TRUE WEALTH: "The Best and the Worst"

Here are the notes from yesterday's message at New Life Community Church.  The message is entitled "The Best and the Worst" and is the first in a three-part series TRUE WEALTH.  If you would like to listen to this message, you may do so by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com.  God bless!

True Wealth, Part 1                                                                           Sunday, February 3, 2013

 “The Best and the Worst”

The blessing of the Lord—it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it   Proverbs 10:22 (Amplified)

Money can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy.

Why this message is so important:

1.     It is where we LIVE.

2.     It is a TEST from God.

3.     We need to PREPARE.

LIVE

TEST

PREPARE

Money is SPIRITUAL

Money will have either God’s Spirit on it or it will have the world’s spirit on it.  There is a constant battle between these two.

Money is spiritual.

Most people’s problems center around money.

Amount of crime done for money.

Number of divorces caused by money.

Mental health – stress – fear – job situations

⁹ “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. ¹⁰ He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. ¹¹ Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?  ¹³ “No servant 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.”  Luke 16:9-13 (NKJV)

FAIL (vs. 9).  Gk. Ekleipo.  Which literally means “to leave or cease”.  Vine’s: to cease from earthly life.

Mammon – Syrian god.  Mammon was the god that embodied wealth.  to personify wealth; to deify wealth.  Purpose:  to control people’s lives through the love of money.

Why this message is so important:

4.     It is where we LIVE.

5.     It is a TEST from God.

6.     We need to PREPARE.

Our world is moving more and more toward systems that seek to control us through money. 

Book of Revelation

When America Told the Truth by James Patterson and Peter Kim

What would you do for 10 million dollars?

1.     25% Abandon their entire family

2.     23%  Would become a prostitute for a week or more

3.     16%  Would give up their American citizenship

4.     10%  Would withhold testimony letting a murderer go free

5.     7%    Would kill a complete stranger

6.     3%    Would put their children up for adoption

COMPARE ROBERT E. LEE while President of Washington & Lee College.  One of the rising businesses of the day approached him asking that he endorse their product for a fee using his considerable influence.  Lee:  “If I have any influence at all it is by the gift of God.  Since it is the gift of God, it would improper for me to personally benefit from selling it.”

MAMMON MAKES PROMISES.

These are promises that only God can fulfill.

The lies of your worst enemy:

1.     I will give you SECURITY.

Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.  Proverbs 11:28 (NIV)

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,  “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  ⁶ So we say with confidence,  “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?”  Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV 1984)

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
² For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,And His glory will be seen upon you.
³ The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
⁵ Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.  Isaiah 60:1-5 (NKJV)

2.     I will give you IDENTITY.

Dave Ramsey:  “We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.”

Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”  Luke 12:15 (NIV)

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”

— Jim Carrey

So, how do we find identity?

Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.  Jeremiah 1:5 (Amplified)

3.     I will give you HAPPINESS.

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!  Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NLT)

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with gain. This also is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!  Ecclesiastes 5:10 (Amplified)

⁷ “Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven, whose wrongs are pardoned.  ⁸ Blessed is the person whom the Lord does not consider guilty.”  Romans 4:7-8 (NCV)

Why this message is so important:

7.     It is where we LIVE.

8.     It is a TEST from God.

9.     We need to PREPARE.

How to make friends with money:

1.     RETURN the first

2.     STEWARD the rest

3.     FOCUS on true riches