Financial Principles

First Timothy 3:14-16 is the central passage of this letter. The Apostle Paul was away from the church in Ephesus while Timothy was there acting as his representative. And what Paul wants for the Ephesian church is the same thing he wants for every church. He wants the eternal and glorious truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ magnificently on display. That’s what God wants from our church.

Things were beginning to unravel at the church in Ephesus, and so Paul wrote to Timothy calling on him to restore order. As we saw in the past couple months, Paul wrote about false teaching and about elders and deacons.

Learning about church structure or church organization is important and healthy for every church. Sadly, it’s a topic that many Christians are never even exposed to. But we need to remember that knowledge alone isn’t enough. We need to take what we have learned and put it into practice. We never want to stop growing in the practice and implementation of God’s word. We want to grow in how we lead and in how we organize our church.

The same is true for our own personal lives. We need to regularly pause and evaluate how we are doing in certain areas. We can talk to other brothers and sisters, and we can learn from one another and improve. Connected to the topic of elders and deacons, we can be asking ourselves: How effectively am I leading others, or serving others, in my family or in the church? That’s a good question to ask yourself.

Now, having talked about the formal leadership and service structure in a church, today we are going to talk about another important aspect of church organization, and it’s an important aspect of your own home as well. Our topic today is going to be the use of your money. The use of your money. If you’re taking notes and want to put a sermon title at the top, just put dollar signs, because that’s what we’re talking about today. If you want a more formal title, I suppose you could just write “Financial Principles.”

Many of you already know that we are currently working to finalize a proposed budget for next year. Lord willing, in the first quarter of next year, we will have a business meeting where the members will discuss and vote on the church budget.

Some of you might not care very much about numbers and financial statements. And that can be true for the church and for your own household. You may not care to balance your accounts or follow a budget. In some ways, that might be okay. God doesn’t expect every single one of us to be financial experts.

At the same time, however, you want to be careful not to think that any discussion about money is a waste of time or is somehow unspiritual. That’s not what the Bible demonstrates.

One the other hand, if you enjoy spreadsheets or tracking expenses, you don’t want to assume that knowing about money, or being able to handle it well, automatically makes you a holier person. Just take the literary example of Ebenezer Scrooge. At the beginning of the story, he is a shrewd manager of money, but that doesn’t mean he is a good man. And if you want a biblical example, just think about the twelve disciples. Who was the one in charge of managing the money? It was Judas Iscariot!

John 12 tells us that Judas was upset when a woman anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. He said it was a waste of money, but really it meant he lost his opportunity to take some for himself.

So, we don’t want to think of money and finances as something that is inconsequential, but we also don’t want to make the earthly management of money the barometer of spiritual maturity. You and I are here to serve Jesus Christ, and money is simply a tool or a resource to do that better.

The Bible has a lot to say about money. After the message, if you want to hear more about the topic, I encourage you to look for a sermon series I preached back in February and March of 2017 simple titled “Finances.” You can find it on our website. At that time, I looked at what the Proverbs of the Old Testament teach us about money, and then I looked at some passages in the New Testament.

For today, however, I am directing our attention to some more helpful and important principles concerning finances, and they are all going to come from the final two chapters of 1 Timothy. As Paul instructs Timothy to restore order in the church, he talks about money as well.

For our time today, I am going to share four principles altogether. The first two are going to be practical, speaking of specific decisions, and the last two are going to aim at the heart. So, let’s begin.

Principle number 1 is this: Provide for your family. Provide for your family. The point here is that God expects a family to take care of its own.

Turn with me to First Timothy chapter 5, verse 1. First Timothy chapter 5, verse 1. If you have had any exposure to the biblical picture of a church, you will know that the church is not a building and it’s not a business. In the church, we are a family, and God expects us to act like it. At the end of chapter 3, as I read at the start of our time, we were reminded that we are the household of God.

As we come now to verses 1 and 2 of chapter 5, we see that Paul reminds Timothy once again that the church is a family. Paul writes: Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Timothy was young, and his youth may have led him to minimize his significance to the group. He may not have felt important enough to make a difference. On the other hand, Timothy was also there as a representative of the apostle Paul, and that could have tempted him to make too much of his position. But Paul tells him to treat others as members of his family. There should be respect and love and purity.

Now, in continuing this discussion of family, notice what Paul writes in verse 3—Honor widows who are truly widows. As a child, you may have been instructed to show respect to your elders, but what Paul says here is about more than expressing appreciation. He’s not saying that we need to give grandma warm hugs and kisses. What Paul is saying is, “Provide for the family.” Those who find themselves in a financial difficulty need to be helped.

When Paul speaks of a “true widow,” he’s talking about someone who is in genuine need. Back in those days, a woman was generally dependent on a man for provision and for a home. So, if a woman’s husband died, and she did not remarry, she was going to be dependent on her children or her grandchildren.

There is a story in Luke 7 of Jesus entering a city while a funeral procession was going by. And the man who had died was the only son of a widow. That’s sad enough on its own, but it’s especially tragic knowing that the woman was presumably left with no one to care for her and provide for her. And in His mercy, and in His omnipotence, Jesus raises the man from the dead. With the man restored to his mother, the woman once again had someone who would take care of her.

This is God’s design. A family takes care of its own. This is the principle of family provision, and Paul explains it in verse 4—But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

We understand that in the early years of life, parents care for their children. But as the years go by, the child gains his or her independence. But that independence is not supposed to mean they do not help in return. God expects children to care and provide for their elderly parents or grandparents.

In addressing the possibility that a relative was available to help but unwilling to do so, look at what Paul says in verse 8: if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

In the eyes of God, it is shameful and disgraceful and scandalous that someone would not be willing to provide for his family, whether that be his own children or his aging parents. This is something Jesus specifically spoke about when He exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Matthew 15. These religious men had enough money to care for their parents, but they would say, “Well, that money I have has been dedicated to God, so I can’t spend it right now.” Jesus said they were breaking the command of God for the sake of their tradition. They did not honor their father and mother.

Beyond that, instead of caring for the poor among them, Jesus said that the Pharisees “devour widows’ houses.” They developed a system that robbed them of their livelihood. And right after making the comment about devouring widow’s houses, Jesus draws His disciples’ attention to a poor widow giving her last coins to the Temple.

Why did she do that? Because the Pharisees had invented a system of deception where people thought they could buy favor with God. This old woman had been taught that she needed to give in order to gain God’s favor in her life.

Do you know what Jesus said in response to what He saw? He said, “There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” The judgment of God was coming on those who preyed on the poor rather than help them.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote that pure and undefiled religion is to minister to the affliction of orphans and widows. The early church understood this. They took care of their immediate family, and they took care of their spiritual family.

So, what does this mean for your own family. Parents, you need to take care of the children in your care. That’s what God has called you to do. And children of all ages, if your parents are at an age where they need help, it is your job to help them because a family is supposed to take care of their own.

Does that mean your kids or your parents need the finest clothing and the fanciest phone and the biggest TV in the neighborhood? No. But you need to think about what it means to provide for them and to honor them.

In the first century, there was no Medi-Care; there was no assisted living. The men went to work, and the women cared for those in the home. So, here’s what Paul says at the end of this section in verse 16—If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

So, if a widow needs help, the first people who should be there to help are her children or her grandchildren. But if there is no one to help—if she is a “true widow” in the church and if she has demonstrated a heart to serve Christ—the church should be there to help as well. A family needs to take care of its own.

So, besides providing for your own family, think about what it looks like for your household to help others in need in the household of God. This is the heart of God, and this is the principle of providing for your family.

Financial principle number 2 is give to your church. Give to your church. Let’s look at what Paul says next in verse 17—Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

Just like with the widows, Paul is not just talking about appreciation and esteem; he is talking about financial support. And we know that because verse 18 says: For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

Paul quotes from the Old Testament, and he quotes from the gospel of Luke, and the simple point he’s making is that if someone works, compensation should not be withheld. In a healthy, growing church, to one degree or another, the congregation is going to support those who give themselves to lead and to teach. I don’t say this because I’m one of the pastors here. I say it because that’s what the Bible says.

It's not a sin for a man to be paid for his pastoral work. I have heard of churches that pride themselves on how little they pay their pastor because they say it keeps him humble. Well, if a man hasn’t demonstrated humility ahead of time, he shouldn’t have been brought on staff as a pastor. A church should have high expectations for their pastors. And those who rule well and labor at preaching and teaching are worthy of the honor given to them.

Paul also touches on this topic in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, which you can read on your own this week if you want. There, it seems as if some false teachers were attacking Paul’s credibility saying he wasn’t worthy of being supported by the church. But Paul responds with some rhetorical questions. He says: Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

Paul points out that a soldier is provided for by the government he serves, a farmer gets to enjoy some of the crops of his field, and a shepherd gets to drink the milk of his flock. Therefore, a hardworking pastor has the right to be supported by the church he serves, which frees him up to serve even more. In 1 Corinthians 9:11, on behalf of his team, Paul writes—If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

A church should support the pastors who work especially hard at governing and teaching, but those pastors also have the freedom to turn down that support or to give it back if they desire. That’s what Paul did when he worked with the Corinthians and with the Thessalonians because they were new, immature churches, and he wanted to give them an example of diligence.

So, for me personally, this principle means I need to be working hard. And then for all of us, it should lead us to think, “How much of my money do I want to give toward supporting the work of the gospel in and through my local church?” Besides supporting the staff, our offerings also support the ministries of our church members and of servants in other parts of the world.

If we ever decided to bring on another pastor, it would be nice if he were an independently wealthy man who wanted to serve the Lord with the time, energy, and resources he had. But apart from that, he is going to need support from the church. And if we want to help growing ministries continue to grow, we need the resources to make that possible.

This is why a church budget matters. It’s not just about dollars and spreadsheets; it’s about the spread of the gospel. And this is why we release the budget ahead of time, because if you have ministries that you want us to plan for, or if you have concerns about how our money is being spent, come talk to us. We want to hear from you.

With a group our size, we are not all going to agree on every single line item, but we can agree to come together and abide by the decision of the congregation under the leadership of the elders.

And just like a church prepares a budget, you can be thinking about your own family budget. How much should you be giving to church? I can’t answer that for you. The Bible doesn’t give a specific number or percentage for the New Testament church. But what you are willing to spend on anything is an expression of how much that thing matters to you and how much you trust that person or group to do what they are supposed to be doing.

So, make sure you take care of your family first. Provide for them. Make sure you pay your taxes. And then, to the degree God blesses and leads, think about how much is going to help the spread of the gospel through our church. Those are the two practical principles Paul gives us: Provide for your family, and give to your church.

Let’s move on now to the final two principles, which are directed to the heart. Principle number 3 is this: Pursue holy contentment. Pursue holy contentment.

For this, we need to jump over to chapter 6. This idea of pastoral compensation has led many false teachers to jump into the ministry because of the money that can be made. And you still see it today with prosperity gospel preachers or influencer-type pastors who primarily see the church as a business or as a way of building up their own name rather than Christ’s.

So, let’s see what Paul says starting in chapter 6 verse 3. First Timothy 6, verse 3—If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, [5] and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Paul has nothing good to say about these kinds of teachers. They are arrogant, and they only lead to more sin in the church. The key phrase there is the end of verse 5. They think godliness is a means of gain.

But notice what Paul says in verse 6—But godliness with contentment is great gain, [7] for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. [8] But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. [9] But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Again, this is the principle of holy contentment, and what Paul tells Timothy applies to me as a paid minister of the gospel, and it applies to all of us who serve Jesus Christ. We need to pursue contentment.

Personally, I am grateful for what God has provided through the generosity of this church and of my own family. In the providence of God, my in-laws live here in Pico Rivera too, and they have been a tremendous support for me and my family. Their abundant generosity has helped us in so many ways. But despite all that I have received, there are always things that we wish were different, right? Discontentment and covetousness creep into our lives in all kinds of ways.

What we want might be different for each of us, but the heart is the same. There’s a new car. There’s a new house. There’s a new phone. There’s a new restaurant. There’s a new set of clothes. There’s a new computer. There’s a new whatever. And while God may grant us the freedom to enjoy some of those things, we need to remember that none of those are a guarantee, and they are definitely not owed to us.

Paul reminds us we came into this world with nothing. We came in here naked and crying and shivering in the cold. And none of the stuff we’ve accumulated is going with us.

So, as long as we have what we need—food and clothing— we can be content. Paul never says that it’s wrong to have money or to be rich. But what he says is that the pursuit of money and the love of it is a snare. It’s a trap. It leads to all kinds of evil.

So, let’s check our hearts. Jesus said that where our treasure is, that’s where our hearts will be. That means that your heart and your wallet are aligned. Think about that. Your heart and your wallet are aligned. God would have us all cultivate a spirit of contentment.

What an important message this is for us, and for our children, and for our society, especially right now. This is the season of commerce. This is the season when retailers are working as hard as they can to make us feel discontent so that we’ll go buy their products for ourselves or for one another. We need to be aware of that battle. There’s nothing wrong with gifts. Our heavenly Father gives gifts. But there’s a major problem with discontentment. Let’s pursue godliness, and let’s pursue a joyful satisfaction with what God has provided. That’s the principle of holy contentment.

The fourth and final principle for today is this: Cultivate humble generosity. Cultivate humble generosity.

For this, let’s jump down almost to the end of the letter—verse 17. First Timothy 6:17. Let me read it for us—As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. [18] They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, [19] thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Do you consider yourself rich in this present age? Do you think you have a lot of money? Another way to ask it would be: Do you have to worry about where your next meal is coming from? I’m going to assume that for most of us the answer is we don’t worry about our next meal. We worry about what kind of food it is, but not usually about whether or not we’re going to eat.

Some of you might have come from other countries or a more difficult life when you were younger. It wasn’t always like this. We should praise God for what He has provided, and we should never forget that what we have been given is a gift.

There are countless people in other parts of the world who can only dream of the conveniences we enjoy today. We have cars. We have refrigerators. We have air conditioning. We have running water.

It’s easy to look at the people with more than us and grumble. But we can also think about the people near and far who have much, much less than we do. And in thinking about all that we have, Paul reminds us that we need to stay humble.

Our trust is not in our money or in our possessions. Our hope should be in God who promised to provide what we needed as we seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Every good thing we enjoy—a vacation with our family, a nice meal, a warm bed—all of that is a gift from God. We didn’t get it for ourselves; it came from God.

And in having all that we have, we are called to be rich in good works, as verse 18 puts it. We need to be generous. We need to share with others.

In Acts 20:35, Paul reminds us of Jesus’ words: It is more blessed to give than to receive. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul reminds us of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says—For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

This is the example we are called to follow. Jesus came form heaven. He was in eternal glory, yet He came to take upon himself humanity in order to gift us with heavenly blessings. This is the gospel. Jesus, by His death and resurrection, has provided reconciliation with the Father for all who trust in Him.

If you want to know more about what that means, come talk to me after the service, or talk to any of our members. We want to help you understand what it means to surrender your life to Christ and call out to Him for forgiveness in prayer.

But in addition to just telling others about Jesus, as His followers we want others to see the heart and the love and the generosity of Christ in the way that we live. We want people to know that what matters most to us is not this life, it is the life to come. We need to have an eternal mindset.

When you and I humble ourselves before the Lord, recognizing that everything we have is from Him and for Him, God rewards us. He sees our humility, and He sees our generosity, and He provides us with treasure in heaven.

I think some people don’t like that idea or maybe that kind of wording. Maybe they think it sounds selfish. But selfishness is when we make ourselves the final goal or the highest priority. The generosity Paul is talking about is something different. There is a self-interest, but ultimately it’s for the glory of God and in obedience to Him.

We tell young people today, “Don’t spend all your money. Save some for later. Save it for a rainy day. You’re going to wish you had it later on. Invest it. Well, I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with human investment as a form of providing for your household, but that can never be to the exclusion of eternal investment.

To use your money to bless others in need is to store up treasure in heaven. It is to lay a foundation for the future. It’s the greatest investment imaginable.

These last two principle serve as a reminders that any conversation about money is not ultimately about the money itself. It’s about our hearts, and its about priorities. If you and I want to use our money wisely to support our families and our church, we start by focusing on our hearts and cultivating a holy contentment and a humble generosity.