Do you worry--about money?

People worry about money. An recent newspaper articles stated, “Although the economy is growing, Americans are deeply worried about their day-to-day finances, especially their debt. . . .More than 80 percent of the 1,000 people polled describe household debt as a very serious or somewhat serious problem for the country—and most say it has gotten worse in the past five years. . . .Almost a quarter of those polled say their finances are so pinched they can’t pay all their bills every month”

Worry seems to be such a harmless thing, but it actually is dangerous. Worry is like fog. According to the US Bureau of Standards “A dense fog that covers a seven city block area one hundred feet deep (a very dense, thick fog) is composed of less than one glass of water divided into sixty thousand million drops”—not much is there at all but it can cripple an entire city. I think that is a pretty good illustration of worry. Put it all together and you don’t have much more than a glass of water but you can sure mess up a whole lot of people.

“Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and the providence of God.”--John MacArthur

“Worry is interest paid on trouble before it’s due.” --William Enns

“Worry is a thin stream of fear that trickles through the mind. If encouraged it will cut a channel so wide that all other thoughts will be drowned in it.”

“Worry is wasting today’s time to clutter up tomorrow’s opportunities with yesterday’s troubles.”

David Powlison writes, “Worry says ‘goodnight’ and wakes you up in the middle of the night. It greets you in the morning with, ‘Hi, here I am. Think about me.” Worry preys on the uncertain. “Will I get that? Maybe or maybe not!” “Will I lose that?” Maybe or maybe not. And we don’t worry about money alone. We worry about things like. . .

Do I have any real friends?
What if I don’t make the team? What if someone else gets the leading role?
Will I be accepted to college?
Will I ever find a spouse?
Will we ever be able to have children?
If we do, how will they turn out?
What if I get Alzheimers? Will I die of cancer?

But in Luke 12:22-34, Jesus Christ tells us not to worry. In fact, he uses words in the original Greek that mean, "If you aren't worrying, don't start it. If you are worrying, then stop it!"

Worry isn’t a small trivial sin. 100% of all mental illness and most of physical illness is related to worry. But the worst thing isn’t what worry does to you, but it is what it says about God. It strikes a blow at the Word and Person of God. Worry is a monumental sin. It disbelieves Scripture. You can believe in the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture and yet you worry??? Worry means that you are mastered by your circumstances, not the Word of God!

So Lord, may we use the power of the Spirit of God so freely available to us to watch and pray and be on our guard against all covetousness! Help us, we pray, to obey what we have learned. Through your spirit, we want to fight for faith and fight against worry! Right now we cast our care upon You! Oh, may we pursue holiness this week vigilantly and guard against this besetting sins. In the name of the One who bore your wrath by enduring suffering for our sins, Jesus, we pray

A Common Sin

"There is a sin which a Catholic priest once declared that no one had ever confessed to him-a sin so deadly that the wrath of God comes upon men because of it; a sin so common that probably everybody has at some time been guilty of it; a sin so gross in the sight of God as to be classed with whoremongery, idolatry, murder, and such like; a sin so subtle that men most guilty of it seem to be most unconscious of it; a sin that has led to the ruin of homes, to the doom of cities, the downfall of kings, the overthrow of empires, the collapse of civilizations, the damnation of an apostle, of ministers of the Gospel and of millions of less conspicuous men. Men in the highest and most sacred positions of trust, and enjoying the most unlimited confidence of their fellow-men, have under the spell of this sin wrecked their good names, and have brought shame to their families, and misfortune, want, and woe to their fellows.

When amid the thunderings and lightnings of Mt. Sinai, God gave the ten commandments to Moses, one of the ten was against this sin. When Lot lost all he had in the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was primarily because of this sin. When Achan and his household were stoned, it was because of this sin. When Eli and his sons lost the priesthood and died miserably, it was at root because of this sin. When Saul lost his kingdom, it was because this sin had subtly undermined his loyalty to God. When Ahab died and the dogs licked his blood, he was meeting the doom of this sin. When David fell from heights of God’s tender favor and fellowship, and brought shame and confusion upon himself, and incurred God’s hot displeasure and life-long trouble, it was because of this sin.

When Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, went out from the presence of the prophet smitten with leprosy white as snow, it was because of this sin. When Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss, thus bringing upon himself the death of a dog and a fool, it was because of this sin. When Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead at Peter’s feet, they suffered the dread penalty of this sin. The beginnings of many wars could be traced to the deadly workings of this awful, secret, silent, pitiless sin.

But what is the sin that the Catholic priest never heard mentioned in his confessional-this sin that apostles and priests and shepherds and servants have committed, and upon which the swift, fierce lightnings of God’s wrath have fallen- this sin of which everyone at sometime has probably been guilty and yet which is so secret and subtle that those most enthralled by it are most unconscious of it? It is the sin of Covetousness. --S. M. Bengle

Covetousness usually appears in our lives in wanting something good. "I sure could use that." "Wouldn't that save me lots of time." "I deserve that. I work hard." "Think of how much use I would get out of this." Covetousness is so dangerous because we are go good at hiding it with justifiable excuses.

But Jesus said, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”” (Luke 12:15). The psalmist prayed, “Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!” (Psalm 119:36. Now there is nothing wrong with having wealth or with retaining it as long as it was procured by honest means and preserved with the right motive. God is indeed the one who gives wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) and we should give him thanks for what we receive, however we also ought to heed God’s Word which says, “If riches increase, set not your heart on them.” (Psalm 62:10)."

How are you most vulnerable to covetousness as you examine your life?

Is God your Treasure?

The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever. - AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God

A morning prayer

"God, I am a man in desperate need of help today. God, please send Your help my way and please make me humble enough to receive it when it comes." --Paul David Tripp

Sins involving money?

This Sunday I am preaching on two common, subtle sins involving money.

What do you think are the most common sins that we commit involving money?

What is gossip?

"They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips," (Romans 1:29, ESV)

"For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder." (2 Corinthians 12:20, ESV)

"Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." (1 Timothy 5:13, ESV)

How would you define gossip? Recently I heard these definitions of gossip:

1. Gloating over the shortcomings and the sins of others
2. Passing on to others unfavorable truth that is unnecessary for others to know
3. Enjoying vice vicariously

Gossip is one of the most rampant and most respectable sins today. People even publish gossip columns and they are read by millions of people.

Notice that gossip can even be something true. We often equate "gossip" and "rumors", but they are not equal. If you pass on unfavorable truth to others who don't need to know, that is gossip.
What do you think? How would you define gossip?

What is your theology of suffering?

In a message to college age young people at Resolved 2005, C. J. Mahaney urged, "You need to develop a theology of suffering before you encounter suffering!" D. A. Carson has said it is not an issue of when you suffer. Everyone will suffer. Live long enough and you will suffer. The issue is are you ready for it.

I am looking for responses to this question: How are you preparing for suffering? What is your theology of suffering?

I would be especially interested in hearing from younger people who have experienced little or no suffering in this life yet.

Morality and Theology

I have been preaching on waging a noble spiritual warfare from 1 Timothy 1:18-20 for some time. Paul charges Timothy to be "holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith." This is literally speaking of "the faith"! The word "reject" is a strong word which means "to violently discard." So this text is saying by violently discarding this [a good conscience], men [false teachers] make shipwreck of their faith [the faith they once embraced]. This teaches that bad theology is the result of bad morals. The first thing to go in a life is a good conscience, morality, and then then that leads to a need to tailor ones theology to one's morality.

The same is true in the views one has of every day life. I was listening to a speaker this week who challenged his listeners to develop a theology of suffering before they encountered it. Why? Because it is not an issue that you might suffer it is only an issue of time when you will suffer. Live long enough and you will suffer.

Martyn Lloyd Jones has some excellent application to this whole issue when he writes,

"If you go wrong in your doctrine, you will go wrong in all aspects of your life. You will probably go wrong in your practice and behaviour; and you will certainly go wrong in your experience. Why is it that people are defeated by the things that happen to them? Why is it that some people are completely cast down if they are taken ill, or if someone who is dear to them is taken ill? They were wonderful Christians when all was going well; the sun was shining, the family was well, everything was perfect, and you would have thought that they were the best Christians in the country. But suddenly there is an illness and they seem to be shattered, they do not know what to do or where to turn, and they begin to doubt God. They say, "We were living the Christian life, and we were praying to God, and our lives had been committed to God; but look at what is happening. Why should this happen to us?" They begin to doubt God and all His gracious dealings with them. Do such people need 'a bit of comfort'? Do they need the church simply as a kind of soporific or tranquillizer? Do they only need something which will make them feel a little happier, and lift the burden a little while they are in the church?

"Their real trouble is that they lack an understanding of the Christian faith. They have an utterly inadequate notion of what Christianity means. Their idea of Christianity was: "Believe in Christ and you will never have another trouble or problem; God will bless you, nothing will ever go wrong with you"; whereas the Scripture itself teaches that 'through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God' (Acts 14:22), or as the Apostle expresses it elsewhere, 'In nothing be terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake' (Philippians 1:28-29). Our Lord says, 'In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). There is nothing which is so wrong, and so utterly false, as to fail to see the primary importance of true doctrine."

--Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Heresies