What’s Wrong With Money? – B

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Today on Real Life Radio.

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What are our needs and what are our wants? I’m not saying that desires are wrong and the pursuit of pleasures are wrong. It is this. We are a culture given over to it. And we so often spend money and have nothing to show for it in the end because we’re trying to fill the boredom in our hearts. And God’s got a better way.

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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. What if today was the day that Jesus returned? Well, that’s the life-changing perspective explored in One Day Nearer by Steve Miller. And it’s this month’s featured resource from Pastor Jack. Now, this inspiring book helps you focus on the hope that Jesus is returning. And this book offers practical encouragement to live each day with faith, purpose, and joy. One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. on today’s edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his series called The Book of James with the message titled, What’s Wrong With Money? Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter sent to those Jews who chose to follow Christ. But as new Christians, they really needed some wisdom when it came to money. You see, whenever we get our eyes off the blesser and look to the blessings, well, that’s when we’re bordering on idolatry. The pursuit of money can destroy our faith. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that money for Christians should simply be seen as a tool for the kingdom. Money can be used to bless others, or if used unwisely, it can steal the depth of our character and alter our biblical worldview. Now with his message called, What’s Wrong With Money? Here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

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And the challenge comes to our hearts this morning. Can we or are we pressured by this world’s sales tactics? And you know what the world sells us, right? It’s this, what are you wearing? I mean, you go home, turn on TV. What are you wearing? Whatever the commercial is selling, they’re trying to sell you on the fact that whatever you have stinks and what they’ve got is the best and you’ve got to get theirs. You notice that? So what are you wearing? The world wants to tell you. As a Christian, you know what? I’m not going to have the world tell me that. Another thing is, what are you driving? Watch the commercials. I mean, you can have like a, you know, you can have a nice Buick or something, you know, and it’s like, a what? You drive a what? Do they even make those anymore? Oh, it’s got to be a Lexus or it’s got to be a Benz or it’s got to be a Lincoln or whatever it is, you know? Well, who says, Madison Avenue? Here’s the other, the big third one is, where do you live? Where do you live? Skid Row, where do you live? You live where? I’m talking to a Skid Row person. That’s wrong. There are great people who love the Lord. You want to meet them? Go to the homeless outreach on Saturdays. Who love Jesus Christ? They have nothing. They have no shoes. And they ought to be able to come right in here and sit in the front row, don’t you think? You see, we’re quiet right now. We actually live in a culture, and we ourselves are predominantly, I think, guilty of being prejudiced regarding the wealthy and the poor. We don’t want to admit it. The poor, they’re over here. And that may happen in society. It may happen in our city. But it can’t happen in the church. No way. We’re to be loving one another. And so the verse here in verse 10 is the second point. What’s wrong with money? This is what’s wrong with money is that verse 10 tells us it can bring, listen, it can bring financial success. And you go, are you crazy? Isn’t that what we’re living for? Well, hang on a moment. Look at verse 10. But the rich man, he should actually glory in his humiliation. Why? Because as a flower of the field, he will pass away or he will pass away also. Who will? The rich man. You see, the rich man says, this is the kingdom I have built. This is the thing that I have made in my name. And this is the rich man that is conducting himself outside of Christ. He doesn’t give to God’s work. He could care less about God’s people. He’s going to perish. But isn’t it true, first of all, that money is a fleeting thing anyway? I mean, you get it and it’s gone. Last night in last night’s service, I made mention about… My daughters, one has dark hair, one’s got blonde hair. One’s taller, one’s shorter. One talks a lot, one never says a word. I mean, they’re exactly opposite. And one finds a penny and just polishes it clean and puts it in her bank. The other one finds the penny and now gets all stressed out. What’s the matter? I found this money. Fine, great. What’s your problem? I mean, you’re all tense. What am I going to buy? It’s like it’s burning a hole in her hand. Oh my gosh, I’ve got to spend this. And the other one’s out there like collecting Coke bottles and putting it away. It’s so funny, so different. And there’s people like that in the church, and we’re like this. We’re all, we put this together, we’re like this. But the bottom line is, if you’re going to save or if you’re going to spend, put God first. Right? That’s what we’re to do. Now, you know what? We want to do this as a corporate church, don’t we? Don’t you appreciate the fact that the air conditioning is running or maybe you want the heater to come on? Or the lights are on. We’ve paid the rent on the building this month. Aren’t you glad? Did you even think about it? No. You think next month this church is going to be here, don’t you? You know why? Because people tithe to God’s work and we cut a check to who owned this building. And People give to keep the work going. And if everybody gave like I gave, what kind of church would this be? If everybody gave like you gave, what kind of church would this be? Or would James Dobson get support or World Vision or whatever it might be? It doesn’t have to be to this place. God has blessed this place and we’re grateful for that. You see the point? In Proverbs 3, the Bible says to honor God with our increase. Are we doing it? And see, this is a touchy issue that we don’t talk about. And I want to say this, and I’m sure I’m going to be misunderstood. But I believe personally that God would love to bless his people with more resources if we would manage them correctly. Where do you get that idea from? Well, first of all, God says if you’re faithful in little, he’ll make you faithful in more. And that applies to anything for that matter. But also God says in Malachi, he says, you know what? You give to me. And I’ll bless you. I will open the windows of heaven and bless you back. God says another place, I will give unto you, pressed down, shaken together, stomped on, overflowing, packed tight, blessings flowing into your life that you won’t even be able to contain them. If you will. Put me first in your life in this area of giving. Paul says, be a cheerful giver. The word in Corinthians is hilarious. Be a hilarious giver. Can you imagine? The real meaning of the word is, oh, pass the buck over here, brother. All right. Where’s the dad? Come on, over here. Can you imagine? Are we tithing yet? Quick, get in the church. I don’t want to miss the tithe. Isn’t that cute? That’s the way it should be. You want to get a real picture of what it’s all about? Go across the street to the other building. Your little cutie walks up there with his nickel, and he’s so excited. He’s waiting. He’s shaking it. Here comes a little house with a little hole in the chimney thing. He drops it in.

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All right.

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He’s all pumped up about it. Me and we get that checkbook out. All right. Oh, there you go. I gave my five bucks. Listen, Paul says, keep your stinking five bucks. God says, give hilariously. If you can’t give it, keep it. I’m glad he said that. Can I get my money back after the service? Give it from your heart. He who sows sparingly, the Bible says, shall reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully. And it’s definitely in the area of finances, says the Bible. It’s true. Do we honor God with our resources? I want to challenge you to do this. It’s really fun, actually. I mean, it is fun. You pray and ask God what amount He wants you to give. You know, there is no set amount, you know. For some reason, people got this idea of 10%. Where did that come up with, you know? In the Old Testament, it was 23 and a third percent. In the New Testament, it’s supposed to be according to your heart. So really, for the Christian, I like Mr. Colgate. Remember the toothbrush man? Mr. Colgate said, God, I’m going to give you, if you bless my business, I’m going to give you 90% of all that I make. That’s radical. God had to bless him. The guy would starve to death. His money still sends missionaries around the world today, though he’s dead and in heaven. But do this. Get your stack of bills. I don’t know how you do it, but you know, like the 15th of the month for us in our house, that’s a good time. It’s the 15th. It’s right in the middle of the month. You get the check. You got your stack of bills. The first thing you write is to God. It’s like a total awesome thing. It’s like, okay, Lord, I have no idea what’s in that envelope, but I’m going to gift you the first. You write it out. You put that check over there. That’s the God’s work. Now let’s open these bills. And you begin to open it. You begin to see those, what, MasterCard is crying. And the thing is, listen, you put God first, and I promise, what can I promise you? I can’t promise you a thing. The Word of God promises you this. God says, you put me first, and I’m going to bless it. I’m going to honor what you’re doing. And you’re saying, well, does that mean I’m going to make more money? You may or you may not. But he will bless you more than you’ll be able to contain it. Well, what does that mean? You might make more money, but you might also wind up being more healthy. Or he might bless you with other things. Your car might live past its warranty. Those kinds of things. Those kinds of things. He’s promised to do this. And God says, you test me. It’s the only thing in all the Bible that God says, you test me and see. Isn’t that funny? He doesn’t say, test me in this area and test me in that area. He says, concerning giving, you test me and see. Jesus says, you know what? You can serve God or you can serve mammon. That’s money, but you can’t serve both. Isn’t that true? Financial success can ruin us because it will alter our view of things. It will skew our hearts, and we won’t think correctly and clearly, and we’ll begin to think. I remember the first day I walked into Calvary Coast to Mesa, I was a punk, and I was making too much money for my age. And I had given my heart to Jesus, and I sat in there, and, well, this place is huge. There’s a lot of people giving. God doesn’t need my money. That’s how I was thinking. This place is massive. That’s a nice carpet. We were able to afford the carpet. They don’t need my money. I lost everything. I mean, I lost it. And man, I had a whole different view after that. There’s a man who built many of the freeways up in San Francisco area. In fact, he even built the Grapevine Freeway. I forget his name. This man was a Christian man. And in his own words, he said that before he entered the contract with the state of California, he dedicated 50% of the proceeds of his income to the Lord’s work. And when he got paid, and this is a major deal, When he got paid, he didn’t honor the agreement that he had made with the Lord. And in his own words, he wrote in a commentary in the newspaper, for all people to listen and to learn that he had spoken a word unto God and did not hold to it. And this man went completely bankrupt. He was sued and completely devastated. And he went on welfare. And at one point in time, he was one of the most wealthy men in California. In his own words, he said, I loved God with all my heart. I made a thing with God. I said, God, if you give me those contracts, I’ll give you 50%. And he said he didn’t give God a dime out of it. And he said the Lord was just in taking away what I had robbed him of. And you might say, well, I don’t think that’s in the Bible. And God says in Malachi chapter 3, you’ve robbed me because you’ve kept back an offering unto me. And I want to bless you, but you’ve robbed me. Isn’t that amazing? You might say, well, Jack, I can’t afford to tithe. No, you can’t afford not to tithe. Put him first. Watch what happens.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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And some in this body are so precious, they’ve come and they said, Jack, we are literally living off of welfare at this time. We don’t have a penny to give. We want to know if coming and cleaning the church or doing the windows or coming and praying that God will honor that. Isn’t that awesome? Isn’t that what Paul talks about to Timothy concerning those who are truly widows? The word widow in the Greek means to be abandoned, either by death or by abandonment. And it says concerning those women who are destitute and abandoned. He said, let them receive blessings from the church, but also they should pray and minister to the body. God honors that. And the third and final thing regarding this problem with money and what is wrong with money. is that it promises us security that it really can’t give us, verse 11. It promises security that it can’t really give us. Look what it says. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass. What does? The sun, the test, the trial. Well, first of all, it withers the grass. Second of all, it causes the flower to fail. And the third thing is it causes its beautiful appearance to vanish away, to perish as dust. so the rich man also will fade away in his own pursuits. Now, get a load of this. As I mentioned earlier, Paul says those who desire to be rich pierce themselves through with sorrows. I want you to hear this. I looked this statistic up. This is shocking. Talk about success, talk about pressure, and talk about not getting security in the pursuit of money. A 1996 Gallup poll conducted on lottery winners from 1985 to 1995, 10 years. 74% of lottery winners in America, 74% of them had to see a psychiatrist after they won their money. Well, you might say, well, it’s a big deal. I see one now. What’s the big thing about that? This is serious. They won what should cause peace, right? They think, I can rest. They wound up going to a psychologist.

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74%.

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60% of them began drinking. 81% of those who are married and won the lotto, 81% of them filed for divorce. I won the lotto. I won the lotto. I don’t need you. I won the lotto. Isn’t that weird? Change is the way you think. What normally you would have been content, now you are discontent in the heart. 43% of them started taking drugs and established a drug habit. By the way, remember Rodney King? How much did he win? Three? Was it 3.2 million? Something like that? Rodney King is officially sought on the news a year ago. Broke. Absolutely broke. Money gone. His friends were interviewed and they said, he spent it on us. He spent it on women. He spent it on drugs. He spent it on drinking. He’s broke. $3 million gone in a couple of years. 27% of those who won the lottery within five years from 1985 were financially broke. The very thing that they pursued. Remember a couple of weeks ago when it was up to like, what was it? Huh? How do you know? No, there were people in lines. Did you see the people in lines at stores all over the place? Millions and millions of dollars. Hoping for what? To win. Why win? Why win? when most of the people wind up having a destroyed life, we’ve been sold the bill of goods that why should we pursue godliness when we can pursue wealth? And Jesus says, be careful. Be careful. You know you’re in trouble when you start looking at that checkbook and it begins to look a little padded. All right, I can kick back and rest. And Jesus says, be careful. You might begin to say, let’s build bigger barns, Jesus said in this parable. Oh, we’re doing so well. Let’s build bigger barns. Let’s expand it and fill up bigger barns. And Jesus says, you fool. Don’t you know that tonight your soul is required of you? And that man died, never preparing for eternity. He had his investment portfolio all nailed down. He had life insurance. He had stocks all lined up. He had a living trust. Is it bad to have money? No, it’s bad to mismanage it. And every one of us will stand before God and give an account for how we spend because it’s not our money, it’s his. people desiring to be rich, trying to find success, and trying to find rest and peace, and it won’t work. There’s a place called Lost Wages, I mean, Las Vegas. And you go by there, and you know, we have family in Salt Lake City, so we can stop in Las Vegas, and that’s where you eat breakfast, or dinner, depends on what time of the day you’re traveling. And they have prime rib dinners for $2.99. Isn’t that great? You can’t even buy a prime rib for $2.99, but there you can. And you can have steak and eggs in the morning for like $1.75 or three, whatever it is. It’s just like so cheap. And inevitably, and you stay in these really nice, what I would think to be like a $200 room a night, and you’re paying 45 bucks. How can this be? Because it’s the poor schmuck down there paying for it. It’s the guy pulling the handle. That poor monkey, that guy’s yanking on those things, and I’m eating the prime rib that he bought. I kind of like this deal. But not the guy yanking on the handles. And he’s got his friend feeding the quarters into the machine. And he’s pulling. He’s pulling. Wearing himself out. Have you seen them? Their eyes are all puffy. They’re there. They got all these drinks gathered around. And like, man, we’re having fun, right? Tell me we’re having fun. This is great. And they’re spending. We had a family in the church whose father went to Las Vegas and spent his money. Came home. Got an airplane flight. Came home. And then went back. And his wife was trying to find out where he’s at. What’s he doing? You know what he did? What? God had blessed this man’s life. He fell away from the Lord. And I mean God had blessed his life. The guy fell away from the Lord. He took their money and lost it in Vegas. And then he took the deed to their home and lost it on a table in Vegas. And their family was ruined. And they wound up getting a divorce. Unbelievable things. And the people are pulling on the handles, and they think they’re going to maybe strike some kind of security. Listen, those that trust in riches will come to naught, says the Scripture. Jeremiah 45.5 says, Seekest thou great things for yourself? Seek them not, for destruction shall come upon the earth. Listen to this, and I’ll be done. Proverbs 23, verses 4 and 5. This is a classic. In fact, we need to have a Vegas mission. Mission to Vegas. This is cool. With this theme verse on the track that we hand out. Do not wear yourself out. Do not wear yourself out trying to get rich. Have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast a glance at riches and they’re gone. For they surely will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. Proverbs 23 verses 4 through 5. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that something? Oh man, if I could just win the lotto, 74% of you will have to go to the nuthouse. Oh, if I could just win the lotto, 60% of you start taking drugs. Oh, if I could just win the lotto, we’ll have peace. Well, 81% of you get divorced. We can’t handle money because money was to be managed with God as one in our eyes and in our view. America has been blessed by God because America founded itself upon the word of God and sought God first. That’s why we’re enjoying financial benefits. But America… does not have long to live, possibly. And if you know Revelation 13, verse 13, our money doesn’t mean much anymore. When it all comes down, will you maintain your faith in God? Or is your heart divided? This is a serious time. Pray for the United States. Pray for all of our hearts. Could we be experiencing such blessings right now? And in a moment time, the carpet pulled out from underneath this and all we’ll have is our faith in God. We will be humble, won’t we? That will be good, to be humble. But may we keep our faith in the Lord. Serious times. Father, we come before you and we ask you, Lord, that you might make us doers of your word and not hearers only. Father, we live in a culture that, and justifiably so, ridicules the church for its spending, mocks its so-called leaders and their extravagant living. People, so-called reverends, bilking people out of millions of dollars to appease their fleshly desires, and the world laughs. And we do not blame them. But Lord, we don’t want to be associated with such things. regarding our fellowship or regarding our own private lives. To look at these things not as dollars but as tools. To use them to expand the kingdom of God. To live within our means. And to have the ability to bless our brothers and sisters around us. This we pray in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, Amen.

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Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio with his message called What’s Wrong With Money? Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you’d like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That’s K-N-O-W God. And there you’ll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you’ll find in knowing God. Don’t miss out. That’s the know God tab at jackhibbs.com.

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Hey everybody, this is Pastor Jack here and I want to encourage you to get a great book. Now listen up, I know there’s a lot of books out there and we certainly do push a lot of books on this program because we want you to grow and you should have a great library. Well listen, One Day Nearer is a book written by Steve Miller, a dear friend of mine and a great author and here’s the kick. It’s a 365-day devotion, one for every day, and all of it is themed around being prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, how to be looking for him, how to be walking in light of his return. What are the scriptures that should encourage us? All of this in this fantastic book, One Day Near, by my good friend Steve Miller. Get a copy for yourselves, please, and grow.

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One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.