Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Strengthening Your Grip on Money │ Msg 516 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Strengthening Your Grip on Money │ Msg 516 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Believe it or not, the average person is exposed to
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  Speaker 1: hundreds of advertisements a day. Such bombardments really can do
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  Speaker 1: a number on us. Some of the results are obvious.
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  Speaker 2: Think about them.
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  Speaker 1: They stimulate our curiosity, They urge us to buy goods.
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  Speaker 3: And or services.
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  Speaker 1: They make us aware of what is available, They announce
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  Speaker 1: new products, and of course they shape our tastes, our habits,
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  Speaker 1: and even our customs. But there is a subliminal message
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  Speaker 1: that detonates deep down inside our heads, silently yet forcefully,
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  Speaker 1: like shrapnel. Thoughts are embedded in the brain, conveying a
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  Speaker 1: damaging message if we're not careful. And what is that message,
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  Speaker 1: you might ask? In a word, it is dissatisfaction. Advertisement creates,
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  Speaker 1: if we let it, a restless drive for more or better,
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  Speaker 1: or bigger, or prettier or more expensive.
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  Speaker 3: Hundreds of times a day. It chips away at the
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  Speaker 3: dam that supports one of the last reservoirs of inner
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  Speaker 3: peace known to mankind, contentment. What a beautiful scene in
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  Speaker 3: the soul is lake contentment, undisturbed by outside noises brought
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  Speaker 3: on by the jackhammers of exaggeration. Those who enjoyed the
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  Speaker 3: lake know what relaxation is all about. They know nothing
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  Speaker 3: of any winter of discontent, or spring fall or summer
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  Speaker 3: for that matter. Such an existence breeds security and happiness.
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  Speaker 3: The Great Apostle Paul lived on lake Contentment. He writes
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  Speaker 3: of this subject in the last chapter of his first
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  Speaker 3: letter to Timothy. So, if you have your Bible, I
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  Speaker 3: want you to turn with me to one Timothy, chapter six,
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  Speaker 3: where I'll be reading verses three through eleven, And along
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  Speaker 3: with you, I'll drop down to verses seventeen through nineteen
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  Speaker 3: of the same sixth chapter. So here's what Paul wrote
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  Speaker 3: to Timothy. Some people may contradict our teaching, but these
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  Speaker 3: are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
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  Speaker 3: teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different
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  Speaker 3: is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an
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  Speaker 3: unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This
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  Speaker 3: stirs up arguments, ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions.
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  Speaker 3: These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and
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  Speaker 3: they have turned their backs on the truth. To them,
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  Speaker 3: a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.
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  Speaker 3: Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. Remember
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  Speaker 3: my earlier comment about Paul's living on late contentment.
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  Speaker 2: You'll hear it here.
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  Speaker 3: After all, we brought nothing with us when we came
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  Speaker 3: into the world, and we can't take anything with us
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  Speaker 3: when we leave it. So if we have enough food
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  Speaker 3: and clothing, let us be content. But people who long
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  Speaker 3: to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by
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  Speaker 3: many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin
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  Speaker 3: and destruction. For the love of money is the root
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  Speaker 3: of all kinds of evil. And some people craving money
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  Speaker 3: have wandered from the true faith and pierce themselves with
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  Speaker 3: many sorrows. But you, Timothy, are a man of God.
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  Speaker 3: So run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and
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  Speaker 3: a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
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  Speaker 3: Now verse seventeen, teach those who are rich in this
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  Speaker 3: world not to be proud, and not to trust in
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  Speaker 3: their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be
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  Speaker 3: in God, who richly gives us all we need for
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  Speaker 3: our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good.
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  Speaker 3: They should be rich in good works and generous to
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  Speaker 3: those in need. Always being ready.
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  Speaker 2: To share with others.
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  Speaker 1: By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure
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  Speaker 1: as a good foundation for the future, so that they
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  Speaker 1: may experience true life. There's no reason to be a
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  Speaker 1: tricky or sneaky or subtle about it. I want to
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  Speaker 1: talk about your money. As soon as I say that,
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  Speaker 1: any number of things begin to ripple across the congregation.
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  Speaker 1: For example, I can just feel the response from some
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  Speaker 1: saying here we go again, and from some visitors who
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  Speaker 1: are confused, as they think.
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  Speaker 2: I thought this was a free church.
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  Speaker 1: And I think some who have been burned in other
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  Speaker 1: places are thinking this church is just like all the rest.
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  Speaker 1: All you ever really want is money. And if you
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  Speaker 1: are thinking, aren't you preachers ever satisfied? A lot full
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  Speaker 1: of cars and most of them revenue, well dressed congregation,
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  Speaker 1: new buildings, aren't you ever satisfied? One of my colleagues
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  Speaker 1: on the pastoral staff, I showed me something this week
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  Speaker 1: to help in some of my sermons. It was a cartoon,
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  Speaker 1: and it was a good one. The character is broom Hilda.
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  Speaker 1: It's on the level I can understand. That's why I'm
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  Speaker 1: using it right now. Broom Hilda is a little three
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  Speaker 1: foot high Witch is all hair and face if you
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  Speaker 1: don't follow her. She approaches the wishing well and she
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  Speaker 1: stands next to it, and she puts her hands on
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  Speaker 1: the edge.
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  Speaker 2: Of the well and she says loudly, I.
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  Speaker 1: Don't want anything, and the next panel is quiet, and
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  Speaker 1: then she steps back, and then she says, I just
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  Speaker 1: thought you'd enjoy knowing there was one satisfied person around.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like broom Hilda today. I am one satisfied person.
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  Speaker 1: I don't need anything. The last thing that I want
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  Speaker 1: is your money. You know what I want.
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  Speaker 2: However, I want to be faithful to God.
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  Speaker 1: I've got to be his messenger, and for me to
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  Speaker 1: be less than that would mean that I forfeit the
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  Speaker 1: right to be who I am and what I am
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be. I don't know why God timed it
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  Speaker 1: like this, and I don't know why he would choose
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  Speaker 1: me to say some of these things, because frankly, I
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  Speaker 1: am not the type. Anybody who knows me well will
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  Speaker 1: tell you I'm a poor ad man. Publicity is one
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  Speaker 1: of my weakest points, and talking about money never comes
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  Speaker 1: easy for me. I was raised not.
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  Speaker 2: To do it.
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  Speaker 1: It was as as the subject of sex, and it
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  Speaker 1: was nobody's business, and you keep your mouth closed regarding
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  Speaker 1: your finances and anybody else's. So for me to speak
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  Speaker 1: on the subject of money, which will certainly be broader
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  Speaker 1: than your giving, comes unnaturally to me and hard for me.
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  Speaker 1: But nevertheless I must do that because it is one
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  Speaker 1: of those things that will give us trouble as I
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  Speaker 1: envision our congregation and our lives coping with life, which
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  Speaker 1: is what this series is all about. Remember priorities, involvement, encouragement, purity.
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  Speaker 1: Another area that we will be bombarded with, and it
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  Speaker 1: will increase, not decrease, is how we handle our bucks.
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  Speaker 1: So the Bible certainly does not mince words as it
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  Speaker 1: talks about our earning, our spending, our saving, our giving,
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  Speaker 1: and our investing our finances. It's time for us to
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  Speaker 1: come to terms with this, according to one Timothy, chapter six. Now,
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  Speaker 1: while you find your place in that passage, let me
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  Speaker 1: explain why I feel the passage dealing with riches of
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  Speaker 1: all things is so pertinent to the church. First, of
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  Speaker 1: those who visit get the impression that we are not
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  Speaker 1: a struggling, poverty stricken assembly. We give the impression that
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  Speaker 1: we're rich because we do not talk about money. We
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  Speaker 1: leave people with the impression there's always plenty of it
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  Speaker 1: to go around. Most churches operate the basis of the
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  Speaker 1: squeaking wheel. What is continually announced is continually responded to.
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  Speaker 1: And because you don't hear announcements about money, you could
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  Speaker 1: believe the place is rolling in dough. There must be
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  Speaker 1: some endowment, some foundation, some very rich brothers and sisters
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  Speaker 1: that they can fall back on.
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  Speaker 2: That isn't true.
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  Speaker 1: But frankly, compared to the rest of the world, we
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  Speaker 1: are rich. I don't say that to make us feel guilty.
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  Speaker 1: I am extremely proud to be an American, one of
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  Speaker 1: the few of the choicest privileges in life, ranking below,
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  Speaker 1: of course, being a Christian, loving Jesus Christ. I am
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  Speaker 1: proud to be in a land that has been blessed
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  Speaker 1: of God. But that means we have a responsibility. Ladies
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  Speaker 1: and gentlemen. Now I'm talking to all of us. I'm
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  Speaker 1: talking to strugglings, students that don't know where tuition's coming
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  Speaker 1: from next semester. I'm talking to up and coming young executives.
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking to you that are over your head in debt.
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking to you that have never had it better financially.
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  Speaker 1: I'm even talking to you who are unemployed. I'm talking
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  Speaker 1: to you who are part of this ministry, and you
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  Speaker 1: that visit and will never be back for one of
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  Speaker 1: several reasons. You simply do not live in the area,
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  Speaker 1: or you do not choose to return. We need, as
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  Speaker 1: a body of believers to come to terms with our
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  Speaker 1: relationship to our treasure and our God, who gave us
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  Speaker 1: our treasure. Nowhere does God condemn the rich. Nowhere does
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  Speaker 1: he necessarily protect the poor. That is, just because one
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  Speaker 1: is rich or just because one is poor. The rich
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  Speaker 1: are simply much more accountable.
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  Speaker 2: I have known.
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  Speaker 1: Godless people who are terribly poor, and godly people who
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  Speaker 1: are remarkably rich. I made a list of some in
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  Speaker 1: Scripture who are rich and godly job Abraham, Joseph, David, Solomon,
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  Speaker 1: kings like Josiah and Hezekiah, Daniel Barnabas, Phileman the slave owner,
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  Speaker 1: and even Lydia, the Cellar of Purple, whose home was
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  Speaker 1: big enough to house the Philippian Church where they met
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  Speaker 1: for a period of time. I am not down on
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  Speaker 1: lovely homes. I am not down on lovely things. I
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  Speaker 1: am not down on fine, fine appointments, nice cars, etc.
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  Speaker 1: I am down on any of that having us or
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  Speaker 1: being such a pursuit for us.
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  Speaker 2: We block out God.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm talking to all of us that are under
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  Speaker 1: the barrage of the ad world around us.
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  Speaker 2: Say more about that a little later.
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  Speaker 1: Now, getting into the subject of riches would not be
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  Speaker 1: easy in a pastoral letter. Paul is writing Timothy in
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  Speaker 1: this letter, first Timothy, and it would seem strange that
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  Speaker 1: he would deal with the subject of riches while talking
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  Speaker 1: to a pastor. Ah not really look at verse three
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  Speaker 1: and working our way into the verses we're looking at
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  Speaker 1: if anyone advocates Chapter six, Verse three, if anyone advocates
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  Speaker 1: a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words
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  Speaker 1: those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine
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  Speaker 1: conforming to Godliness. It's a key word, remember it. If
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  Speaker 1: there's one that does not advocate those things conforming to Godliness,
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  Speaker 1: he is conceited. He understands nothing. He has a morbid
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  Speaker 1: interest in controversial questions and disputes about words out of
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  Speaker 1: which arise envying strife and abusive language, evil suspicions, and
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  Speaker 1: constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of
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  Speaker 1: the truth who suppose these are evil men who suppose
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  Speaker 1: that godliness is a means of gain. The Good News
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  Speaker 1: Bible says, they think that religion is a way to
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  Speaker 1: become rich. Now it doesn't surprise you to hear that
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  Speaker 1: religious charlatan's abound, Probably never before in the eyes of
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  Speaker 1: the world more than now. You can witness a number
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  Speaker 1: of them regularly on the television.
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  Speaker 2: You know that.
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  Speaker 1: A good way to make a fast buck is to
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  Speaker 1: use religion as a cover. And you somehow wring the guilt,
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  Speaker 1: and people turn in their bucks and support it, lacking discernment.
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  Speaker 1: And he said, as verse six, verse five, these men
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  Speaker 1: who are depraved of mind and deprived of truth, suppose
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  Speaker 1: that religion is an entrance to getting rich.
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  Speaker 2: So he says, I.
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  Speaker 1: Want to warn all of us at this point about that.
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  Speaker 1: I want to give you an outline that comes right
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  Speaker 1: from the text. See verse six. Godliness actually is a
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  Speaker 1: means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. Or we
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  Speaker 1: have brought nothing into the world and we cannot take
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  Speaker 1: anything out of it. We have food and covering with
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  Speaker 1: these we shall be content. Versus six, seven and eight
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  Speaker 1: talk about those who are not rich. Paul would be
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  Speaker 1: included in the group. We uses it four times. We
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  Speaker 1: brought nothing in the world, we can't take anything out.
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  Speaker 1: We are the ones who are not rich. However, verse
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  Speaker 1: nine changes the subject. But those who want to get rich,
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  Speaker 1: So Verses nine and ten in our outline would be
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  Speaker 1: those who want to get rich, And then verse seventeen
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  Speaker 1: instruct those who are rich, So seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen
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  Speaker 1: would be those who are rich. Now that's not very creative,
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  Speaker 1: but it's perfectly inspired. Those who are not rich Versus six, seven,
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  Speaker 1: and eight, those who want to get rich nine and ten,
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  Speaker 1: and those who are rich seventeen through nineteen. I realized
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  Speaker 1: when I did that, I did a gesture those that
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  Speaker 1: don't have much, those of you that want to have much,
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  Speaker 1: those of you that have much. Had nothing to do
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  Speaker 1: with the outline as to where you're sitting in this
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  Speaker 1: audience today.
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  Speaker 2: So relax.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, let's talk about those who are not rich,
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  Speaker 1: and let's hear a reminder to us verse six. Godliness
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  Speaker 1: actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by
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  Speaker 1: commitment by contentment. So let me give you a formula
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  Speaker 1: that'll be easy to remember. Godliness plus contentment equals great gain.
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  Speaker 1: It's right from the scripture. You can make it a
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  Speaker 1: motto and put it in front of your desk, put
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  Speaker 1: it under the glass that your desk at work, keep
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  Speaker 1: it in your mind's eye. Godliness plus contentment, that's the
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  Speaker 1: secret equals great gain. That's a primary formula that God
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  Speaker 1: gives us. Let me put it in another way. A consistent,
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  Speaker 1: authentic walk with God. That's Godliness plus an attitude of
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  Speaker 1: satisfaction and peace within equals the true life great gain
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  Speaker 1: as far as God is concerned, imminent wealth. All right, Now,
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  Speaker 1: what is it really that is needed to cause us
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  Speaker 1: to quit striving? And that's a question that we have
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  Speaker 1: to ask. What is it that the scripture teaches that
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  Speaker 1: will help me rest at peace with myself and stop
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  Speaker 1: pursuing something else to bring satisfaction. Verses seven and eight
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  Speaker 1: will help answer the question. See the word four in
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  Speaker 1: verse seven and the word and in verse eight. We
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  Speaker 1: have two answers. The four is an explanatory four. Since
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  Speaker 1: godleinness plus contentment equals great gain. This explains how to
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  Speaker 1: make that formula come to pass. Verse seven four. We
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  Speaker 1: have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take
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  Speaker 1: anything out of it either. Let's call this a current,
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  Speaker 1: a current perspective on eternity. Maybe it's better to say
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  Speaker 1: a current perspective of eternity. I live today with my
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  Speaker 1: mind fixed upon eternity. That will help me, That will
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  Speaker 1: help me be more contented, stopping saying enough is enough.
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  Speaker 1: We brought nothing into this world, isn't that the truth?
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  Speaker 1: No one ever comes with anything in their hands. All
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  Speaker 1: those babies are born empty handed, and no one ever
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  Speaker 1: leaves with anything in their hands. I never saw a
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  Speaker 1: hearse pulling a U haul. You cannot take with you
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  Speaker 1: anything beyond the grave. We all leave empty handed, absolutely totally,
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  Speaker 1: completely on the same level materially. My friend Ray Steadman
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  Speaker 1: had a funny thing happened to him. I think this
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  Speaker 1: is the way the story went. He was to travel
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  Speaker 1: and to speak somewhere in his bags did not reach
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  Speaker 1: the same destination he did. So he was without enough clothing,
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  Speaker 1: and he needed a suit, and he went to a
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  Speaker 1: pawn shop to buy a suit. And he bought a
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  Speaker 1: suit from the pawnshop that had been made for a
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  Speaker 1: funeral parlor, made too many, and they had some left
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  Speaker 1: over in the pawnshop bought him, and he in turn
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  Speaker 1: bought one from the pawn shot got home, and to
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  Speaker 1: his surprise, no pockets.
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  Speaker 2: Why would there be pockets in a suit made for
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  Speaker 2: a corpse.
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  Speaker 1: They don't have anything to put in them. Ay, that's
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  Speaker 1: what the scripture is teaching. Colossians three two says, set
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  Speaker 1: your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
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  Speaker 1: Your mind, your mind, it's a mental thing. I mentally
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  Speaker 1: set my mind on that which is eternal in nature.
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  Speaker 1: Now there's a second principle, and that's in verse eight.
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  Speaker 1: And if we have food and covering, with these, we
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  Speaker 1: shall be.
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  Speaker 2: Here's our word again, content. All right.
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  Speaker 1: Paul uses a term for covering, which is a very
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  Speaker 1: general word meaning covering over my head, as well as
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  Speaker 1: covering upon my body, having food and a place to sleep,
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  Speaker 1: and covering over my nakedness. Let's be content. So the
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  Speaker 1: second principle is quite simply a simple acceptance of essentials.
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  Speaker 1: Not only a current perspective of eternity and time, but
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  Speaker 1: a simple acceptance of essentials. That's enough. That's plenty For some.
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  Speaker 1: We could say that's more than enough. Oh but not
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  Speaker 1: if you listen to our times. One Greek sage wrote
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  Speaker 1: to whom little is not enough, nothing is enough. William
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  Speaker 1: Shakespeare has a play entitled Ry the sixth and in it,
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  Speaker 1: the king walks about without a crown and without the
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  Speaker 1: garb of royalty. And he's out on the countryside, enjoying
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  Speaker 1: the fragrance of the flowers in the beautiful scenery. And
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  Speaker 1: he comes upon two men who ask him who he is,
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  Speaker 1: and he says, I am the king. Their response, but
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  Speaker 1: if thou be a king, where is thy crown? He
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  Speaker 1: gives a splendid answer. My crown is in my heart,
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  Speaker 1: not on my head, not decked with diamonds and Indian stones,
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  Speaker 1: nor to be seen. My crown is called content, a
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  Speaker 1: crown that's seldom kings enjoy. And I might add a
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  Speaker 1: crown that seldom anybody enjoys. When you meet a contented person,
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  Speaker 1: you meet a rare individual. Rare indeed, if you live
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  Speaker 1: with one't yourself blessed many times over? The ad world
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  Speaker 1: of our day, especially in America, is designed to keep
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  Speaker 1: us discontented.
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  Speaker 2: I quote.
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  Speaker 1: The purpose of advertising no longer is primarily to inform.
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  Speaker 1: It is to create desire, create more desire. Shriek one
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  Speaker 1: one inch headline for an unusually honest ad in the
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  Speaker 1: New York Times. It continued now. As always, profit and
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  Speaker 1: growth stem directly from the ability of salesmanship to create
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  Speaker 1: more desire. We are bombarded by costly, manipulative advertising at
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  Speaker 1: every turn. The average American teenager has watched three hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty thousand television commercials before he or she leaves
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  Speaker 1: high school. We spend more money on advertising than on
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  Speaker 1: all our public institutions of higher education. And perhaps the
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  Speaker 1: most devastating and demonic part of advertising is that, in
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  Speaker 1: attempts to persuade us that material possessions will bring joy
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  Speaker 1: and fulfillment, advertisers promise that their product will satisfy our
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: deepest needs and inner longings for love, acceptance, security, and
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: sexual fulfillment. The right deodorant, they promise, will bring acceptance
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: and friendship. The newest toothpaste or shampoo will make one irresistible.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: A house or bank account will guarantee security. Examples are everywhere.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: A bank in Washington, d C. Advertised for a new
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: savings accounts with the question Who's gonna love you when
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: you're old and gray our savings bank?
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: The man says.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Sponsors are particularly enticing ad put a little love away.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Everybody needs a penny for a rainy day, put a
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: little love away. Those words are unbiblical, heretical, demonic. One
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: man offers the TV victim's lament. I'd like to read
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: it to you. It could be sung to the tune
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: of blowing in the wind, but I'll preserve that for you.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: How many times must a god spray with band before
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: he doesn't offend? How many times must he gargle each
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: day before he.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: Can talk to a friend.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: How many tubes of shampoo must he buy before his
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: dandruff will end? Ah? The sponsors, my friend, will sell
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: you all they can. The sponsors will sell you all
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: they can. How many times must a man use Gillette
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: before shaving won't make him bleed? How many cartons of
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Kent must he smoke before the girls all pay him heed?
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: How many products must one person buy before he has
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: all that he'll need. The sponsors, my friend, will sell
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: you all they can. The sponsors will sell you all
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: they can. How many times must a girl clean her
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: sink before ajax scours the steam. How many times must
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: she rub in ben gaye before she can rub out
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: the pain? How many ads on TV must we watch
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: before we are driven insane? The sponsors, my friend will
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: broadcast all they can. The sponsors will broadcast all they can.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: I like another man's suggestion, He says a Christian families
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: ought to adopt the slogan who are you kidding? And
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: shouting in unison every time a commercial appears on the
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: television screen.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: How'd that be? Okay? Can't you ready? Who are you kidding?
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Can't you see a family doing that? Night after night?
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: The neighbors wonder what in the world happened over there.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: It's designed to make us think this isn't enough.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: How can you get along without that deodorant? How can
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: you get along without that shampoo?
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: How can you make it without that account or that
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: house or that car? I mean it's awesome, On and
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: on and on and on. Rockefeller was asked once how
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: much does it take to satisfy man? He answered, wisely,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: a little bit more than he has. Some cynic here's
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: that and says, yeah, I'm our Rockefeller. I'd say the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: same thing. You know, Listen when you travel, listen to
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the airplane talk. Listen to the so called success.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: People around you. You hear contentment.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Never, not seldom, never, and they'll tell you that's why
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: they're successful. But God offers a contrary message. Godliness plus
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: contentment equals.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Great gain. You're not rich.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: Put a lid on your dreams when it comes to
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: material stuff. Learn the meaning and the delight of the
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: word enough and for goodness sake, help your children learn
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: how to say it.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Help them learn it now.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Verse nine changes to a bit more serious subject. Up
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: till now we've been safe Verse nine. Some are exposed
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: those who want to get rich. Before I go further,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: let me land on the word want, wa and t
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: It seems bland doesn't mean simply desires or would like
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: it to happen. It's a word that means a resolve
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: or a determination, So let's read it that way. But
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: those who resolve, those who are bound and determined to
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: get rich, not a passing fancy. It's a reasoning within
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: one's mind. Thoughtful consideration has been given to becoming wealthy,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: and one becomes possessed with the idea, if there's one
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: thing that's going to happen to me by age forty
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: fifty sixty thirty, it'll be making X amount of money.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: I'm going to become wealthy. You hear it all the time.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Those are the books that sell tell you how to
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: do it in investing, or in selling, or in selling yourself,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: or gimmicks or ideas or ripoffs. Those who want to
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: get rich look at the warning one and hear God's word.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Now over all other voices. Hear his word. Number one,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: they fall into temptation and a snare. Number two, they
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: fall into many foolish and harmful desires, things that are
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: injurious and hurtful.
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: Number three.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: Those things plunge men and women into ruin and destruction.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: The only other place in all the New Testament where
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: the word plunge originally the word translated plunge is used,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: is in Luke five, verse seven, where a boat is
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: about to sink. Use the words sink, and it'll help
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: you picture it. Those who pursue riches fall into temptation
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and a snare, fall into many foolish and injurious desires,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: which caused them to sink into ruin and destruction. We
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: have heard in this generation of the death of a musician,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: John Lennon, of the death of another dirt poor Memphis.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: Tennesseean.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: Highest paid male performer in the history of America, Elvis Presley,
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: who said before his death he would give one million
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: dollars or a day of peace on the streets of Memphis.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Lenin's salary royalty alone twelve million a year. I am told,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: I ask you, when you look at them and when
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: you read their stuff, does it breed contentment?
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: When will we learn? When will we learn?
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: We will not learn from many of the professional athletes
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: around us, who I come up front until you turn
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: me off with that constant greed for more, more, and more.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: I read of a group recently that studied the salary
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: of one pitcher who next year, if he throws the
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: average amount of pitches, we'll make two hundred dollars a
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: throw in his new salary. How much is enough?
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: How much will it take for a man to say
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: that's plenty?
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: Stop?
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: Rare is the breed like Ted Williams who said to
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: the Boston Red Sox when they offered him more after
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: a bad season, I cannot take that.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: You offer me less and I'll sign, And they did
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: and he did. That's integrity.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: But we're not fed that stuff. We're not getting that
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: into the computer. The input is some other message. And
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: don't think our kids aren't hearing it. Our kids are hearing.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: When you really want to get rich. You can, and
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: you will. There will always be somebody that will pick
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: it up if you know how to handle it right.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: The verse says verse ten, the love of money is
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: a root of all sorts of evil. I've heard that
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: verse all my life misquoted. You know what, the Bible
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: says money is the root of all evil. I always
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: want to ask, but where does the Bible say that?
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: It isn't in the Bible. Look at your Bible and
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: see verse ten. The love of money. The words mean
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: fondness for sil affection for the bucks.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: Is a root.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: There is no definite article in the original text.
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: There is no.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: The money is not the root of all evil. Fondness
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: for silver is a source of many kinds of evil.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: That's the thought, that's the idea, and some, by longing
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: for it, have wandered away.
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: From the truth. See verse ten.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Longing for it it means to out what's this? It
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: means to reach out and to grasp something so as
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: to get a hold on it. As I do that,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I remember my youngest daughter, Colleen, when she was a baby.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: She had the grip of a missing link, unbelievable grip
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: in that little female fist of hers, and I was
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: holding her on one occasion and she got a hold
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: of the three hairs on my chest.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: Right there. Oh it was dreadful.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: You know I have none there today as a result
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: of my baby girl that got a hold by that grip.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: I was driving on a highway going to, as I recall,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: a very special place. We were all dressed up, and
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: my daughter noticed a hair coming out of my nose
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: and she reached around and she went eating. Oh well,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I mean I almost drove off the dumb road. My
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: eyes watered. No, wait, let'll make a grown man cry.
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: You know that.
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: That's the picture here that Paul makes a verse ten.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: They reach out and they long for it, and a
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: grab it regardless of what.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: It costs anybody else.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: I want you to turn from here to Proverbs chapter twenty.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: Eight.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Proverbs twenty eight. Now, don't have your wife turn
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: for you.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: Guys, are you know you turn? Honey? I'm just gonna
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: read on your bible and don't do that.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Turn to Proverbs twenty eight for yourself and look at
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: two verses twenty and twenty two. Twenty eight to twenty
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: of Proverbs reads A faithful man will abound with blessings.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: But he who makes haste to be rich.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Will not go unpunished.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: You mark that well, let's all remember it's in the Bible,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: verse twenty two. A man with an evil eye hastens
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: after wealth. It's not very complimentary, is it. And he
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: does not know that want will come upon him. Do
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: you know where the want will first appear? Aside from
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: his own personal life. If he is a married man,
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: it will appear in his family. He'll walk over wife
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: and children. He'll walk over virtues and qualities that made
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: his name once made his name great.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: He will ignore.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: He will ultimately despise the things that at him what
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: he was to get rich. There is an incredible idolatry
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: within the heart of mankind to get more, more, more more, never.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: To reach a level of satisfaction.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: Back in One Timothy, chapter six, verse ten, we are
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: told those who long for it have wandered away from
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: the faith. Please observe there's a spiritual forfeiting of goods,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: and second there is a personal one. They've pierced themselves
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: with many a pang. Spiritually, there's wandering personally. There are many,
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: many problems that come. God gives two kinds of counsel
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: In his word, one is preventive and one is corrective.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: Preventive counseling is before the fact. Corrective is after. Preventive
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: is always better. Make this preventive counseling. Young men and
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: women who hear these words, make it a hallmark of
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: your lifestyle. Verses nine to ten. You will not let
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: that happen. You will not let that happen in your home.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: You will not rely on the plastic to get yourself through.
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: You will set a limit. You will stop. You will
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: not continue to pursue beyond your means. Getting to word,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: no one would be trusted. I read recently that in
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: a Florida establishment, there's a sign on the cash register.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: In fact, it's in Fort Lauderdale, we will accept your
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: check only if you are eighty years old and accompanied
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: by your parents.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: It read.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: Checks aren't good. Names aren't good, Accounts aren't good. Word
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: isn't good. Even contracts are broken because of this maddening
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: pursuit for more. I'll tell you it is not just
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: a crippler. Materialism is a killer. I count on you
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: to know me well enough to know that I am
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: not attacking those that have I'm attacking today victims of
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: those who have been had. God really is not I
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: I'm his messenger. Now one more category, and that is
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: many of us in America living in the lovely area
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: where we do, where we know for a fact, salaries
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: are higher, cost of living is higher, our lifestyle is higher.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: We all could in many ways fall in the category
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: of the rich. This isn't some very small upper crust
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: of a world not familiar to us. Look at verse seventeen.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: We have instruction to hear two negatives, one positive. First negative.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: Instruct those who are rich in this present world. Number
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: one not to be conceited. The word means arrogant, snobbish, proud,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: high minded. Bernard said this, The pride of purse is
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: not only vulgar, it is sinful. If you have, God
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: bless you if you earned it honestly, God magnify your name,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: use your wealth for his glory. But don't look down
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: on those that quote are not your kind. We have
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: that we didn't receive, And if we received it, why
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: don't we think we're something on a stick because we've
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: got it. Guard against conceit, Help your children, guard against snobbishness.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Hard hard thing for the affluent to understand need and
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: to be compassionate. But there are some beautiful exceptions. So
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: I'm right here in this church. So watch conceit. Guard
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: against that. Second don't fix your hope on the uncertainty
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: of riches. That's the second negative command. Guard them, warn
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: them not to fix their hope on riches. There's a
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: proverb that says Proverbs twenty three to five, wilt thou
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Certainly make themselves wings.
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: They fly away as an eagle toward Heaven. They're gone.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: You've been around those that are. I've had that happen
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: at the bottom.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: If riches become your security, something that insecure will cause
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: you to fall when they fail. Guard against conceit. Don't
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: fix your hope on the uncertain insecurity of riches. Now
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: verse eighteen instruct them to do good, to be rich
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: in good works, to be generous, ready to share. You
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: may be surprised to know that this is the only
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: time in all the New Testament that the word translated
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: generous is used, and it means to give a good
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: share of something. I need to be faithful to this
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: passage of scripture and apply it to us. If someone
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: could look over your shoulder and read your habit of giving,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: would they say, my, that's a generous person. This ministry
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: does not operate on the squeaking wheel philosophy. We count
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: on the spirit of God to move in the hearts
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: of people that are multiply blessed in their lives to
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: respond with multiple generosity. Many of you don't be very
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: honest with you. The place of your greatest blessing for many.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Of you is not the place of your largest gifts.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: You are not.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Expected to give every bit of your giving to this place.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: But if it is the place of large blessing, it
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: is to be the place of large giving. Generosity is
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: a mark of godliness. Scripture says, instruct them to be generous.
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: You're ready to share, You plan that giving, you pray
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: about that giving, or is it impulsive?
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: See?
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: The real test of this message is not next Sunday's
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: gift or year in giving. It's next February or the
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: middle of March or the last part of September, when
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: there hasn't been a squeaking wheel. It's part of your responsibility.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: And may I say quickly how many missions would fold tomorrow?
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: If there was not the generous.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Giver. Today, praise God.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: For ministries that are kept moving, the printed page, the radio,
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: the television, the message as it goes from mission station
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: or Christian school or wherever. Praise God for the generosity
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: of many in the family of God.
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: But really relatively few.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: When you put them all together, instruct them to be generous.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: I love the way one man brought it all into balance.
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: He said this.
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: To seek to be independent, to be able to pay
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: one's debts, to provide a home and an opportunity for
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: one's family prudently, to provide for the future is a
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Christian duty. But to evaluate everything in terms of money,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: to make the love of money the driving force of
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: life cannot ever be anything else than the most perilous
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: of sins. And I close with the illustration our own
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: Savior used in Luke chapter twelve. Please go back with
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: me to that section, which I will briefly read and
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: will be through Louk twelve, verse fifteen. The story he
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: tells that follows is based on the principle of verse fifteen.
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: He said to them, beware and be on your guard
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: against every form of greed or not, even when one
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: has an abundance. Does his life consist of his possessions?
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: Isn't that the truth? You've ever been around many of
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: the super wealthy, you will not find contentment there. No,
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: that's not life. God offers hope for the true life,
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: not the good life. Now the story, and Jesus told
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: him a parable saying, the land of a certain rich
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying,
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: what shall I do since I have no place to
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: store my crops? And he said, this will I do?
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: This is what I will do. I will tear down
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: my barns and bill larger ones. Notice all of his proceeds,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: he's planning to make larger in resources for himself. What's
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: the word my as it emerges, I will tear down
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: my barns and bill larger ones, and there I will
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: store all my grain and my goods.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: And I will say to my soul, ah, too far,
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: he's gone too far.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: That soul is God's soul. You'll answer for it. Soul,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: you have many goods laid up for many years to come.
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. In the cotton
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: Patch gospel, Jesus has said to have said recline, dine,
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: wine and shine.
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: Fool exclamation point.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: You fool this night, this very night, your soul is
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: reques all right of you. And now you will own
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: what you and now who will own what you have prepared?
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: So is the man who lays up treasure for himself
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: but is not rich toward God. Borneau, a French painter,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: saw this in the text and was so moved over
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: it he took out a canvas, a pallette, paint and brush,
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: and began to put it. On the scene. Of the canvas,
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: he painted a man sitting behind a desk, rather portly
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: in size, several bags of money on the front of
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: his desk. Behind him was a shelf and a small
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: bag set there as if for a very special purpose.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: Outside the window of that man's home, you could see
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: a bumper crop blowing in the afternoon breeze, and a
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: warm sunshine beating upon it. Burneau looked at it and
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: he thought, Ah, something is missing, so unusual for the painter.
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: He turned it to the.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: Other side and painted the opposite side of the canvas.
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: Same man, same desk, same bags of money, same little
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: treasured bag behind him on the shelf, same crops, same window,
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: but now everything was covered in dust. The death Angel
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: had his hand on the man's shoulder, and his lips
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: were pursed, as if to say, fool, So is the
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: man who lays up treasure for himself but is not
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: rich toward God. Maybe bow together in prayer. My friend,
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: you know that your money is your business. If you
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: are a Christian, it's yours in God's business. You're smart
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: enough to know that your money won't get you to heaven.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: If you didn't know that, you now know it. You
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: realize that the pursuit of money just for the sake
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: of having more is a futile, horrible lifestyle to adopt.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: I may speak to a young career woman today, or
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: a young man, perhaps middle aged, maybe older man, a
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: woman who has made this your life's goal, and today
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: you're caught up short. You've heard more than the necessity
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: of giving to this ministry. You've heard much more than that.
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: You know that'll take its place when the heart is right,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: the feet are swift, and the spirit is right. The
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: generous response is always there. We have a heart problem,
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: not a gin problem. If you've never met Jesus Christ,
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: I offer you this one who comes without strings attached
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: by faith in his death and resurrection, you can know
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: for the first time in your life, source of peace
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: and contentment. You can stop running, start enjoying, stop existing,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: start living. Our Father, our God. You have never known
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: a need. It's amazing to all of us that you
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: could know what it is to enter into our world
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: of constant need. But you know all things. There are
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: some who are in desperate condition financially, though they have
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: been faithful to you. They post something of a mystery
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: in all of this. But it's wonderful to know that
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: your books are not closed at the end of every day,
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: but in the final end you pay. We're grateful to
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: our Father for you or raising up individuals that love
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: you and have been blessed of this world's goods and
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: have not kept it to themselves.
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: Thank you for their model yet. May they find reproof
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: and direction in this message. And for those who have
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: been negligent.
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: In the realm of their finances, whether it relates to
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: giving or spending, or earning or investing or saving, may
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: they hear what you say today.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: We model what you have said. Where your treasure is there,
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: will your heart be also amen.
• 55:14
  Speaker 3: The preceding message Strengthening Your Grip on Money was copyrighted
• 55:18
  Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty nineteen eighty one, nineteen eighty five, nineteen
• 55:22
  Speaker 3: eighty nine, nineteen ninety five, twenty fourteen, and twenty twenty four,
• 55:26
  Speaker 3: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four
• 55:30
  Speaker 3: by Charles R.
• 55:30
  Speaker 2: Swindall Incorporated.
• 55:32
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited