Introduction
Today, we come to our fourth “God has to Win” sermon. We have seen over the past several weeks that God has to win the battle of our choices; then secondly, God has to win control over those areas of our life that we have trouble giving over to Him; and last week, we saw that as we accept God’s discipline in our lives, He makes the corrections that are needed and so I win and more importantly God wins.
Today we look at the fourth area that God has to win. God raises the bar on this area because instead of having to win; it is a must win. Let me show you why I say that. If you have your Bibles turn with me to Matthew 6:24. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word if you are able.
Matthew 6:24 NKJV
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
I am sure most of you are familiar with that Scripture from the Sermon on the Mount. But let’s suppose that we were there that day on that mountain, and we were heard Jesus say those words for the very first time. You cannot serve two masters, you will hate one and love the other, you will be loyal to one and despise the other, you cannot serve God and then all of a sudden Jesus pauses for a moment to allow those listening to complete that sentence in their mind. And then Jesus continues, you cannot serve God and you know that you know that the next word out of Jesus’ mouth will be Satan or the devil. And you are sitting on that mountain just gleaming because you know the next word the Son of God will speak. But instead, the final word to complete that sentence is mammon. “You cannot serve God and mammon.” And you say to yourself, “Where did that come from?” I didn’t see that one coming. I know that Jesus came to earth to defeat the devil, so where does this mammon come in the picture.
So, I am left with a little investigation here. What is Jesus talking about when He talks about mammon? In the Greek, the word means wealth, money, riches, and it could include property riches. In the NIV, the word is actually translated money. “You cannot serve both God (Capital G) and Money (Capital M). The NIV personifies the word Money as if it is a living breathing person just like God. And it competes for us just like Satan competes for us to move us away from God.
So, I am left with this all-important question that I need to answer for myself. How is it possible, and when are those times that I serve money over God? And that is what we want to see today: how is it that I serve money over God sometimes.
Body
Point #1
THE NORMAL ORDER FOR THE CHRISTIAN SHOULD BE THAT I SERVE GOD AND MAKE MONEY. BUT AT SOME POINT, THESE TWO THINGS COME IN CONFLICT WITH ONE ANOTHER AND THERE IS A DANGER THAT YOU WILL LET GO OF SERVING GOD IN FAVOR OF THE MONEY.
2 Peter 2:15–16 NKJV
They (the false teachers) have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
First, how many of you in here can say that you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, and you believe that you are trying to live the way God wants you to live? How many of you let’s say through the month that just past (September) made some money either from working at a job or investments or receiving social security because you previously worked at a job? That is the perfect order I am trying to serve God and support my family.
What sometimes happen though is that the money gets a hold of you and the decisions you make are not based on serving God but rather upon getting money. So, getting money becomes the driving force and God is pushed to the back.
Let’s use the example of a minister because we all probably think we know a minister or two that switched churches, left one pastorate for another, not because God sent them to another church, but because money called them and they followed the money. And to be honest with you that does happen.
And let call a spade a spade. There are some churches that use money as the leverage to make sure the pastor don’t leave. Instead of trusting God to keep that pastor there, they give him too high a salary or too nice a place to stay that the minister can’t afford to leave. They are letting money lead the church rather than God.
But now let’s take an example of a regular church member. You discover that there is a job opening in another state, doing what you do now, making $20,000.00 more per year than you currently make. Are you going to make the decision based upon the $20,000.00 or are you going to check with God if you ought to go? We all know people who have moved out in search of more money but their relationships with God have suffered. They might have dried up spiritually because they could not find a church they could plug into. They might not have realized that for the $20,000.00, the company is demanding a lot more out of their time and their relationship with God suffers and their relationship with their family suffers. Money was controlling and God was pushed to the back.
I can assure you sometime in your life you are going to face this problem. Do I serve God, or do I serve money? The Scripture is plain that I cannot do both. Are you going to let money control your life or God control your life?
Point #2
THE NORMAL ORDER FOR THE CHRISTIAN IS THAT AS I SERVE GOD, I HAVE THIS CAPACITY TO LOVE EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF THEIR FINANCIAL WHEREWITHAL. THE CHRISTIAN SERVING GOD SHOULD BE ABLE TO LOVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR AND THE RICHEST OF THE RICHES. BUT START SERVING MONEY, AND YOU WILL START DIVIDING PEOPLE INTO THOSE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND ASSOCIATE WITH, AND THOSE YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW AND DON’T WANT TO ASSOCIATE WITH.
If I am serving God, I have this capacity to love my neighbor which God says is the second and greatest commandment. It is the natural result of serving God. John says: you will know them by their love. But switching serving God to serving money, and now you love people in your same economic situation or those of an even higher economic status. But you lose the ability to love those who have a lesser economic status. The Bible is full of examples of that. Let me give you one and then I like to give you one from my personal experience as a Pastor.
James 2:1–7 NKJV
My brethren do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
This really happened at Faith Bible Church in Kenner, LA where I was pastoring in the 1980’s. This was a small congregation, so everyone knew when someone new was attending. Well, this particular Sunday we had a family visit- husband, wife and children: they got out of a nice car, they were all well dressed and when these people entered the church, everyone made a point to introduce themselves to this new family. A few minutes later, a young man on a bicycle in his late 20’s or early 30’s rode up and he got off his bike and locked it to the church sign right out in front of the church. He was kind of dirty and he was sweating from riding his bike to church in the summer heat. When he entered the church, only one person greeted him, a guy by the name of Ricky Salathe who had problems of their own. And I hate to say this but that morning these good folks, and they were good folks chose in an instance to serve money over serving God.
And what it taught me is that serving God can flip to serving money in a moment’s time. So, I have to be very diligent and alert. Money just like the devil is seeking who it can devour.
Point #3
THE NORMAL ORDER FOR THE CHRISTIAN IS THAT AS I SERVE GOD, I SEE GOD AS THE ONE WHO IS AT WORK IN MY LIFE. BUT IF I TURN MY ATTENTION TO SERVING MONEY, I SEE MONEY AS THE INSTRUMENT THAT IS AT WORK IN MY LIFE. AND THE RESULT IS GOD GETS ROBBED OF THE PRAISE THAT HE RIGHTLY DESERVES, AND MONEY GETS THE PRAISE IT DOES NOT DESERVE.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
It you are a Christian, and you are serving God, there is no question it is God who is at work in your life.
Now let’s suppose you have cancer, and you are a person serving God. You go to the doctor and he does what he can do, and you get healed. And because you are serving God, you see God as the One who healed you. True, God made have used the doctor or doctors, but you and I know that God ultimately did the healing. And the result is that you give God the praise that He deserves.
Let’s suppose you have cancer, and you are a person serving money. You find out the best cancer specialist because money is no object. Eventually over time you get healed. Because you are serving money, you give the credit to the fact that you had enough money to get the best care. So, you praise money rather than praising God.
There are people praising money all the time. The rich defendant that can hire the high price lawyer that can get him or her off. I am sure that they are praising what money did for them. The politician who seems to raise the most money, seems to win the election. They praise the money as instrumental in their election. The businessman who throws money at a problem to get a favorable outcome will probably praise money for how it opens doors that otherwise would be closed.
But here is the big problem. One day people will not be able to praise money at all. There will be no more praising money. At that time, the only one who will be praised is Jesus. So, we ought to learn to start praising Jesus.
Philippians 2:9–11 NKJV
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let us pray.
