TEACHING SERMON – The Dangers of Wealth

                                    TEACHING SERMON

Theme:          The Dangers of Wealth

Texts :           Matthew 6:24, Mark 8:35-36 & 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

 

INTRODUCTION:

We are continuing with our general theme for the year ‘Dead to Self and Alive in Christ ‘- Galatians 2:20. Once we are able to be completely dead to self, Christ will be lifted in our lives. St Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ and he no longer lives but Christ lives in him. As a result of this, he is no longer in control of his life but Christ now controls him. It is just like vehicles that cannot move without engines. No matter how flashy and beautiful a vehicle may appear outside, if the engine is bad, it is useless. That was why St Paul also said that he could do all things, not because of his wealth, family background, education, exposure or experience but because Christ lives in him – Philippians 4:13. Christ is the power of God and wisdom of God – 1 Corinthians 1:24.

Everybody wants to get money and be rich: no one wants to be poor. Many people are doing whatever they can to be wealthy whether it is legitimate or not. The Bible does not condemn being wealthy because it is God Himself who gives us power to get wealth – Deuteronomy 8:18. It is God’s wish for His children to be wealthy and be in good health – 3John vs 2. Our wealth is a source of blessing to us, if we get it through legitimate means and if we are prudent and if we use it wisely. God expects that we should recognize His ownership over us and all our possessions and consequently use them to advance His kingdom – 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. He also implores us that we should not make the pursuit of wealth our priority but instead seek His kingdom first and then trust Him for all that we need – Matthew 6:33. God warns us against idolizing money when

He said that,” No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the oneand love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24). God also warns us against the love of money in 1 Timothy 6:10 that “ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Thus wealth  has its inherent dangers and these are carefully spelt out by Jesus in His three parables relating to the rich, i.e. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31), the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) and the Rich Young Ruler – (Luke 10:17-27). He also corroborates these with the parable of the sower, especially the seeds that fell among the thorns. “The seed that fell among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choked the word, making it unfruitful.”- Matthew 13:22. As good as wealth is, we have to be cautious because of its subtle ways of luring its possessors

out of God’s will into perdition. No wonder that Jesus said that “It is easier for a Carmel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven – Mark 10:25.

 

SOME OF THE DANGERS OF WEALTH AMONG OTHERS ARE:

1. Becoming obsessed with our wealth – Matthew 19:22, 1 Timothy 6:17, Proverbs 11:28.
2. Arrogating the power to make wealth to oneself- Deuteronomy 8:10-14, Romans 9:16.
3. Pride/Arrogance. Having a haughty spirit
4. Oppressing others who are not so privileged – Proverbs 22:22-23, Micah 2:1-3
5. Putting one’s trust in those riches – Luke 12: 18-19, Psalm 20:7.
6. Becoming independent of God and not taking God and things spiritual seriously or trivializing things spiritual – Mark 10:25.
7. Stinginess/Holding tenaciously to those things – Luke 16:19-21.
8. Desiring more and more wealth.
9. Ingratitude to God.
10. Becoming worldly/materialistic.
11. Diverse temptations- immorality, becoming fetish, keeping the company of the ungodly, unguarded life/living carelessly, taking grave risks.
12. Embezzlement/Stealing/Corruption

WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO TO PLEASE GOD, TO STILL REMAIN HAPPY AND HEAVEN BOUND?

1. We need to understand God’s plans for us – Jeremiah 29:11
2. We need to understand how God operates- Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-3 & Isaiah 1:18&19.
3. We need to understand the purpose of our existence and key into it. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created man for His own glory – Isaiah 43:7, Psalm 100:2-3, 1Samuel 12:24, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 & also to rule over the works of His hand as His ambassadors – Psalm 8:4-6 & Hebrews 2:6-8
4. We need to put our total trust in God. We should avoid substituting God with idol/man. Don’t go into secret cults/ritual killing because of money. Satan requested that Jesus should bow and worship him because of the riches of this world but Jesus’ reply was ‘ you must worship God only- Matthew 4: 8-10, Jeremiah 17:5, Proverbs 3:5, Psalm 34: 5, Psalm & 37: 4-7.
5. We need to take some fundamental decisions on how we want to live our lives. This includes the friends we want to keep close to us (1 Corinthians 15:33), our salvation, use of our time (Ephesians 5:16), disbursement of our funds ( Matthew 6:20), our involvement in the church ( Matthew 6:33), the type of dresses to wear( 1 Timothy 2:9-10 & Leviticus 19:28), etc.
6. We must be conscious of our eternity. We should avoid gambling with our lives. Of what profit will it be if we gain the whole world and then lose our souls- Mark 8:36-37.,We should work out our salvation with fear and trembling- Philippians 2:11 & Romans 12: 1- 2.
7. We should not compare ourselves with anybody. Each of us is unique in everything – Psalm 139:13-16. Each person is unique in background, perspective, natural talents, physique, physical capabilities, intellect, personalities, idiosyncrasies and so on.

8. We should be content with what we have – 1 Timothy 6:8-9. The life of man does not consist in the abundance of his possession – Luke 12:15, James 4: 1ff.

9. We should avoid greed, avarice, selfishness, worldliness, stinginess, pride, covetousness, etc. We must understand that God made us and that we are holding our possessions in trust for Him- John 15:5, 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, 1John 2:15-17, James 4:4.
10. We must discover legitimate sources of income and prayerfully tap into it and we must avoid illegitimate and unbiblical sources of income. We must not steal or take things that don’t belong to us either directly or through tricks –
11. We must look at life in its entirety and not in isolation. We must live with heaven in view. We are products of what we were yesterday, tomorrow we shall surely become the products of what we are today and ultimately after this life we shall become the products of we are in this world. Also, the choices we make today and the type of life we live constitute the inheritance that we shall bequeath to our children when we pass on. This includes names, influence, blessings/curses – Numbers 23:10-11, Proverbs 22:1, Revelation 14:13.

CONCLUSION.

Conclusively, King Solomon having tasted wealth and knowing the dangers inherent in it prayed this prayer- Proverbs 30:8 “ Keep falsehood and lies from me: give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, Who is the Lord? Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. “The lifespan of Man is very short compared with eternity which is also very certain and real. As much as God wants His children to live comfortably in this world, His greatest desire for us is to secure an eternal habitation with Him in heaven. Jesus therefore appeals that we should store up our treasures in heaven where nothing can tamper with or corrupt it because our hearts will be where our treasures are (Matthew 6:20).  “For   what shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 8:36-37.

Thanks and God bless.

Ven. Julius Oyetunde Oyediran