TL_72_Reject Covetousness & Idolatry
C. BEWARE THE LOVE OF MONEY – Part 4 of 5
7. Possession Can Be Dangerous
Possessing money can arouse areas of sin and weakness we have failed to deal within our lives.
a. Sin And Weaknesses Aroused, Paul says of the righteous law of God, “I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet. ‘But sin taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind…” (Rom 7:7).
“But sin used this law against evil desires by reminding me that such desires are wrong and aroused all kinds of for-bidden desires within me!” (Rom 7:8 tlb).
It is the same way with money as it is with the Law. Paul found that a righteous and good commandment of the Law aroused the sin that dwelt in him. Money is not bad in itself. But, when we have money the potential for it to arouse covetousness, selfishness and greed is very strong.
As the Lord begins to bless a church leader, he will minister in the power of grace of God. This blessing usually results in an increased flow of finance into the church
At this church leader’s church continues to receive blessing from the Lord, his sinful nature may become aroused and he may begin to covet and misuse the Lord’s money. The money given him for good becomes a temptation for evil and corrupts the ministry and the church leader.
b. Selfishness Revealed. “But”, you may ask, “how can I know whether I will have a problem with a lot of money until I have it?” I can tell what a man will do with a thousand dollars by what he does with one dollar.
“He who is faithful in very little is faithful also in mu ch; and he who is unrighteous in very little is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10). How you spend a little money shows how you will spend a lot of money.
In 1950, when I was in training to be a missionary, I moved into a community dormitory at the “missionary boot camp,” (that is what they called the place.) There were seventeen of us in that dormitory.
The trainee serving as cook for the week was to buy the food. Each person was supposed to contribute three dollars weekly to a “food fund” this would provide fifty dollars a week for groceries to feed the seventeen students.
After the first couple of weeks, only three of us out of the seventeen trainees continued to contribute to the grocery fund faithfully. all the other trainees had some excuse why they couldn’t put in their share. This really impressed me the week it was my responsibility to feed the seventeen. All I had was nine dollars.
During that year, the Lord miraculously provided a large sum of money to us that was divided up among all of the students who were in my dormitory.
Following this, most of the students went into town and came back with cameras, guns and radios. They all reasoned that these things would be necessary when they became missionaries.
But do you know that when we got back to the dormitory routine and our students no more were putting their money into the “food fund” than before.
Only three of the seventeen went on to become missionaries. I’ll bet you can guess which three. Although they had convinced themselves the reasons they bought their cameras and guns were good, they had proven to every one else they were basically selfish at heart, and a selfish person will never be a good missionary.
Next week
Beware the Love of Money 5