Untitled Sermon (5)
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“At least 10,000 more Americans and Europeans took their own lives from 2007 to 2010 than during the good economic times of the previous few years, the study found.”
The Danger of Being Rich
The Danger of Being Rich
The Dangers of Money
The Dangers of Money
Prosperity has a Deceptive Power
Prosperity has a Deceptive Power
In this story, Jesus interacts with a rich young man. The Bible does not call him by name, but Matthew makes it very clear that the defining factor of this man was that he was very rich. The young man comes to Jesus asking him questions about what he had to do to earn his salvation.
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Matthew 19:
Take a look with me at:
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
matthew 19:16-
Jesus essentially says, if you want to be saved by your works, you have to obey all the commandments of God. If you do that you will live.
matthew 19:17-
Jesus essentially says, if you want to be saved by your works, you have to obey all the commandments of God. If you do that you will live.
The young man responded by saying, “Ive done all that.” Im sure in this moment he is expecting Jesus to say, well…then you’re all set!
But that was not what happens. Jesus responds in verse 21 with the one thing that he knew the young man loved more than God. He said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Look at how Matthew says the man responded,
22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
matthew 19:22
Matthew tells us that the young man was sorrowful when he heard that Jesus told him that he had to go sell all that he had and give it to the poor in order to follow Jesus.
According to Oxford’s dictionary the word Sorrow means,
*sorrow
■ noun a feeling of deep distress caused by loss or disappointment.
▶ a cause of sorrow.
▶ the outward expression of grief.*
*Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
This man was disappointed because he knew that he was unwilling to lose his money in order to follow Jesus. Why? Because money was what he considered to be most valuable. He was very religious, sure. He was willing to give his time, he was willing to love his neighbors, to be faithful to his wife, he was willing to obey the law of God to a certain extent. But what this rich young ruler didn't understand was that the law of God was meant to be obeyed out of the heart. God intended for His people to live according to his word out of the overflow of their love for him. And that is exactly what Jesus was trying to expose here. He was pointing out the one thing in this mans life that kept him from actually entrusting his whole life over to God—His money.
What the young man believed was that his money was the most important thing in life.
Money way his security.
Money was his what he based his self worth on.
Without his money he had nothing.
Money way his security.
Money was his what he based his self worth on.
Without his money he had nothing.
Money way his security.
Money was his what he based his self worth on.
Without his money he had nothing.
Money was his what he based his self worth on.
Without his money he had nothing.
Without his money he had nothing.
His money had caused him to lose sight of what was truly valuable. He was deceived into thinking that money was the root of all happiness, when in fact as Notorious BIG once said, “Mo money, Mo Problems.”
Prosperity has Disastrous Potential
Prosperity has Disastrous Potential
The man in this story felt sorrowful when he walked away from Jesus that day.
However, the real tragedy of this story is not that the young man felt sorrow. The real tragedy was the judgement that Jesus made about what being rich does to a person’s heart.
Jesus shows us the real danger of money in verses 23&24
23 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus tells his disciples that the reason that this man walked away from him that day was because he had been deceived. But he tells them that through making a universal statement about wealth. He says that a camel could pass through the eye of a needle before a rich person would enter into the Kingdom of God. It was just as hard for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle in the context that Jesus was in as it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle today, believe it or not! It’s impossible.
Money is a tool to show us what we truly love.
So why?
It has often been said, “If you want to know what a person really loves, just look at their check book.” The saying just means, look at what they spend their money on and that will tell you what they love.
And its true right?
But not only that…the Bible teaches us that whatever we invest in becomes the thing that we worship.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Where you spend most of you money becomes your deepest hearts desire.
See, money has a powerful pull on our hearts. It deceives us into believing that things are more beautiful than the
Prosperity has Disastrous Potential
Prosperity has Disastrous Potential
Look with me at Ecclesiastes 5:10-17
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.
13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.
6 Dangers of Wealth:
ecclesiastes 5:10-17
Wealth is Addictive (v. 10)
Wealth is Attractive (v. 11)
It attracts leeches…people who will want to mooch off of your resources.
There was a guy who I used to hang out with in college.
Granted, the guy grew up in a fairly needy invironment.
But the dude was a serious mooch…he would find people that he thought could afford it and just cling to them.
He once asked me to go eat pizza with him …as the pizzas were getting delivered to us he asked me if I could pay becuase he was broke....then he had the nerve to ask me to drive him home becuase he didnt have a car and wanted to take a nap...
I didnt even have much money....and this guy leeched onto me…people who have a lot of money can tell numerous stories like this.
Wealth Causes Anxiety (v. 12)
Wealth Causes you to lose sleep
You worry about whether you have enough.
You worry about losing your money because it is what gives you your value.
The person who believes money is the only source to happiness and satisfaction in life will worry about what will happen if/when they lose it.
Wealth is A
Wealth is Fragile (13-14)
Wealth is Temporal (15-16)
Wealth Leads to Depression (17)
How do you know that money isn’t just money to you? Here are some of the signs. You can’t give large amounts of it away. You get scared if you might have less than you’re accustomed to having. You see people who are doing better than you, even though you might have worked harder or might be a better person, and it gets under your skin. And when that happens, you have one foot in the trap. Because then it’s no longer just a tool; it’s the scorecard. It’s your essence, your identity. No matter how much money you have, though it’s not intrinsically evil, it has incredible power to keep you from God.
How to Deal With Money:
How to Deal With Money:
If you cant live generously in your poverty, you will never live generously in your prosperity.
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See, when I think about those people who commit suicide after loosing their money—I dont actually think that those people killed themselves because they lost money. I think they killed themselves because when they lost their money they lost things that they thought money could give them. To them, money was security, money was freedom, money was happiness, money was peace.
Wanting security, freedom, happiness, peace, joy…all of these things are things that everyone wants. But the problem is that there is only one source where we can find all of these things—Jesus.
When I think
Money will never give us security—it is too easy to lose.
But Jesus promises us that he is our cornerstone, that he is our ever present help in time of need, He promises to never leave or forsake us. In Jesus we can have security in this life and security in the eternal life to come.
Money will never give us freedom—money increases our problems. The infamous theologian, “Notorious BIG” once said, “Mo money, Mo problems” and he was right. When your reach all of the sudden you find out that there are leaches who want to steal from you. All of the sudden the government is interested in getting their share, youre taxes will increase. And you will just have more stuff to manage. But the truth of the matter is that youre really not free is you think money gives you freedom. You are a slave to the dollar bill. If you dont keep making money, you never have freedom if money is your source for liberty. You have to live everyday to keep your bankaccount up, otherwise you lose your “freedom”…that isnt freedom at all.
But Jesus requires nothing from us. Paul tells us,
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Only Jesus can truly give us freedom. Because only Jesus graciously pours out His rich kindness without requiring anything in return.
Money will never make us happy—you wont ever have enough money to fully satisfy you. You will always be jealous of the person who has more than you. “I cant believe he has more money than I do...”
Money says, work for me, save me, serve me, sacrifice for me.
Jesus says, I will work for you, I will save you, I will serve you, I will sacrifice for you, AND I WILL *BE* sacrificed for you…Jesus’ life, His sacrifice, his victory, his freedom offered to us by faith in Him is infinity more valuable than any amount of money that you could ever earn.
Will you receive him by faith tonight? Are you willing to love God more than money. When we do, we can be freed from the dangers of money and are freed to use our money to do the most good we can in the world for the glory of God.
But this begins be trusting Jesus.
Consider that an invitation.