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         Temptations to be unscriptural with financial matters are common today, but God’s will is clearly explained in Scripture.  Our eternal life is directly connected to our attitude about money, because it is a faith issue.  The Holy Spirit is always ready to guide us in this matter as both spiritual and financial blessings are involved.  Like every divine truth, if it is misunderstood or misapplied, it can lead to serious problems and spiritual loss.

Money is the paramount issue for the world, but it is not to be the paramount issue for the believer.  Jesus said Matthew 6:32 ”the pagans run after all these [material] things,” because that is their main concern, but ”your heavenly Father knows that you need them,” so just trust Him in believing faith to supply them.

          With the world it is all about money, because they do not believe God will supply anything in this life.  The true riches of God’s truth, however, is to ‘transfer our trust to Him’ for everything in this life.  We need to know God’s will on finances, because millions in the world are forfeiting their souls for the sake of money.

The attitude of the believer is to be opposite to the attitude of the world—concerning finances and everything else.  There may be some who follow God’s financial plan, but this truth is not taught in churches today—even though it is clearly explained in Scripture.  We must learn to trust God in faith from the least to the greatest thing, because it is only by faith that we enter His kingdom.

          God taught Israel for centuries on the importance of trusting Him for daily supplies—that was the paramount faith issue.  The entire history of God teaching Israel was based on money matters.  It was the prime issue in God’s dealing with them, and it is to be the prime issue in His teaching us.

          God was showing them that financial issues are not to be the main object of their life, as it is with unbelievers, but that their life, and our life, consists of being faithful and loyal to Him—then material needs will be supplied by Him.  Deuteronomy 8:3 "He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know.”  Israel would not have trusted God, if they never had to trust Him.

Knowing, and then following the will of God, is our chief concern.  Desire for money must never be placed ahead of the will of God.  Jesus put much emphasis on money issues because they involve faith in Him.  He said Luke 16:1-2 ”’There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.’”  In this parable God is the owner and we the manager.  ”So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you?  Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’”

This manager was concerned about his needs for the future.  He receives notice of being unemployed, so he forms a worldly financial plan for the future.  Luke 16:5-6 "He called in each one of his master’s debtors.  He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.  ‘The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’”  Luke 16:8 "And the master praised the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for, in relation to their own contemporaries, the men of this age are shrewder than the sons of Light.” 

Unbelievers who have no faith in God, handle their money in a way that they are taken care of in the future, but believers who should have faith in God, do not always handle their finances in a way to assure a home in heaven.  Luke 16:9 ”I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

          Money continually tempts people to be in an unscriptural position regarding trust on God.  The unrighteous mammon [“wealth which is ever tempting to dishonesty”] is a subtle, but serious, temptation.  If we can trust God in such a small thing as the money we need on earth, we should certainly be able to trust Him for the greater need of salvation in heaven.

          Jesus said Luke 16:10 "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.”  In God’s sight, the money issue is the least issue, and is the easiest matter for Him to provide, so it should be the easiest thing for us to trust Him for.  If a person is faithful to God on financial issues—which is the least issue, then they will also be faithful and scriptural with the greatest issue—faith in God for entering His kingdom.

          11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon [that is tainted with fraud], who will commit to your trust the true riches?“  That is a significant statement, because if we will not be faithful in our financial matters, and will not allow God to be first concerning money issues, how can He trust us with the true riches of His grace—through faith on the atonement sacrifice of His Son!

Eternal life hinges on our being able to trust God in faith—and money is just one faith issue.  Luke 16:12 "If you have not been faithful in dealing with that which is not your own, who will give you that which is your own?”  “Our own” is the gift of salvation God has for us.  Money is the least concern, and eternal life is the greatest gift—given to faithful believers in Christ.  If the devil makes it seem difficult or impossible, and he has us asking Matthew 19:25-26 "Who then can be saved?" the reply is what Jesus said, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Everyone is born with an idolatrous heart.  And even though we criticize heathen who pray to statues in Buddhists’ temples, we are just as idolatrous when we depend on a pill for healing, or a saving’s account for money.  God is to be our source for everything—spiritually, physically, and financially—as Adam and Eve in Eden.

Through temptation, Satan caused man to desire to live his life without God spiritually, to seek human help for healing physically, and to trust on worldly plans financially.  The true Gospel brings us back to the position of trust like Adam and Eve were before they rebelled—trusting God spiritually by His Holy Spirit, trusting God physically for healing without drugs, and trusting God financially without emergency money in reserve.

We are not to think how God is going to do it, because He has ways and means we cannot imagine—His way and His time are always right.  The apostle wrote 1 Timothy 6:17 ”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.”  It is not a matter of gaining or losing money, but a matter of who is in control of it—that is the issue—faith in God or money in the bank.

Jesus said Matthew 6:21 ”Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” or where our stored cash is, that is where our trust is.  He did not mean we will lose the money, but in what bank did we place our money!  God does not want us to have no money in our later years, but we are to place it now where God said to put it—in His bank.  It is not a question of being without, but only a question of who is our banker!

  If we have more confidence in a bank on earth, we will bank with them, and if we have more confidence in God, we will bank with Him.  The carnal mind does not want to trust God, because it thinks they could not draw it out when they need it.  God says, however, that if we will deposit our money in Heaven’s bank, it becomes an inexhaustible account that cannot be overdrawn in this life—and we will receive 10,000% interest on, or a hundred times, the principle.

People today ask what would be the safest bank, and they select the most reliable one.  The question is, whether God’s bank is the most trustworthy and secure, banking system.  If we believe the lies of Satan, who controls the carnal mind, we will bank our money here on earth; but if we believe, and have more confidence in the living God, we will bank with Him in Heaven.

Jesus said Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” because as our Lord and Savior, He is concerned for our eternal interests.  Knowing who it is who speaks these words, we should also know that we are to be pilgrims on earth, and not seeking worldly wealth, but possessing true riches, and believing God in faith for each day’s supplies.

The custom of the world is to increase in wealth, to have some stored away for the future, and to leave some for our family.  The custom of the born-again believer in Christ, who has Luke 12:33 ”a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted,” should be a radically different plan concerning money.

The entire point is to be in a position where we depend on God alone for everything.  If our money is in a bank on earth, we will go to that bank when in need of money.  If our money is deposited in heaven by giving it to charity, we will go to God in prayer when we need it.  Where our money is, that is where our heart is.  No one can “serve both God and Money” Matthew 6:24.