Christian Principles Of Finance

Tonight what I have to say is every bit as vital as any other aspect of what I have been preaching. I would like to begin by reading to you tonight from the third chapter of the prophet Malachi commencing at the 8th verse and reading through verse 12. Malachi—the last book of the Old Covenant, chapter 3 commencing at verse 8 and reading through verse 12. God is speaking to His people:

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Tonight I’m going to speak to you on finance—money—how a Christian should handle his money. Now I’ve heard preachers say sometimes, ‘Brother, I never speak about money.’ And all I can say is that a preacher that says that is cheating God’s people. The apostle Paul said in the twentieth chapter in the book of Acts and the 20th verse, ‘I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.’ And in the 27th verse of the same chapter he said, ‘I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.’ A preacher who never preaches about money could not say that. He is keeping back part of God’s counsel that is profitable for God’s people.

Money plays such an important part in the life of everybody today that it is a matter of common sense that if we do not order our money affairs aright our lives are not rightly ordered in the sight of God. You cannot be wrong in your handling of money as a Christian and be altogether right and in the will of God. Let no one pretend that money is unimportant. About the only place that a people ever tried to pretend that is church. And the moment they get outside of church they forget they’ve even tried to pretend it. If money isn’t important, why do you all spend so much time to get money? You’re making a big mistake if it isn’t important. Isn’t that true? Sure it’s true. The only place they don’t like that truth is in church. They tell me here in New Zealand, ‘When the half crown went out of circulation, the church offerings dropped.’ Yeah. That doesn’t speak much for the faith and the intelligence of the people that offer that way.

Now in this third chapter of Malachi God challenges His people. He says, ‘Prove Me now. Put Me to the test.’ And He says how. He says: ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse and I will pour you out such a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’

Now when God tells us to test Him one way, we’re not free to decide to test Him another way. And God says we’re to test Him in the financial way. We’re to bring in all that we owe to God financially, and when we act in the material God says, ‘I will answer in the spiritual. I will pour you out such a blessing in every area that there shall not be room enough to receive it.’ But God says, ‘I’m waiting for you to move in faith in the material realm before I will respond in the spiritual realm.’ You see, God demands that everything that we do in life as a Christian shall be done by faith. ‘The just shall live by faith.’ This includes our finance. It must be based on faith. Romans 14:23:

“. . . whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

The whole of a Christian’s life is based on one principle—the faith principle. Everything we have to do has to be done in faith, and this applies to our finance. We operate in faith. God says, ‘Prove Me. Put Me to the test. Bring the tithes and the offerings into the storehouse, into My house, offer them back to Me and you see what I will do.’ And God is waiting to show us what He will do.

The correct response in matters of finance to God is an essential condition of full spiritual blessing and liberation. No one is fully liberated who has not learned to give to God. It is impossible to claim to be fully liberated and fully dedicated to Jesus Christ if He does not control your purse, your wallet, or your bank account. God says here to His people under the old covenant, ‘You’re cursed with a curse, even the whole nation.’ And they reply, ‘Well, what have we done?’ ‘You’ve robbed Me.’ ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ ‘You haven’t brought to Me the offerings that I require. You robbed Me in your tithes and in your offerings.’

Now let’s take just a moment to explain what’s meant by tithes. It’s such an old sounding Anglo Saxon word that some people might even not know what it means. The tithe is the first tenth of your income received. God is so wise that He knew some people would find it difficult to divide by some numbers, so he gave us the number ten to divide by, see. Especially since New Zealand has gone onto decimal currency, there are no problems left. You earn a $55.00 a week, you just move the decimal point place to the left and your tithe is $5.50. There’s no problem about that.

Now the Scripture says in the book of Numbers: ‘The tithe is mine says the LORD.’ You don’t give your tithes to God, you just pay them—you owe them. That’s the basis. That’s the foundation of Christian giving is the tithe. Then come the offerings. That’s what you give over and above what you owe. And God says to His people, ‘You’ve robbed Me, first of all, in your tithes and then in your offerings.’

One thing this tells us is that God keeps accounts. It was fifteen hundred years before Christ that Moses laid down for Israel the ordinance of tithing. It was about three hundred years before Christ that Malachi brought his message to God’s people. So God had been keeping a record for twelve hundred years. He didn’t tell them, but one day He came out with His reckoning. He said, ‘You’ve been robbing Me. And the result is instead of being blessed as I would like to bless you, I’ve had to put a curse upon you.’ And I want to tell you the truth, friends, God keeps a reckoning of every one of us. He knows just how much we’ve given to God all our lives. And in Romans 14:12 it says,

“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

And that word give an account in the Greek means primarily, but not exclusively, ‘a financial account.’ One day every one of us as believers in Jesus Christ is going to have to give an account of what we have done with our finance. And I tell you, friends, as far as I know, I’ll be happy in that day. Praise the Lord, it doesn’t worry me. Since the day that God saved Me, He’s never had less than a tenth of my total income. As a matter of fact, He’s much more. I don’t say this to boast, but what would be the good of preaching it if I didn’t practice it? And I’ll tell you something immediately, I’d be afraid to stop tithing. I’d be scared stiff to stop tithing because I know what it’s done for me. You see, God says, ‘You move in the material; I’ll reply in the spiritual.’ This is faith.

I want to point out to you also, that the benefits of tithing are national. This is very, very true. Where Christians regularly tithe, God blesses the whole nation. To Israel He said, ‘You are cursed with a curse, even this whole nation, because you have been systematically robbing God. But on the other hand,’ He says, ‘if you bring all the tithes into the storehouse I’ll rebuke the devourer for your sakes, Your ground will bring forth its fruit in abundance and all nations shall call you blessed. Ye shall be a delightsome land.’ Notice, the curse is national; the blessing is national.

I’m British. Britain is my country. And when I look at the sad state of Britain today I always think first and foremost that’s the result of cheating God. Because I know, I’ve been a minister in Britain eight years. You know what their motto is about their preachers? ‘Lord, you keep him humble and we’ll keep him poor.’ And I think there’s a lot of other countries where they have the same idea. I’ll tell you one thing straight out, the people of God that like to see their ministers blessed and prospering are blessed and prospered by God. And the people that are stingy with their ministers, God is stingy with them. That’s very true. I’ve traveled very, very widely and I’ve seen this everywhere. Where God’s people like to see their spiritual leader blessed, God blesses His people. And where God’s people are stingy with their preachers, their pastors, their ministers, God is stingy with them.

Now I want to say something more. A lot of good people will tell you, ‘Now, Brother Prince is preaching the law.’ But I’ll correct that impression in a little while. I’m not. I’m preaching grace. And furthermore the law of tithing did not originate with the Law of Moses. Don’t imagine that. Genesis 14 verses 18 through 20, you’ll find that Melchizedek appeared to Abraham and blessed him, and in return Abraham gave to Melchizedek tithes of all. That was four hundred and more years before the Law of Moses. And Abraham is put forth in the Scriptures in the fourth chapter of Romans as a pattern to all them that believe. Abraham is the father of all them that believe if we walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham. And one of the vital steps of the faith of Abraham was that when Melchizedek, the High Priest of God, appeared to Abraham, Abraham gave to him ‘tithes of all.’ You can read it—Genesis 14:20 if you don’t know the reference that’s where it is.

Very interesting because the epistle to Hebrews lays great emphasis on the fact that Jesus Christ is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. You know that? And it was a priest of the order of Melchizedek that appeared to Abraham. And I’ll just take a moment to point this out to you, this priest of the order of Melchizedek gave to Abraham bread and wine—the two emblems of the communion. And in return Abraham gave to him tithes of all. And when at the Last Supper Jesus gave to His disciples the bread and the wine, He was telling them by that act, ‘I’m a priest after the order of Melchizedek.’ And just as it’s scriptural for us today to accept the communion emblems from the Lord, equally scriptural is it for us to bring the tithes to the Lord. The two things go together. Tithing is part of the priesthood of Melchizedek, and the Scripture says in Hebrews 7, it’s an unchangeable priesthood which never passes away.

The Levitical priesthood has passed away, but not the priesthood of Melchizedek. The Levitical priesthood under the Law of Moses was a subsidiary priesthood in which they received the tithes from God’s people and then gave them to the Lord. But under the priesthood of Melchizedek God’s people gave them direct to the priest. And in Hebrews 7 and verse 8 it says this: ‘Christ receiveth tithes,’ in the present tense, not in the past tense.

Now because we are under grace and not under the Law, it does not say ‘Christ demanded tithes,’ but it says, ‘Christ receiveth tithes.’ Not merely did Abraham give tithes, but Jacob did too. You can read that in the 28th chapter of Genesis and the 22nd verse. So tithing did not begin with the Law of Moses and it did not end with the Law of Moses. It’s an unchanging pattern connected with an unchanging and eternal priesthood, the priesthood of Melchizedek. And Jesus Christ is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He still receives the tithes of His people today.

Perhaps some of you are now beginning to understand why you have missed out on a lot of blessings. I can see a look coming over your faces as if you’re saying, ‘Could that be it? Could that be the dark shadow over my life? Could that be the place where I don’t have all this liberty and joy that people are talking about?’ Maybe, dear friends, you’ve been robbing God. Could be.

Now the remainder of my message is going to be a study on two chapters from 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. And, dear friend, you read these for yourselves. We’re not going to read them through in detail tonight, but you will find they are entirely devoted to the subject of giving to God. Two complete chapters. If I remember rightly, there are 24 verses in the first chapter, and 15 verses in the second chapter. Thirty-nine verses consecutively given to teaching about money. You say love is more important than money. I say, ‘They can’t be separated.’ The ‘Love Chapter’ in 1 Corinthians contains thirteen verses. The ‘Money’ chapters in 2 Corinthians contains thirty-nine verses—three times as many verses. Who says the New Testament’s got nothing to say about money? Dear friend, I don’t think you’ve been studying it. It’s got a lot to say about money.

Now in these two chapters, 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, the word grace is mentioned seven times. One of the keynotes to these chapters is grace. We’re not preaching law. We’re preaching grace in the realm of finance. Now everything that we receive of grace comes by Jesus Christ. John 1:17:

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

And all grace comes only by way of Calvary. All that God offers to grace is on the basis of what Jesus Christ did by His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. Forgiveness is offered because Jesus was punished for our sins. Righteousness is offered because Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness. Healing is offered because Jesus was made sick with our sickness. And listen, abundant financial blessing is offered because Jesus was made poor with our poverty. That’s a great secret that many of God’s people have never seen, but it’s very clearly stated in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 9.

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be[come] rich.”

Notice the exchange. It’s exactly the same exchange as the exchange on the subject of sin, or sickness or any of the other great exchanges that took place at Calvary. Everything evil was laid upon Jesus that everything good might come upon us. Let’s just look at for a moment.

Jesus died that we might have life. He was made sin that we might be made righteous. He was made a curse that we might receive a blessing. He was made sick that we might be healed. And He was made poor—now face the truth, friend, why?—that we might become rich. If you think that poverty is so holy, why are you fighting against holiness all your life?

Just be logical. It’s the same with sickness. If you think sickness is a blessing from God, well then cultivate it. Don’t try to get rid of it. And if you think poverty is a blessing like some people say, well then why aren’t you cultivating it? Be consistent. Aim to be poor. But you’re not. You’re spending hours every week avoiding poverty. Surely you’re not trying to dodge a blessing.

Listen, I’ll tell you what poverty is. It’s a curse. In the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy the Lord enumerates first of all the blessings for obedience to the Law, and then the curses for disobedience. And amongst the blessings are prosperity in every form: in you basket, in your store, in your field, in your shop, in your home, in your family—prosperity. That’s the blessing. And then come the curses and they are many. But in the 48th verse of this chapter amongst the curses of the broken law is this statement, ‘Thou shalt serve thine enemies in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things.’ Notice where these things are found. Among the curses—hunger, thirst, nakedness, and want of all things. And can you see, friends, the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that He bore these curses on the cross, literally. He was hungry. He didn’t eat for twenty-four hours. He was thirsty. He said, ‘I thirst,’ and they gave Him vinegar. And, friend, I want to say in all reverence He was naked. Don’t let any pretty religious pictures deceive you. It says the four soldiers divided His garments amongst them and the men of those days had four garments, each soldier had one, and then they cast lots for the seamless robe. And that left Jesus naked on the cross. And that was part of the curse: ‘in hunger, and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things.’ He wanted everything. He was totally stripped of everything. ‘Though He was rich yet for your sakes He became poor that ye through His poverty might become rich.’

Notice it’s the same exchange. He was made sin that you might be made righteous. He was striped that you might be healed. He was cursed that you might be blessed. He was abandoned of God that you might never be abandoned. And He became poor. It means what it says. I want to say it again. Oh, the foolishness that we’ve endured so long from people trying to pretend that poverty is a blessing. Oh, the harm that’s been done to the cause of God. ‘He was made poor that ye through His poverty might become rich.’ That doesn’t suit a lot of religious people but, friend, by the time I’ve finished tonight you’ll either believe it or you’ll disbelieve the Bible. That’s the only alternative you’ll have.

Now the Scripture says concerning Jesus, ‘Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.’ Jesus was the gracious giver and one of the graces we receive in Jesus Christ is the grace of giving. Every grace that’s in Christ is manifested in the believer. And so Paul speaking about giving, notice that, calls it a grace, not law but grace. And in 2 Corinthians 8:7, this is what he says.

“Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.”

What is the grace? The grace of giving. They abounded in spiritual gifts. They had the gifts of utterance, they had the gifts of knowledge, they were very keen and diligent. They loved Paul, but he said, ‘There’s one grace you still— you’ve still got to demonstrate: the grace of giving. See that ye abound in this grace also.’

Now because it is grace, God’s Word teaches that nobody is forced or compelled or dictated to in what they give. This is a very gift. If it were under the Law, if they did not give they would be lawbreakers. But as it is under grace, no one dictates to us. Paul is very clear about this. He says:

“Every man according as he purposeth in his [own] heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: . . .”

You are not compelled to give under grace. But you know what I like? I like that word ‘purposeth in his heart, so let him give.’ You know what I find about so many of God’s people? They’re quite purposeless in their giving. They have no real purpose. I’ll tell you what they do. The offering bowl comes along and they put their hand in their pocket. They’re going to look for a coin and not a note anyhow, that’s for sure. And they find the first coin and it’s too big, see, so they feel around and the next coin is too little, so they look for one in between and it turns out to be a ten cent piece, well there it is. But there’s no purpose in giving like that is there? You cannot say that a person who’s done that has purposed in his heart to give anything. It’s just a hit-and-run kind of business. And that’s a terrible failing to be purposeless in your giving. ‘Every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give.’ I’m challenging you this evening right from now on to purpose in your giving. To have a purpose when you give. Friend, I’ve been in the United States quite a while now, and I’m still British, but I’ll tell you, generally speaking, the American Christians know how to give. They love to give. It’s delightful to see them give. You don’t get many noisy offerings in the United States. Very few. The American dollar’s worth about twelve percent less than yours; and their standard of living is somewhat higher. But you very rarely get any noisy offerings in America. The least that anybody would think to put in would be a dollar bill. I’ll show you the benefits of it in a little while. Just note that.

Now I’m challenging you tonight to purpose in your heart, and I’m going to give you certain relevant factors in making your decision. I’m not going to make your decision for you. I’m going to challenge you to make a decision and make it tonight. But I’m going to give you certain factors you should consider carefully before you make this decision. I want you to weigh these factors up carefully. They’re all scriptural. They’re none of them what I think. Every one of them is what the Word of God says. And I’m going to go through this very soberly tonight. It’s going to be more like a university lecture. I want to avoid an atmosphere of emotionalism. I want to reach your understanding. I want you to hear and understand very, very clearly everything I say tonight.

You know when people talk about money, people always listen you know that? Invariably. You can talk about a lot of things, but the people, moment people hear the word like ‘dollars,’ their ears open. Do you know that? So I hope your ears are open tonight.

Now there are certain scriptural factors in relation to giving to God. The first one is this: that giving begins with giving ourselves to God. You can’t buy God’s favor by giving. You cannot buy salvation by giving. You cannot buy forgiveness of sin. The first step in a right relationship to God is to give yourself to God. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:5 about these people at Corinth that ‘they first gave their own selves to the Lord,’ then they gave of their substance. And this is the right order. First give yourself to God. Have you given yourself to God? May I ask you that question? Have you given yourself to God? Well, you know if you have you don’t belong to yourself don’t you? You’re sure of that. If you’ve given yourself to God you belong to God. Is that right? You don’t seem convinced. But you can’t have it both ways. If you’ve given yourself to God, you’re God’s. See? And all that you have is God’s too.

All right. The second fact that I want you to bear in mind is this: that giving to God draws down God’s love upon us. For instance, God’s love is here tonight because we’ve met in the name of Jesus and God loves us all. But when we give to God we focus God’s love upon us. It says in 2 Corinthians 9:7:

“. . . God loveth a cheerful giver.”

So you want to be really sure that God loves you tonight. What are you going to do? Give cheerfully. I like that word cheerful. The Greek word is hilaros from which we get the English word hilarious. And God loves a hilarious giver. You may laugh, but I’ve seen God’s people give hilariously. Oh yes. I’ve seen the poor Africans give hilariously. Come with a chicken, come with eggs, come with corn cobs, come with coffee beans, go back and decide it wasn’t enough, come with some more. And I’ll tell you there was a spirit of hilarity in their giving. They were having a wonderful time giving to God. And that’s what the Holy Spirit will do. David said to God when he repented, he said, ‘Lord, uphold me with thy free Spirit.’ And the word free in Hebrew is directly connected with the word that’s used for ‘giving freely.’ The Holy Spirit is a Spirit that makes people give freely. When the Holy Spirit is ruling, you give hilariously. You enjoy your giving. You see, the Holy Spirit makes you enjoy your religion. Without the Holy Spirit, religion is a bore. Most people endure their religion. But people that are yielded to the Holy Spirit, they enjoy their religion and part of their religion is their giving. You cannot separate.

Thirdly, our giving of our finance is a proof of our love. Now Paul says this twice in these chapters. In 2 Corinthians 8:8 he says:

“I speak not by commandment, but . . . to prove the sincerity of your love.”

Now that’s a very searching statement, isn’t it? But everyone of knows immediately in our heart it’s true. It’s all bluff if we talk about loving God and we’re reluctant to give. Our love is not sincere. But

Paul says, ‘Now here’s a chance to prove the sincerity of your love.’ You can find all these passages; I’m not putting any of them in the Bible, Second Corinthians 8:8. And then again in the same chapter 2 Corinthians 8:24 speaking about the same theme, Paul says:

“. . . shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, . . .”

Notice, people say that giving ought to be done in private and in secret. Paul says give publicly before the churches and make it the proof of your love. Some people like to give in private because they’d be embarrassed if people knew in public what they were giving.

We had a group in East Africa—I won’t tell you their name—but they had this theory that your right hand ought not to know what your left hand was doing. So when they came up to give, they put their left hand behind their back holding a penny piece in it and put it up, singing at the same ‘All to Thee I Surrender.’ And I said, ‘I tell you why their right hand shouldn’t know what the left hand was doing—because it would be embarrassed if it found out!’ There’s a lot of foolish talk about not doing things in public, but Paul says ‘Shew ye to them, and before [all] the churches, the proof of your love [and your giving].’

“And in the first epistle of John chapter 3 and verse 18, John says:
My little children, let us not love in word, [or] in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

And while you are not willing to give to God, you’re loving God in word and in tongue, but not in deed and in truth. Don’t deceive yourself because you don’t deceive God. This is the proof of the sincerity of our love.

The fourth thing that I would like you to bear in mind is very important too. When God’s people share, all have enough. God has made the body dependent upon one another. It’s true in the gifts of the Spirit. To one He gives a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge, to one He gives a tongue, to another an interpretation. God has fitted the whole body so that it’s got to be mutually dependent. This is true in finance. Paul says now to these people in Corinth, ‘Now is your turn to give for the poor saints in Jerusalem. They need, and you have more than enough. So now it’s your turn.’ He said, ‘Another day may come when it will be their turn to give to you.’ He says, ‘I mean not that ye be burdened and other men eased,’ that people may share out equally. And this is what he goes on to say:

“But . . . that there may be equality: as it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.”

Now Paul is quoting from the 16th chapter of the book of Exodus about the children of Israel going out to gather the manna. You will recall that God made provision for their food through the manna that descended every morning early like the dew and lay round about the camp, and every Israelite had to go out each day and gather his manna. And God said that every man was to have as much as he could eat and that the measure was to be an omer, which is simple a Hebrew measure. And so when they went out and gathered they brought in what they had—some had a lot, some had a little. But when they shared it out they found that each one had exactly the right amount—an omer. And Paul says this is how it is with finance. Some have a lot, some have a little. But if the people that have too much will share with the others, we’ll find that everyone has enough. There will be equality. But if we have too much and we don’t share, somewhere or other our brothers or our sisters are going to feel the burden.

All right. The next vital fact about giving—it completes and establishes our righteousness, which we have by faith in Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 9 verse 9, Paul quotes Psalm 112 verse 9, and he says this about the righteous—the whole Psalm 112 is about the righteous and it says about the righteous:

“He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.”

What makes his righteousness permanent, finally established? His giving. And this is absolutely true. It is our giving that finally sets the seal on our commitment to Jesus Christ.

A man came to me once and he said something about that he didn’t feel he was sufficiently zealous for the kingdom of God, and how could he be more zealous? And I said, ‘Brother, I’ll tell you one simple way, invest more. Because Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is, there will you heart be also.’ Put your treasure in, your heart will follow.’ That’s true, isn’t it?

Jesus didn’t make it so spiritual. He didn’t say, ‘Where your heart is, your treasure will follow.’ He said, ‘Where you treasure is, your heart will be.’ Friend, if you want to be more zealous for these meetings, you know what? Just invest a little more. If you want to be more zealous for missions, invest a little more. You’ll be amazed how much you care when you’ve invested.

Suppose a great big building burns down somewhere in the middle of Auckland. We’ll all feel a sense of regret, but I’ll tell you who’ll be very much more regretful than the rest. The people that invested in the building. Isn’t that right? Because their treasure’s there. See? So their heart’s there too. And when your treasure is in the kingdom of God, your heart will be there. And when your treasure isn’t, your heart is where your treasure is. You cannot get around it. These are all eternal, unchangeable, spiritual laws. ‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ Invest in the kingdom of God and your committed to the kingdom of God. Disperse and give and your righteousness will remain forever. It stabilizes your righteousness. I’ve seen this with many new converts. They’ll never be really established Christians till they learn to give systematically to God. This is one reason that so many young people and young converts are up and down, because they’re not committed. And one good way of being committed is giving systematically and liberally to the kingdom of God.

It works. I tell you, I’ve had over twenty years experience in the ministry and I’m talking about things I know. It works. People that are financially committed are well on the way to becoming established and stable.

Then again, giving is an insurance against evil times. I wonder do you have Social Security here in New Zealand? All right. In Britain they have it and I don’t whether you have it here. Do you have a card that you have to have stamped weekly? Well, you have it another way, but in Britain when I was there they had this card and you had to get a stamp every week. And at the end you’ve got fifty-two stamps on, one for each week, you had no problems about Social Security. If you got sick, somebody would care for you. If you got out of work, somebody would care for you. It was all arranged; it all depended on the stamp. And I’ll tell you, God has got a stamp system too. And you should keep your card stamped up to date. You give regularly and God accepts full responsibility for all your needs. Any need, you come and say, ‘God, my tithes are paid up to date. Here’s what I’ve given to missions. My card is stamped.’ God is much more faithful than the British government, believe me. You can trust Him. I’m not saying the British government is unfaithful. Don’t misunderstand me. But they have their limits. God is unlimited.

“All right Psalm 37 verse 21, the Scripture says:
. . . the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
Psalm 37 verse 25, just a little further on David says:
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I [never] seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

But notice what comes first, ‘The righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.’ Then David says, ‘I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.’ He’s got the stamp up to date on his card. Ecclesiastes 11 verses 1 and 2:

“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.”

See that last sentence? ‘For thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.’ Get your card stamped up to date. Unemployment may be coming. Who knows? ‘Give a portion to seven [that’s the standard], and [then just go one over] . . . eight [just for a little extra insurance, see?]; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.’

I read a book once by Oswald Smith, the well-known pastor of the People’s Church in Toronto, Canada, and he said that he was pastoring that church all through the Depression years, which swept right across Canada and the United States. And he said every day in his office all through that long period he had men who came in off the street for financial help because they were right broke. And he said he always checked with those men if they’d been up to date in their commitments to God. And he said, never in all those years did he ever have a man coming needing help who’d paid his tithes. Never once. You see, I tell you again, I’d be scared not to tithe. I mean that. You couldn’t get me to stop. Philippians 4 verses 18 and 19, Paul, writing to the church at Philippi, thanks them for a gift that they’ve sent through Epaphroditus and he says:

“. . . I have . . . received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you . . . [I know you have made] a sacrifice. [Now let’s notice the next verse 19:] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

A lot of Christians quote Philippines 4:19 but they leave out the but. They say, ‘My God shall supply all your needs,’ but Paul put a but in front. He said, ‘Now you’ve acted in faith, you’ve given beyond what you felt you could afford.’ Now the but will come in: ‘But my God will see to it you never lack.’ You know that promise is not for those that don’t give at all. Absolutely not. It doesn’t apply. It’s only for those that give out in faith; then, Paul says, God will never let you down.

Friend, I want to ask you this tonight. Do you really believe in God? Do you really believe in God? If you really do, you cannot fail to be willing to act in faith with your finance. See, if you don’t, it’s sheer unbelief. That’s all it is. Just plain unbelief and it’s combined with fear. Two deadly destroying things— fear and unbelief. Two damning sins. You say, ‘Brother Prince, don’t talk to me like that.’ But let me tell you, friend, in Revelation 21 verse 8, the first two categories of people that go into the lake that burneth with fire are the fearful and the unbelieving. And after them come the witches and the sorcerers and the murderers and the adulterers. But the first two categories of people headed for eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire: the fearful and the unbelieving. And what, friend, would keep you from giving to God but fear or unbelief. Isn’t that true? Somebody said to me, ‘You make things so plain.’ I certainly aim to make them plain. My aim tonight is that no one will go out of this place not knowing what I’ve been trying to say. And I do it for your good. I will be able to say when I’ve left Auckland, ‘I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.’ Or when Paul used the words, ‘I have not shunned,’ it indicated there would always be many pressures against a preacher not to tell the whole truth about some subjects.

Oh, I know a lot of board members and Christians would get mad when the pastor begins to preach about giving. But I’ll tell you, the people who never get mad when the preacher preaches about giving are the people that give. Now they don’t mind. They sit back and enjoy it. Praise the Lord, they say. Amen. Now we come to the final factor that I want you to bear in mind and this is terrific. Oh, glory to God! I’m glad that God sent me out to preach good news. Amen. Some people’s version of the gospel is not what I call good news at all. But thank God the Lord showed me His gospel was good news. Now the last statement I want to make, and this should make you jump for joy, is this; God’s grace provides abundance, overflow. I’m going to give you this Scripture and I’m going to say to about three and a half times, 2 Corinthians 9:8:

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: . . .”

The King James, but I’m going to give you the ‘Prince version,’ because in the Greek the apostle Paul uses the Greek word for all in one form or another five times in one verse. That’s fantastic, isn’t it? Let’s listen again.

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, all ways having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to all good work: . . .”

Five alls and—wait a minute, two abounds. God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, all ways having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to all good work. Now, friends, where is there any room for lack, inadequacy, of insufficiency in that verse? I simply cannot see it. Five alls and two abounds in one verse. I don’t see how any man could possibly use language more clearly to express complete abundance. And this is God’s grace. And how does grace come? By Jesus Christ. Oh, praise God, it’s not for the Law. They lived on a measure. It’s for grace. We all know as Christians grace is the dispensation we’re in now, isn’t it? The grace dispensation.

And God says, ‘Let’s have it again.’ I’ll tell you what, you say it after me. Would you like to do that? Amen. All right. Now we’ll say it very shortly, very simply. I better read it, I think, in case I just get a word or two wrong. It’s 2 Corinthians 9:8. I’ll say it sort of in short syllable sentences and you follow me.

Are you ready now? I’ll say it, you say it after me.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to all good work: . . .”

Now listen, I want you to say it differently this time. That’s general. But your confession of faith is personal. You remember I’ve been telling you about confession: ‘Believe in the heart, confess with the mouth’? All right. This is the way I want you to say it this time. I’ll say it once right through and then we’ll say it by stages. I’m going to make my confession tonight before you all.

“God is able to make all grace abound toward me; that I, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to all good work: . . .”

Now that’s my statement of faith. I take the general promise of the Word and I particularize it by the confession of my lips. Would you like to do that? Do you believe that? I tell you what: you’ll believe it twice more when you’ve said it because the more you confess a thing, the more you believe it. And then, praise God, the more you believe it, the more you confess it. You get to a place where you just can’t stop, see, if you go on long enough. Amen. All right. We’re going to say it this way now. I’ll say it and you say it after me. Now this is a real expression of your faith. It’s not just a silly game we’re playing in church. It’s a real expression of your faith tonight. I want you to say it as in the presence of God.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward me; that I, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to all good work: . . .”

Now you know what I’d do if I were you? I’d say, ‘Praise the Lord.’ Amen. If that isn’t good news. Oh, praise God.

But now, listen. It’s grace. Isn’t that right? And how do we appropriate grace? By faith? Thank you, brother. That’s right. This is all salvation. This is just financial salvation, that’s all it is. And I can prove that to you if you read Psalm 78, you’ll find it’s a record or all God’s provision for Israel: how He brought them out of Egypt, how He brought them through the Red Sea, how He led them by a cloud, how He fed them with manna, how He gave them water to drink out of the rock, how He insured that they never lacked, their shoes never wore out, their clothes never got old, every single need was met. And it says in Psalm 78, and I think it’s verse 21, ‘They trusted not in God and believed not in His salvation.’ The word salvation is the biblical word—Old Testament and New Testament alike—for every provision of God’s grace for His people. The one all-inclusive word that sums it all up is salvation. And what we’re reading tonight is just the financial part of God’s salvation. And so every principle that applies to salvation in general, applies here. Now the whole principle is laid out in Ephesians 2:8:

“For by grace ye are saved through faith; . . .”

The channel that brings God’s grace into you is faith, isn’t it? And without faith you have no channel. God is pouring out His blessing but nothing comes your way because you don’t have the channel up. See? So in order to receive grace you have to put up the channel of faith. And then God’s blessing comes cascading down your channel into your life—spiritual, physical, financial. It’s all salvation.

Just let me mention this. I counted twelve places in the Greek New Testament where the Greek word for saved is used specifically of physical healing. You see, healing is just the physical aspect of salvation. And it all centers in one person, Jesus Christ, who is the Savior, the Healer, the Deliverer, the Baptizer in the Holy Ghost, and let me tell you something else, the Great Provider. Jehovah-jireh, ‘the LORD will Provide.’ One of His great unchanging, eternal covenant names, one of the seven covenant names of Jehovah. And every one of those covenant names reveals an eternal, unchanging aspect of His nature as ‘the Lord that changes not.’ He is the Provider just as much as He’s the Savior or the Healer or the Deliverer or the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, He is the Provider. And it’s all included in this glorious salvation.

You remember what I told you the Lord showed me in that car when I was sick? ‘Consider the work of Calvary: A perfect work—perfect in every respect, perfect in every aspect.’ It’s perfect in the financial aspect just as perfect as it is in every other aspect. It’s part of grace. It’s received through faith. Grace comes by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ on the cross became poor that we through His poverty might become rich. See it’s all through the cross, it’s all by grace, it’s all through faith.

Now let’s observe this great principle, we’ve got to act in faith. Faith without works is dead. Somebody has very finely expressed it, ‘Faith without corresponding actions is dead.’ And dead faith doesn’t produce living results. Lots of people say they believe, but that’s all that happens. They just say, they sit, passive, inactive, do nothing. It’s dead faith, and they’re dead Christians. Faith without works is dead. The Greek word is so vivid. It means ‘a female corpse.’ It’s almost revolting, and that’s how faith is without works.

So if this is by faith we’ve got to discover the appropriate works that will make it work. And Paul has summed it up as clearly as any person can do in this same 9th chapter of 2 Corinthians. He says this:

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; . . . [But he adds:] But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth [abundantly] shall reap also [abundantly].”

Now here is a great secret that the devil has kept from the hearts and minds of multitudes of God’s people: That in finance just as much as in every other realm of the Christian life, there is a process of sowing and reaping. When we give intelligently, in faith to God, we are sowing, and we shall reap. If we sow sparingly, we shall reap sparingly. If we sow abundantly, we shall reap abundantly. Now this applies in the realm of finance just as definitely and as surely as in any other realm. Galatians 6:7:

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Now we have no problem in believing this applies to other actions. For instance, if a man sows unkindness and criticism, we would be sure to tell him, ‘You’ll reap unkindness and criticism.’ Or we’d tell a person on the other hand, ‘If you sow love and good deeds, you reap love and good deeds.’ We all understand that it doesn’t mean merely the literal sowing of physical grain. We all know that. There’s no question about that. But some of have been so blind for so long that we haven’t seen that it applies equally in the financial realm. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’

And this I actually mean. I hope you’ll believe me. I mean it. If you sow five cent pieces, you’ll reap five cent pieces. If you sow ten cent pieces, you’ll reap ten cent pieces. If you sow dollars, you’ll reap dollars. If you sow five dollar bills, you’ll reap five dollar bills. That’s exactly it. Precisely as true and as literally and as really as in the agricultural realm, so in the financial realm—we sow and we reap. And this is God’s provision to make His grace abound toward us financially. We learn to sow in faith and we reap in faith. Multitudes of God’s people have found this true.

I was listening to a dear Baptist preacher the other day, not a Pentecostal preacher, a Baptist preacher. And he was describing how in his ministry he had overworked, he had become sick, he’d had a breakdown, he’d had a wife and a family to support, and he’d got to the stage where he’d had just under seven dollars. And that was all he had and a mounting pile of bills. And one day he went out into the woods alone to have this out with God and settle it, and as he wrestled in prayer with God and got through, God spoke to him very, very clearly and He said, ‘Give your way out of this problem. Give your way out.’ In other words, operate in faith.

So he went back and counted what he had. It was just under seven dollars. That’s all he had. And he thought of a real good place to give it. He knew of a missionary in South America who was doing a fine job, so he went to the post office and arranged to send a money order. Well, he couldn’t send a money order for the whole amount because he had to pay for the money order and the stamp and so on, so he worked out with the man in the post office so that what he sent was all he had when the stamps and the postal order and so on were paid. And then he had nothing. That was in the morning. He said, ‘By that night I had five hundred dollars in my pocket.’ And he said, ‘That was just the beginning!’

Now this is faith. It must be faith. ‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.’ Did you know that? And I mean this. When you give not in faith, you’re just playing with God. It’s sinful. I tell you, friends. Some of you have been sinning tonight. I hope you’ll forgive me. But when you give lightly, casually, indifferently, just reaching in your pocket and seeing what comes out, you’re really playing with Almighty God. Isn’t that true? It’s true. I don’t say it to bring condemnation upon you. I just hope you can see the nature of your act.

For me the offering is one of the most reverent parts of the service. I never give casually. If I don’t feel like giving, I’ll give nothing, but I don’t believe you’d ever see me put five cents in an offering to God. I would hesitate to put fifty cents. I mean that. Goodness me. God deals with me the way I deal with Him. Do I want Him to deal with me in a five-cent basis? No I don’t. You can be sure I don’t. Do you? Well, don’t deal with Him on a five cent basis.

“This principle of faith is all through the Bible. Hebrews 11:6:
. . . he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

This applies to finance. If you diligently seek God with your finance, He’ll reward you. You’ve got to believe that before you come to God—otherwise you cannot come to Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Jesus said, Luke 6:38:

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.”

Notice, it’s ‘men.’ God won’t normally make it rain out of heaven, but he’ll make men do it. Occasionally I’ve known people … Do you know one time, just to give you, this is a true story, I can vouch for it and my wife is here to witness. When we did not have too much money in London, one day I opened my wallet and I found in it three absolutely new pound notes. And in those days a pound was worth something. And I pulled them out—you know when you get money from the bank it’s so clean, it’s so crisp, and they stick together and the serial numbers were in order one after another. And I thought, ‘Well, where did that come from?’ And I imagined that our daughter who had just started nursing possibly had brought home Daddy a little gift out of her first salary and slipped this into my wallet. I thought it was unlikely, but I knew there was no other possibility—and not unlikely, because she would not be afraid to give, believe me. She’s a good giver. But I couldn’t think of any other way. So I went to her and I said, ‘Kiersten, I want to know—I want you to know I really appreciate that little gift of yours.’ She looked at me and I saw she hadn’t any idea what I was talking about. And, you know, I tried every possibility. And there’s only one conclusion I can come to. Almighty God put three pound notes in my wallet. Now you may think that’s stretching it, but that’s my firm conviction. If God could put a piece of coin in a fish’s mouth, He could put three pound notes in my wallet. I didn’t expect it. I was astonished. It took me a long while to get over it, but He did it.

Friends, do you know, some people say money is unclean? But I’ll tell you those three pound notes, they were beautifully clean. You see, when money comes out of the mint it’s the cleanest thing you handle. The only thing that makes money dirty is the way it’s handled. Money is neither clean nor dirty of itself. It’s either good or evil according to the use to which it’s put. Let nobody talk to you about ‘filthy lucre,’ that’s rather a strange old-fashioned translation, and it does not mean that God despises all money. That would be ridiculous. Money is neither clean nor dirty except according to the way it’s used.

Now I’m going briefly to recapitulate the things that I’ve been telling you. I want you to listen carefully. We’re talking about God’s grace making full provision for us, and the corresponding grace in us which causes us to give hilariously to God. And I pointed out to you that in the New Testament nobody dictates to you what you shall give. It’s a personal decision which you must make for yourself. ‘Every man as he purposeth in his own heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity.’

And then I pointed out to you these relevant factors to consider as you purpose to give.

Number 1. It begins with giving ourselves.
Number 2. Giving draws down God’s love upon us. God loves a hilarious giver.
Number 3.—Giving is the proof of the sincerity of our love for God and His people.
Number 4. When God’s people share all have enough.
Number 5. Giving completes and establishes the righteousness that we have by faith in Jesus Christ.
Number 6. Giving is an insurance against evil times.
And Number 7. Grace provides abundance, but it must be received by faith.

And in the realm of money the law of sowing and reaping applies as much as in any other realm. ‘He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly. He that soweth abundantly shall reap abundantly.’ It is a fact that cannot be changed.