Materialism
Growing in Revival: Discipleship Preaching • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Have you ever heard a man/woman speaking on a subject, a good subject, but they say something that we might take the wrong way and fail to listen to the heart of what they are presenting?
This morning, I hope that is not the case for any of us.
You see…we live in one of, if not the wealthiest, countries on the planet.
So when a man speaks on materialism, and especially right after a holiday that can easily become all about the subject, it can be hard to hear.
I pray the Lord will cause us to draw in close this morning.
Let me begin by saying, we are not preaching on nor does the Bible disagree with the following:
It is NOT a sin to work hard and to strive to do well.
It is NOT a sin to be wealthy.
It is NOT a sin to strive to be able to live a decent life and leave an inheritance for your grandchildren.
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
We can all see that there is a need to strive to do well, invest well, serve well, and strive to achieve.
So why do we have our verses today?
Why are these verses sometimes used to speak against those who have some affluence.
Let’s read our focal passage:
4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
Do Not Make Wealth The End Game!
Do Not Make Wealth The End Game!
Proverbs 23:4 (ESV)
4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; …
Look at what the Word is actually saying and what the Word is not saying.
It does not say it is a sin to be wealthy.
It does not say it is a sin to work hard.
It does not say it is a sin to achieve much.
Your Bible is telling you: “Do not let the object of your pursuit to be wealth alone.”
If our pursuit is wealth alone, it becomes the end game.
Wealth becomes the sole pursuit.
Wealth becomes the object.
Hear me in this church, better yet…hear what the Lord is communicating...
At first glance and taking this little phrase out of context one could interpret it to be wrong to work to achieve more.
What the Word is saying is brought to completion in the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to so eloquently say:
Proverbs 23:4 (ESV)
4 ...be discerning enough to desist.
The Hebrew here says, in a literal word for word translation:
“...away from understanding to become fat.”
In essence: if your are working hard to get wealth and you are not paying attention the object will be to get fat.
Look at what Ecclesiastes 5:10 says:
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
Thus, in all vs. 4 is a warning towards our end game or goal.
Fix Your Eyes On A Greater Goal!
Fix Your Eyes On A Greater Goal!
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
This is the back of a US dollar bill. This eagle is on our money and certainly has a great meaning.
This morning I want us to consider how the Bible describes the eagle flying toward heaven as to how quickly these promissory notes can fly from our hands.
I often tell my children about serving at my first full-time church and the budget we had for food. ($125 per month). Of course that was 1998-2001.
But we could buy our household groceries, toiletry items, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper for this budget for each month.
$125 is less than one weeks worth of groceries for us today. Things have changed tremendously with 25 years of inflation.
That eagle seems to fly pretty quickly out the door.
Duane Garrett says it this way: “Wealth is a mirage.”
24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?
If the end goal is wealth, it is a mirage with dire consequences.
It becomes an idol in itself.
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
The Goal of Wealth Should Be His Pursuit!
The Goal of Wealth Should Be His Pursuit!
Let’s go back to the verse we read in the introduction of today’s message:
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.
One honest pursuit of resources is to give those who come after us a refreshing and hand up in their start.
36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:
Walking Away, But In...
Walking Away, But In...
Pursue to Serve.
Focus on His Goal.
Be Attentive to His Will.
