The Christian and His Money: Derek Prince (Transcript)

Full text of Bible teacher Derek Prince’s teaching on stewardship titled ‘The Christian and His Money’.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Derek Prince – Bible teacher

This will be the first in a series of three short talks on the theme: The Christian and His Money. And this particular first talk, the subtitle which I have given it, is Money is Important.

I think it’s necessary to stress that, because some religious people talk, at least in church, as if money were not important. Very rarely do they act that way when they get outside church. But it’s a kind of religious fashion to pretend that money isn’t important.

Let me say that money plays such a large part in the lives of all of us, that if we do not order our money according to God’s will and Word, our whole lives must be out of line with the will of God.

WEALTH IN TWO LEVELS (Heb. 11: 24–26)

Now, I want to begin by establishing a very important point, which is the Bible acknowledges and recognizes two levels of wealth. The first is one that we’re all familiar with in some degree, what you would call Material Financial Wealth. And we need to bear in mind it’s temporary, it’s not going to last. One day we’re going to leave it all behind forever.

The other kind of wealth is spiritual or Eternal Wealth. And of course, that is, in the last resort, more important. But we cannot act as though material wealth is unimportant, because the Bible makes it very clear that what we do with our material wealth will have a lot to do with how much eternal wealth we end up with.

I’d like to begin by referring to a passage which makes this distinction rather vivid and clear. It’s a passage in Hebrews 11, verses 24 through 26, and it speaks about Moses making one of the most difficult choices of his life, when he decided to turn his back on all the wealth and the luxury and the privileges which he had in Egypt.

And bear in mind, he was being trained to be the king of Egypt. He was being brought up as Pharaoh’s son — Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. But at a certain point, at the age of 40, he turned his back on all of that and found himself in the remote corner of a barren desert looking after some sheep. But this is what the writer of Hebrews says about his decision.

Hebrews 11:24: ‘By faith Moses, when he came to age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ, (or the reproach for Christ or for the Messiah), greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.’

You notice Moses didn’t settle for poverty. He chose greater riches. And to be reproached for Christ, to suffer persecution and affliction for His name’s sake, is true spiritual wealth.

So let’s bear that in mind, there are two levels of wealth. There’s the material, which is temporary. There’s the eternal, which is on a higher level.

Now, all we’re going to deal with in these brief talks is the material level. But I would be giving you a very unbalanced picture if I didn’t begin by reminding you of the higher eternal level of spiritual wealth.

Now, the question that we need to ask ourselves is this: IS MONEY, OR IS WEALTH GOOD OR EVIL?

Lots of Christians speak as if money were evil, as though it’s something, it’s regrettable that we have to deal with money, but there it is, it’s an evil, but we can’t avoid it.