I created you, and I made you for a reason. And so there is going to be this, this audit. God has made an investment in you. He has given you certain gifts, certain abilities, certain opportunities. He's given you certain resources. He's given you a certain heritage. He's given you certain freedoms. He's given you a certain amount of intellect and intelligence and energy.

And God's going to say, what did you do with all that stuff? Well, I made a lot of money, retired, and die. Wrong answer. You think I put you on earth to live for yourself? I mean, come on. I mean, really, come on. You think I put you on earth to live simply for yourself? And to stock pile a bunch of things that you're not going to take with you anyway when you die? Life is not in the acquisition of things. You've seen that bumper sticker, "He who dies with the most toys wins." No, the sticker should say, "He who dies with the most toys still dies." And he wasted his life because life is not about the acquisition of things because you're not taking any of it with you.

It all belongs to God. God has loaned it to me. He's watching what I do with it, and one day I'm going to give an account of how well I used the money, the resources, the time, the energy, all the things that God gave me. The Bible says this here on the screen, Romans 14:12, "Each of us will give an account of himself to God."

You know, it's fun to be irresponsible. But you can't be irresponsible your entire life. My guess is that when you got out of high school, you either A, went off and tried to get a job, or you went off to college, and either way, whether you went to college or went to work, there's probably a few years in there you were just slacking around. You're thinking, I'm out of the house, I'm going to have some fun, and you're kind of, you know, irresponsible. You sleep in, you don't really try to get a job, you're watching cartoons, eating Coco Puffs, you know, and playing video games, and, and things like that. But at some point you have to wake up and go, excuse me, I got to get a life. I cannot be irresponsible my entire life. It might work for a year or two, but the Master's going to come back and I'm going to give an account, and irresponsibility never lasts, it always catches you in the end. And that's what happens to people when they get in debt. We are financially irresponsible and it eventually catches up with us, and the chickens come home to roost.

Right now, America is reeling in the results of decades of overspending. And how the most blessed and most prosperous and the most wealthy nation in the world can be on the verge of bankruptcy is an amazing, but it can happen. All you have to do is just spend trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars and keep spending it. You cannot be irresponsible forever. At some point, you have to kind of man up.

Now, the law of accountability says that one day God's going to say, what did you do with what I gave you? Now, notice these three guys have three different responses. The first guy, uh, he's got a good report, he's got a good ROI, return on his investment. And in verse 21, 20-21, it says, "The man who had received five talents," okay, "brought the others, and remember this is about nine million bucks, brought the other five he had made, and Master, he said, you entrusted me with five talents, see, I've gained five more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Well, I guess so, he's got a 100% return. I'd be happy for a tenth of that today. Wouldn't you? I mean, I mean 100% return, he doubled his investment. I mean, this guy bought Google. Okay? He clearly, he got in on the front end of Amazon or something, and his stock has really soared. He doubles his investment, 100% return.

Same thing with the second guy. Second guy has another good return and a good report to, to share. In verse 22, "That servant who was given two talents of money also came and said, Master, you entrusted me with two talents. Now, see, I have gained two more." He's doubled his. And his master replies to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant," 100% return on investment.

Now, the third guy does not have a good story to tell because he has not used what God gave him wisely. And he doesn't have a good report. In verse 24, "Then the man who had received the one talent came and said, Master, I knew that you are a hard man." Now, notice he's turning the tables. He's trying to put the blame on his boss. "Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown, gathering where you have not scattered seed. So, I was afraid." You know, I was afraid of losing your money. "And I went out and I hid your talent in the ground." I buried it. He just buried it. "Now, here it is, here's what belongs to you." Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And what is the master's reply to the servant? "You wicked, lazy servant." Now, let's just tear this apart a minute because this story is in the Bible for a reason. This guy buries what God has given him. He does nothing with it. He doesn't use his talent. And then he blames his master for his own mismanagement and for his failure. He says, I'm a victim. And we got people doing this today. They mess up their lives. And, um, you know, they mess up their lives and they don't know what to do. So they blame the government. Or they blame the boss, or they blame their parents, and they blame everybody else.

God didn't cause you to put all that money, all those expenses on your credit card. God didn't tell you to go buy a brand new car when you couldn't afford it. God didn't tell you to go buy a house that you couldn't afford. The Bible says this here on the screen, Proverbs 19:3, "People ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the Lord." You've heard me say this before. Anytime I blame, you spell blame, B-l-a-m-e. And every time I blame you for my problems, I am being lame.

Now, notice the master's response to this guy's whining. He says, verse 27, "He said, you know, you should have at least put my money in the bank, so I could make some interest. I mean, just put it in a passbook account, it's not making anything, but that's better than digging a hole in the ground and just burying it. You could have at least made some, some money on it." Now, this leads us to the fourth law of financial freedom, and it is the law of utilization. And the law of utilization is this: I must wisely use God's money.

Announcer (Male): We really appreciate you joining us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And Rick felt like he wanted to end today's show by sharing a word of encouragement.

Pastor Rick Warren: Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Did you hear that? The Bible is going to outlast the earth and the universe. Why? Because God's Word is eternal, because truth never changes. If it was true 5,000 years ago, it was true 1,000 years ago, it's true today, and it's going to be true a million years from today. This is why it's more important to know God's Word than anything else. Opinions change, but truth never changes. It's why we focus on studying it here on our Daily Hope broadcast.

Thanks for listening, and let me hear from you. My email address is rick@pastorrick.com. Now that's two R's in the middle, rick@pastorrick.com. I'd love to hear from you, and thanks again. Be sure to join me next time as we look into God's Word for our daily hope.

Announcer (Male): This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.