Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "Common Sins and Struggles" by Joey Morgan - Part 10

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"Common Sins and Struggles" by Joey Morgan - Part 10 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  Well, good morning, everyone.
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  So we're going to continue this morning in our common sins and struggles class, um, talking
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  about the struggle of money as we started last, uh, Sunday.
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  And as I mentioned last Sunday, it's going to go into several other, uh, sins and struggles.
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  So it's not just about money we're going to talk about, especially today, some different
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  aspects of that.
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  So we started out with first Timothy six, 10, that says what anybody remember the love
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  of money is the root of all sorts of evil.
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  Then we talked about why people might love money that would cause them to fall into those
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  all sorts of evil.
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  One of those things was a false sense of security.
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  You know, if you view money as the thing that actually gets you through this life and that's
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  your security and all the things that go along with that, that might end up causing you to
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  love it along with money also is going to feed your pride.
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  It's going to make you feel like you maybe have a little bit of control and things.
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  It's going to make you feel like you're the one who is doing the things that's causing
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  you to obtain that money.
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  And then therefore you don't need God because you are somebody who can take care of yourself.
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  And then also the last thing that I mentioned was money competes with God.
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  It becomes your God if you allow it to do so, if you end up loving it.
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  Some of you also mentioned things like status and power and all those kinds of things like
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  that.
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  Well, I told you we'd be talking about several other struggles and sins that go along with
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  money and that's what we're going to talk about today.
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  If the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, then that means money can, or the
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  love of money, can branch out into other things, other struggles that we're going to talk about
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  today.
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  We'll start with the subtle sins of loving money, but again, also everything we're going
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  to talk about today can come from something else besides the love of money.
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  It's just money is one of those things that can be the root of it.
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  And then we're going to look at biblical examples of warnings about how wealth can cause us
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  to fall away from God and then also what is the right view of our, or how should we view
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  money?
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  What's the right view of that?
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  I don't know if we'll get through all that today, but that's the goal anyway.
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  So most people, or I should say most Christians probably don't think they love money.
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  If I just went around and asked people, do you love money?
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  Most people are going to say no.
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  I think a lot of the world knows that they love money.
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  I think people will just blatantly say that they want more of it and they need more of
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  it, all the things that go along with that.
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  So I want to go through a few ways that show us that the love of money shows up in subtle
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  ways.
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  Like sometimes we might would say, I don't love money, but maybe we might actually really
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  do and we just don't think that we do.
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  What is the root of loving money?
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  What else does it lead to?
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  Because if these things are in your life because of money, then you probably might actually
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  love money a little bit more than what you ought to.
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  So the first thing is covetousness.
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  So what is covetousness?
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  What's your definition to covet something, covetousness, things along those lines?
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  If you had to throw something at it, what would you say that it is?
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  Desire to have something that's not yours.
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  Very good definition.
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  What is it?
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  The first priority.
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  Whatever it is that you want, that's your number one thing type of thing.
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  The dictionary says an inordinate, eager, or excessive desire to possess something.
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  And this says particularly wealth, material possessions, or something belonging to another
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  person.
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  Like if you see someone else has something, and man, you're like, I've got to have that.
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  Whatever it is, I want that.
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  It signifies really a discontented state of mind often characterized by greed, selfishness,
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  and a strong urge to acquire more than one needs or deserves.
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  Pretty long definition there, but the first half of it is pretty well exact.
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  An inordinate, eager, or excessive desire to possess something, especially something
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  belonging to another person.
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  Now also greed kind of plays into the same type of thing.
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  Maybe it's a little bit different.
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  I don't know if you might consider it a little bit different, but greed in the definition
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  is which is an excessive, selfish, and insatiable desire for more than one needs or deserves.
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  So I might covet something because I see someone else has it, and I want it, and I desire for
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  it.
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  I want it really, really bad, and then greed is kind of I've got stuff, but I want more
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  of it.
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  You know, it's not necessarily what somebody else has.
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  Now you might still covet something from somebody else, but greed is that desire.
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  And again, it can particularly be money, wealth, but it could also be power, possessions.
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  It doesn't have to be money, things like that.
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  So a verse that comes to my mind is Ecclesiastes 5.10, he who loves silver will not be satisfied
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  with silver, nor he who loves abundance with increase, and of course he said this is also
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  vanity which is the common phrase in Ecclesiastes, he who loves silver will not be satisfied
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  with silver.
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  What's that mean?
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  I'm still going to want more, doesn't matter that I've got what I've got, I'm going to
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  want more.
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  He who loves abundance will not also love increase.
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  Even though you're getting more, if you love abundance, there's never enough abundance.
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  You're going to always seek after more abundance, you're going to want more and more.
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  So turn over to Luke chapter 12, we're going to look at verses 13 through 15 where Jesus
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  kind of speaks a little bit about covetousness.
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  So Luke chapter 12, verse 13 through 15.
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  It says, then when one from the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide
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  the inheritance with me.
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  What's that statement from this man to Jesus really asking?
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  My brother's got something that I don't have and I want it, or at least I want part of
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  it.
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  It's not fair that he's got all of it or he's got what he got from it.
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  I don't know how much of it was his versus the other, I'm going to assume it was double
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  if it was the older brother or something like that.
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  But he's saying, tell my brother to divide my inheritance with me.
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  But Jesus said to him, so here's his answer.
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  Man who made me judge or an arbitrator over you.
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  And he said to him, listen to what he said.
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  Take heed.
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  And he said to them, not just this man, to everyone that's in his hearing.
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  Take heed and beware of covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance
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  of the things that he possesses.
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  The NIV says, then he said to them, watch out, be on guard against all kinds of greed,
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  which covetous could be part of that.
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  Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.
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  What does that tell us about covetousness?
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  What Jesus just answers there in a few sentences.
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  It's dangerous.
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  Somebody say something over there.
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  To trap.
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  Yeah.
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  I think covetous isn't just I want something.
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  I mean, we all want stuff.
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  Like there's stuff that we need or want or whatever.
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  Or we maybe said, might say, oh, it would be nice to have that.
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  You know, that's just a natural thing.
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  If we see something that, you know, is pleasing to us or whatever it might be.
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  And greed isn't just being rich and selfish.
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  It's a problem of always wanting more.
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  Never being satisfied with what it is that you do have.
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  Never being satisfied with what you have.
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  It's comparing what you have to others and then constantly always seeing yourself as
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  lacking.
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  That's a product that comes from covetousness and greed.
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  So how many of you, especially maybe when you were kids, have you ever got something
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  that you wanted so bad?
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  I mean, you wanted something so bad you just maybe it was an easy bake oven or, you know,
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  light bright or whatever it was that you just wanted so bad.
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  But then you got it.
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  How long did it take before you was like, man, I really, that's fine.
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  I played with it for a week or two.
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  Now I want what my other friend has or I want something else I saw a commercial for
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  or whatever it is.
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  You saw something else and now you need that.
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  And fill in the blank with whatever that is.
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  That's a little bit of covetousness working in there.
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  It's a desire for something that, you know, that's a little bit of greed working.
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  You're always wanting more.
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  You're not content with what it is that you've got.
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  You're always seeing yourself as lacking.
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  Money is not the only thing, again, that can cause these two things.
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  But the love of it, the love of money is definitely at the root of covetousness and greed.
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  If you have the love of money, it's going to lean you to branch out from that root and
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  become a covetous person and become a greedy person.
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  Jesus continues in Luke 12 with a parable to combat those, but I'm going to actually
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  look at that in a little bit as we talk about, you know, some biblical examples of warnings
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  about wealth.
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  So that's covetousness or greed.
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  Both of those things are subtle.
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  Again, if you say, I don't love money, I have no issues with money, I don't love it at all,
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  but maybe you see yourself having some desires of feeling like you're always lacking all
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  the time.
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  Maybe you have the lack of contentment.
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  Maybe you have a little bit of, oh, I always want a little bit more than what it is that
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  I've got.
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  You might think in your mind you don't love money, but you have some covetousness or you
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  have some greed that's kind of inside of you, and that's rooted in something.
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  And typically that's going to go back to the love of money.
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  Now let's go over to Matthew chapter 6.
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  Matthew chapter 6.
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  We're all familiar with this passage.
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  Jesus is telling us not to worry about the things that we need in this life because he
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  says God cares for us, he loves us, and if we seek him, you know, we shouldn't worry
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  about these things because he's going to be our provider.
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  He's going to be all those things that he mentions in this whole entire chapter.
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  He says these things are yours if you seek me first and my righteousness.
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  But let's look at what verse 31 and 34 where Jesus says, 31 through 34.
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  Therefore do not worry, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall
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  we wear?
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  For after these things the Gentiles seek.
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  For your heavenly father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom
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  of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.
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  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
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  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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  What are these verses about worry really saying the problem is?
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  Is worry really the problem?
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  Worry is the actual, what's being produced from your actual real problem here.
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  What's verse 30 say?
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  If God so loved the, or if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and
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  tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you?
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  And then he says, oh ye of little, what faith.
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  So what is Jesus really saying?
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  Don't worry because, and then he gives us why we shouldn't worry, but what is he saying
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  that if you are worrisome about these things, what is it actually showing about that you,
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  that you really have the problem with?
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  Yeah worries about me and not about God, true.
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  Don't trust God to take care of you.
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  Anyone else?
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  Worry about, and again, we're talking about money, but within this doesn't have to be,
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  you can fill in the blank with something else, or the love of money.
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  It's a sign of misplaced trust, like what Russell said.
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  Now there's a difference between planning and worrying.
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  We have to plan for things.
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  Sometimes we have to, we make decisions in our life about what we think might happen
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  or what it might be.
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  Planning is wise, but worry is fear without faith is what it ends up being.
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  So we have to ask, what do we trust to provide our needs?
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  Remember I said at the beginning, one of the things that's going to cause you to love money
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  is that's where I find my security.
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  That's where I find my, I put all my trust in that because it's what takes care of me.
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  It's what pays my bills.
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  It's what feeds me.
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  It's what, you know, puts the gas in my truck.
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  It's what gets me back and forth to work so I can make more money.
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  That's all those things that we sit there and might say what money does for us.
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  If we feel like it's the security, well then we aren't putting God in that place.
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  We don't have full trust in him.
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  We actually have a little bit of trust in money and the things that it's providing.
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  Yes, Shadona?
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah, it's the misplacing that goes back to also we talked about we can't serve two masters.
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  If you have, you know, money as your master, and again, you might not think that you do,
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  you have to be honest with yourself.
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  As I've said with all these, we have to be honest with ourselves and really dive into
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  what is my view of any of these struggles that we've talked about and then what is my
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  real honest view of money?
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  Because again, I think if we all were asked the question, do you love money?
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  Our answer is going to be an instant no because we know that's what we're supposed to say
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  We know that's how we're supposed to come off to people and all those kinds of things,
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  but you have to really be honest with yourself because we all, this is probably one and probably
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  especially in our country where it's there.
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  You know, it's a very big temptation to be there for all of us.
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  But we can't serve two masters.
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  We can't put our security in it.
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  If we spend a lot of time worrying about money, I might have a little bit of love and trust
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  placed in it.
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  If that's what I spend most of my time worrying about, I might have a little bit of love and
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  a little bit of misplaced trust.
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  I might put too much backing behind what I feel like it's doing for me and not God.
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  And with a verse like 33, it leaves us with one question.
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  If we are worrisome about these things that Jesus mentioned, do I trust God or just say
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  that I trust God?
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  Because again, we can be with our mouth.
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  We can say a lot of things, but what do our actions say?
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  Do I actually trust God or do I just say it?
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  And I actually really trust and put my faith in the love that I have for my money.
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  So worry is another subtle thing.
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  If you're worrying constantly about money, then you might have a little bit of love for
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  money and you need to be careful because again, it's the root that will lead to other things
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  including worry.
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  So now we'll talk about envy.
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  That's another thing probably that can come up for money too, right?
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  It's a little bit very similar to, I guess, covetousness in a way.
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  It's a painful or resentful emotion caused by wanting another person's possessions, achievements,
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  qualities, often accompanied by a desire for them to lose what they have.
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  That's kind of the difference.
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  You want what they have and you want it and you don't care if they no longer have it.
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  You want whatever it is they have.
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  And again, we can do this with money.
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  You can also do this with plenty of other things, whether it's spouses, jobs, whatever
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  it is, you can still envy those kinds of things.
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  If envy is wanting what someone else has, what does that mean about what you have?
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  It's not good enough, which means you have a lack of what?
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  Which is what a lot of this goes back to, contentment.
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  It's not enough for you, you're not content, and whenever you are envious, that means you're
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  always doing a comparison.
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  Somebody else has something better than what you have, you think you should have it.
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  You want it and that's going to fuel discontentment.
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  Proverbs 1430, a sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.
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  When we are content in where God has us in this life, it's like life to the body, is
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  what that proverb is telling us.
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  But then he says, but envy is going to cause us all sort of bitterness, it's going to cause
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  you all sort of discontentment, it's going to cause you all sorts of jealousy, and he
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  says that's going to end up being like rot in your body, it's going to be rottenness
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  to your bones.
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  It's not good for you.
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  Now we're lucky to live in this day and time, though, because you know what?
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  You know what's really made it super easy to not be envious?
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  Social media and the internet, right?
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  That's just a joke, you know, it doesn't help, does it?
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  I think it's very hard for us to push back discontentment and envy and covetousness and
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  all those things, even again outside of looking at it from the love of money aspect especially.
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  But we see all the things on social media that other people have or what we think they
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  have, whether it's the perfect family and all the vacations and all the things that
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  they get to do and man, their children are just this, and all the stuff that we see,
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  we see what others have and we become envious because we suddenly feel like I don't have
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  enough and I want what they've got and I need it because here's what envy really does.
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  Envy makes the blessings that we all have feel pretty small and we start to think I'm
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  not blessed in the same way as other people are.
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  Why doesn't God bless me this way?
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  All those kinds of thoughts start coming into your head and that's what envy will do.
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  So instead of being thankful for my house, my vehicle, my vacations, my family, my job,
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  being content with those things, instead of all that, I start to have bitterness.
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  I start to have jealousy.
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  And then that starts to rot inside of me and start causing bigger problems.
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  So when I see money as the thing that can get me all those things that my neighbor has,
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  it's the one thing that I need that's standing in my way, oh, if I just had a little bit
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  more money, guess what that's going to cause you to do?
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  You're going to begin to love it because you're going to again see that it's the thing that's
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  keeping me from whatever it is that I actually feel like I need or that I want and I'm going
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  to do whatever it takes for me to get it.
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  It's going to become my master.
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  It's going to compete with God because I feel like it's going to be the thing that's going
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  to bring me all those things that I feel like I need.
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  It's going to be my security.
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  It's going to be all those things and I'm going to begin to love it.
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  I'm going to begin to seek it.
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  I'm going to begin to allow it to be my master.
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  And again, Jesus said, you can't have two, you can only have one.
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  So that's where that problem comes in.
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  Proverbs 11.1 says, dishonest skills are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight
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  is his delight.
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  What's that say?
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  Sometimes Proverbs are a little bit the way that they're worded.
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  They're not hard to understand, but sometimes it's just, hey, it'd be a lot easier if you
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  said this a little different, but I think it's because we don't talk that way, but what's
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  that say?
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  Dishonest skills are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.
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  What's he warning against there?
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  Cheating, dishonesty might be how you would look at it.
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  That's something else that is at the branches out from the love of money if it is at the
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  root.
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  The love of money is going to tempt people to compromise, do things a little bit differently
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  than maybe that they might would, whether it's you cut corners on some stuff, whether
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  it's you're hiding the truth from people, whether it's bending the rules just a little
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  bit because it's going to allow me to obtain more or keep mine or whatever it is.
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  Because when you love it, you want to obtain it, you want to keep it, and because money
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  can be more important than even sometimes integrity if you have love for it.
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  That's what the love of money will do.
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  That's another branch that's going to come off of it is dishonesty.
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  So you have covetousness, you've got greed, you've got worry, we've got whatever the last
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  thing I just said, what was it, envy, and then also we've got dishonesty.
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  We read Matthew 6 where Jesus said we can't serve two masters, well Luke's account, if
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  you go over to Luke 16, same statements, but let's look at what Luke recorded Jesus saying
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  before he said you can't serve two masters in Luke 16 verses 10 through 13.
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  Luke chapter 16 verses 10 through 13.
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  He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what
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  is least is also unjust in much.
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  For if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to you
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  trust and true riches?
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  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is
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  your own?
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  And then here again he says no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate
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  the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
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  You cannot serve God and mammon.
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  So if your love for money keeps you from being a person of integrity, causes you to
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  become unfaithful to God, to become dishonest, even in what Jesus says what?
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  Even in the what?
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  The little things.
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  You know, if you are not faithful in what is least, you're definitely not going to be
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  faithful in what is much.
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  The love of money has become the root of dishonesty if that is the case for you.
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  Even in the little things, if you choose money over being faithful, having integrity, and
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  it causes you to become dishonest, then you might want to check and see what your feelings
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  about love truly is.
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  So that's another subtle thing would be dishonesty.
• 24:17
  Again, maybe you struggle with dishonesty.
• 24:20
  Maybe you struggle with envy.
• 24:22
  Maybe you struggle with worry.
• 24:24
  Maybe you struggle with greed and covetousness.
• 24:27
  As I said, it doesn't have to be the love of money is at the root of that.
• 24:30
  It's just the love of money is oftentimes the root of that.
• 24:33
  But if you struggle with any of those things, you might want to ask, what is causing me
• 24:39
  to be this way?
• 24:40
  And then it might be, again, something else, but sometimes it might be your view of money
• 24:46
  and how you might actually love it.
• 24:49
  So those are some subtle sins that might come from the love of money being the root.
• 24:57
  So now I want to turn back to Luke chapter 12, and we're going to look at some biblical
• 25:02
  warnings about wealth, some things that are taught to us in scripture to say you might
• 25:08
  want to make sure you're on guard about how you view wealth and things along those lines.
• 25:15
  As we mentioned last Sunday, there's nothing wrong with wealth.
• 25:20
  There's nothing wrong with money itself.
• 25:22
  It's just an object.
• 25:23
  It's a tool.
• 25:24
  But it's how you view it, how you feel for it, all those things, that's where it might
• 25:29
  become an issue.
• 25:32
  Yep.
• 25:34
  Mm-hmm.
• 25:36
  Mm-hmm.
• 25:38
  Yeah, is it causing you to chip away at who God wants you to be as you're trying to grow
• 25:45
  and become more like Christ?
• 25:46
  Is it kind of the two steps?
• 25:48
  You might take a step forward, but then you're chiseling yourself back and going backwards
• 25:52
  and becoming less of what God wants you to be.
• 25:56
  Mm-hmm.
• 25:59
  Very true.
• 26:04
  So I told you we'd get back to this, the rich fool.
• 26:08
  Remember in verse 15, Jesus said, take heed, beware covetousness, for one's life does not
• 26:13
  consist in the abundance of things he possesses.
• 26:16
  And then he teaches this.
• 26:17
  In verse 16 of Luke 12, he says, then he spoke a parable to them saying, the ground of a
• 26:23
  certain rich man yielded plentifully, and he thought within himself saying, what shall
• 26:28
  I do since I have no room to store my crops?
• 26:32
  So he said, I will do this.
• 26:33
  I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and all
• 26:38
  my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years.
• 26:43
  Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
• 26:46
  But God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you.
• 26:51
  Then whose will all those things be which you have provided?
• 26:56
  So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.
• 27:03
  So this man had abundance.
• 27:05
  He built bigger barns, and then what did God end up saying?
• 27:12
  You what?
• 27:13
  You fool.
• 27:15
  This very night, your life will be demanded from you.
• 27:18
  And I think here's the key lesson about the danger of wealth and the love of money, and
• 27:23
  Andy hit the nail on the head in his devo.
• 27:27
  The danger is that he had the wrong perspective.
• 27:32
  He planned for everything except eternity.
• 27:37
  That's kind of what Andy's devo was about the other night.
• 27:41
  And here is a doozy of a question to step on your toes if you ask it.
• 27:47
  And again, I'm not saying you shouldn't plan for retirement.
• 27:52
  Planning is wise.
• 27:53
  And I'm not saying you shouldn't plan for certain things.
• 27:57
  Planning is wise.
• 27:59
  But are we more focused on my physical retirement or my eternal retirement?
• 28:08
  Because who your master is plays a role in that.
• 28:11
  Where your love is plays a role in that.
• 28:15
  And again, that's only a question you can answer for yourself.
• 28:18
  You have to be honest with yourself.
• 28:22
  Am I more worried about where I'm going to sit in my physical retirement, there's the
• 28:27
  worry there, or am I more worried about where I'm going to sit in eternity?
• 28:33
  Because decisions you make will go based upon how you answer that question.
• 28:39
  I could spend my whole life, my whole work life, doing everything in pursuit of building
• 28:46
  my Roth IRA, my 401K, my savings account.
• 28:53
  Those would all be big barns I'd be building.
• 28:55
  I could do that.
• 28:57
  For the hope of whenever I'm in my 60s, of course it may be 70s or 80s by the time I
• 29:03
  get there, that I might get to retire.
• 29:06
  That would be my hope.
• 29:07
  I could do all that.
• 29:09
  But this parable would be the same if on the eve of my retirement, the day before I turned
• 29:14
  60, I was told, thou fool, your soul is going to be required of you this evening.
• 29:23
  Now who's 401K and Roth IRA, I guess it's going to be Amanda, she's going to come out
• 29:29
  pretty good.
• 29:31
  Whose are those going to be?
• 29:32
  It's not going to do me any good.
• 29:36
  So if I spent all my time doing that and not building up the treasures that really matter
• 29:40
  and working on eternity and working towards my heavenly retirement, what good are those
• 29:47
  things?
• 29:48
  That's what Jesus is kind of teaching here.
• 29:52
  Now can you do all those things that I mentioned and still be faithful?
• 29:55
  Yes.
• 29:56
  You can still plan for your retirement and be faithful and still be planning more so
• 30:01
  for your eternity than you are your retirement.
• 30:04
  So don't get me wrong and think I'm sitting here telling you don't be putting in your
• 30:09
  Roth IRA, your 401K, you can still do all those things.
• 30:14
  I'm just saying if you have the love of money, you're going to be more worried about those
• 30:19
  things than you are about the eternal things.
• 30:23
  And that's all about you and you being able to answer that question in your perspective.
• 30:30
  But it's when your love for money for those accounts are your security, a result of only
• 30:38
  you and your efforts, see these are the three things we talked about at the very beginning,
• 30:43
  and they begin to compete with the work that God has for you, all the things we talked
• 30:48
  about there at the beginning.
• 30:50
  That's when it's a problem.
• 30:52
  So wealth can be dangerous when we seek only the wealth that this world offers.
• 30:59
  That to me is what this parable is saying, if you only seek about the things that this
• 31:03
  world offers and that's it, and you're not concerned about eternity and all your efforts
• 31:10
  and everything you do in this life are based on the here and the now, you're a fool is
• 31:16
  what God says.
• 31:17
  Thou fool.
• 31:18
  Now turn over to Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10, verses 17 through 22, we have the rich
• 31:37
  young ruler, it says, now as he was going out on the road and one came running up before
• 31:41
  him and asked him, good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
• 31:47
  So a little bit different perspective from this man.
• 31:49
  So Jesus said to him, why do you call me good?
• 31:52
  No one is good but one, that is God.
• 31:54
  You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false
• 31:59
  witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother, and he answered and said to him,
• 32:03
  teacher, all these things I've kept from my youth.
• 32:06
  And then Jesus looked at him, loved him and said to him, one thing you lack, go your way,
• 32:13
  sell whatever you have, give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come,
• 32:18
  take up the cross and follow me.
• 32:22
  But he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.
• 32:28
  So what do we know about this man?
• 32:31
  What are some good character qualities he has?
• 32:34
  Chuck mentioned he's got some character qualities.
• 32:36
  What are some good ones that he has?
• 32:40
  Coming to the right place.
• 32:43
  He's coming to Jesus for the answer.
• 32:48
  He also seems to be a moral person.
• 32:50
  I mean he says, I'm not a murderer or an adulterer, I don't steal, I haven't done those things
• 32:56
  from my youth.
• 32:59
  Seems to be respectful, you know, whenever Jesus said you need to honor your father and
• 33:02
  mother, he even knelt before Jesus, called him a good teacher.
• 33:08
  He seems to be a respectful person.
• 33:11
  Seems to be a sincere person.
• 33:12
  I think he generally wanted to know what the answer to this question was the way that he
• 33:16
  kind of went about asking it again.
• 33:17
  He ran to him, knelt before him, just really wanted to know what the answer to this question
• 33:22
  was.
• 33:24
  But then he walked away from Jesus when it was all said and done.
• 33:29
  Why is that?
• 33:31
  Couldn't let go of his wealth, could he?
• 33:34
  That's the one thing that he lacked.
• 33:37
  And I think Jesus knew that it was the one thing that he lacked.
• 33:39
  That's why he said it.
• 33:40
  You know, there's one thing that you lack.
• 33:42
  There's one thing standing in the way between you and me, and you're gonna have to do something
• 33:48
  about it.
• 33:50
  His love for his money was too much.
• 33:55
  It was his master, and it's time for him to make the choice.
• 34:00
  You gotta let go of that master and come to your new master.
• 34:04
  You gotta get rid of the one that you've been serving, the one that you've been following,
• 34:09
  the one thing that you've loved, and you gotta love me more.
• 34:13
  You gotta choose me.
• 34:16
  I asked you about his good character qualities because when it comes to the dangers of money,
• 34:20
  here is the sobering truth.
• 34:23
  You can still be a good person.
• 34:26
  You can be a moral person.
• 34:28
  You can be a respectful person.
• 34:30
  You can be a sincere person.
• 34:32
  And money has enough power, if you allow it to, to cause you to lose your soul.
• 34:40
  That's how strong that it is.
• 34:41
  In fact, Jesus said right after this parable, continuing in verse 23, he looked around and
• 34:45
  said to his disciples, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom
• 34:50
  of God.
• 34:51
  And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again and said to them,
• 34:55
  Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.
• 35:02
  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
• 35:07
  the kingdom of God.
• 35:10
  We are warned that wealth can cause us to put our trust in the wrong thing, which competes
• 35:16
  with God and then causes us to love it.
• 35:22
  So those are a couple examples of wealth.
• 35:24
  Anybody have any comments on those?
• 35:26
  Yep.
• 35:27
  Mine's going to be, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a good perspective or a good thought
• 35:41
  to have on things.
• 35:44
  But we're warned, again, all those, both of those two parables go in line with everything
• 35:49
  that we've talked about from yesterday, or from last Sunday through today, and it all
• 35:54
  comes back to, what is your view?
• 35:58
  Do you trust in riches?
• 35:59
  Again, he says, those who trust in riches, how hard it is for them to enter the kingdom
• 36:04
  of God.
• 36:05
  And you can see how it's the root of all sorts of evil, so you can see how it branches out
• 36:10
  into so many other struggles and so many other things.
• 36:13
  So it's not just money's your problem at that point.
• 36:16
  It ties into so many other things that it's going to lead you down a path on, and ultimately
• 36:20
  the worst thing is that it's your God.
• 36:24
  That's what it's going to become if you love it.
• 36:26
  But let's talk about how do we, now let's shift to and end with the right view of money.
• 36:31
  Money, again, in itself is not evil, but it has to be handled correctly.
• 36:35
  So how do we handle it correctly?
• 36:38
  What advice is there to give for that?
• 36:41
  One is we need to see money as a tool and not a master.
• 36:46
  I think Russell mentioned that last Sunday, might have been after class, but money is
• 36:53
  meant to serve us because it's an object and it's a tool.
• 36:58
  It's not supposed to control us, it's not supposed to be our master.
• 37:02
  So question, you know, am I using money or is money using me?
• 37:08
  That's what you kind of have to ask.
• 37:09
  So how do you, the right view of money is, it's just an object that's on this earth that
• 37:16
  we use.
• 37:17
  There's times where we'll have maybe more of it than we'll have at other times.
• 37:22
  There's times where we'll have less of it, but it's just something that's here and it's
• 37:25
  something that we're using while we're living in this earth.
• 37:29
  And then the second thing would be a big thing that we probably mentioned several times is
• 37:34
  we need to practice contentment.
• 37:36
  That's a big thing.
• 37:37
  If you can get contentment down, it's going to help you a lot with the struggles that
• 37:41
  would come from possibly turning you towards loving money.
• 37:45
  So if you go over to 1 Timothy 6 verses 6 through 8, the verses that we started with,
• 37:52
  he said before we got into the money is the root of all sorts of evil, is the love of
• 37:56
  money is the root of all sorts of evil, is godliness with contentment is great gain.
• 38:01
  For we brought nothing into this world and it's certain that we can carry nothing out
• 38:05
  and having food and clothing with these things, we shall be content.
• 38:09
  The more content we are, the less the pull is going to have on us of money and the things
• 38:15
  that come from that because it's not going to lead us to covetousness, it's not going
• 38:19
  to lead us to greed, it's not going to lead us to all those other things that might come
• 38:23
  from that.
• 38:24
  Contentment is saying to yourself, I have enough because God provides.
• 38:29
  And that's a powerful mindset to have.
• 38:31
  If you can go through life with that mindset, and again, it's not an easy mindset to have,
• 38:36
  but it's a powerful one to have if you can get control of it and have that type of mindset.
• 38:42
  And it's also something that you practice and learn.
• 38:44
  You know, there's probably a verse that comes to your mind over in Philippians 4, 10 through
• 38:49
  12, Paul says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly and now at last your care for me has
• 38:53
  flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity, not that I speak
• 39:00
  in regard to need, and he says, for I have learned that whatever state I am, to be content.
• 39:06
  I know how to be abased, I know how to abound everywhere and in all things, I've learned
• 39:10
  both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
• 39:14
  View your wealth and everything else, no matter what state of it is that you're in, as their
• 39:22
  objects for you to use, but also that you're content with what you have because God is
• 39:30
  your provider and he'll provide you with what it is that you need.
• 39:35
  And then one other thing, we'll go through these quickly because the bell's probably
• 39:37
  going to ring on me, be generous, Acts 20, 35, we're told Jesus said it is more blessed
• 39:42
  to give than to receive, the more generous that you are with the things that you have,
• 39:47
  that's kind of the opposite of greed and covetousness, right?
• 39:50
  Being generous with something, that's the opposite, you want to give things instead
• 39:55
  of you want things and want to take things.
• 39:57
  So the more generous that you are, the more you will have the attitude to break that lust
• 40:03
  of money.
• 40:04
  Someone said if money has a grip on your heart, giving loosens it.
• 40:08
  And then also value the right things, Matthew 6, 19 and 21, do not lay up for yourself treasures
• 40:14
  on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures
• 40:18
  in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, thieves do not break in and steal, for where
• 40:23
  your treasure is, that's where your heart will be also.
• 40:27
  So realize everything we own here, eventually it's going to be what?
• 40:33
  Gone.
• 40:35
  What we do for God, though, it lasts forever.
• 40:39
  We need to come up with a saying like a, or a thing like a 401k and call it like a John
• 40:45
  316b or something.
• 40:47
  I don't know what we want to call it, but we need to be putting into the John 316b a
• 40:52
  little bit more than we're putting into our 401k because that's actually something that's
• 40:56
  a little bit more important because it's eternal.
• 40:58
  It lasts forever.
• 40:59
  It's not something that moth and all those moth and rust can destroy and take away, it
• 41:04
  is eternal and we want to make sure and check our investments.
• 41:07
  Are we investing more in this life or are we investing more in the next one?
• 41:13
  So again, these are some questions to reflect on as we close this.
• 41:17
  Do I think about money more than I think about God?
• 41:19
  Do I worry about finances more than I pray about them?
• 41:22
  Am I generous?
• 41:24
  What perspective do I have?
• 41:26
  Would I obey God if it cost me financially?
• 41:29
  And is there anything that I wouldn't give up for God?
• 41:32
  Would you be like that rich young ruler or is there something that fits in the blank?
• 41:36
  What's that one thing you lack?
• 41:37
  Again, it might not be the money aspect that you've got to give up, it might be something
• 41:41
  else.
• 41:42
  That principle is still the same.
• 41:44
  But the answers to those reveal your heart, what you love, whether it's money, God, or
• 41:49
  something else.
• 41:50
  Does anybody have any other comments before we end?
• 41:55
  Yep.
• 41:56
  It needs to be handled correctly, used correctly.
• 42:10
  Handled correctly, money can do great good.
• 42:13
  Handled wrongly, it can cost us everything.
• 42:16
  It's a very big thing, yes.
• 42:20
  The dice.
• 42:21
  Yep, that's a good quote.
• 42:24
  Well thank you so much for your comments.
• 42:25
  We're going to talk about selfishness next Sunday.