The Treasure Principle 

Much of what I’m going to say today comes from a book by Randy Alcorn, “The Treasure Principle.” I gave the message the same name as sort of an "umbrella credit" to him and his book.

I’ve been teaching the Bible for over 20 yrs. and have been in the Sr. Pastor position over 5 years (as of this message in 2005), and I’ve never talked about money. Money has always been taboo, off limits, the unspeakable subject. For me, it was worse than talking about sex from the pulpit in the 1950’s. I’ve actually prided myself (key word "Pride") in NOT talking about money, because it’s been a subject so abused in our Christian culture by some. I guess I always thought I’d PROVE that I was more “spiritual” than that. But really, what I was, was spiritually prideful; and that, is a sin.

Who was I, thinking I was more “spiritual” than those who talked about money, when Jesus Christ himself talked extensively about money and giving. The New Testament says MORE about money than heaven and hell combined, and 5 times more is said about money than prayer and faith. The Bible contains more than 2,500 direct references to money. What all that means is; how we handle our money, and our giving, is actually CENTRAL to our spiritual lives.

In Luke 3:7-14 (NKJV), when John the Baptist first began “Preparing the way of the Lord” in his first recorded sermon, the people asked him what to do to bear the fruit of repentance. He gave them 3 signs that would show that their hearts had turned to the Lord. ALL 3 SIGNS of repentance had to do with MONEY and POSSESSIONS. They didn’t ask about money issues; they asked about what to do to get right with God. But all of John’s answers had to do with money. Please take the time to read through these verses to see for yourself the truth of these statements.

Luke 19 (NKJV) tells the story of a rich tax collector named Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree to see Jesus pass by, and Jesus ended up going to his house for dinner. During dinner Zacchaeus stood up and told Jesus, “Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” It was at THAT point that Jesus saw Zacchaeus’ attitude toward money had radically changed, and Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Again, please read the text and see if you can make this same connection.

Money and giving are central to our spiritual lives. We may try hard to divorce our finances from our faith, but God sees them as inseparable. The Bible makes it very clear: the issues of money and giving are CENTRAL to our spiritual lives. I apologize for not teaching you about it before now. We’ve been operating in what Randy Alcorn calls the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy about giving, which sounds very spiritual. Except when you put it in the light of Scripture, especially compared to how much Jesus talked about the centrality of giving in our spiritual lives.

It’s like we have this polite unspoken agreement that we won’t bring up the spiritual principle of giving so we can each handle the money God’s given us with no discipleship, no modeling, and no accountability. But then, how does a new Christian ever learn to give, if we think we’re “too Spiritual” to talk about money. All you have to do is go through the gospels, mark the times Jesus talked about money and giving; and we'll easily see our “too spiritual to talk about giving” approach is really an unbiblical approach.

Matthew 6:1 (NKJV) does warn us not to give “in order to be seen by men." But instead, we are to give without bringing any attention or focus to ourselves. And that is a very important truth. But unfortunately, I think we've taken that truth, and applied it to the whole subject of giving, to the extent that we don’t teach about giving at all around here. The problem is that it is certainly not consistent with the teaching of Christ, or the teaching of the Bible as a whole.

So today, prayerfully, we are going to begin to change the way we teach about giving. And instead of “shying away” from the subject, I’m going to recognize that where each of us stands on the issue of giving is a direct reflection of our spiritual maturity, and a reflection of how much of our lives Jesus Christ is actually LORD over.

The Bible says the money is ALL His. We are just His managers, His stewards. We see this truth throughout the Bible.

Psalm 24:1(NKJV) "The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein."
Haggai 2:8 (NKJV) "'The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts."
Deuteronomy 8:18 (NKJV) “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth . . . "

And Jesus taught this truth in a number of parables, most notably the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, which I really encourage you to read on your own.

Understanding that God owns everything and you are just His money manager is the absolute foundation of all of God’s teaching on giving. So, with that understanding, let me give you 3 truths that show how CENTRAL money and giving are to your spiritual life with Christ.

1) Your giving determines where your HEART is
2) Your giving determines where your HOME is
3) Your giving determines where your HAPPINESS is
 
 
#1) Your Giving Determines Where your HEART is

Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
 
Where you are laying up your treasure is where your heart is (it doesn’t get much clearer than that). To know this is true, all you have to do is look at your life right now. I promise you, your heart is reflected in your checkbook. Your heart is reflected in where you are putting God’s money (Remember, not your money –God’s money). Where you are putting God’s money is where YOUR heart is. If you are pouring God’s money into your SELF, then that is where your heart is. If you are pouring God’s money into building a comfortable life on this earth, then that is where your heart is. And if you are using God’s money for God’s eternal work, then THAT is where your heart is. Where you put God’s money – is where your heart is.

Here’s a little experiment you can perform: if you’re one to say “I wish I had a heart for missions,” then start financially supporting mission’s work. I promise you, the more money you put into missions work the more you’ll have a heart for missions. The same is true with evangelism, youth ministry, food ministry, or any other of God's ministries.

In addition to our local ministry and missions ministry here at Calvary Chapel Nuevo, God has given me a real heart for teaching the Word of God. Because of that, through Word-By-Mail, we have invested a lot of God’s money into sending out the teaching of God’s Word all around the world. That is the heart God has given me for this ministry. And God has given us confidence through many testimonies of changed lives, that we are investing His money well. And I know for certain that each of us, who have sacrificed for this work, are storing up treasures in heaven. And I praise God for that!

Giving doesn’t strip you of your investments; it just transfers your investments from Earth (where they will eventually burn) to Heaven (where they will be eternal). Let’s read these verses again.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NKJV) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Do these verses tell us NOT to lay up treasure? NO! Jesus loves you so much that He’s telling you how to lay up the BEST Treasure. He just doesn’t want you to lay up your treasure in the wrong place. Jesus isn’t telling us NOT to lay up treasures, He’s telling us NOT to lay up treasure here on earth. Earthly treasure is worthless. Instead, we can send it on ahead of us, so that we'll have treasure in heaven when we get there. It’s true that you can’t take it with you. However, you can send it on ahead to be stored up for you when you arrive.

Of course ultimately;
            Jesus Christ Himself is our treasure #1
            Heaven is our treasure #2
            and our Heavenly rewards are treasure #3

But over and over the New Testament teaches that we must choose to either store up our treasures here (to be temporary), or store them up in heaven (to be eternal).

1) Your giving determines where your HEART is.

#2) Your giving determines where your HOME is.

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV) says, we are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
Philippians 3:20 (NKJV) says, “Our citizenship is in heaven."
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NKJV) says, "We are Ambassadors for Christ."

As Christians, we are just visiting this foreign land. But the question is, “Are we acting like it?”

There’s a story told of the Apostle Thomas and the King of the Indies. When Thomas was at Caesarea, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I’m going to send you the king of the Indies who’s looking to build a palace finer than that of the Emperor of Rome."

And so, the King of the Indies came, commissioned Thomas to build for him a magnificent palace, and he gave Thomas as much gold and silver as he needed for the purpose. Then the king went into a distant country and was absent for two years. Meanwhile, Thomas, instead of building a palace, distributed all the treasures of the King among the poor and sick.

When the king returned; he was full of wrath. He cast Thomas into prison, and sentenced him to a horrible death. Meantime, the brother of the king died. He was dead four days, when suddenly he arose and sat upright, and said to the king, "The man whom you would kill is a servant of God; behold, I have been in Paradise, and the angels showed to me a wonderful palace of gold and silver and precious stones. And they said, ‘This is the palace that Thomas, the architect, has built for your brother, the King.'" And when the king heard these words, he ran to the prison and delivered the apostle.

Thomas said to him, "Do you not know that those who would possess heavenly things have little care for the things of this earth?" "There are in heaven rich palaces without number, which were prepared from the beginning of the world for those who would purchase them through faith and charity. Your riches, O king, may go before you to prepare such a palace, but they can NEVER follow you there!"

Your giving determines where your home actually is. You can either be building your temporary home here and hoping you get to live one more day to enjoy it, or you can be sending it ahead to your true home where it will be reserved for your arrival.

In 1Timothy 6:17-19 (NKJV) we read, "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

If you are saved today, then your true home is in heaven. And you can send ahead treasure there, by your giving here. And not just money, but giving your time, effort, and service also.

1) Your giving determines where your HEART is
2) Your giving determines where your HOME is

#3) Your giving determines where your HAPPINESS is

In Acts 20:35 (NKJV) is that famous quote of Jesus; “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” We are in a consumer culture where we are programmed to get all we can. We are programmed to “get what is ours.” And this worldly thinking can easily transfer to our life with Christ. We find ourselves saying to God, "Oh please bless ME, please Give ME, please take care of ME, please make this happen for ME!" And often we fail to even think about God, and what HE wants. One thing for sure, we are really good at receiving from God. But often, the giving part (the greater blessing) has taken a back seat in our lives.
If it is true that it’s more blessed to give than to receive, then why not choose to be more blessed by giving? By our giving, all the true blessings of God come back to us.

Just as Luke 6:38 (NKJV) tells us, "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Actually, the context of this verse is not only money but also applies to our mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love.

The Bible doesn’t teach that we have to be paupers and have nothing. It teaches us to give what is eternally worthless, so that we can gain what is an eternal treasure. The famous missionary, Jim Elliot, understood this when he said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep; to gain what he cannot lose.” It’s not that God wants you to be broke. He wants you to gain what is eternal by releasing what is temporal.

Haven’t you known (or heard of) people who have everything in this world, and yet they’re miserable. You see it every day, people who win the lottery and end up miserable. In fact, there was a TV show called "The Curse of the Lottery" that documented the damage in the lives of the people who won all that money. We see hotel heiresses trying desperately to fill their emptiness with everything of this world, only to be more miserable after every attempt. Rock stars and movie stars with all the money, glory, and fame, who kill themselves with drugs, because of the emptiness that the riches of this world bring them. And yet, because we are so thickheaded, we still think all we need is some more money, some more stuff, and then we’ll finally be happy.

We need to wake up, and really read the papers. The people, who have everything in this world, are usually miserable and desperate. King Solomon figured this out when he was the wealthiest man on earth.

In Ecclesiastes 5:10-15 (NLT) he wrote, "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! 12 People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. 13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us."

We can’t take it with us, but we CAN send it on ahead by laying up our treasures in Heaven. And we can start today! Many of you have done just that. In the last 5 years this church has given to the kingdom far beyond its size. The work we’ve done in Mexico, and the giving to support that work, has been far more than a church this size should ever be able to do.

Last summer, as part of the work we do in Africa, we wanted to buy shoes for every child in the orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. So, we put a little gourd out on the table, and you put $3,000 in it – for shoes! And we bought every one of those children a new pair of shoes and a Bible!

At one time, this church was sending out over 1,000 CD’s a week of our Sunday Morning message all around the world, at no cost. That’s 5 TIMES MORE people than the number who actually attend here each Sunday. These are God-Sized works. And they’ve happened because of God-Sized giving. Because there are people in this congregation who understand the “send it ahead” Treasure Principle. We have had the privilege of sending our treasures ahead, AND experience the blessings of giving while we’re still here.

The blessings of giving while we’re still here, and the eternal rewards waiting when we get there. It doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

In appreciation of Randy Alcorn’s book “The Treasure Principle,” I’d like to close with a direct quote from him. Randy Alcorn: “The act of giving is a vivid reminder that it’s all about God, not about us. It’s saying, ‘I am not the point; HE is the point. He does not exist for me. I exist for Him. God’s money has a higher purpose than my affluence. Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater person and a greater agenda. Giving affirms Christ’s Lordship. It dethrones me and exalts Him.’” And that, my friends, is exactly how it should be.

(If you would like a copy of Randy Alcorn's book "The Treasure Principle" at NO COST, please email us at [email protected], or call us at (951) 928-8582, and we will mail it to you free of charge.)