Business owners life group

Materialism

1. The love of money (materialism) blocks God

1. Materialism prevents or destroys our spiritual life

                                                               i.      Revelation 3:17 Laodician church

                                                             ii.      You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.

2. Materialism blinds us to the curses of wealth

                                                               i.      95 percent of Christians will survive persecution (adversity test)

                                                             ii.      Only 5 percent will survive the prosperity test

                                                            iii.      Ezekiel 28:4-5

1.      By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

                                                           iv.      Proverbs 22:4

1.      Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

                                                             v.      We credit ourselves when we are wealthy

                                                           vi.      God gets all the credit

3. Materialism brings unhappiness and anxiety

                                                               i.      Rockefeller. “I have made millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”

                                                             ii.      Vanderbilt. “The care of 200 million is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.”

                                                            iii.      John Astor. “I am the most miserable man on earth” (fir trader, ship trader, bought most of Manhattan island from Indians)

                                                           iv.      Henry Ford. “I was happier when doing a mechanic’s job”

                                                             v.      Carnegie. “Millionaires seldom smile.”

                                                           vi.      Subtract two years from your life if you make over $50,000 per year

                                                          vii.      I Tim 6:17 The rich should not put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but … in God, who richly provides

                                                        viii.      The more we have, the more we worry.

4. Materialism end in ultimate futility.

                                                               i.      Ecc 5 Riches Are Meaningless

1.      ⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. ⁹ The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. ¹⁰ Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. ¹¹ As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? ¹² The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. ¹³ I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, ¹⁴ or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. ¹⁵ Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.

5. Materialism obscures the best things in life which are free

                                                               i.      Salvation

                                                             ii.      Nothing of God’s is attainable with money

6. Materialism spawns independence and self-sufficiency

                                                               i.      Deadly to faith and trust in God

1.      ⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8-9

                                                             ii.      Faith in God is useless when you have faith in yourself

7. Materialism leads to pride and elitism

                                                               i.      Racism, nationalism and denominationalism

                                                             ii.      Jesus died for every person of every social and economic level

8. Materialism promotes injustice and exploitation

                                                               i.      Money is power

                                                             ii.      Horror story of modern America and western nations. We kill our unborn because they hinder us from a better house, job or career.

                                                            iii.      We only have one or two children because they are expensive and we really cannot afford to have more

                                                           iv.      Tobacco and alcohol

                                                             v.      Gambling is the fix for America’s problems. We put in casinos to keep the tax base low for citizens.

                                                           vi.      The lottery is created to fund schooling and education.

                                                          vii.      People don’t want to take responsibility for their country or children’s education

                                                        viii.      Let us defend multibillion dollar corporations that exploit people

                                                           ix.      Finally, a strong defense at the expense of our nation’s poor?

9. Materialism fosters immorality

                                                               i.      99 percent of crimes are for sex or money and money crimes override sex crimes at a ratio of 4 to 1

                                                             ii.      Deuteronomy 17:14-20 the Kings of Israel

1.      ¹⁴ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.  ¹⁸ When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

                                                            iii.      31% of Men who are at minimum wage have affairs but triple their wage and that number increases to 70%

                                                           iv.      Money is not necessarily the problem but rather the lifestyle it represents

j.        Materialism distracts us from our central purpose

                                                               i.      Deceitfulness of riches Matthew 13:22

1.      The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

                                                             ii.      I need a better T.V., House, DVD, Boat, Motorcycle, Etc.

The whole reformation started because one man cried against materialism in the church and the sale of indulgences

Some common misconceptions.

1. Many believe that God blesses us so we can have more.

1. As long as we give God the credit. “God gave me all this. If you serve God he will bless you also.”
2. We are good witnesses when the world sees that God makes us wealthy.
3. John 13:35 says. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” It does not say “Men will know you are my disciples by all the money and possessions you have”
4. Mark 10:29-30 So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^[e] or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, ³⁰who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses(family) and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to come, eternal life.

                                                               i.       Only land and houses are material. And the word for houses (oikia) can mean household or family

5. God does not prosper us so we can go from a used Ford to a new Cadillac. He prospers us to be distribution centers and build the church
6. “He that serves God for money will serve the devil for a pay increase.”
7. A Florida pastor was sued because he preached that if we give God $100 we will get back $1000. The $1000 never showed up so the giver sued.