“When Satan Attacks Our Finances” – Part 3 – Proverbs 22:7

Let me ask you some questions. Is God rich? Yes. How do you know? We know because scripture tells us but we know that we know because God shows us. He is generous to us, physically, mentally, spiritually and even financially. We live in the United States where even the poorest of us is financially wealthy compared to most other countries.

Here’s another question. Does God want us to be more like Him? Of course He does. So, if God wants us to be more like Him and He is financially rich then would you say that He wants us to be financially rich? Ooh, be careful! I guarantee you that there are lots of preachers out there that like to make that connection. There’s only one problem.

Well, actually, there are lots of problems with that. There is the problem of Paul…the problem of John…of Peter, James, Timothy, oh, and of Jesus Himself; none of whom were financially wealthy. It’s just not true. God wants the best for us, just like you want the best for your kids and He knows that, most of the time, money is not what is best for us. But He is very generous.

So, why is God so generous towards us? Why does He bless us like He does? He does it because He loves us and because it ultimately brings Him glory. Jesus said, “What man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? "Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (NAS, Matthew 7:8-11)

God loves to give and that is the attribute that He wants to develop in you. That is how He wants us to be more like Him. The good news is that you don’t have to be rich to give. You just have to have something. Maybe God leads you to give of your time. Maybe He wants you to give of your talent and maybe you give of your treasure. Trust me. Satan is going to attack in every one of those areas.

He is going to tell you to give all you have at work so you don’t have energy to give any time anywhere else. He will tell you that you don’t have any talents even though scripture tells us that all true believers have at least one spiritual gift. And Satan will sure attack your finances to make it hard for you to give anything in that area and there are several ways he does that.

We talked last week about what I believe is Satan’s best lie about finances. His most powerful attack is to convince you that you can’t afford to tithe or give financially to the local church. When you believe that, you cut yourself off from the blessings that God wants to give you that will be eternal blessings in Heaven which is a way bigger deal than anything He might give on this earth.

The next best trick Satan likes to pull on us is almost as powerful and that is the attack of debt. Debt is a killer in so many ways. In fact, sooner or later, it is going to play a part in the death of our country. Did you know that, as a country, we are nearly 22 trillion dollars in debt and it goes up every second? How much is a trillion? I have no idea. I can’t comprehend it. I get excited when I see a twenty-dollar bill.

But our country has survived for years by just kicking the debt can down the road and we keep passing that debt down to our kids and grandkids. Congress and all the presidents, Republican and Democrat, just keep raising the debt ceiling and borrowing more money because cutting the debt is too hard to do when you need to get reelected. It’s ultimately why the government is supposedly shut down right now.

So, with the nation so bound up with debt, it is even more important that we not have debt as individuals and as a church so that when the financial collapse comes, we are not in a hole. But some of you right now are thinking that your hole is too deep and you will never get out. I know that feeling but you can get out. I know you can.

I heard the story about a man who often walked through a cemetery on his way home. One night, though, unaware that a new grave had been dug in his path, he tumbled in. For some time he struggled to get out of the 7 foot deep grave, but finally gave up and settled down for the night.

An hour later, a farmer out possum hunting came walking through the cemetery and he too fell into the grave. He began a desperate attempt to get out, unaware that there was anyone else in the grave. The first man listened to him for a few minutes, then reached over in the pitch darkness and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can’t get out of here," he said... but he did! (Ted Mulder,  Dec 30, 2004)

You too can get out of your hole of debt if you are motivated enough and if you have the right tools and if you go by God’s Word. So, let’s turn to the wonderful book of Proverbs, chapter 22 and verse 7. Scripture talks a lot about money and Proverbs in particular has a lot to say about it. I believe this verse says it best.

Proverbs 22:7 – “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

*Ask Brian to come up with a rope. *

Imagine with me, if you will, a typical college graduate. He managed to land a good job right out of college and now feels more freedom than ever before. He is making decent money so now he just needs some stuff to live. He needs a place to live now that he has moved out of his college dorm and the realtor told him he can afford this nice house and it’s his with just a small down payment and a promise to keep paying it for the next 30 years. (Wrap the rope around both hands.)

Now, he needs a car and he really likes that new sporty job so he signs up for payments for that. (Wrap rope around feet.) He needs a gym membership but that’s just $40 a month. No big deal. (Keep wrapping.) Cable TV, Netflix and a new TV to watch it on are just reasonable living expenses. (Wrap, wrap, wrap.) Then he meets a girl and you know what happens. (Wrap around the head.) Ahh! Freedom! He’s living the good life now, right?

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” It happens all the time and it is so easy to do. Thankfully, we have some options for getting us out of debt. Let’s talk about a few of them. Your first option is the lottery. A quick google search showed that the Powerball lottery thing is up to $129 million. That ought to cover most of your bills, right? Anybody need more than that to get out of debt? I doubt it. So why not play the lottery?

I know, I know. It’s not going to change you and you are still going to go to work and you are going to give a bunch to the church. Right. Of course. But first you have to win and that’s the first problem. The odds are astronomical. It’s the same with any kind of gambling. The casinos are beautiful, fancy places for a reason. They win. Not you. They exist to take your money and they are good at it.

But I hear you. You say there is no scripture that forbids it. No commandment that says, “Thou shalt not gamble.” I understand that and here is my response and then I’ll back it up with God’s response. My response is, first, it’s just unwise. The odds are so against it and it wastes money. Secondly, gambling is addictive. It’s a fact. So, why would you try even once something that can easily get a hold on you and never let go? Also, let’s say that you can handle your gambling. Maybe you can. It’s Russian Roulette but let’s say you can handle it. Please justify to me exposing your children to anything that is addictive.

Whether it is gambling, alcohol, tobacco, porn or anything addictive, why would you have it in your house or show your kids that it is okay if you know there is a good chance it will ruin their life, if not kill them? Maybe you think you can handle some of that stuff. But what if your son or daughter or precious grandchild can’t? Ruining your life is one thing. Ruining your family is another. Don’t try it.

Do you know why they call it the “Curse of the Lottery”? Because it is not blessed. God says in Isaiah 65:11-12, “What will happen to you for offering food and wine to the gods you call “Good Luck” and “Fate”? Your luck will end! I will see to it that you are slaughtered with swords.” (Contemporary English Version) That’s how God feels about gambling. Still think that’s an option for getting out of debt?

Let’s talk about some ways that God will bless. There are any number of programs (some of them faith-based) that you can enroll in to help you and most of those are good to very good. Dave Ramsey has a whole program. Crown Financial has a program. Most of them cost something to enroll and that can be a problem but maybe you can check out a book or get some information online in that regard.

I’ve read Dave Ramsey’s book and it was very helpful but my approach to you today is to take what scripture teaches and go off of that. I’m no financial planner but I can read scripture and it says that Christians are supposed to be new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Now, if you have been a believer for more than a few weeks, you know that new creation does not come all at once. It is a continual process.

God changes us in some ways at the moment of conversion but He is continually in the process of changing us all of our lives. The secret to that conversion is our surrender to it. It’s painful sometimes. We don’t like change but when we learn to surrender to God’s will for our lives, we can receive generous and eternal blessings.

So, what do you do when you surrender to something or someone? You put your hands up, right? You put your hands up to show that you aren’t holding anything and God wants us in that position. He wants to hear us say, “Lord, I have nothing. Will you please help me?” Prayer is always our greatest weapon against the attacks of Satan, including, of course, his attacks on our finances.

But when you come to God in prayer and submission with your hands up and out, God can either take something away or He can fill your hand with something. But He can’t or won’t do that if you have your fists clenched. If you say, “God help me” but you aren’t willing to change or give something up, then don’t call Him “Lord” and don’t expect His full and abundant blessings.

We all know the old saying about when it comes to debt and you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. That’s true and that is important. Don’t go into more debt. Stop buying stuff. It’s amazing how hard that is for some people to understand but I want you to see how God blesses when you not only stop buying new stuff but also get rid of the stuff you have. Now, this is important and I know God will bless it because I have done it.

When you come to God with open hands, fully surrendering yourself to Him, then you also have to surrender everything you have. Whether you are in debt or not, you ought to be mindful that everything you have came from God and when you admit that to Him and let Him know that He can have it back anytime and you only want His will to be done, that is where God wants you to be. That is the point where the blessings come rushing in, pressed down shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38).

So, let’s do that right now. This is not the end of this message. We are just getting to the good stuff. But I want to ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes and to symbolically raise your open hands and prayerfully tell God how grateful you are for what you have. Tell Him you appreciate your family, your house, your car, your health, the dogs, the bank account, the clothes, the stuff that you have and then give it all back to Him right now.

Lord, we do thank you for what we have. You are very generous! We acknowledge that everything we have comes from you and we know that, as Job said, you give and you take away. So, Lord, we are not giving you permission. We are just wanting what you want for our lives. So, give us what we need and take away what we don’t need and we will give you the glory for it. Thank you, God. Amen.

Now, here is the next step. If you are in debt that is becoming unmanageable, it’s time to take this a step further. You have agreed with God in prayer that you need help and you want what He wants for your life and as part of your effort to quit digging the hole by stopping buying stuff, you now need to get rid of some stuff. Stuff is the enemy. It keeps you from living in freedom.

Stuff is like medicine in one way. You know how all medicines have side effects? Every medicine will hopefully do its job but every medicine has some kind of side effect. Some are greater than others but all have some side effects. Stuff is the same way. When you buy a house, you don’t just move in. You have to sign contracts and get warranties and do maintenance and put stuff in it and get it winterized and summerized (why is summerized not a word but winterized is?) or whatever. There is a lot to do when you own a home. And all that stuff takes time and energy and money. Those are side effects of stuff.

Now, the good news for those in debt is there has never been an easier time for you to sell some or even most of that stuff. That’s right. If you are in unmanageable debt, stuff is the enemy and it is time to sell it. Let me give you an illustration. Many years ago there was a precious person in our community that constantly struggled with money issues. They were consistently late paying bills and had a hard time paying even for food and medicine.

Thankfully, we have always had a food pantry and this church often helped them with food but also with money to pay rent and other necessities. Then one day I saw they had a picture posted on Facebook of them standing in front of a large boat. I couldn’t see but the front end in the picture and it wasn’t very clear so when I saw them next, I asked about whose boat that was.

“Oh, that’s ours. It used to be Ross Perot’s boat but it’s ours now. We could sell it right now for probably $50,000 but I’m going to fix it up.” Do you see what I mean about stuff having side effects? Not only is that a great way to get on Todd’s bad side but that boat was keeping them from true freedom.

That’s a pretty extreme case, but even the little stuff can keep you from having the freedom that God desires for you. I remember reading something years ago when I was so deep in debt that changed my life. It was written by a man who had gotten out of massive debt and he said one of the first things he did was sell nearly everything he owned. His advice was sell everything that is not making you money or putting food in your mouth.

I remember he said, not “putting food on your table” because you don’t need a table. You think you do but you don’t. You don’t need all those shoes. You don’t need all those clothes. Sell them. I know you won’t get anything near what you paid for them but that’s okay. Get rid of the toys, the tools, the Christmas tree, even the pets. Sell all that stuff.  And with today’s technology there is no easier time to do it.

I know that sounds drastic but that is part of going to God with open hands. A little bit of manageable debt is not sinful and having stuff is not sinful but having debt steal your freedom to give generously like God gives, especially while you have stuff is sinful. How bad do you want God to help you out of debt? Are you willing to give up what you don’t need to be more like your Father, God?

I know that some of this has been hard to hear for some of you. But if you are serious about getting free and getting out of that death hole that is debt, then you will do whatever it takes. I’m out of time this morning but I hope you will come back tonight because I have some good material and resources for you, especially if you have debt.

God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’" I can be content because God will always be beside me. As Jesus said: He knows what I need. Now Paul said pretty much the same thing in Philippians 4:12. “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

And what is that secret? “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

A few verses later, he writes this:

“…my God will meet all your NEEDS according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Do you know Him today? Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you know for sure that if you died today that you would go to Heaven? You can. Ask God to forgive you of your sins. Repent of those sins and turn away from that lifestyle. If you just believe that Jesus is God and died on the cross to pay for your sins, you can live with Him for eternity in Heaven. Do that right now as the music plays.

“When Satan Attacks Our Finances” – Part 2 – 1 Cor. 16:1-4

Years ago, there was a shepherd that had a little flock of sheep that he tended the best that he could. He enjoyed being a shepherd even though his flock was small and sometimes unruly. They weren’t the most perfect flock of sheep but he loved them and took care of them and every week he would lead them from one pasture to another searching for the best grass to graze in.

Every week when they left the main pasture, the shepherd would lead them out of the gate and across the prairie and he always walked well around this little draw on the property because he knew that, although it wasn’t much more than a little ditch, there was some thorn bushes in there where the sheep might get caught and he didn’t want that. He had even seen some snakes in that area before and so he went well around that little draw every week as he would lead the sheep to pasture.

Now, sheep aren’t real smart but some of them figured out that it would be faster and easier to walk through this little draw because they knew where the shepherd was leading them and it didn’t make any sense to them to go all the way around when they could just walk through. The pastor, I mean, shepherd turned around and saw what was happening but he didn’t want the sheep to think he was mean by yelling at them or trying to use his staff on them to guide them so he just let the ones that wanted to walk through the draw and into the thorns and the snakes.

Now, let me ask you a couple of questions. What do you think happened to those sheep that went into the draw? The got stuck, didn’t they? And they might have gotten bitten by a snake too. And whose fault was it that they got stuck and / or bit? Was it the fault of the sheep or of the shepherd? The sheep didn’t know any better but the shepherd did and even though he didn’t want to hurt the sheep’s feelings, he did even worse by not warning them. He wasn’t a good shepherd, was he? I think you understand my little made up parable.

In Acts 20:27, Paul says, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” He was saying that he had taught them everything that God had told him or showed him or revealed to him in any way. He knew some of it would be hard to understand and more would be hard to actually do but if they didn’t do it, it wasn’t because they had not been told. He preached the whole counsel of God; what we have today as the whole Bible.

I learned a long time ago that some scripture is more popular than others. Everybody likes Philippians 4:13 that says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Everybody has that memorized. And who doesn’t love Deuteronomy 31 that says, “He will never leave you nor forsake you”? Those are truths and those are good to learn and study but to preach the whole counsel of God, I have to include those difficult subjects like divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, Hell, suffering, repentance, revenge and even what God says about giving money.

I want you to know this morning that I, too, am innocent of the blood of all, as Paul says, because I have not shrunk from declaring the whole counsel…except…giving money. I have been a pastor for eight years and not one time have I preached on the topic of giving. Every one of my sermons from the past eight years is online and you can go back and research this. Not one time have I preached solely on giving or tithes or offerings. Not once.

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes the subject comes up; maybe before we take up the offering as part of our worship time or maybe some other time and what do I always say? God doesn’t need your money and this church doesn’t need your money. Scripture doesn’t teach that we give money to the church to meet the needs of the church. The reason we give is not to keep the lights on or to pay me or to support missionaries. Those things all happen as a result of our giving but that’s not the reason we give. We give because it is part of our worship of all-mighty, all-loving, all-powerful God.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 16, if you would please, and let’s see what Paul said about it as he wrote to the church in Corinth and continued his ongoing message of the whole counsel of God. As you turn to 1 Corinthians 16, I will point out what Paul was just saying in the previous chapter. Now, when Paul wrote this, he was writing in response to a letter they had sent him and was answering their questions that they had written and you need to understand that he did not break his letter up into chapters or even paragraphs. The people that interpreted this letter from the Greek did that for us to help us find our way through it.

So, in the previous chapter, the previous few paragraphs, Paul lays out the Gospel of Jesus. He tells again how Jesus died, was buried and rose again on the third day – the resurrection - the absolute heart of the Gospel - and then he goes into what we call the 16^th chapter. Let’s read that, verses 1-4.

“Now about the collection for the LORD's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.”

Concerning this passage, W.A. Criswell once said, “It’s just as much of the inspired Word of God to talk about the collection as it is to talk about the glorious doctrine of the resurrection.  They’re all the same.  They’re in the same spot.  They’re in the same tenor.  They’re in the same vein.  They’re in the same breath.  They’re in the same Book.  They’re in the same Bible.  They’re in the same place.  They’re in the same letter.  It’s right there, the same.” Thank you, Dr. Criswell.

Paul goes from talking about the Gospel and why we worship Jesus to the topic of giving which is part of how we worship. Paul says this collection is for the Lord’s people. What he is talking about is a collection of money to be given to the church in Jerusalem. There are several reasons why the church in Jerusalem need financial help but since I spent the first fifteen minutes telling you why I need to preach this, I’ll skip right to the good stuff.

The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) makes it clear that we should minister personally and financially to anyone in need, regardless of religion, culture or circumstances. Paul also teaches that we should “do good to all men” (Gal. 6:10). But in the same verse he goes on to say, “And especially to those who are of the family of believers.” (MacArthur, Page 451)

It’s a good thing to support the arts or the library or the dog pound or whatever charity you like but, as Christians, we only have a responsibility to support the church. And by “church”, I mean the world-wide family of believers. An individual in the church may support the arts but the arts are never going to support the church. That is our responsibility.

It is interesting, at least to me, that Paul mentions this collection at least nine different times in his writings and uses a different word each time. In this passage, he uses the word, “logia”, which means an extra collection. A “logia” was something that was the opposite of a tax which a man had to pay. It was an extra piece of giving. (Barclay, page 163)

Guys, have you ever eaten a meal and then seen your wife start to wash dishes and you asked her if you could help her? I know, for some of you macho men, that’s crazy. But, if you ask, she might say, “Only if you want to.” Right? She also might say, “You better, fat boy, if you don’t want to sleep on the couch.” But if she says, “Only if you want to” then she wants you to but she wants you to want to. Doesn’t she? That’s sort of a “logia.”

We don’t give to the church to be a member of the church or to pay the church dues or as a rule we don’t want to break to stay in good standing. We give a gift or a “logia” because we want to. We believe in what the church is doing. We want to be a part of that ministry. It may not be much, but we give, as Paul said, in keeping with our income. So, how much is required?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=130&v=X19whTt_aus

That video says this: Many Christians struggle with the issue of tithing. In some churches giving is over-emphasized. At the same time, many Christians refuse to submit to the biblical exhortations about making offerings to the Lord. Tithing/giving is intended to be a joy and a blessing. Sadly, that is sometimes not the case in the church today. Tithing is an Old Testament concept. The tithe was a requirement of the Law in which the Israelites were to give 10 percent of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised to the tabernacle/temple (Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 14:24; 2 Chronicles 31:5). In fact, the Old Testament Law required multiple tithes—one for the Levites, one for the use of the temple and the feasts, and one for the poor of the land—which would have pushed the total to around 23.3 percent. Some understand the Old Testament tithe as a method of taxation to provide for the needs of the priests and Levites in the sacrificial system.

After the death of Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, the New Testament nowhere commands, or even recommends, that Christians submit to a legalistic tithe system. The New Testament nowhere designates a percentage of income a person should set aside, but only says gifts should be “in keeping with income” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Some in the Christian church have taken the 10 percent figure from the Old Testament tithe and applied it as a “recommended minimum” for Christians in their giving.

The New Testament talks about the importance and benefits of giving. We are to give as we are able. Sometimes that means giving more than 10 percent; sometimes that may mean giving less. It all depends on the ability of the Christian and the needs of the body of Christ. Every Christian should diligently pray and seek God’s wisdom in the matter of participating in tithing and/or how much to give (James 1:5). Above all, all tithes and offerings should be given with pure motives and an attitude of worship to God and service to the body of Christ. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). (https://www.gotquestions.org/tithing-Christian.html)

God loves a cheerful giver. Some of you remember a while back, one of the inmates we had ministered to decided, on his own, that he needed to give a gift, a “logia”, to our church every time he got paid. He made something like two dollars a day and got paid once a month and once a month he would send in his gift to our church, that he considered his church, and he was so happy to do it!

For God, the Creator of the universe and the One who makes a couple of loaves and fishes feed thousands and Who paves the streets of Heaven with pure gold, that gift is priceless because that gift is from the heart, in keeping with his income and then some. You don’t have to have me up here telling you it is a blessing to give. All you have to do is try it.

Do you know what the problem is? The problem is all the TV evangelists that talk incessantly about money and how you need to give to their ministry so you will be blessed and then we see the mansions they live in and the Ferraris they drive and it ruins the message that scripture teaches. Satan always takes what is lovely and pure and good and a blessing and twists it into something perverted and wrong. He does it with sex and love, food and contentment, money and power – anything that brings contentment and blessing, Satan attacks and tries to put his spin on it.

Satan wants you to think that all preachers ever preach on is money so they can take it and be rich, and a few of them do that and that gives all of us a bad reputation. Or he wants you to think that if you give your money, God will reward you with money back. That is not what scripture teaches. Or maybe Satan has led you to believe that God needs your money or this church needs your money. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I heard the joke about the guy that asked God how much a penny was worth in Heaven and God replied, “A million dollars.” The guy then asked how long a minute was in Heaven and God said it was a million years. The man thought for a second and said, “God, will you give me a penny?” God said, “Sure. In a minute.”

God needs your money like a man drowning in a lake needs a glass of water. That’s not why we give. Scripture doesn’t teach we are to give so the shepherd will have a way to fleece the sheep. We give because we need to.

If you want to absolutely ruin your children, give them everything they want. Never let them pay for anything or work for anything. Just be their best friend and give it to them. It’s what is happening to our nation right now. When you give everything away to everybody that asks for it, you suck the motivation and pride and discipline right out of people and those are all qualities that make a strong person and a strong nation.

It’s the same in our spiritual lives. I heard a man tell the story the other day of when he was a little boy sitting in church and he heard a missionary from China tell about how the Gospel was changing lives in the Chinese people; how hearing about how Jesus loved them and had died for them and rose again and wanted to have a relationship with them was the spark that so many Chinese people needed to survive and even thrive in that oppressive communist society.

So, the little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out the only money he had and put that one little nickel in the offering plate when it was passed to support that missionary. And he said for the rest of his life he felt a connection to that missionary, that mission, that ministry and to China itself, knowing he had some small part in it.

Giving is good for the person that gives and it is also good for God. Again, God doesn’t need your money but He deserves your honor and one of the ways we show our honor to God is by giving. Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.” It’s about what you value. We value our taste buds, so we give money for food. We value education, so we give money for books and tuition. We value entertainment, so we give money for cable TV, Netflix, sporting events, concerts and more. We value the ministries of the church and the spread of the gospel, so we give money to the church and other ministries. (Michael Deutsch) Jesus said in Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Don’t tell me you love God and the church if you never give because that contradicts what Jesus just said. How much you give is between you and God. And maybe God repays you with money. Maybe not. Maybe He repays you with health. Maybe not. Maybe He doesn’t repay you at all in this life since everything is already His but I can promise you, because Jesus said it, that you are storing up eternal treasure in Heaven with every dime. (Matthew 6:20)

Look, all of this is in the context of how to handle it when Satan attacks our finances and this is the number one way he attacks Christians financially. He tells you that you can’t afford to tithe or give any kind of “logia” to the church. And when you believe that lie you miss out on God’s wonderfully fuzzy math.

A friend of mine got divorced and agreed to assume all the debt the couple had together and when the bills all came in he realized the wife had racked up over $25,000 in credit card debt he didn’t know about. So, he sold the house and almost everything in it; closed out his IRA, worked another job and did everything he knew to do but there was no way he would ever pay off all that debt. In all of that, he had a choice: to give or not to give – that was the question 😊. To this day, if you ask him, he will testify that it was because he chose to give his tithe every week that God worked his fuzzy math and in just a few years was completely out of debt.

Last Sunday night, we were talking about some of what had been mentioned in the sermon that morning and Janet used the old phrase, “You can’t out-give God.” And I said, “Oh, Janet, that is the most cliché…” I got about that far and she got all embarrassed and apologized but I said, “No, that is the most cliché TRUTH ever spoken!”

There is one place, one scenario that God says we can and should test Him. ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’” ― Malachi 3:10

I’m never going to beg for your money. Of all my concerns, money is the least of them. God protects and provides for me and for this church with crazy generosity so I’m not asking for your money. I’m asking you – because I love you –

to believe what Jesus said and start storing up treasures in Heaven by giving; if not to this church, then give to some other church in the area. It is the absolute best protection against Satan’s financial attacks that you can have.

As your pastor and as your friend, I want you to live a full and abundant life; the life that Jesus spoke of in John 10:10. I want that so bad for you that I am willing to preach the difficult things of scripture; the topics that are hard to do and hard to understand to the best of my ability. I will always preach the whole counsel of God and at the core of that is the Gospel.

None of this helps if there is no Gospel. If Jesus had not come into the world to live, die, be buried and rise again then none of this matters or is even true. But since He lives and wants to have a relationship with us, I encourage you to be obedient to what He says in scripture and that starts with giving your entire life to Him.

That includes your finances, your concerns, your dreams, your pain and your sin – everything that make you you. Give all of that to Him today. Ask Him right now for forgiveness of your sins as we bow our heads and close our eyes as the music plays. Repent of those sins. Turn away from that lifestyle. I know it’s hard but you can do it with His help and He wants to help. He wants you to have peace and joy along with that forgiveness and all you have to do is accept it and believe. Do that right now.

“When Satan Attacks Our Finances” – Part 1 – 1 Timothy 6:6-10

I have a test for you. I’m going to ask you some questions but I don’t want you to answer out loud. I don’t want you to share you answers. I just want you to think about what you would do. Let’s say you go out to eat this afternoon and as you are sitting at the table, the waitress walks by and accidentally drops a $1 bill right next to your chair. No one is looking. There are no cameras. No one will ever know. You pick up the dollar and…what do you do with it?

Do you put it in your pocket, knowing that the waitress will never know? Or do you give it back? Now, same scenario, but it’s a $10. What do you do? Lastly, it’s a $100 bill. Does that change anything for you? Knowing that nobody will ever know, what do you do?

Now, here’s how to score yourself on this test. If you kept the money in all three instances, you are just a jerk and I give you a score of 50. But if you returned the dollar bill but kept either the 10 or the 100, then, especially for a Christian, there is something terribly wrong with you and I give you a zero.

I give you a zero because you put a price on your integrity. Giving back the one but keeping the others shows me that you know it’s wrong but if the price is right, you would do it anyway. It shows me that you put money above your relationship to God and scripture says that you will regret that bitterly ever after. (1 Tim. 6:10 The Message)

If I were to ask Christians anywhere if they put money above God, I doubt if anybody would ever admit or even realize that it was. Surely none of us here today make money an idol. That’s ridiculous. We are mature Christians. Why, we graduated from Christ Fellowship Boot Camp last year. We know better than that. Right?

Well, I want to warn you that it is always a temptation. Satan loves to attack us financially and scripture talks a lot about how we are to use our money. Jesus talked a whole lot about money so it must be a pretty important topic. It must be a pretty good barometer of who we really are and what our relationship to God is like if there is so much attention paid to it.

Partly because scripture addresses it so often and partly because I see the need so often, not just in our church but in our community, I want to spend a little time talking about it for the next few Sundays. We saw last year as we went through Boot Camp and on into Combat Training and Specialty School, etc., how Satan attacks us physically and mentally and spiritually. I want to start 2019 off by continuing to look at how Satan attacks us financially.

To start us off, I want to look at an overview of money. We need to make sure we have a good handle on what money is and isn’t and the consequences of not realizing the truth of it. So, turn to 1 Timothy 6 and let’s see what Paul said about it to his young preacher boy, Timothy.

The book of Timothy is in the New Testament after Colossians and Thessalonians but before Titus and Philemon. In most of the Bibles in the pew it is on page ??? 1 Timothy is considered one of the Pastoral Letters that Paul wrote along with 2 Timothy and Titus and he wrote these to instruct these men on how to be the kind of pastor their churches needed for them to be so you can imagine Paul brought up the topic of money.

I got a call the other day from a woman in the community who said her cat had died and she asked me if I would do the funeral for it. I told her that we don’t do cat funerals around here and maybe she should call the Methodist Church in Bridgeport. She said she would and she said that was a good idea because they could probably use the $10,000 she was going to pay the pastor for doing it. I said, “Now wait just a second. You didn’t tell me the cat was a Baptist!”

Turn to 1 Timothy 6 and let’s see what one pastor told another pastor about money. Starting in verse 6 through verse 10, it says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Let me ask you a question before we dive into this passage. We are starting a series on how to respond when Satan attacks our finances. Well, how do we know when it is Satan attacking? Because sometimes, like in every aspect of our lives, we make bad decisions and bad things come from those bad decisions. That is not Satan attacking.

Sometimes, as we saw last week from John 15, God prunes us to help us be more fruitful and that pruning is often painful. That is not Satan attacking. Then, sometimes bad things happen to us because we live in a sin-sick and fallen world. That’s not a direct attack by Satan either. So, we have to make sure that we are close enough to God to make good decisions through the peace that the Holy Spirit gives and so we know when He is pruning us to make us more like Him.

I’m afraid that when it comes to finances and having stuff and collecting material goods, we sometimes feel like Satan is attacking when really we should just be content with what we have. Maybe Satan is not necessarily attacking your finances so much as he is attacking your desire for more stuff.

Look at verse 6 again. “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” What is “godliness”? The word means literally to be like God; to share some of the attributes of God. And what does God want? What does God desire? What is His greatest wish? Do you think God wishes He had a new bass boat? Do you think He is up there checking His bank account and thinking, “You know, since I own the cattle on a thousand hills, I better sell a few head so I can get that new iPhone X that just came out.”

I doubt it. God only wants to have a relationship with you. He already owns everything so He is content and we can be content just having a relationship with Him. Everybody wants to be content but there is a trick played on you when you try to be content with more stuff because more is never enough. So how do we become contented? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” (KJV) That “sufficiency” is the same as contentment. What we have in God is sufficient and we are content.

Again, Paul said in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” He said in Philippians 4:11 (that Philippians 4 is packed full of good stuff, isn’t it?) that he can be content in whatever circumstances he was in. How? Because he said we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. (4:13)

Here are some quotes from some people besides Paul: I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness--John W. Rockefeller. 

The care of $200,000,000 is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it--W.H. Vanderbilt. 

I am the most miserable man on earth--John Jacob Astor. 

I was happier when doing a mechanic's job--Henry Ford.

Millionaires seldom smile--Andrew Carnegie.

Source Unknown.

When your desire is for more money and stuff, you lose your contentment. Also, when your desire is for more money and stuff, you are concentrating on something that is temporary. Look at verse 7 again. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. Job said something similar in his first chapter (1:21), “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart.”

Jesus had a lot to say about storing up temporary riches. In Matthew 6:19-20 He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Now, we all know it is wise to prepare for the future. You should have some kind of plan for retirement and old age or kids going to college. I know, some of you are just trying to make it to Friday but you need to have a long-term plan. It’s foolish not to do that. In the Old Testament, Joseph was a great model for doing that when he stored up grain in the prosperous years for use during the coming famine when he was in charge of Egypt. (Genesis 41)

But in the passage I just read, Jesus said not to store up treasures for yourself. So, it seems to give conflicting messages. Well, skip down to verse 10 of our main passage in 1 Timothy 6. Verse 10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” It talks about the love of money and being eager for money. It is an issue of the heart.

I was looking back at that story about Joseph in the book of Genesis. I love that story. Some day we’ll do a sermon series just on Joseph and all that he went through. But maybe you remember that Joseph was in prison and he interpreted some dreams for a couple of guys. God gave Joseph that ability several times in his life and sometimes it worked out well and sometimes it didn’t.

In Genesis 41, Pharaoh calls for Joseph to come out of the prison and interpret a dream he had. In verse 15, Pharaoh says, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." Now, if you were Joseph, having been put in prison under false pretenses for several years, what would you say to Pharaoh?

I think I would have said something along the lines of, “Well, first let’s talk about my living conditions, big boy, then we talk dreams.” Right? Or maybe, you would just be honest and say, “Yea, I can interpret dreams.” But Joseph did something different. It’s like he heard my sermon from last week and he knew what his one job was or something. (Probably read it online. Maybe he got hold of a CD or something. I don’t know.) Listen to how Joseph responds. 16"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires."

Boom! He made God look good. Did you see that? I can’t do it. But God can. That was his first response and God blessed it. In this instance, Pharaoh made him second in command over all of Egypt. And because God is God and His ways are higher than our ways, maybe He does the same for you. You might not even want to be second in command of Egypt but one thing I know He will do: He will give you contentment with what you have.

That’s the secret. Make wise choices. Plan for the future but be aware that none of us are guaranteed another breath. There’s nothing wrong with being rich. There is nothing wrong with being poor. The problem comes when we are discontented with what we have and we start to focus more on the money than our relationship with God.

If you have a job, you should be thankful for it and be the best worker your boss has. But if your job keeps you out of church, what is that telling God? “God, I know you own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know you created all things. I know you own all things and you are loaded but…I have to go to work instead of being with my family at Christ Fellowship. I have to provide for my family. I have to do this and I have to do that, oh almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God.” It sounds ridiculous when you put it like that, doesn’t it?

Or what about when you worry about finances? What does that tell God? “God, I trust you…pretty much…sorta…except with my money. That part I’ll take care of. God, I want you to be Lord of my life…except for my finances. I’ll be the lord of that but I will ask for your blessings while I do it.”

Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman.  "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked.  "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me." The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?"  "You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist.
"What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea. Our Daily Bread, May 18, 1994.

"Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."  Benjamin Franklin.

And where does contentment come from? It comes from God and when we make God look good, Satan can attack all he wants to. We will be content in whatever circumstance we are in.

God is concerned about your finances. He’s not worried but He is concerned and He knows it takes money to buy food at Walmart and it takes money to put gas in the tank and He knows the money pit that kids and I’m sure He wonders like I do why people don’t have dogs instead of kids, but I digress.

God knows you need some money and some stuff to live but Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” You make Him look good and God will take care of you. But you can only be taken care of like He wants to if He is Lord of all of your life and that starts with confessing your sins to Him and asking Him for forgiveness. Admit to Him that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that it is your belief that Jesus died on the cross to provide the punishment that we couldn’t pay for those sins. Then make Him Lord of all of your life and allow Him to start changing you, molding you, guiding you and giving you all these things as well. Do it right now as the music plays.

“You Have One Job” – Ephesians 6:10

*Show pics of examples of having one job and messing it up*

Maybe you have seen those or seen some like those before. I’ve always thought they were funny but I was thinking about it the other day and I’m sure most of the people that made those mistakes actually had more than one job to do. Almost every job requires doing more than one thing but when you do your main job wrong, that can follow you around for a long time. In fact, if you do the main part of your job wrong, it doesn’t matter how well you do the little stuff.

Now, as Christians, what is our main job? You might know the answer to this if you were with us all this past year as we talked about how to handle it when Satan attacks us. We talked over and over again how important it is to make God look good even in the midst of the worst Satanic attacks. That, in a nutshell and without churchy talk, is our main job as Christians; to make God look good.

We know that we, as Christians, are also supposed to read the Bible and pray. We should disciple people and be discipled. We should evangelize (tell others about Jesus) and we should go to church and give generously and don’t forget to take a shower. Nobody gets discipled or evangelized by a stinky Christian. Right? We have multiple things we are supposed to do but if you don’t make God look good in the difficult times as well as the good times then you are not doing your main job.

How many of you have ever worked any kind of construction? Maybe you framed houses or roofed or did remodeling or concrete or something similar. What’s the first thing you do when you get to the job site? You look for power. You hook up the extension cords and unravel the air hoses and get everything plugged in so you have power to do what you are supposed to do.

You could use a hand saw to cut boards like they did a hundred years ago when Troy was working construction. And you can use a hammer and nails and stir concrete in a wheel barrow with a stick. Maybe you can even make bricks out of mud and straw. But if you want to compete in the modern world, you rely on electrical power to run generators and compressors and nail guns and you use diesel-powered machinery to get the job done. You need outside power.

It’s the same in the life of a Christian. For a big chunk of 2018, we looked at the wonderful passage in Ephesians 6 that talks about how we are to put on the full armor of God. We looked at each piece that Paul mentioned in depth and detail because we were talking all through 2018 about how to handle it when Satan attacks us.

Now, since we spent literally all of 2018 looking at how to handle those attacks by Satan, how many of you can say that you are out of the woods and Satan doesn’t bother you anymore? I can stop hammering on it. You learned how to put on the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and you are never bothered by temptation or difficulties of that nature any more. Anybody? No? Of course not. Satan is always going to attack you. That’s his one job and he’s good at it.

So, we are going to continue looking at how to handle it when Satan attacks us in part (not all) of 2019, starting next Sunday by looking specifically how to handle all the attacks on our finances. But before we go there, we have to know where we get the power. Because you can try to do it yourself. You can start 2019 with a resolution to do better and try harder and read more scripture and tell more people about Jesus and you can resolve to spend more time in prayer and do all the things you are supposed to do, including showering, and I give the best of you about two weeks like that. Because you just can’t do it on your own. Thankfully though, we have the secret right here in Ephesians 6, that same passage where Paul talks about the armor of God, he starts by telling us the secret to putting all that on. Look at it in Ephesians 6, verse 10.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Repeat.

There are two things I want to look at in this verse: What is this power and strength and how do we get it? First, let’s look at what this power is. According to my concordance, there are six different words under the heading “power” but the one that Paul uses here is “kratos” and it means “the manifest (seen, obvious) power of God.” It is the dominating, effective and oppressive power of, not just the Creator of the universe, but of the Father who brought the Son out of the grave.

Ephesians 1:18-20 says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.”

Would you say that when God the Father drew Jesus out of death and out of the tomb that it was a pretty close call between God and Satan? Would you describe that effort by the Father as barely getting it done or that it was touch and go there for a while to see if He could actually do it? Did Satan come in a close second in that vicious struggle over death?

No! You would describe that power as dominating, effective and oppressive. It wasn’t even close. Alright, we don’t have to get into an argument here but somebody tell me who the best professional football team is right now because I have no idea. Let’s say that professional team were to play Bridgeport, what would happen? And by “Bridgeport” I mean the Bridgeport Middle School Sissies Volleyball team. How close would a football game be between those two teams? You get my point.

How many of you need a little bit of that kind of power in your life when Satan comes creepy-crawling around trying to attack you? Man, I do. I want that dominating, effective and oppressive power when Satan attacks me physically. I want it when he attacks me spiritually. I want it when he attacks me financially. Don’t you?

Of course, you do. The question is, how bad do you want it? Do you want it bad enough to keep all the Ten Commandments? Do you want that power in your life bad enough to follow all the Old Testament dietary restrictions and all the 613 or so Jewish laws? Do you want it bad enough to be a good enough person to deserve that kind of power? Me neither.

Aren’t you glad that’s not how you get it? Aren’t you thankful that you don’t have to work harder for it or be better for it or do anything to deserve it? So, the obvious question is, how do we get this power? And Jesus answered that question best when He told His disciples in John 15, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Jesus said we are to remain in Him and we will bear much fruit. Bearing fruit is His way of describing something miraculous and powerful and we can do miraculous and powerful things when we remain or abide in Him. The King James translates it “abide”. Do you know what it means to abide? Again, going back to my concordance, the word is “meno” and it means to dwell, to stay; to continue or even to live in a certain place.

For example, in John 1:38-39, two of the disciples who first encountered Jesus asked him “Where are you staying?” They wanted to know where Jesus made his residence. The word “staying” is the same word translated “abide” in John 15. To abide is to reside. To abide is to continue, to stay, to remain.

Do we have any hot tea drinkers here? I enjoy a hot cup of tea, especially on a cold day. I might have two or three, in fact.  Even if you don’t drink it, you probably have seen people put the tea bag in the cup of hot water. Now, most people start stirring it around and dipping down and bringing it up, in and out of the water. They like to wrap the string around the spoon and dip it and swish it. Not me. I like to just let that tea bag…abide.

I want that hot water to soak all through that tea bag and I want that tea bag to go all through that water until it is completely steeped and has a really strong flavor. You know what I mean? Just leave it in there until it is completely ready. To misquote Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that it is tea.”

Now, obviously, the correct version of Psalm 46:10 is “Be still and know that I am God.” Let your hands hang down. Quit trying to solve the problem and fix everything. What this looks like in your life is when you are being attacked by Satan or maybe you just have some other kind of problem in your life, since you are so close to God; you are abiding in Him; you are resting and dwelling in Him and He in you, now just whisper your problem to Him and confess that you are helpless to fix it. Admit that you are very concerned but because His word tells you to come boldly into His throne room to find help in your time of need (Heb. 4:16), that you are doing just that.

In fervent prayer, fasting when needed, go to God with your problem and with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6) for being able to do so, leave that problem at the feet of the Creator and Sustainer who brought Jesus out of the tomb and who wants you to have that same power and take away from Him His joy and His peace. And when that happens you go make God look good by telling somebody else what He has done. That’s your job!

You may have to do that job every five minutes for a while but that’s okay. Repeat as necessary. Abide in Him. When a problem comes, just take it to Him in prayer and leave it there. Take His joy and peace and go tell somebody. Job one, job done.

Now, there are at least two myths we need to clear up in this. First myth is if I abide in God then I don’t have to do anything except sit on the couch watching Oprah and eating bon-bons. Right? God is going to do all the work. I don’t have to do anything. Isn’t that what it means to abide and be still and know He is God? Be a tea bag? Not quite.

Have you ever seen a well-trained dog being walked on a leash by his master? My dogs see a leash and think, “What is that?” But a well-trained dog walks beside his master and is constantly looking up. He is constantly watching his master, wanting to know what he wants and where he is leading, taking cues from the leash and where the master is looking and how and where he is walking. Yes, he has time to look around and smell the grass and do what he needs to do but his purpose is to go where his master wants to go. He’s not worried about where it is or how long it’s going to take or how many hills or obstacles will be in the way because he knows his master loves him and is in control. What does he have to worry about? I think you can understand that illustration for your own life.

Now, the second myth is that there won’t be any hills or obstacles in the way if I abide in God. I mean if God loves us and is in control then why would He allow us to suffer? Louis D. Brandeis once said, “If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you.” That is true for Christians and non-Christians alike. In fact, if you go back to the story Jesus was telling about the vine and the branch in John 15, Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Sometimes what we see as an attack by Satan because it is so painful and difficult is just the Father, the Gardener, pruning us and making us more like Him. Again, through the pruning, all we have to do is abide in Him, looking to Him, trusting in Him, leaving our problems and difficulties with Him and taking from Him His peace and His joy. And when we do that we can make Him look good. That’s your one job. Don’t mess it up.

I will close by just saying that everything I have said here this morning; the abiding, the joy, the peace, everything except maybe the showering is impossible if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus. The good news there, though, is, once again, you don’t have to be good enough. You don’t have to earn it. You don’t have to change yourself and be clean before you do it. All you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ is God, that He died on the cross to pay the price for your sins that you could never pay. Then allow Him to come into your life; abide in your life as you abide in Him and ask Him for forgiveness of your sins. Then let Him change you as He abides in you. Do that right now as the music plays.