Greed Series

Passage: Genesis 13:10-13; 2 Peter 2:7-8

A woman decided to have her portrait painted. She told the artist, "Paint me with diamond rings, a diamond necklace, emerald bracelets, a ruby broach, and gold Rolex."

"But you are not wearing any of those things," he replied.

"I know," she said. "It’s in case I should die before my husband. I’m sure he will remarry right away, and I want his new wife to go crazy looking for the jewelry."

What you have there is a key example to greed. Greed, one of the seven deadly sins, is sometimes hard to notice in yourself, but it’s awfully easy to notice in others. Greed with it’s power to grab hold of your soul will rob you of making wise decisions, and will turn you into a fool.

Indeed it’s greed that has been the Downfall of many a godly man, It’s greed that moves you into Danger of even greater sins, and it’s greed that will end with all you treasure being destroyed.

It’s God’s final warning in the ten commandments. It ranks equal with murder, adultery, stealing and lying.

"You shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17)

And the New Testament Warning on Greed is just as severe,

1 Tim 6:9-10 "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s."

My friends, I warn you tonight to be on your guard against greed in your life. It’s a lesson that would have benefited our brother Lot, we pick up his story in Genesis Chapter 13, Verses 10-11 - Let’s read from verse 1 for context < READ Gen. 13:1-14 >

1) Gen. 13:10-11 Greed is often the DOWNFALL of godly men.

We are too often, too ready to blast Lot for making this decision, but we must remember that in Second Peter we are told by revelation of the Holy Spirit that he was a Righteous man, after all, God didn’t deliver Lot from Sodom and Gomorah’s destruction, because he was Abram’s Nephew, but because he was a righteous man, the only one God could find in Sodom. In fact it was the fact that Lot was righteous that almost delivered his sons-in-law from the destruction of Sodom as well.

But Lot fell into Greed when he responded to Abraham’s request. He understood Abram’s logic and he figured, that logically the area that would best continue to prosper him was the one he saw as the Valley of the Jordan.

Lot’s decision shouldn’t label, him but it should teach us, that SOMETIMES GOOD MEN MAKE BAD CHOICES.

2) Greed is often the DOWNFALL of godly men.

Look at the choice he made. < Read Genesis 13:12-13 >

Gen. 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Gen. 13:13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.

How does greed become the DOWNFALL? So often because it blinds you to God’s commands and his will.

A year or so ago, Police in Wheeling, Illinois, accused a Wal-Mart cashier of buying merchandise at the store using credit-card numbers she had copied from customers. Investigators admitted the cashier had made their job easier. She identified herself on the fraudulent receipts to make sure she got her employee discount.

Greed can make us act pretty irrational. When we throw out the commandments of God, we throw out common sense too.

Evangelist Billy Sunday, was dogged by rumors and scandal at some points in his life. As he lay on his death bed, young William Graham sat beside him, comforting and praying with him. At some point, Mr. Sunday looked at Graham and exhorted him, "Billy, never go near the money! Never Go near the money! Don’t touch it, don’t count it. Never Go near the money!" Today, Billy Graham continues to be an excellent example to all of us of uprightness and integrity. Part of that is no doubt due to the fact that he took pains to protect himself from greed.

In 2 Timothy 4:10, we hear of another man, who wasn’t so wise, he let his greed bring him to ruin. Paul writes to Timothy about Demas, "Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me..."