Money and The Bible

Thank you, Robert. I think we all look forward to the fulfillment of that prophecy when Ezekiel 37 brings up about that period of time when human beings will be resurrected after the millennium, and they'll be brought back to life, and will have an opportunity to know God's way of life and to have that breath of life. And access to God's Spirit. And we all look forward to that. I know all of us have relatives and parents who have died, and they're going to be resurrected one day if they didn't have God's Spirit. If you have God's Spirit, it's going to be when Christ comes back. Alright, now we're ready for the main message today. And as you know, we are here because God has asked us all to be present. On the Sabbath day, he placed his stamp of approval that there was to be a holy convocation. In Leviticus 23, verses 2 and 3, it says that the Sabbath is a time of holy convocation. And it's not just a matter of feeling religious or just focusing on religious things. Actually, with our understanding, we are being prepared to be kings and priests in God's kingdom. And so God has classes for us to look forward to that coming kingdom. And we need instruction. We need to learn the principles that are going to be used in God's kingdom and that we can begin applying them today. That is one of the main reasons God has us here. It's for spiritual training. It's not just for spiritual emotions or feeling good or whatever. No, this is spiritual training. Paul told young Timothy, he says, preach the word in season, out of season. Rebuke, edify, because there will be a time when people will not listen to God's word and will turn to fables. Second Timothy 4-4. And so I've been wanting to talk about this subject for quite a long time.

And one of the presentations at the General Conference of Elders was so thought-provoking that it helped me prepare this message that I'm going to deliver to you. And tomorrow's Mother's Day, and we're very happy and know what a great job mothers do.

There's a joke that says that Eve was made from Adam's rib because it was going to be close to his heart. Others say it's because it's close to the man's wallet. So I guess both are true. They have access to our hearts and to the wallet.

But I want to talk about money and the Bible. It's important for men and women, and it's a serious topic. Just like happiness is a serious topic. Who wants to be miserable? Who wants to always have a struggle to have ends meet? And so we're going to cover the subject of money and the Bible. Now, what is money according to the Bible? Surprisingly, it's a subject that is widely and frequently discussed in God's word, from Genesis all the way to Revelation. And so what is money? What does it mean in the Bible? It means a weight of either silver, gold, or copper. These were the metals that were exchanged at that time. And so it's only a weight, as we will see. In those days, people didn't have dollar bills, they didn't have coins. No, they used a certain amount of either silver or gold, and it was weighed. And according to the weight is how much it was worth.

Let's go to Genesis 23, verse 15, to see the first time a Biblical measure of money is discussed here. In Genesis 23, verse 15, after Sarah's death, he wanted to bury her. So he buys a plot of land. Verse 15, it says, My Lord, talking to Abraham, listen to me, the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron, which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants. So this was according to a system, and you appraised the property, found out how much it should be, and in this case it was four hundred shekels. Now, shekels just means a certain amount of silver. So that amount was weighed, and it got up to four hundred shekels. So this is the first time in the Bible, and it mentions also the term here of selling it in this way.

In Exodus 38, we see that the shekel was sort of the standard. Like here in the States, the Department of Treasury has a standard of what is a dollar, and things are measured in that way. In England, it's still called pounds, because it's a measurement of what silver was worth. So a pound of silver in England is still a standard. They call it, well, how much is this automobile that you want to buy worth? Well, it's worth five thousand pounds. And so that's how much it's worth, and that's the way it has passed on to today. In Exodus 38, in verse 24, it says, All the gold that was used in all the work of the holy place, talking about the tabernacle, that is, the gold of the offering was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. So they had a standard, so people could not cheat, because in that temple, or that tabernacle, they had the registered amount of what a shekel was, the official weight of it. Verse 25, And the silver from those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. So you see here being mentioned. So there was an economic system at that time, and things were traded, and instead of bartering, they had a system where you traded silver or gold or even copper, like the copper mite of the widow. That was a copper. That wasn't even silver. It was such a small amount. We have today nickels and dimes. Dime is made of silver. And then we have pennies made out of copper. And then we have gold coins, which have kind of gone out of fashion. But in ancient times, well, just maybe a hundred years or so ago, we had gold coins as well. In Deuteronomy 25, we have this law from God about his economic system.

In Deuteronomy 25, in verse 13 through 15, it says, For all who do such things, those that cheat, all who behave unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord your God. I'd like to read it to you from the contemporary English version. It says, So we know today what is a silver dollar has very little silver in it. Just like a dime used to be completely silver. Now it's a mixture of copper and other alloys, so they have cheapened the currency. In God's economy, that would not be the truth. But we've watered down our currency. Of course, we're in so huge debt now. This is just going to happen once that God's going to allow society to get into so much debt as we presently have. I was reading the paper about the governor here in California submitting a budget. Of course, it's increased enormously, but he says, But well, we're going to have a surplus, and somebody mentioned, Yes, but out of that budget that you have, we owe like $200 billion of debt from the past with all the pensions and everything. So we're not in good shape. We're just playing with the math. But actually, we have not begun to pay off the billions in debt. And the whole society and the whole world is so filled with debt. We already had a big crack in 2008, and things just collapsed. Well, we don't know how long it's going to last, but that debt is still there, and it's gotten worse. But with God, you shall have one standard. If it's gold, it is worth that. You don't change it. So we actually have three different systems of money and economic systems in the Bible. We have the economy in Eden, the Garden of Eden. We have the economy in this present evil world. And then we have the economy in the coming Kingdom of God during the millennium. And it's going to be a very different economic system than what we have today. Although not everything that we do today is evil. There are biblical principles also that are being applied, but many that aren't. So let's go to Genesis chapter 2 to see God's principles. And actually, during the time of the Garden of Eden, you can see God's system of government was built on four great principles for mankind. In Genesis chapter 2, this is the first one, the Sabbath rest. Genesis chapter 2, and by the way, people who have studied the Bible and scholars, they give great weight to these laws that were done at the creation of Adam and Eve. Because these are the first ones that God establishes. This is way before Mount Sinai. These principles continue to this day. Genesis chapter 2, verse 1, It says, So the first principle has to do with labor and rest. So we have six days in the week that are our time, but the seventh day is God's time. He hallowed it, he sanctified it, and so you establish the Sabbath day of rest. The second great principle is in Genesis 2, verse 15. He says, Where people just loiter around, don't have anything to do? No. God wants man to be active, to be busy, to be productive. And so he gave this rule about working and on the seventh day resting. Then he gave another rule in verse 16 of chapter 2. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And actually the term means dying, you shall die. Which means you will begin to die on the day that you take of this tree.

The dying process begins.

So the third rule God gave man was obedience to his commandments. And that was a test to see if man was going to obey him or not. If he was going to follow God's laws or not. And these are tests today. Are you going to obey God's laws, or are you going to set up your own laws, or are you going to follow man's laws? And the fourth is in Genesis 2, verse 24, He established a marriage covenant. It says verse 24, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, And be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Adam didn't marry his wife on his own. Eve didn't marry her husband on her own. God was the one that pronounced these words. He was the officiating head that bound them together. So the marriage law is also established at creation, just like Jesus Christ mentioned that in Matthew 19, this was the time when God established it, talking about the creation of Adam and Eve and everything around him at that time.

Also, Genesis 1.28 brings up that they shall be fruitful and multiply, so you're to reproduce along with marriage.

But this first system, where there was abundance of food, where the ground was so fertile, where all the animals were tamed, would have been a nice economic system. There was so much abundance, you didn't have to toil that long. You could dedicate yourself to developing your mind and relationships, and not be toiling for hours a day just to survive. But today, we're in the second economic system. Sin changed the economic system. Genesis 3 verse 17 through 19. It says then to Adam, he said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. There are consequences to breaking God's commandments. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. So the ground lost the great part of its fertility. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you. So it wasn't just going to be nice plants. There were going to be venomous plants. There were going to be thorny plants. It says, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. So this is called the economic system of scarcity. There's not going to be enough. And so it's going to be hard. People are going to be scavengers. They're going to have to go because the plants that produce fruit, they're not going to produce enough. So you're going to have to scavenge around. You're going to have to gather food. And it says that in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.

And so this is the economic system of this present evil age. As Paul mentioned in Galatians 1-3, he calls it the present evil age. It's the age after sin, and so it is the economics of scarcity. Now, this present economy is a mixture of good and evil. So Adam and Eve participated of it, and so now you have a mixture of good and evil. It's not all good like God's system, but now it's this mixture. The system since the time that Adam and Eve were expelled because of the lack of resources, because it's so hard to find, basically it became a dog-eat-dog world. And maximizing the profits. You do what you have to to get on top of the heap, and so it's very competitive and very unjust.

But God's system, through Israel, even in this present evil age, He gave principles. You are not to maximize the profit that you earn. You don't do it stepping over someone else and saying, well, too bad for them. We'll leave them on their own. And if they starve, that's too bad. Kind of like the rich man and Lazarus mentality. Well, as long as I'm feasting, what do I care about this poor person outside? No. God put safeguards. Notice in Leviticus 19 and verse 9.

It says, When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest, what falls that's not picked up, and you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger I am, the Lord your God. So there was this economic system of taking care of the poor. If you had a land and it was prospering, you left the corners for the poor. So this was a welfare state that the poor knew they could eat. And the book of Ruth is based on this, that here come two widows, Ruth and her mother-in-law. They returned to Israel. The mother-in-law is too old to work. But Ruth was able to survive because she could go to the corners of the harvest and she could pick up whatever was left over. You weren't to come back and just pick everything up. You weren't supposed to hoard your riches. You were supposed to think about those less fortunate than oneself. Notice a little farther forward.

See here, I have the right book.

Yes, Leviticus 25, verse 35. It says, Don't expect some return. But fear your God that your brother may live with you. You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food as a prophet. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

So you know what it was to be a stranger? Be generous with a stranger or that person that's part of the brethren. So again, you were not to exploit the workers. In verse 39, it says, And as sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of Jubilee. And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. And shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.

So again, all of these principles, to not exploit those less fortunate than yourself. Treat them with dignity, with respect, with generosity. Now, the rest of the world, though, they didn't have God to guide them. And so, basically, for the time from after man left the Garden of Eden, up to this day, we've had all kinds of economic systems.

Basically, from one part of the spectrum to the other extreme. And most of them were based on a lack of freedom. A lack of economic freedom. We know mankind has been exploited. How would you like to have been in Egypt? Well, they had a big Pharaoh. Everybody worked for the Pharaoh. Or in Babylon. Everybody worked for the king. Nebuchadnezzar, building all of these tremendous cities and works. But you know what? That was with slavery. That was exploiting people.

People didn't have a choice. It was either work or die. So, basically, in the history of the world, as far as economy goes, the best economies are the ones that have had the most religious freedom, the most economic freedom, a free market system, where nobody is getting in the way and you're able to trade your produce for the others.

And there's an interchange there. And then you have political freedom, where if the government officials are not doing the right thing, they can get booted out without having a civil war over it. And so the countries that have had the most success in the history of mankind, from what we see, is, first of all, the Swiss people.

They've had freedom for the past 600 years, since they established a representative system with free markets, and the Swiss franc is still about the most solid currency in the world. The Swiss have economic freedom, political freedom, and religious freedom. Certainly the United States follows in a close second, this country of immigrants and merchants in the past 250 years or so have just shot up.

And we know God's blessing with Abraham. He's blessed all of these nations. But he blessed them also with the system that a lot of it was based on Biblical principles. In the U.S. they have the Puritan ethic, people that truly believed in God, believed in religious freedom, in economic freedom, and also in political freedom. You're not supposed to impose things. I was reading this morning about the tide system, and I was just looking and seeing in the first couple of centuries what is written by these early Christian writers about tithing. Well, since just about all of the Jewish Christian writings have been destroyed or distorted, we just have these Gentile Christians, which were kind of Greek philosophers that have been converted, half converted many times, and really they're all over the map.

Some said no, the tithing system continues in the church. Others said no. But the Catholic Church in the year 585, in the Council of Macon, or Macon, as we would call it here, in 1585, they established a law of tithing in the Roman Empire to the Catholic Church as a church law. And you were to be persecuted and also excommunicated if you did not tithe to the Catholic Church.

Did you know that? I had no idea. And then the emperor, the charlemagne, in 1800 AD, who was crowned by the pope at that time, he established it as the ruling system. You were obligated to tithe to the church, or you were in hot water. Well, God doesn't work that way. And again, because in the U.S. there was this free market system, there was freedom of religion, and freedom of the free markets, and also political freedom.

It developed another nation that has done very well, it's Hong Kong. It was a British colony, and they had one of the most open systems, and they still, they're one of the richest countries in the world, the Chinese who live in Hong Kong. Now, some of the worst countries in the world don't have economic freedom, don't have political freedom, and don't have much religious freedom. One of those countries is Cuba, where I came from. I saw the difference.

When they confiscated all the goods, they confiscated our house, they confiscated my dad's medical clinic, they confiscated my dad's car, they confiscated my dad's bank account back in 1959. And we had to leave, my father sent us to the US with the clothes on our back, and almost 60 years later, those poor Cuban people, they have had rationing for the past 56 years. There's no economic freedom, there's no political freedom, there's no religious freedom, and they still have a rationing system. Let me read to you. If you lived in Cuba at the time, they would give you a little book that this is what you can purchase monthly at a low price.

You have for the month 22 pounds of rice, 10 pounds of white sugar, 4 pounds of brown sugar, 1 cup of cooking oil for the month. You get to eat 5 eggs during that month, and you get a packet of coffee. Now, you also get a chicken every 10 days that you can eat. And you get a piece of bread every day, and a bag of salt every 3 months.

Milk is for the pregnant women and children under 7, and so people have to go in the black market, where a kilo, which is about 2 pounds of powdered milk, costs $21. People make about $16 to $20 a month. Beef is unheard of, and this country imports 80% of its food. Why? Because it doesn't have economic freedom, doesn't have political freedom, doesn't have religious freedom.

The same way as North Korea, and now China adopted a free market system. So they don't have religious freedom, they don't have political freedom, but they have economic freedom, and they have shot up, because at least a free market system is working, although the government intervenes a lot. But the principle here is you can put the nations from one end to the next, according to the degree of freedom that is offered to the people. More freedom, the more people prosper. The less freedom, the less they do. That's kind of a general rule.

The worst, of course, Venezuela now, with government control, they have a 454% inflation rate.

That's the inflation rate each month. So how do you like to do that? That everything is multiplied almost by five. You have a dollar, and by the end of the month it's worth 20 cents.

So let's go to the economic system in the Bible again, because now we're going to focus on ourselves. How can we apply God's economic system? And one of the best places is found in the parables of the talents and the pounds.

In Matthew 25, verse 14 through verse 29, you can follow along. I'm going to read the God's Word version. It makes it a little more clear to us. In verse 14 through 29 of Matthew 25, it says, The kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a trip. He called his servants and entrusted some money to them. He gave one man $10,000, another $4,000, and another $2,000. This is the equivalent of the talent, how many talents they were going to receive.

Each was given money based on his ability. Then the man went on his trip. The one who received $10,000 invested the money at once and doubled his money. The one who had $4,000 did the same and also doubled his money. But the one who received $2,000 went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The one who received $10,000 brought the additional $10,000.

He said, Sir, you gave me $10,000. I've doubled the amount. His master replied, Good job! You're a good and faithful servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master's happiness. Of course, this is all a spiritual symbol of Christ coming back in his kingdom and saying, Well, what did you do with what I gave you?

The one who received $4,000 came and said, Sir, you gave me $4,000. I've doubled the amount. His master replied, Good job! You're a good and faithful servant. You proved that you could be trusted with a small amount. I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and share your master's happiness. Then the one who received $2,000 came and said, Sir, I knew that you are a hard person to please.

You harvest where you haven't planted and gathered, where you haven't scattered any seeds. I was afraid, so I hid your $2,000 in the ground. Here's your money. His master responded, You evil and lazy servant. If you knew that I harvest where I haven't planted and gathered, where I haven't scattered, then you should have invested my money with the bankers. When I returned, I would have received my money back with interest. Take the $2,000 away from him.

Give it to the one who has the $10,000. To all who have, in other words, who have increased, more will be given, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken away from those who don't have much. So God expects us to develop what he has given us. Now, he hasn't given us money. What he has given us are the gifts of God's Spirit to develop in our lives, and according to our abilities, we will be held accountable.

So the parable of the pounds in Luke 19 is a parallel account, but it's from another perspective. The one from Matthew, it's dealing with the quality of the fruits of the Spirit. It's talking about the abilities a person has. So, at baptism, God will give a person a certain amount of abilities, either prayer, fellowship, administrative gifts, being generous, also even things like speaking or being the one that's serving and administering things.

So there are many of them. So he says, well, I'm going to give you these gifts, and I expect a return on them. Don't sleep on them. Don't just put them away, and don't develop them, or else you're going to be in trouble. If you develop them, then you will be blessed. Don't just sit on your laurels and expect to be rewarded.

Now, the difference between the parable of the talents is that he gave certain ones more talents than others, but he only expected a double in the increase. So it didn't matter. The one that had 4,000 said, I got 8,000. I doubled it. God said, you've done your job, just like the one that I gave him 10, and now it's 20.

So it's not how much, it's how the proportion, the ratio between what we get and what we end up in our lives. Now, the parable of the pounds in Luke 19 doesn't deal with the quality, but the quantity of God's Spirit. It doesn't have to do with the gifts. It just means, at baptism, you have a certain amount that God gives you of His Holy Spirit. The other one is the abilities to develop them. So again, they're from two different angles. And so in the parable of the pounds, He gave everyone the same amount. And one of them multiplied it 10 times. I've got 10 times more of God's Spirit than when I was baptized.

The other one, 5 times. And the other one didn't do anything. He stayed about the same as when He had been baptized. He didn't do anything with His Holy Spirit. So it's important here to realize that what God provides us is with His Holy Spirit and the resources to develop ourselves. And we need to be resourceful, diligent, patient, and persevering. I remember, and again, this I just bring up as a personal example of God's principles being applied. And as Philippians 4.13 says, I can do nothing on my own.

But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So here, when Cottie and I were sent to Chile in 1980, we came to a very small church, about 35 people. I think there was like two cars at that time for all the people. And then we had a Southern church of about 20.

The minister who had been in charge went to the Southern church. So we came. We didn't have one cent in the treasury. People hardly tithed. We didn't have funds for hardly anything. And basically it all went to rent, the place to meet. And so I remember when I got there and made an assessment of what we had, and I wrote back to my superior.

And I said, my situation reminds me of that old story of these two shoe salesmen that went to India in the 1800s. One of them went around India, took him about a month, came back, sent a message to his home headquarters in England. And he says, situation terrible! Nobody wears shoes in India! The other one also did his own tour, came back a month later, and he sent a message to his headquarters and said, situation fantastic! Everybody needs shoes in India. And guess what? Just about everybody wears shoes now.

So again, it's what you do with the circumstances that you deal with. And so we just started applying the principle, tighten our belts. Hardly anything comes in, that's fine. We'll work with that. But we just served the brethren. We didn't demand their respect. We wanted to win their respect. We weren't going to start telling everybody to tithe and that we were going to check on them.

No. You teach by example with patience, and you win the respect, and you instruct them. It's God's Spirit that has to move the person. And pretty soon, the tithes started coming in. And people's lives began to improve. God was carrying out the blessing of tithing in their lives. And pretty soon, they were prospering. Well, the church just continued to grow. And within 10 years, we had so much surplus that we were helping other nations in Latin America.

So the principle again is that you have to do your part. God's going to do His part. Here in Garden Grove, we have a local church council, and they handle basically the local funds to be able to pay for everything we need. And it's a prudent council. The funds are wisely distributed, and the part that is not used is sent to the home office to help them. And it works very well. We've got excellent people as treasurers and accountants, and all the hard work that they do.

Shelly Thomas and Gene Updegraff is basically the one that handles so much of the planning information. We're very thankful to them and others that work with them as well, and Tower helps out and others. So sometimes what God gives us is not the equivalent of all of these great gifts. He gives us abilities to help others. For instance, in Acts 9 and 39, we have a widow who is singled out for her work in the church.

You know what it was? Acts 9 and 39. It says, Then Peter arose and went with them when he had come. This was Dorkus. Let me go to verse 36. It says, at Joppa, that's on the coast, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorkus. This is again the Hebrew name and then Greek. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room.

And since Lidda was near Joppa, that's another town, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. We don't know how long it took, a day, maybe? It's kind of a good distance to get there. Verse 39, then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorkus had made while she was with them. See, that's just what she stood out. She developed her gift. She was generous. She was always there helping and encouraging, and people really missed her.

And Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, it was already dead for a while, he said. Tabitha, a rise, and she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive, and it became known throughout all job. She was pretty popular. She was one of those widows, as always there, friendly, asking for what they can do to help. That town knew that she had died, but it had taken quite a long time since her death, and many believed on the Lord.

That was a miracle that changed her lives. But again, we see here a widow, and how she had multiplied her gifts. Recently, we paid tribute to Rose Norgrid, and she was always doing things, writing letters and notes, and just in her own way, contributing. I know there are many ladies and men who also help that way, and Marilyn is always there helping out. So many people do their part.

That's noted and noticed by God. In Luke 16, as we wind down here, as always, time just goes flying by. Such a big subject. This is the parable of the unjust steward, and I'm just going to skip over to the end of this in verse 8. So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.

He'd been resourceful. He was going to get fired. So he got together and was able to get some funds that he could live off of for a time. And it says, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. Many times we in the church are not that resourceful. As other people, they really know how to multiply their talent, their pound. And Christ is just saying, what is reality?

Some people can do so much with so little. He says, and I say to you, make friends for yourself by unrighteous mammon. That means money. The money of this world, that when you fail, it means that when you die, they may receive you into an everlasting home. Because people are going to remember your example. It goes on to say, he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, how you dealt with money in this life, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. So Christ says we should be good stewards of what we've been given, not only spiritually, but also physically.

So here are the priorities, according to what the Bible shows us, that in a sense, this is the way we can disburse or distribute our funds. The priorities are God, family, church, friends, and community. So first comes God, and tithing is an act of worship. We honor God with our possessions, as it says in Proverbs 3, 9 and 10. Proverbs 3, 9 and 10.

It says, Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase, so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. So that's our number one priority. Be faithful with God and what we should give him. It mentions tithes in Malachi 3, 8 through 10. We shouldn't rob God of that. So to me, that's my priority. First, put God as far as what I owe him out of tithes and offerings. We also have the feast tithe to be able to go to the feast, and then those that are not taxed 10% or more, there is the tithe of the poor. But that's only if you're not being taxed less than 10%. Some people, they give that tithe to the poor.

Then comes family. Let's go to Proverbs 13, verse 22. It should take care of our own. Proverbs 13, verse 22.

It says, A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. Many times those people end up having everything confiscated, and it ends up with people that are blessed by God. But the point is here that if possible, not only leave an inheritance to your children, but to your grandchildren. So that means wise investing of funds, and also be generous to God with the inheritance, a part to God to remember him in that way.

That's my plan to do. In 1 Timothy 5, verse 8, and we're finishing up here because I'm running already right to the wire, 1 Timothy 5, 8.

It says, But if anyone does not provide for his own, that's talking about his own family, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So God expects us to take care of the family, and then afterwards, friends and community, don't leave them out.

Many times through our taxes, we're able to help our communities out a lot. I know every time you have to pay property taxes, that helps the community. And serve also in your community as you can. So these are the principles about money. And God needs to have mercy on all of us. Because we know what does money mean in the Bible? It means responsibility and accountability. As it says, last scripture, 2 Corinthians 5, 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body while we were living here, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So these are principles for those future rulers of God's kingdom, the kings and priests. And that's our lesson for today.