What the Bible says about Wealth, Lesson 8

Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zelG_1YQRM&t=34s

What the Bible Says about Wealth

Lesson 8

Text: Luke 16:11-13 “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Intro: on this lesson I would like to look at a couple of interesting things Jesus said about wealth. I am using some of the scriptures we have already seen. But I think it is necessary for us to see these and the points they are making.

Three Surprising Statements Jesus Made about Wealth,
1. Wealth Can Be A Litmus Test,
  1. Do We Serve Wealth, or Does it Serve Us?
    1. In our last lesson we looked at these verses, yet there are still a couple of points I would like to glean out of them.
      - We saw in the last lesson that the steward was using the wealth of his master in order to secure his own luxuries.
      - We also saw that from the worlds point of view, not only was this acceptable, but it was thought of as being wise.
  2. We Are Always a Servant,
    1. the idea that is posed here is that no man can serve two masters, yet there is an underlining truth, that he will serve either one or the other.
      - Romans 6:12-16 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
        
        notice here that the person is either the servant of sin, or the servant of righteousness.
        
        And the answer is, to who do you submit yourself?
        
        Is it about obtaining more wealth, or about being obedient to God?
        
        THERE IS NOT AN OPTION TO NOT BE A SERVANT.
        
        Gilbert Chesterton “When Man does not worship God, he does not worship nothing, but worships everything”
    2. The point here is who is the servant serving God or Mammon,
      - I have always loved the verse of Scripture from
        
        Daniel 3:17 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king”
        
        they understood the truth of the servant,
        
        their job was for the Lord, their wealth, their education, all they had was for God…
        
        Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
        
        I Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
    3. If we really want to know who we serve, just look at who or what we are devoted.
2. Pay What is Owed, Matthew 22:17-21 “Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription ? 21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. 22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. ”
  1. Steeling is Steeling,
    1. remember this is also one of the things Jesus was accused of when they took Him to Pilate to be tried. Saying He taught people not to pay their taxes.
      - None of us like to pay them, yet, we have an obligation to pay what we owe.
        
        No I don’t like much of what the government spends my money on, but I do like a standing military, I do like highways, infrastructure, police, fire departments and so on. And it takes money to do that.
        
        Romans 13 is very clear in the duty of the child of God toward government,
        
        and it is summed up in vs.7&8
        
        Romans 13:7&8 “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: ”
    2. This is the same teaching Jesus taught,…. however….
      - it is amazing what people can rationalize.
      - Well, it goes for bad things…then are we allowed to refuse?
        
        There is a time for civil disobedience, but not as an excuse to steel.
        
        I Peter 2:18 “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. ”
  2. The child of God should be a person of their word,,
    1. Matthew 5:33 “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:”
    2. Numbers 30:2 gives a similar statement, that a man shall do all that proceeds out of his mouth.
    3. Ecclesiastics 5:5 “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. ”
      - It should be a Christians determination to pay all they owe.
        
        Is this to say there is never a time to not pay?
        
        Is there every a time for bankruptcy?
        
        I will say first, that if a child of God follows the principles of God, it is likely they will never get to the place where Bankruptcy is necessary.
        
        Notice I said likely,
        
        because we live in a fallen world, bad things happen, jobs get loss, shut down, disasters strike, health issues arise.
        
        However even in these events, we should strive to do the best we can.
      - Concerning bankruptcy, I think Larry Burkett is right, if the problem gets to the point that an individual is contemplating harm to themselves or others, in order to relive the stress, Bankruptcy may be the best course of action,
        
        but this is not to be used as a get out of jail free card, the obligation is still there. And one should attempt to make things right.
        
        What is right? Learning to live with something, and searing our concise is not.
  3. Three questions to ask about Bankruptcy:
    1. First- Is there no other choice…
    2. Second- Have you taken responsibility for the Debt…
    3. Third- Have you taken steps to avoid the problem in the future…
      - throwing money at money problems will not solve money problems.