Alistair Huong

GYC 2015: Called. Chosen. Faithful.

Beyond the Tithe: Practical Lessons on Personal Finance

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

6. Lay Up Your Treasures: Earning Interest in the Bank of Heaven

This message was presented at the GYC 2015 conference called Chosen Faithful in Louisville, Kentucky.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the Sabbath day.

The testimonies, the message we've heard, the singing, the fellowship.

And Lord, as we Pause this moment, this hour, to conclude this topic of practical biblical stewardship.

Help us to think clearly about our role as the managers of the assets you've given to us.

So our topic this week has been called Beyond the Tithe.

And I hope you've seen now why I entitled that, because we haven't talked about the tithe at all yet, really.

And so it goes to illustrate that the concepts of stewardship involves far more than just you should pay your tithe, right?

But today we are actually gonna be focusing on this aspect a little bit more, just a little bit.

And the title of session number 6 here is called Lay Up Your Treasures, Earning Interest in the Bank of Heaven.

And I apologize to those who have heard this 6 times, but it's the same announcement I've made every time, but saving the crumbs, you can check out more information there and download the handouts, and you can look for the recordings from GYC and Audioverse later.

So we already are familiar with the term, lay up your treasures, and it's found in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

And we talked about how laying up treasures upon the earth, hoarding the gold that gets corrupted and that gets moth-eaten and cankered, that's not the goal.

We save up for future needs, but anything extra goes to God.

This is the title that we are entitling this session, and lay up your treasures in heaven.

When we think of the ideas, when we think about laying up our treasure in heaven, for a long time, my automatic assumption is, well, that means spiritual treasure, right?

The blessing is the spiritual aspect of being free from sin, being with Jesus, you know, the joy that is set before us, right?

Because we think of heaven as a place where materialism has, you know, gone away, the earth has passed away.

So laying up our treasures in heaven, it clearly, generally, at least in my mind, represents just a spiritual treasure.

It must be metaphorical or figurative or symbolic, spiritual, right?

That's the idea that I have, but notice what Spirit of Prophecy has to say.

She says, A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home.

So there is a balance even when we talk about heaven.

Yes, we are not going to heaven because we want to walk on the streets of gold, only There are the spiritual reasons, but it is a reward to be able to walk on the streets of gold.

And to eat up from the tree of life, and to, you know, build our homes, and, you know, see the giant gates of pearl on the city.

And all of those things, it is a real, physical place.

And so, with that foundation in mind, lay up your treasures in heaven, maybe there's more to it than just a spiritual like sense of well-being or something to that effect.

So, you know, we say this line a lot, you can't take it with you.

But if we take Jesus at his word, and he says, lay up your treasures in heaven, what that means is, you can send it on ahead.

Testimonies for the Church, Volume 3, page 249, paragraph 2, it says this, Every opportunity to help a brethren in need, or to aid the cause of God and the spread of the truth, is a pearl that you can send beforehand and deposit in the bank of heaven for safekeeping.

Now again, if you were just to read this passage without the little preamble that I just gave you, my hunch is that most of us would read this and we would automatically assume this is spiritual.

It is a figure of speech that we have a pearl, a bank of heaven, that's just a metaphorical statement that represents all the treasures that God has spiritually for us.

And Because that's just how we associate talk like this, right?

Revean Herald, July 1, 1890, paragraph 7.

It says, the only safe place to deposit our treasures is in the bank of heaven.

Every deposit made in this bank will accumulate abundant interest.

You will be laying up in store for yourselves against the time to come.

It really is difficult for me to spiritualize every single piece of this away.

I think the simplest reading of this passage is to just take it at face value.

In fact, the Spirit of Prophecy, through all of these passages that we've just read, including Christ's words, lay up your treasure in heaven.

This gives me the idea that there is actually a bank in heaven.

And not only that, we have an account there.

We have our name on an account, and God is managing that account.

And every time, in the previous quote, we advance the work of God through our giving, helping a brother in need, God makes a deposit on our behalf in our account.

We talked about investing yesterday, and I mentioned this briefly, and that is this is the only safe, truly safe investment.

A guaranteed rate of return with no risk of loss.

The only risk is if you don't show up to claim your deposits.

And so with this in mind, Think of the charitable giving.

Our tithes and offerings that we think God is saying, oh, you know, you are robbing me, right, of tithes and offerings.

You remember when you were little kids, right?

Mom and dad, you know, they want to train us to be generous people.

Like, hey, would you be willing to give mom and dad a gift?

Or, you know, if mommy needed 5 dollars, would you give it?

And, you know, as little kids, we give our parents the 5 dollars or whatever that we earned, what do our parents do?

Our parents usually don't spend that money.

He's saying, you are robbing me in tithes and offerings.

Yes, that is true because there's an element of selfishness and covetousness and the love of money involved in all of that.

But yet, when we return to him what is rightfully his, he's actually going to give it back to us.

So you've got to think of it this way when we return the tithes and offerings to God It's an investment and it's an investment that cannot go down in value only goes up and when we get to heaven We'll have a bank account.

They're already open for us And you know, this is sort of curious to me because I'm like, so what are we actually going to be using the bank account for?

But I know we're gonna be building houses, we're gonna be farming, there still might be some medium of exchange, it won't be a corrupt banking system like we have in the world today, but somehow There is going to be a use for it and it is a reward for the righteous.

And that's 1 of the reasons why we want to be there.

Councils on Stewardship, page 343, paragraph 3 says this, the Lord has made us as almoners, meaning we are the managers of his funds to dispense to those in need.

He places in our hands his gifts in order that we shall divide with those who are needy.

And it is this practical giving that will be to us a sure panacea for all selfishness.

So, if I could substitute that word, this practical giving of us dispensing God's gifts to others in need, this is the cure for all selfishness.

I want you to take this word selfishness and file it on a shelf in your brain because you're gonna see that word again multiple times throughout this session.

And I want you to see the relationship between personal finance and particularly giving with selfishness.

5. Trading the Talents: Principles on Investing

Father in heaven, we're so thankful for a new day, a new year.

And Lord, as we look forward to 2016, above all, we wish for you to come soon.

And as we discuss some of these principles, Lord, may we ever keep that end in mind.

But may we be faithful to your word and to apply the principles you give to us in even what may be the mundane and regular and ordinary aspects of life.

Help us to be faithful and teach us something today and guide us with your spirit we pray in Jesus name.

Amen All right visitors You can keep trickling in as we begin.

So we're on session number 5 here and the title of our session is trading the talents principles on investing so this entire segment we're going to be looking at investing and I mentioned this yesterday, but when I was invited to do this seminar at GYC, I went on Facebook and I was just saying, hey, if you were going to a Christian personal finance seminar, what would you like to hear about?

There were things like getting out of debt and then investing.

It was like every other person had a question about investing.

And actually, after going through a few of the sessions yesterday, 1 of the number 1, actually the number 1 question that I've been asked so far is, Is it possible to get 8% returns on your investments?

Because that happens to be 1 of the recurring themes in all of my examples for compound interest and investing that I've used.

So we're going to talk a little bit about that as well.

So this is the session, if you've asked a question about 8%, you want to keep your ears open.

So I make this announcement every time my wife and I, we write this blog, savingthecrumbs.com, where we already go through most of the things I'm sharing with you here, except you're getting something added value here, and that is we infuse this presentation with all of the spirit of prophecy principles, whereas on the blog it is not specific to Adventist.

It is a Christian blog, so I reserve my basis purely to scripture and other things.

And I sprinkle in spirit of prophecy principles without saying that it's Spirit of Prophecy.

So if you read carefully, you'll see Ellen White speaking, I just don't necessarily put her in quotes.

So the principles are all there, but here explicitly I give you passages and the page numbers and all that.

And So savingthecrumbs.com, you can also get the handouts.

I know it's a little bit hard to find, but it's on there.

Also, you can download the handouts later when they post the messages on the website.

And they'll also be on AudioVerse eventually.

And in the handout, you'll get all the slides, and you'll get the links to articles specific to what I'm talking about in each session.

So it's a direct link to the things that relate to what we're discussing here.

It'll help you find what you might want to learn more about on our website.

Well, where does that phrase appear in the Bible?

You remember the parable that Jesus told regarding the end times, Matthew chapter 25, about his servants, the servants who received talents.

And what were the servants supposed to do with the talents?

And 1 of the people, the 1 with 1 talent, buried his talent in the earth.

And this is what Jesus said to him, you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

And when we read Christ's optic lessons, Ellen White breaks it down.

She applies spiritually the talents to all sorts of things.

Everything that's good that God gives to us.

Our strength, our speech, our health, our influence, our time.

She also mentions that money happens to be 1 of the talents And money is actually the literal object that is used in the parable.

And so I think we would be misinterpreting or misapplying scripture if we actually say this applies to Everything except money.

So the talents include all the gifts that God gives to us and the wealth, the assets, the material possessions he gives to us happens to be 1 of them.

And of course, as with all the talents, what's the purpose of increasing them?

It's not for our own personal aggrandizement or opulence or lavish life.

It all belongs to God, but we are His managers of his means and we have an obligation to improve the assets that we have under our management and God's gonna hold us accountable for the right use of all of our talents and 1 of them being The money that he's given to us.

So Spirit of Prophecy makes this explicitly clear.

Councils on Stewardship, page 113, paragraph 1.

The followers of Christ are not to despise wealth.

They're to look upon wealth as the Lord's entrusted talent.

And we've read this quote before, and again, she says, it's not for our own personal use, but we are to improve it for the advancement of the gospel.

Now we need to understand better what the principles are.

Because when we hear about investing in the world today, it's surrounded with almost this aura of greed and Covetousness, it's like when we talk about investing.

How am I going to get a lot of money really fast?

And a lot of times we sort of view investing as the secret sauce or the silver bullet to solve all of our other financial problems.

It's like, well, I know I can get out of debt, but if only I can find the right investment, then I can get out of debt.

This kind of thinking, I think, pervades a lot of our psyches.

Well, that's not really what investing is all about.

And so I want to share with you some principles that will help you sift through the myriad of options out there that you can choose from.

Because investing, there's a million and 1 ways that everyone and their stepdad is going to try to sell you.

So principles on investing, We're going to just go through a list of 10 principles and then at the end, this is the part you're all waiting for.

I'm going to share some of the investments that I personally have had experience with and I'll even share a little bit of how much my yield has been and returns and so forth.

Number 1, the first principle and perhaps the most important is that investing is for defined future needs, not for hoarding.

Way back at the very first session, we talked about 3 uses of money.

After you earn it, you can either spend it for current needs or wants, save it for future needs or wants, or to give it away.

And so investing is gotta fit within 1 of those categories, right, and it's saving for the future.

It's not saving for no purpose, it's saving for a specific purpose.

And so Ellen White says this, Christ's Object Lessons page 352, paragraph 1, hoarded wealth is not merely useless, it is a curse.

It is, in this life, it is a snare to the soul, drawing the affections away from the heavenly treasure.

In the great day of God, its witness to unused talents and neglect to opportunities will condemn its possessor.

So, we have this balance, because we talked about we need to save money for future needs, but we shouldn't hoard money.

Well, what's the difference between saving and hoarding?

Councils on stewardship, 250 paragraph 2, had you and your wife understood it to be a duty, okay?

That's a word that Ellen White frequently uses when it talks, when she talks about making provisions for the future and saving and so forth, that God has enjoined upon you to deny your tastes and desires and make provision for the future, and that's another word for saving or investing for the future.

Instead of living merely for the present, you could now have had a competency in your family and have had the comforts of life.

So we have a balance here in the spirit of prophecy.

We've got on 1 hand hoarding wealth is not only a bad idea, it's a curse.

But on the other hand, it is a duty for us to make provision for the future.

And there was another scripture we read in 1st Timothy where it says, if you don't provide for the necessities of your family, you have denied the faith, and you're worse than an infidel.

And so, we gotta understand there's a difference between investing for a set need versus looking at just getting filthy rich with no end in sight, just wanting more and more.

And this is the reason why I spent a whole session talking about creating a plan.

We talked about it yesterday in session number 3, having a plan, starting with the goal in mind and you are saving up for a specific purpose and anything extra beyond that, you don't need it.

And that takes us actually to point number 2.

After you save up for all of your basic needs, all of your future needs that you have planned for, everything extra should flow into God's treasury.

And this is a little preview for tomorrow.

We're talking about investing today, but tomorrow we're going to talk about investing as well.

4. Indentured Servants with Smallpox: Dealing With Debt

Father in Heaven, in this last session, Lord, you know this room is warm.

May our hearts burn even warmer with our fervor for Jesus and for his work and for the finishing of the work so he can come back.

I pray, Lord, you will give us the wisdom, particularly as we deal with this issue of debt, that we can learn how best to manage this for your glory.

And guide us, help us to stay cool and alert, and may this information still be relevant and practical for us as we take it home to use it.

We pray these things in Jesus name, amen.

Okay, so session 4 we are Talking about indentured servants with smallpox.

So I've included on every presentation, so I'll just mention this again.

Forgive me if you've heard this for the fourth time, But savingthecrumbs.com are my wife and I, my personal finance blog.

You can get the information by visiting the website.

Or you can download the handouts on the GYC app.

It will also be available for download later on when the messages are released.

You can get all the handouts and I even have links for specific articles that we've written that's relevant to the topic at hand.

So you'll wanna check out Saving the Crumbs, GYC app, GYC website, and later on AudioVerse as well.

Well, it's from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy.

Proverbs 22, 7 says, "'The borrower is servant to the lender.'" And it's not a very kind word, servant, it's actually more like a slave.

And then here, Adventist Holmes says, you should be determined never to incur another debt.

Deny yourself a thousand things rather than run in debt.

This has been the curse of your life, getting into debt.

So you're a servant to the lender and you have smallpox if you've got debt.

That's 1 of the reasons why I paid off my house in 2 years, which I'll talk about in this presentation.

It's not that it's wrong to have a mortgage.

And it's not that you have to pay off your house in 2 years.

But it's just because I just detest the fact of being a slave and having no freedom and having smallpox in the financial sense, we just decided We just got to get rid of it for our own peace of mind.

However, it's not quite across the line to become a sin either.

Publishing Ministry, page 209, paragraph 4 through 5, Ellen White writing, I now write to ask you if you will let me have the use of $2, 000 to help me in bringing out books that the people need.

If I should fall in a conflict before the Lord's appearing, my sons would carry forward the work of circulating my books according to my plans.

When the expense of issuing my books is lessened, the sales will soon pay up all my debts.

So Ellen White actually did have some debt.

But this passage here actually gives us some clues as to what forms of debt are sometimes permissible.

Okay, so we're going to talk about that right now.

We know when debt is okay versus when it's not okay.

Number 1, you should never borrow money for something that goes down in value.

If I offered you a $5 bill and say you need to pay me $10 to get it, what would you do?

By borrowing money to buy something that goes down in value, we're doing the same thing.

We're paying more than something is worth, and then that thing actually decreases in value.

So it's a fundamental mathematical thing.

You don't want your money to go down in value.

We're supposed to be growing our talents for the sake of the Kingdom of God, not letting it go down the drain by paying interest and then also on top of the depreciation.

And number 2 is where Ellen White's counsel comes into play.

You remember that she said, if I should fall in the conflict, the books will pay off the debt.

The sale of the books will pay off the debt.

So she's not borrowing money just to spend the money, it's an investment.

Back to Menu

Presenter

Alistair Huong

All Recordings

6. Lay Up Your Treasures: Earning Interest in the Bank of Heaven

1h 10m

5. Trading the Talents: Principles on Investing

1h

4. Indentured Servants with Smallpox: Dealing With Debt

1h

3. Counting the Cost: Relationships, Budgets & Your Life

1h

2. Gather Up the Fragments: Prospering by Saving the Crumbs

1h

1. Neither Poverty Nor Riches: Redefining Wealth & Prosperity

59m

4-Deconstruction & Analysis

1h

3-Demonstration: “Make Disciples”

50m

2-Practical Considerations

1h 11m

1-Foundational Principles

1h

Why Am I A Seventh-day Adventist?

54m

Are You Sure You Are Lost?

43m

Sound Doctrine