Beauty And The Beast Pt.2 Series

INTRO: One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a rabbi, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street, "What do you see?" asked the rabbi.

"I see men, women, and children," answered the rich man.

Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?"

"Now I see myself," the rich man replied.

Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself."

-Money is an important issue. Jesus spoke more about money, possessions, and finances than he did about heaven and hell combined.

-In Matthew, Mark, and Luke one out of every six verses relates to money or possessions. Out of 29 parables, 16 of them relate to a person and his or her money.

-The reason money is so important is because it is a spiritual issue.

What I mean: Money is both a thermometer and a thermostat. I believe Jesus spent so much time on money because it relates to our spiritual condition.

A thermometer tells us the temperature of the climate we’re in. It also gives us the temperature of our responses, showing us what we believe in God and the health of our relationship. Just as we can look at a gauge to see how hot or cold it is, we can look at money and gauge our spiritual condition.

-Money is not only a thermometer it’s also a thermostat. A thermostat dictates the climate. The way we treat money will determine the ceilings that exist in our spiritual journey. There are some aspects to our spiritual journey that will cause a standstill. Until we get some things straightened out in our posture towards possessions and money, we will go no further.

Today: I’m continuing our series on the beauty and the beast. We’ve been looking at financial fairy tales. Our response will determine whether the beauty comes out or if the beast comes out.

Friends: We live in the most consumer oriented culture in the history of the world. We are constantly being bombarded and our sinful desires line up nicely with what our culture teaches.

Theme: 2nd myth we will look at: "Character really does not matter when it comes to money."

TITLE: Beauty and the Beast – Part 2

TEXT: Luke 16:10-14

-This passage reveals why Jesus spent so much time dealing with money. Money is a spiritual issue. It’s not an issue of quantity; it’s an issue of character.

-You cannot separate the material from the spiritual.

I. Principle:

1) Faithful with little will be faithful with much; Unfaithful with little will be unfaithful with much.

2) Faithful with worldly wealth will be faithful with spiritual wealth; Unfaithful with worldly wealth will be unfaithful with spiritual wealth.

3) Unfaithful steward will receive nothing in return.

4) Can’t serve two masters.

Point: This is speaking about character. When we approach money and possessions from this angle (angle of character) we can have victory.

II. Look at four character traits with which we can battle the beast.

A. Contentment deals with "how much is enough?"

1. We looked at these last week.

-We need an eternal perspective.

-Understand what is a necessity.

-Be aware there is a price to pay if we ignore the situation. -Pursue maturity.

2. 3 other tactics I didn’t mention last week.

a. The mindset of humility: "not to be arrogant," Paul says. (1 Timothy 6:17a)

-Greek speaks about high-mindedness. ("Look what I’ve done.")

-There is no way I can be content and be arrogant. (God has given all to me.)

Thought: A lot of people think they are okay with God because God is blessing them and things are good. This is not necessarily true because Romans 2:4 tells us it’s the kindness of God that leads us to salvation. Through his kindness he is drawing people.

-All the great stuff going on is not the rubber stamp of approval that says everything is OK.

b. 2nd tactic to learning contentment: "nor to put their hope in wealth" is to have a proper perspective of security. (1 Timothy 6:17b)

-Where is your security? It’s amazing how much we look to money for security.

Examples: Retirement accounts, IRAs, our employment.

-Rather, our security should be in God. "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

c. 3rd tactic to help learn contentment: an attitude of generosity. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)

-Seneca, a Roman statesman: "Money has never made anyone rich." -It can also be said that money has never made anyone content.