Arrow of Materialism

Arrows of Satan

Materialism

Luke 12:15-21

Theme: God shows man that living for things is not true life.

Welcome once again to Mountain View Baptist Church. It is wonderful having you in our services and we pray God will give you a wonderful day. God wants to make a difference in your life. If you are a first-time guest, thank you also for being in church. You make yourself right at home. Our theme this year is Back to Basic There is nothing more basic than going to church. We would love to have you be a member of MVBC.

Please be sure to sign up for Welcome to the Family class on a connection card and hand it to me as you leave today. The class will be held next door in the church office starting Sep 8 @9:55.

We have been in a current series entitled the Arrows of Satan. The series is intended us to help us deal with the arrows of temptation uses to keep us from committing and growing closer to God.

This will be the last message in the series. We have learned that Satan will shoot his arrows of unbelief, fear, envy, pride, lust, and this last arrow: Materialism.

As Satan shoots these arrows to keep us from getting closer to the Lord, materialism is a huge part of modern society. It is defined as the tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort more important than spiritual values.

If lasting happiness could be found in having material things and in being able to indulge ourselves in whatever we wanted, then most of us in America should be delirious with joy and happy beyond description. We should be producing books and poems that describe our state of unparalleled bliss. Our literature and art should rival that of the ancient Greeks and Romans and Renaissance craftsmen.

Instead, we find those who have “things” trying to get more of them, for no apparent reason other than to have more. We find high rates of divorce, suicide, depression, child abuse, and other personal and social problems beyond description. We find housewives trading tranquilizer prescriptions. All this is surely proof that happiness is not found in the state of having all we want and being able to get more.

Here in this passage Jesus is giving a parable about a man who has riches and still wants more. In the verses right before a certain man in the crowd was asking Jesus about his inheritance. He wanted half of the inheritance and was pleading with Jesus to tell the man to give it. Imagine he is talking with Jesus and was more concerned about this world than the next world.

Jesus here is giving some lessons on materialism. These lessons will give us a proper perspective of life so that we can overcome the arrow of materialism.

Lesson 1

Life does not consist with material things

In verse 15 Jesus is teaching you do not exist in your possessions. You don’t exist because of materials things. Jesus is saying: You might think your life exists in that, and if you come and ask me to get this or that for you, you don’t realize that Satan is shooting his arrow of materialism.

People who are satisfied with things that money can buy are in great danger of losing the things money cannot buy.

Jesus was teaching I am not here for you to get things that you think will give you life. I am here to be your life. Jesus is saying I am come to set your life on fire. I am come to revolutionize your life not to help you fulfill your agenda and build up your possessions. Jesus is not to be a part of our life but He is our life Colossians 3:4“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

“Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” (Mark Twain)

It is most noteworthy that the question is given over an inheritance. When a man dies, if he only lived for this world and the materials in this world, he is going to leave it all behind. Like the man who said, “how much did he leave?” The reply is, “he left it all.”

There was a business owner with several stores in the Bay Area who died on a car crash with his wife. They lived a very opulent lifestyle. Their home was on top of a secluded hill and when there was an estate sale, we went to see for ourselves. As we drove up the property they had huge animal statutes on the sides of the mile long driveway and the house was located at the very top of a hill. You could see for miles when you walked in their wrap around porch. Their house was furnished with imported expensive furniture. All of it was being sold or auctioned off in including the house. The house had an indoor full size swimming pool with half outside. The only thing Janet and I could think of was: did they know Christ? If their life consisted of things, they missed the most important thing as this rich man here missed.

One time Jesus asked a question which says it all: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

The materialism of the world will rob us of spiritual life. Satan wants us to try to gain everything and in doing so, we neglect the most important thing in our life. We need Jesus as our Savior.

Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Do you know Him personally? Romans 10:13 takes us to the greatest truth of calling upon Jesus as Savior.

Someone has aptly said, “Living without God’s plan for our life is like sewing with a needle without thread, or writing one’s biography with a pen empty of ink.”

Lesson 2

Materialism blinds us to the future

Materialism is not having things, but it is the desire to have things. You can have nothing and still be materialistic just like the man questioning Jesus about the inheritance, he didn’t have it but he wanted it. Satan will shoot the arrow of materialism which will land into our hearts to be materialistic.

It is not wrong to have things, but it is wrong to ignore our spiritual need of Christ. Everything in the parable that Jesus taught is centered in having more material things and ignoring the spiritual life we need. Satan will often shoot the arrow of materialism in my life through advertisements, through billboards, or through internet adds. You can sit down to watch TV whether it be a sporting event or even the news and within an hour I can find something I either need or want. The arrow of Satan will shoot into my heart as the advertisers are telling me without their product, I would be a lousy father or horrible husband or not a normal guy living today.

This will also blind us to the future that when we get buried into debt because we think we have to have this product, we will not give faithfully to God. Materialism will cause us to forget about God thinking we need more.

A rich man was asked since you have so much, what else could you want. He said, “a little bit more.”

A father went into a toy store to buy his son a Christmas present. The salesman showed him a new educational toy. It came unassembled, but no matter how the child put the pieces together, they wouldn’t fit. The toy was designed to teach the child how to deal with life. This is the predicament of man without God. He is never able to put his life together without Christ.

One day we will all stand before Him. The Scriptures teaches that all will stand before Him. There are two judgments coming: One is called the Great White Throne judgement where a man will stand before God as an unbeliever. You cannot enter heaven unless your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The second will be the judgement seat of Christ for how lived our Chistian life. This is not a judgement for going to heaven but a judgement of rewards based on faithfulness and motives. What will we say as a Christian to God. Well God I had to work to pay for all my things rather than go to church. Or God I didn’t have time to spend with you each day because I was busy with family and activities. Or God you know it’s expensive to live in the world and I had to work over time so I could feed my family. I couldn’t serve you or give anything extra to you.

This is a timely arrow for Satan these days. Yes, things are expensive but just like we must invest in the future, our relationship with God is much more important than the things we have or can have.

This man’s money blinded him to the spiritual life God is addressing here. It is foolish to ignore spiritual realities and our relationship with God just to have our things.

This passage is not an indictment on material things but on the definition of life. Building new barns was logical and prudent. It was a good idea. But the danger lay in what he wasn’t interested in. There was no thought of God or the poor, or the ill, or the needy. He was self-absorbed in his world. The pronoun I is used 8 times.

This is the only place we find where retirement is spoke of in Scripture but the retirement to a life of self-absorption finds no favor with God. A successful man is not rich but one who fears God. Jesus, the wisdom of God says to us all: “so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God” v. 21.

The cure to overcoming this arrow of materialism is to invest in our relationship with God. When we choose to invest our life for God, there are eternal rewards awaiting us. You can defeat the arrow of materialism but investing your life in your relationship with God.

If you are here without Christ, you can be rich in spiritually and your life will be totally fulfilled.

March 11, 1856, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal, “That man is the richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”