The Love Of Money

The Love Of Money

Who or what do you love today? What has your heart? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So again I ask you, who or what has your heart? What do you love more than anything else in this world? For many people, the answer is money. People love the Benjamins. Many people love money. 

Do you know what the Bible says about the love of money? For the love of money is the root of all evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (1 Timothy 6:10). Yes, money can be a seductress.

The love of money leads people astray. Some people love money more than they love God and the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is not evil, but the love of money is evil. Do you love money today? Is it your goal to graduate from college and earn lots of money? What is this the most important thing to you?

Is Money Your Idol?

Do you worship money? Do you love money more than you love God? If so, then money is your idol. Many times we think of idols as a fat Buddha or something like that. But you can make an idol in your mind. You can worship something or someone. Anything, absolutely anything you love more than God Himself is an idol. Do you love money today? Is money your idol?

Whatever worldly item you crave in this world, it will never satisfy. Millionaires want to be Billionaires. Billionaires want to have hundreds of Billions. Those who collect collectibles never have enough. They never say this is the final piece for my collection and it will be complete. No, enough is never enough. Collectors always want more. Money never satisfies. People who love money always want more. The Bible even confirms this.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20). People who lust are never satisfied. Their eyes never get enough. This is true concerning money, collectibles, drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality and pornography. People caught up in these things never say enough is enough. They always want more and more.

Hell And Destruction Are Never Full

Well, don’t miss the first part of that Bible verse in Proverbs. Hell and destruction are never full. If Satan has you snared through lusting, he’ll keep pulling you farther and farther in until you are destroyed. Until you die in your sins and you perish is in Hell for all eternity. Sadly, Hell always has room for one more unrepentant sinner.

Is this where you are headed today? Are you on the broad road to destruction? Jesus said:  Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).

Oh students, which path are you on? Are you on the straight and narrow path or are you on the broad road to destruction? Do not be deceived today. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If money, drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography are your little g gods today, then you are on the broad road to Hell.

God Doesn’t Accept Better Moral People

I’m not preaching that you need to be a better moral person for God to accept you. No, none of us are righteous. We have all fallen short of God’s glory. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. None of us are good. No matter how good of person you think you are today, you are wrong. None of us are good. None of us are righteous.

The point is that you cannot clean yourself up for God to proclaim you clean or whole. None of us can clean ourselves up. Not a single one of us can wipe out our many sins. We’ve all sinned against God, we’ve all rebelled against the great Creator God. Again, there’s nothing you can do to save yourself.

Throw Yourself On The Mercy Of The Court

All you can do is throw yourself on the mercy of the court. Thankfully, Jesus is the Judge, Advocate and the only One who can pay this sin debt that you and I owe. Only Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. That’s because Jesus is the only one who walked this earth and never sinned. He was fully God and fully man, yet He was without sin.

Unlike you and I, Jesus never sinned. Not one time. The Lord never lied, stole, lusted nor coveted. Jesus never disobeyed God the Father. Yet He died a cruel death on the cross to pay for the sins of guilty sinners who repent from their sins and put their faith in Him. Not only did Jesus suffer unimaginable physical pain on the cross, but He also endured God’s wrath over sin as He hung there.

This Is Love

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). Jesus died in the place of guilty sinners. He was the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means the wrath was satisfied. God’s anger over sin was satisfied when He poured it out upon Jesus as the Lord hung on that cross. He did so to save His people from their sins. Jesus took the punishment that the creatures He created (that’s us) deserved.

Jesus died and was buried and rose victoriously from the grave three days later. Students, God offers eternal life to each and every person who repents from their sins and surrenders their life fully and completely to Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, come to Jesus today. Gold and silver never satisfy. Money never satisfies. Joy, true joy, is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent and believe the Gospel. Do this today and be saved.

God Takes Away Your Heart Of Stone When You Trust Jesus

When you come to Jesus, God takes away your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh. You become a new creature in Christ. The old passes away, behold, all things become new. God gives you His desires. You are no longer the same person when you truly surrender your life to the Lord Jesus.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).

Don’t Continue Being Deceived By The Devil

Oh students, don’t continue going through life being deceived by the devil. Don’t continue being blinded by Satan, by the world and by fleshly desires. Don’t continue living selfishly for yourself. Do not die in your sins and split Hell wide open. Don’t continue loving money. You can’t spend one penny in Hell. But you can suffer eternal damnation for your sins if you die as an unrepentant sinner.

Don’t do it. Don’t die in your sins and suffer God’s righteous anger over your sins forever. Turn and live. Turn from your sins and turn to the risen Lord. Confess and forsake your sins. Cry out for God to have mercy upon you. Repent from your sins and surrender your life utterly and completely to the Lord Jesus.

Jesus Is Lord Of All

Christ Jesus is Lord of all. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Oh, but you must do so in this life. Don’t wait until Judgment Day where you will do these things and then Jesus will have His servants cast you into Hell where you will suffer for all eternity. Don’t die in your sins and go to Hell. Repent. Repent and believe the Gospel. Come to Jesus and be saved. Call upon the precious name of Jesus and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Repent and put your faith in Jesus. Trust in the Lord. Trust in His finished work on the cross. Then money won’t mean anything to you. You will then be Heaven bound and look forward to the next life. You will care less about the things of this earth and desire more and more of Jesus. That is, when you are truly saved. Love the Lord and not money. Repent and trust Jesus. Do this today and be saved.

(This message was lifted up at Missouri State University on February 13, 2019)