How Money Fears Kill Our Worship
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Well, yesterday we started the week,
00:00:06.160 | week number 500 on the podcast, by the way, it's amazing.
00:00:09.320 | We started this 500th week on the podcast
00:00:11.740 | looking at Christian love
00:00:13.440 | and how that love differs from the love of the world.
00:00:17.280 | And I want to carry that discussion over today
00:00:19.520 | because there's another key factor
00:00:21.960 | that distinguishes our Christian love
00:00:23.920 | and it's about money, the fear of money,
00:00:26.920 | specifically the fear of not having enough money.
00:00:30.220 | Money fears kill our love and money fears kill our worship.
00:00:36.340 | Key points made by John Piper in a 1997 sermon on Luke 12.
00:00:41.680 | Here's Pastor John to make those connections.
00:00:44.040 | - So Luke 12, 32 to 34 of the dozens of texts
00:00:49.980 | I could have chosen is all about worshiping God
00:00:55.080 | with your money.
00:00:57.480 | There are four points I want to make.
00:01:01.920 | Many more could be made.
00:01:05.040 | I think I counted about 10 sermons
00:01:07.120 | I'd like to preach on these three verses,
00:01:09.500 | but I'll preach one and make four points.
00:01:14.500 | Number one, in verse 32 in particular,
00:01:19.760 | the first point is God commands us
00:01:22.440 | not to be afraid about money, not to have fear about money.
00:01:26.380 | When it comes to money things,
00:01:29.840 | we're not supposed to be anxious.
00:01:32.200 | Don't worry, don't be afraid, he says, little flock,
00:01:35.600 | for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
00:01:39.440 | That little verse there is sandwiched
00:01:41.200 | before and after with money.
00:01:42.900 | Verses 22 following are all about money,
00:01:45.720 | things, clothing, house,
00:01:47.520 | and whether you're anxious about them
00:01:48.920 | and then it's followed by selling possessions
00:01:50.960 | and giving alms and laying up treasures in heaven
00:01:54.000 | instead of on the earth.
00:01:54.840 | So this little verse,
00:01:56.060 | this beautiful, magnificent promise verse,
00:01:58.920 | the first point is don't be anxious, don't be afraid.
00:02:03.920 | But now there's a deeper point in this verse
00:02:07.800 | and the deeper point is that when you're not afraid
00:02:12.800 | concerning money, you magnify five things about God.
00:02:19.280 | And that's worship.
00:02:22.760 | When you're not afraid or anxious or fearful about money,
00:02:28.800 | you magnify five things about God in this one verse.
00:02:33.680 | And when you magnify God
00:02:35.200 | through not being afraid about money, you worship.
00:02:37.680 | Here are the five things.
00:02:41.160 | These are precious things that we want to magnify about God.
00:02:45.880 | Number one, when we're not afraid about money,
00:02:49.880 | we magnify God as our shepherd.
00:02:53.000 | Do not be afraid, little flock.
00:02:58.000 | The word flock means we've got a shepherd and we are sheep.
00:03:03.320 | And therefore Psalm 23 kicks in,
00:03:07.280 | the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not what?
00:03:12.280 | Want.
00:03:14.640 | That word is the old Elizabethan word for lack.
00:03:19.640 | I shall not lack, I shall not be in want.
00:03:24.360 | That is, if I have a shepherd like this
00:03:28.840 | who loves to give me the kingdom,
00:03:31.360 | I will not lack for what I need.
00:03:33.720 | Therefore, if I believe that and thus exclude fear,
00:03:38.720 | I will magnify his shepherd love.
00:03:42.400 | Number two, if I do not fear concerning money,
00:03:47.400 | I show that I treasure God as my father.
00:03:52.040 | Do not be afraid, little flock,
00:03:55.640 | for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
00:04:00.640 | So not only am I or are we sheep who have a shepherd,
00:04:05.880 | we are children who have a father.
00:04:10.400 | He's multiplying images for us here to get rid of fear.
00:04:15.400 | That's what he's doing.
00:04:17.240 | Don't be afraid, you're sheep who have a shepherd.
00:04:20.520 | Don't be afraid, you're children who have a father.
00:04:24.520 | Now, what does that imply?
00:04:27.300 | Well, verse 30, two verses earlier,
00:04:30.420 | makes pretty plain what it implies.
00:04:33.360 | All these things, eat, drink, wear, money things,
00:04:39.200 | all these things, the nations of the world eagerly seek,
00:04:43.880 | but your father knows that you need these things.
00:04:48.880 | Now, he didn't say that to mock us.
00:04:52.320 | He said that because knowing that we need these things,
00:04:57.440 | he'll work to provide what we need
00:05:00.920 | in order to magnify his fatherhood.
00:05:04.520 | But now be careful.
00:05:07.040 | Do not come to God with an agenda
00:05:12.040 | defining for him what you need.
00:05:17.240 | Come to God and learn from him what you need.
00:05:24.680 | The word need today in America is so inflated
00:05:32.160 | that it scarcely has any meaning
00:05:35.680 | in a universal context anymore.
00:05:38.960 | So if we are fearless about money,
00:05:42.520 | we magnify him as shepherd,
00:05:44.280 | we magnify him as father, and that is worship.
00:05:48.320 | Thirdly, if we're not afraid concerning money,
00:05:52.560 | we show that we treasure God as our king.
00:05:56.640 | Do not be afraid, little flock,
00:06:00.260 | for your father has chosen gladly to give you the what?
00:06:05.260 | Kingdom.
00:06:08.000 | Who has right and authority to give us the kingdom?
00:06:12.800 | No peon disposes of the kingdom.
00:06:17.480 | The king disposes of the kingdom.
00:06:21.160 | And therefore, not only is he a shepherd
00:06:25.160 | loving us as sheep, father loving us as cattle,
00:06:30.260 | children, he is king, ruling us, providing for us,
00:06:35.260 | exerting sovereignty and power on our behalf
00:06:39.580 | as subjects against our enemies,
00:06:42.160 | including the lack of things we need.
00:06:45.660 | So if we trust him as king and shepherd and father
00:06:51.580 | and thus overcome our fear of not having enough money,
00:06:58.520 | then we magnify him and he is worshiped.
00:07:03.180 | Fourth, if we are fearless with regard to our money,
00:07:08.180 | we magnify him as free and generous.
00:07:12.740 | Do not be afraid, little flock,
00:07:16.500 | for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom,
00:07:21.500 | not sell you the kingdom, not rent you the kingdom,
00:07:27.060 | not lease you the kingdom for payments,
00:07:31.220 | mortgage payments, rent payments, lease payments.
00:07:34.540 | He will give you the kingdom.
00:07:36.220 | He loves to give you the kingdom,
00:07:38.980 | which means he's generous.
00:07:42.740 | And therefore, if we let his shepherd-like,
00:07:46.420 | fatherly, kingly generosity work on our fear,
00:07:51.420 | our anxieties, and I'm talking a battle here.
00:07:55.100 | You know I'm talking a battle here, right?
00:07:57.180 | We're not talking something that happened yesterday
00:07:59.140 | and doesn't happen tomorrow.
00:08:01.060 | We're talking a weekly thing, a paycheck by paycheck thing,
00:08:06.060 | or unemployment check by unemployment check thing.
00:08:11.300 | We're talking a battle here.
00:08:13.220 | The way we battle is by preaching to ourselves
00:08:16.260 | what I'm preaching right now.
00:08:17.340 | That's the way I do it.
00:08:18.780 | It ain't automatic for John Piper
00:08:20.740 | to be fearless about money,
00:08:23.520 | though I get paid plenty, way plenty.
00:08:26.480 | It isn't automatic for me.
00:08:30.020 | It isn't automatic for you.
00:08:31.380 | We are battling fear and anxiety every day,
00:08:35.700 | not to mention greed.
00:08:37.980 | And we do it by saying, he's shepherd to me,
00:08:41.620 | he's father to me, he's king to me.
00:08:44.540 | And he's not as shepherd, father, and king,
00:08:47.540 | folding his arms, standing off in the corner,
00:08:49.940 | saying, maybe, maybe you'll get the kingdom.
00:08:54.260 | I'll watch your performances.
00:08:57.180 | It's not the way he does it.
00:08:59.540 | Give, give, give, free, free, free is what the Lord does.
00:09:04.540 | And fifthly, when we overcome our fear
00:09:12.060 | and live free of fear, we magnify our God as happy.
00:09:18.900 | In his giving.
00:09:22.500 | Do not be afraid, little flock,
00:09:25.900 | for your father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
00:09:30.900 | Or it is his good pleasure, another version says,
00:09:36.980 | to give you the kingdom.
00:09:38.040 | Or another version, it pleases him.
00:09:40.500 | He's pleased to give you the kingdom.
00:09:44.060 | He wants to do this.
00:09:45.960 | He is not selfish.
00:09:49.260 | Simony is not his virtue or vice.
00:09:54.260 | He is a generous God.
00:09:59.660 | So, the first point of this message is,
00:10:03.540 | trust him as shepherd.
00:10:07.100 | Trust him as father.
00:10:09.200 | Trust him as king.
00:10:11.300 | Trust his generosity and trust the fact
00:10:15.060 | that it's lavish because he loves to do it.
00:10:19.420 | Preach these things to yourself
00:10:21.620 | and attack fear and anxiety in your life
00:10:25.700 | with these truths so that when you overcome
00:10:30.380 | fear about money, God gets the glory.
00:10:35.460 | These five glorious things shine out of your life.
00:10:42.460 | And if anyone asks you,
00:10:44.300 | I know that you're in financial straits
00:10:48.920 | and yet at work you seem to be caring about others
00:10:53.020 | and fairly happy.
00:10:56.260 | How is that?
00:10:59.140 | Then you say, can I share five things with you
00:11:02.740 | about my God?
00:11:04.420 | And he is worshipped.
00:11:08.580 | He is worshipped.
00:11:10.460 | - What freedom, what freedom.
00:11:12.300 | - To worship God free from the fear of money.
00:11:15.300 | Others will notice that.
00:11:16.500 | This sermon clip was taken from John Piper's message
00:11:19.900 | on Luke 12 titled, "Magnify God with Your Money"
00:11:22.420 | and preached on December 14th, 1997.
00:11:25.700 | If you have a sermon clip to share, email me.
00:11:27.460 | Give me your name, hometown, the sermon title,
00:11:29.420 | the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio
00:11:32.220 | and make a note of what stands out to you.
00:11:33.860 | Put the word clip in the subject line of an email
00:11:36.140 | and send it to me at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:11:38.660 | That's our email address.
00:11:40.340 | Askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:11:42.420 | Well, Friday we close out the week with a Bible question
00:11:45.980 | about how the new birth works.
00:11:48.380 | The sharp question, as you would expect.
00:11:51.180 | I'm your host Tony Rehnke.
00:11:52.020 | We'll rejoin in studio with Pastor John on Friday.
00:11:54.660 | We'll see you then.
00:11:55.580 | (upbeat music)
00:11:58.160 | (upbeat music)
00:12:00.740 | [BLANK_AUDIO]