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Alright, keep your place in Genesis 12 and turn to Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. And this morning we're going to be talking about the story where Abram leaves to go into Egypt when there's a famine in the land. The name of the sermon this morning is Fleeing from Famine. Fleeing from Famine. Basically what you see with Abram in this story is he makes a very poor decision spiritually for a financial reason. Once there's a famine he decides to go to a wicked area to live. He's not doing it for spiritual reasons. He's doing it because he's thinking about money. He's worried about his finances. Look at Luke chapter 8 verse 14. And this is the famous parable of the sower. And this is the third group of people here. And these are saved people. Look what it says in Luke 8 14. And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. So in Luke chapter 8 verse 14 it talks about people that are caught up with cares and riches and pleasures. And as a result of this they don't bring fruit to perfection. They do not win souls to the Lord. They don't do something big for God. Now in independent Baptist churches, even in other just normal run-of-the-mill independent Baptist churches, they pretty much all preach against worldliness to some degree. Even in churches that are pretty watered down, they're going to preach against the movies to some degree. They'll preach against the TV to some degree. They'll preach against the music to some degree. You'll hear them preach against the cares and the pleasures quite often. Now obviously at Verity Baptist we take a very strong stance that a lot of churches don't take. But here's the thing about this. It makes sense why you would preach against worldliness on a daily basis. Because when we go out to the grocery store or to restaurants or anywhere we go, we deal with worldliness on a daily basis. You go to the grocery store and you hear the music. There's TVs playing. And every single day you've got to make a decision to do what's right and not allow your eyes to look upon things that they shouldn't. You see women that are dressed completely inappropriately, completely against the Bible, and in a daily basis you have to fight that battle. At work, you're probably around a bunch of people that are not saved and you're around people that are talking about the things of the world and don't care about the Bible. And you have a daily battle versus worldliness. And so it makes sense that you preach against that a lot. But here's the thing. Riches are something that are a little bit different. It's not really a daily battle. It's a seasonal battle more so. You see there's going to be times in your life where you're doing really well financially. There's going to be times in your life where you're really struggling financially. Just a couple nights ago we had a men's preaching night here on Friday. And all the men did a great job. There were ten sermons. They were fantastic sermons. I learned things from the Bible. I was writing down lots of notes. Everybody did a great job. And through the years we've had a lot of men's preaching nights where there's a lot of guys that have stood behind this pulpit and preached against worldliness. And they preach really hard. And those people did live very, very separated lives. They did very well fighting against worldliness. We all fight that battle. We all struggle with it to some degrees. But there's been a lot of men that preach behind this pulpit and did a very good job fighting against worldliness. But once they came into a financial problem in their life, they ended up fleeing. Last year when we had the big protest, there were people that are part of this church that immediately they ended up leaving because they worried about their jobs. People that lived very, very separated lives. But once they had to worry about the riches of this world, it struck them down. And quite honestly, I think I've learned over the years that even more so than the cares and pleasures of this life, it seems like money is what really strikes down a lot of mighty soul winners. I could even look at myself and say, you know, if I ended up backsliding on God one day, it probably wouldn't be because I wanted to start watching lots of TV and things like that. It would probably be because of money. It would probably be because I wasn't trusting God enough. I came to a famine in my life and I didn't have enough faith. And here's the thing, no matter how much money you have, you're going to have times in your life where you go through famines. You have times in your life where you're abounding and times in your life when you're based. And I want to help prepare you this morning for that situation. Because you might be doing very well financially right now, but there might come a time where you start to struggle. And I want to help prepare you to make the right decision. Now look at Genesis 12. In Genesis chapter 12, let's look at verse number 10. The Bible reads, And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. A couple of things to note in verse number 10 real quickly. The word sojourn does not mean to live somewhere permanently. It means to live somewhere temporarily. So basically Abram does not plan to stay in Egypt permanently. Obviously he doesn't want to live in a wicked place permanently. He's planning to make a temporary move. It's like if somebody graduates college and they want to stay. If you graduate from West Virginia University, I had a lot of friends, they wanted to live there, they couldn't find a job there. So they move somewhere else for like three, four, five years to get experience and then they plan to come back. And so what Abram's doing is he's going to a wicked area for a temporary time period. That is what his plan is and he's planning to come back. And it says the famine was grievous in the land. This is a very massive famine. It says in verse 11, And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon, therefore it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see thee, And they will say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee. So the first thing we see with Abram when he decides to go to do an ungodly thing, he goes to focus on money rather than the things of God. The first thing we see in his life is he starts lying. Do you see that? He tells him, you know what, Sarai, she's not my wife, she's just my sister. Immediately, he starts to lie. This is a common theme you see in the Bible that when people chase after money, and I want to make it very clear what I'm saying by chasing after money. You know, if you get a job offer to make more money and you can still come to church and still be involved in soul winning, you're not chasing after money, you're taking a better job. You know, I'm not saying that you can't take a better job. I'm not saying you can't make money. I'm not saying you can't work a lot of hours. But if you decide to take a job and start missing church, you're chasing after money. If you decide to take a job and say, well, I won't be able to go soul winning for a couple of years, you're chasing after money. If you start taking jobs that will cause you to become worse spiritually, you're chasing after money. If you take a job to leave a great church, to go somewhere where you do not know if there's a good church, you're chasing after money. You're concerned more with money than you are with the things of God. And what we see with Abram is he is more concerned about money here. He is chasing after money. And immediately you see that he starts to lie. Turn to Acts chapter 5. Now, it ought to give you a sign here that you're doing something wrong if you make a decision to move somewhere and you're immediately afraid you're going to die. I mean, he says they're going to kill me. You know, you've got to tell them, you know, that we're just brother and sister. Wouldn't that ring a bell to you? Man, I'm doing something wrong if now I'm afraid I'm going to be killed. But, you know, honestly, when you get in trouble financially or you're worried about your finances, you make a lot of dumb decisions. And I've made bad decisions based on money before where I feel pressured. I don't have enough faith in God. And Abram makes a very bad decision for his family. You know, you don't have to turn there. You're in Acts 5. But in James 3, 14, it says, I didn't used to understand that verse where it said lie not against the truth. But I ended up coming to an understanding of it where it's basically where people are backsliding and they know what the truth is and they lie. And here's the thing. When you start to lie, there's a couple reasons why. One is because you have to cover up for your sin. You have to cover up for the decision you're making. And you'll notice this, that when people make decisions based on money and do things that they shouldn't be doing, a bad decision spiritually, they have to cover up for their actions. Anytime somebody starts backsliding, they're going to cover up for their actions. You know, if somebody were to leave a great church and to move somewhere else, do you really think they're going to tell you, man, I'm backsliding. That's why I'm moving away. I don't care about soul winning as much anymore. I don't care about reading the Bible as much anymore. They're never going to tell you that. They're going to make a valid reason. It's going to sound valid, but I don't think it would be very valid to God. Because when you make decisions that are against what the Bible says, where you're basically not going to be able to go soul winning as much, you're not going to hear great preaching, you're making a decision based on money and you're covering up for your actions. And if you're here today, if you start backsliding, don't lie against the truth. Just admit that you're backsliding. Don't sit here and say, well, you know, I have to because I have a special situation that nobody else has. Just admit the truth you're doing exactly what Abram did in the Bible. You're lying against the truth. Now, here's the thing, though. Let's say you were struggling financially and you got a job offer to move to a place where there was a great church. Let's say, for example, you got to move to Word of Truth Baptist Church with Pastor David Berzins. That's a great church. You know, there's probably things that are better and worse about that church compared to our church. That's a great church. You know, we consider them friends. He's coming in for the preaching conference. If you're struggling financially and you get a job offer that's going to help you, God's probably sending you to that area to help that church. He's probably blessing you. But if you get a job offer, let's say in Indiana and you say, well, I'm sure there's some independent Baptist church in Indiana. I mean, come on. Most churches that are independent Baptist are not like this church. Don't sit here and say, well, there's plenty of churches just like this. There aren't. There are not plenty of churches just like this. If there are plenty of churches just like this, why is it that you see people moving here across the country all the time to come to a church like this or to Faithful Word or something like that? Don't sit here and say, well, there's churches just like this. No, there are not. If you go to other independent Baptist churches that are watered down across the country, they are not just like this church. In Acts chapter five, look at verse number one, the Bible reads, But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whilst remained was it not in thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart, that thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God? And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost, and great fear came on all them that heard these things. So you see that Ananias is struck down dead for lying. Now, the expression gave up the ghost just means that you died. It doesn't mean that he lost the Holy Ghost, doesn't mean that he lost the salvation. It means that he was struck down dead because he lied. Now, I do want to make a comment because a lot of people are confused about this story. Notice what it says in verse four. He says, Whilst it remained was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? What Peter is saying to him was, you didn't have to give all your money. The problem is not that he didn't give enough money. The problem is that he lied about how much he sold it for. We're not communists here. You don't have to give every single possession you have and just join together in this communal living. That's not what's being taught here. But what's showing here is that he is lying about how much he sold it for. Now, at this time, people were very generous and helped people out that were struggling financially. And we ought to do the same thing. But it was still his own. It was his possession. It wasn't the government. It wasn't anybody else's. It was his. And he sold it. It was still in his own power. He didn't have to give all of it. But the problem was, it says over and over in this passage, he lied. And it wasn't just that he lied to men. He lied unto God. He said, I sold it for this much when he really sold it for this much. And he lied about it and claimed that he was giving all to help people out that were struggling. And so what you notice is this. When people make decisions based on money, whether they're not that generous or they're chasing after money, they will lie about the decision that they made. They are covering up for the actions that they chose. Now turn to Proverbs chapter 6. So we see that lying becomes a very common part of your life if you start chasing after money. And it makes sense because you've got to cover up for your action. You don't want to admit what you've actually done. But there's another reason why lying becomes very common once you start chasing after money. And that's because we don't really look at lying as being that big of a deal. I mean, if you were to look at the list of sins that are out there, lying is not as big of a deal as murder. And we see that lying becomes a very common part of your life if you start chasing after money. And we think of it as not... I mean, think about when we go soul winning door to door. We talk to people and you ask them, well, you know, the Bible says hell is a literal place of fire. What do you think it would take for a person to be sent to hell? Does anybody ever tell you, well, just tell them one lie. Man, that would send you to hell. No, what they say is, well, if you kill someone and don't ask for forgiveness. Or you do something really terrible and never come back to God. They think of very serious things like murder. Look at Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16. It says in Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16, These six things doth the Lord hate, Yea, seven are an abomination unto them. Now look at the things that he mentions that God hates. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that diviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Do you notice two things the Bible mentions here that God hates are about lying? The second thing mentioned is a lying tongue. You say, well, you know, everybody lies. Yes, the Bible says let God be true, but every man a liar. But just because everybody's guilty of it doesn't mean that God says, well, it's no big deal. Just because other people are guilty, that doesn't make you innocent. And God takes lying very seriously. God says he hates a lying tongue. And if you make decisions in life and you just have to start lying to cover it up, that ought to put a big red flag in your own mind. Quit lying against the truth. Quit saying, well, you're not doing anything wrong. You obviously are if you just think lying's no big deal. Lying is pretty serious unto God. This person, Ananias, was struck down dead because he lied. You know, you think about certain jobs where, you think of them as jobs where you chase after money, where you have to sell things. You know, like a car salesman. And what do you notice about car salesmen? Their goal is to sell a product. And so most car salesmen, the vast majority, are going to be incredibly dishonest to try to sell a certain car. Now, I say the vast majority because I actually have gone soul winning with someone who's a good guy that is a car salesman. So I don't want, like, let's say him or somebody else listening to this sermon gets offended. I'm not saying just because you deal with sales that you're a bad person. But I have worked in sales before, and there's a tendency where your company and even yourself feel pressured to be a little bit dishonest. Say, well, you know, she's my sister. She's not really my wife. That way you can sell that car. You can sell that product. And if you look at jobs like a salesman, or let's say, for example, a politician, their goal is to sell you in the fact that they're a good person. Now, we know that they're not good people here at Verity Baptist Church, but a lot of people fall for it. And they're going to be dishonest about who they are in order to get that job, because if you make it as a politician, you're set for life. You're going to make lots of money. You'll get speaking engagements after. I mean, presidents and even high politicians, when they're done, they get speaking engagements. They come in for an hour. They make $100,000. They're not getting paid $100,000 because they're great speakers because they're helping these massive companies make a lot of money. And they get elected president or whatever job, and they'll agree. And this goes back to the fact I watched a movie a while ago called Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. This was a movie from like 80 years ago, and it showed the corruption in politics. I think it was a movie either in 1929 or 1939. It was a really old Jimmy Stewart movie, and they show you the corruption in politics even back then, about how people will be dishonest to help people out so they can make money. It's always existed in politics, and it certainly exists today. But I want you to understand this, that if you notice yourself starting to lie a lot in your life, you need to fix that problem while it's small, because otherwise it's going to become very serious. Because once you start thinking lying is not that big of a deal, you're going to start thinking other sins aren't that big of a deal. And eventually it can lead to massive problems. If we have an area of our life that we're struggling with or that we're sinning, we need to fix that before it becomes a huge problem. Now turn back to Genesis chapter 12. So the first thing we see with Abram is that he starts to lie. When he chases after money, when he goes down into Egypt. But look at Genesis chapter 12 verse 14. It says, And it came to pass that when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. So the first thing you see is that when he chases after money, he starts lying. But the other thing you're going to see is you start loitering with the ungodly. Basically hanging out with ungodly people. Instead of spending your time with the people of God, you start loitering with the ungodly. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 13. But while you turn to 2 Samuel 13, I'm going to read Proverbs 13 20. It says, You see, if you hang out with people that are godly people, that are wise people, they're going to help you make good decisions. They're going to help you become a soul winner. They start talking about the Bible, guess what? You're going to start talking about the Bible. They start going soul winning, you're going to start going soul winning. But if you hang out with a bunch of people in Egypt, you're probably going to start doing the exact same things as they do. You hang out with ungodly people, you're going to do ungodly things. And it's a lot easier to be dragged down than to bring somebody up. You know, if you're in this room today and you have friends that are godly, but also friends that are ungodly, most likely those ungodly friends are going to drag you down. You're probably going to end up quitting church because you're hanging out with ungodly people. And here's the thing, when you get saved, usually if you talk about the Bible, your friends will separate from you. Everyone I was friends with before I was saved, they probably have their guts now. You know, they don't want to talk to me. I'm not friends with them. And if you're starting to live for the Lord, what you're going to notice is those people are going to separate from you. And so if you end up trying to stay friends with them, that's because you're changing who you are. You're not talking about the Bible. You're choosing to pretend to be something you're not because you want to still be friends with them. And here's the thing, you know, they're going to cause your soul winning to slip, your Bible reading, your prayer. You're going to start to watch TV and movies because they start talking about actors and actresses in this movie that's out. And then you start to become curious about it. And you start doing the exact same things as them. And that's why you need to be around people that love the Lord and care about soul winning. They care about the Bible. They care about doing what's right. You know, in Second Samuel 13, we have a great example of someone who was around ungodly people. It says in Second Samuel, and in this story we see this character Amnon. I believe Amnon probably had godly friends as well. But I believe he had a really ungodly friend, which we see in Second Samuel 13. Look at verse two where it says, And Amnon was so vexed that he fell sick for his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin. And Amnon thought it hard for him to do anything to her. So Amnon has an ungodly desire towards his half-sister. Now, I'm glad that he thought it was hard to do anything to her. I'm glad he didn't want to do anything. Because obviously you're doing something really wicked. But notice what it says in verse three. But Amnon had a friend. Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimei, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very subtle man. And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king's son, lean from day to day? Wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister. And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick. And when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it and eat it at her hand. And so Jonadab is basically telling his friend Amnon, he says, put your sister Tamar into this position where basically you can force her. The Bible is very discreet when it talks about things like this. But he's talking about basically forcing her into a relationship that night. This is an extremely, extremely wicked sin. And here's the thing. When you're around ungodly people, they might make a lot of suggestions and you can turn it down nine times out of ten. But that one time you listen to them, that one time you take bad advice, it could destroy your life, which it does to Amnon here. And here's the thing about this. When we start backsliding in our lives, we like to take advice that is bad advice because we want to do what's wrong. And that's why it's better off to cut off those friends from your life now while you're spiritually thinking correctly. Because when you come to a weak moment, you're going to go to people for advice and you're not going to take the advice of Pastor Jimenez that's going to tell you the right thing. You're going to take the advice of your unsaved friend that's telling you to do something really wicked. Your new friend Jonadab, he's going to start telling your wife to start working and start to wear pants. Your new friend Jonadab, you know what he's going to do? He's going to defend the Sodomites and he's going to curse this church and Pastor Jimenez that stand up and preach against it. Your friends that aren't saved, they're not going to love this church. They're either going to get saved and start loving the Lord or they're going to hate a church like this. They're not going to care for the things of God. The world thinks we're crazy. And if you're friends with those people, it's going to lead you down the wrong road. And not only that, though, it's going to put you in positions to commit ungodliness. Look at verse number 8 in 2 Samuel 13. It says in verse 8, So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, and he was laid down. And she took flour and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes. And she took a pan and poured them out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me, and they went out every man from him. And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly. And I whither shall I cause my shame to go? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king, for he will not withhold me from thee. Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice, but being stronger than she, forced her and lay with her. This is one of the worst stories in the Bible. And it's in the Bible to teach us a lot of different things. One, it shows us what happens when you hang out with ungodly people. But another thing that it shows you is this, that if you're not married to someone of the opposite gender, you should not be in a room with them alone. That's ridiculous, because you're asking yourself to make a mistake. You're putting yourself in a terrible position. I mean, and if you're here today and you're not married, never be alone with someone of the opposite gender in a room by yourself. Never put yourself in a position where you can do something foolish in the moment. Because we have a sinful flesh that is willing to make bad decisions. And if you're in this position, it doesn't matter how much you go soul winning. It doesn't matter how righteous you are. You might end up doing something really stupid like Amnon and destroying the lives of both of you. You know, never put yourself in that position. If you're young here, you need to listen to that. Because it's easy to be at a church like this and say, well, I would never make a mistake like that. But you know what, if you put yourself in bad positions, like Jonah Dab gets Amnon into this bad position, you are liable to make very bad decisions. Turn back to Genesis chapter 12. So the first thing we see with this story of Abram is, he starts lying. He starts loitering with the ungodly. But I also want to show you the let down of money. Look at Genesis chapter 12 verse 16. And the Bible reads, Now notice this, Abram flees into Egypt because there's a famine. And when he goes to Egypt, he gets great possessions and great riches. Do you see that? He is given sheep and oxen and he-asses and men-servants and maid-servants and she-asses and camels. He ends up getting a lot of money. Look at verse number 20. Well, let's keep reading. Look at verse number 1. It confirms this very clearly. And Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. So it repeats it in back-to-back verses to drive home the point that when Abram went down to Egypt, he became very rich. He left with all that he had. He got to take everything with him. It's not that Pharaoh gave him possessions and then Pharaoh took them back away. Pharaoh didn't take them. He took all of those possessions with him. And notice in verse 2 in Genesis 13, now look, Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. See, he went down to Egypt and he became rich. And here's what I want you to understand before we go on with this. You know, you might make a terrible decision financially and you might end up making a lot of money out of it. That doesn't mean that God's blessing you, though. Look at verse number 5 of Genesis 13. And there is a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. What we see in this story is that Abram and Lot, they get so much money in Egypt that they have to separate. And Lot ends up going to Sodom and Gomorrah. Why did he have to go to Sodom and Gomorrah? Because Abram went down to Egypt and he ended up making lots of money. And see, here's what you have to realize. You say, well, I'm just going to take this job, I'm going to start missing soul winning, miss church, I'm just going to do it for a few years to make money. Yeah, but if you start making that money, that might be a curse. That's not necessarily a blessing. This destroyed the life of Lot. Abram destroyed the life of his nephew Lot because he wanted to go down because he was worried about money and he got what he wanted and it destroyed Lot's life. That is why Lot had to separate, because they had too much, too many possessions. Just because you have lots of money and lots of possessions, that's not necessarily a blessing. It might be a curse and quite honestly, that famine that came in the land, that was probably a blessing to Abram and not a curse. It was probably better if he had less money. And look, I get it, we all want to have more money. We all feel like, man, if I could just get my car paid off, if I could just get my house paid off, if I could just make a little bit more money per hour, then I'll be doing well. But you know, having that extra money, that might end up being a curse because most of us, when we have money, we make bad decisions. And it takes faith because we got to rely on God every single day. But we got to get out of this mentality that we have to have everything in life. Just because somebody in this church has a nice car, it doesn't mean you have to buy a nice car. Just because somebody in this church has a nice house, it doesn't mean that you have to buy a nice house. We should be happy with what God's provided us. Everybody here, you have food, you have clothing, you have a place to stay, God has provided you with those things. We need to get out of this mentality that I need to make more money. Because Abram got exactly what he wanted and Lot has to end up going into Sodom and Gomorrah, which we saw his whole life was destroyed as a result of that. Turn to Genesis chapter 16. So we see here that too much, too many possessions can be a bad thing. Too much money. But you know, it's not just too much money. When you start making money, you might start making bad decisions and get certain possessions that are very bad for you. Look at Genesis chapter 16 verse 1. Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children, and she hadn't handmade an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. Now I want to ask you this question, where did Hagar come from? She came from Egypt, right? We know the story with Hagar, how he has, you know, Abram ends up having a child, Ishmael. This possession, Hagar, it came from going into Egypt. He left because he was struggling financially, he goes into Egypt, he becomes rich, has lots of possessions. That causes a lot to have to go to Sodom and Gomorrah, and he also gets Hagar, that possession, and we know what ends up happening. You know, if you get lots of money, there are, honestly, most of us in this room, it's probably best if we don't have a lot of money. That's the truth. Most of us in this room, if we had money, it would destroy our lives. Now all of us think that if we had money, it would help. All of us say, well, I would never make bad decisions with money, even though in the Bible you see people make bad decisions all the time. All of us feel like we could handle it, but quite honestly, we probably couldn't. Turn to Philippians chapter 4. And the Bible actually speaks of this that a lot of people do not know how to abound, a lot of people don't know how to do well with money. We see this in Philippians chapter 4. It says in Philippians chapter 4, Paul speaking, Not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. And so Paul here talks about, this is a very famous passage because people always talk about, Even if you're struggling financially, you can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you. He'll help you out, you can get through it. But you know, he doesn't just say, I know how to be abased. He says, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. He links both of those things. Paul is stating, hey, I'm someone, I know how to live when I don't have anything, And I know how to live when I have a lot. And I know a lot of times we look at this verse and we only focus on the fact, We need to be trusting in God when we're struggling financially, and I'm preaching on that. That's definitely true, but the other thing is true as well. A lot of people don't know how to abound. Paul was someone who knew how to abound. He was someone who knew how to do well when he had money. But quite honestly, a lot of us, maybe we know how to be abased, But it doesn't necessarily mean that we know how to abound. And there might be a reason why God is keeping you living. And there might be a reason why God is keeping you lean financially. Maybe He's blessing you, not cursing you. We get mad at God and think, man, I feel like I've worked so hard, I'm living for the Lord, And yet I don't make that much money. But maybe God is blessing you by keeping you lean financially. Maybe He knows that you cannot handle the money. And I'm just being honest, but I feel like I'm pretty good at money, But I don't think that I'd be someone who would handle money well if I was rich. I felt when I was doing well financially, I felt my heart kind of go away. It's weird when I don't have much money, I tithe faithfully. But when I do have a lot of money, it's like a struggle to write that check. And I don't know if other people are like that. But quite honestly, a lot of us, once we start getting money, It causes our heart to start chasing after money more and more. A lot of us, we don't know how to abound financially. And here's the thing. Abram looked at his life and said, man, I need to make more money. But honestly, God was blessing him by keeping him lean. It was best for him to have less money. He got money and it destroyed his life. And we need to understand this also. God might allow us to be leaner financially than we feel comfortable with. You know, all of us, we want to have a little bit more money, But God might be more comfortable with you having a little bit less money. And in America, none of us are really poor. Because you go around the world and there are a lot of poor people there. There are people that are struggling to survive. When I was in Guyana, quite honestly, most of those houses are so run down. Nobody in this room would even probably be willing to live in those houses. And that's their lifestyle. They're used to that. The food is not even less expensive over there. I honestly don't know how they survive because their paychecks are like one tenth what ours are. And the food is not cheaper. I mean, there's a container of strawberries that here would cost maybe four dollars at a store, Which I think is really expensive. But over there with the translation was about thirteen dollars. It's like a dollar per strawberry. Because the translation is about, I think, two hundred nine to one. And it was like twenty eight hundred dollars. It was around thirteen dollars. Like a dollar a strawberry. That's the sort of thing that they would probably spend. It would be like a once a year thing. It's your birthday. You like strawberries. And you save up the entire year to bless your child by giving them a small pack of strawberries. I mean, this is reality. There's a lot of countries that are, and I've seen it. There's a lot of countries that are very, very poor. It was a very run down country in Guyana. But you know what? Those people, they still have food to eat. They still have clothing. And they still have enough to survive. We in America, quite honestly, we are abounding compared to other people. We feel like, man, I've got to be able to go to Starbucks every single day. I've got to be able to go to nice restaurants every single week. I've got to be able to do this and do that. But quite honestly, those are things that aren't a necessity. If you have money and you're able to do it, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you don't have money, we just need to be able to handle that. We need to realize that if you have food to eat and a place to stay and clothing, that's fine. It doesn't matter if other people are richer than you. Accept the fact that you're lean financially. And here's the thing. I talked about earlier how we go through seasons of struggling financially and doing well. There are people in this room that are doing very well financially. But if you knew their stories, there was a time where they were very abased. They were struggling financially and they did stay faithful to God when they were struggling. And quite honestly, a lot of us, once we start struggling or once we get too much money, our heart goes away. We need to realize that we're going to go through seasons. We need to prepare for this today. Turn back to Genesis 19. And so the first thing we saw this morning is this, that when you start chasing after money, you're going to start to lie. Second thing, you're going to start to loiter with the ungodly. The third thing we saw is that there's a big letdown of money. You get that money, it's not necessarily a blessing. It's not always cracked up to be. The grass is always greener on the other side. But the fourth thing, let's look at the long-term damage of chasing after money. And you're in Genesis 19, but let me just really read quickly to you. First Timothy 6, 9 where it says, But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. When it says they that will be rich, it's not talking about people that are rich or God's blessed financially. It's talking about people that are chasing after money. They want to be rich. That's what they're setting their heart towards. They're chasing after money, which we're talking about. And it says they fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts. Does this really sound like what you want to do in life? I mean, we would be a lot better off just accepting the fact we don't have much financially and just be happy that God's providing our needs. In Genesis 19, the first thing we're going to see is this. You're going to harm your closest friends when you chase after money. Genesis 19, verse 12, And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides, son-in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. I'm not going to read the rest of Genesis 19 for sake of time, but we see with Lot in this story, his life is destroyed. You know, Lot was the nephew of Abram, but even more so than that, they were close friends. And when you start chasing after money, you're going to destroy the lives of your friends. Because what's going to happen is you're going to start talking about money and just buying all these things, and your friends are going to start thinking, they're going to start getting envious. They're going to start saying, man, I wish I had that money. I wish I had that car. And if all you ever do is talk about money and you're really covetous, guess what? Covetousness, it wears off on other people. There's a reason that's listed in 1 Corinthians as sin that will get you kicked out of church. Because when all you do is talk about money, it rubs off on everybody else. And you will harm your closest friends if you chase after money. But turn to Genesis 16. You're not just going to harm your closest friends. You're also going to harm your marriage if you chase after money. And look, here's the thing. We need to provide as men. We need to make sure that we work hard. And you might have to work 40, 50, 60, 70 hours a week. But you need to be able to stop and say, hey, we're going to church no matter what. We're going to make sure our schedule works out so we're at church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. We're going to make sure that if we can't go snowboarding on Saturday, we're going to go on Sunday or Thursday. We're going to go soul winning every single week. Because if you do not do that, you're going to harm your marriage. If you decide, well, I've got to skip soul winning. You know, I can't do it anymore because it's just because of this job, you're making a bad decision. In Genesis chapter 16, verse 2, it says, Now, this is right after talks about them getting Hagar from Egypt. But I want you to understand about this. When Abram decided to go into Egypt, the first thing he did was say, I'm worried I'm going to die. And he says, lie about who we are. That way I won't be killed. And what he does is he puts his wife in a position where she could have been forced physically. I believe when he did that, he created a wound. Because you have to understand, that's not just a small mistake. You put your wife in a position where someone might have been with her. The Bible says this, you don't have to turn there, but in Solomon 2 16, all these are references to the woman speaking. It says, My beloved is mine and I am his. Solomon 6 3, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. Solomon 7 10, I am my beloved's and his desire is toward me. You see how the woman there in the Song of Solomon talks over and over again about how, My heart's desire is for my husband and his heart's desire is for me. But see, when Abram put his wife in a position like that, he broke the trust that she had. Basically, he used his wife so he didn't have to worry about being killed. And as a result, she could have been physically involved with some other guy. And so here's the thing, Abram did that to Sarah because he wanted something. And I believe Sarah did the exact same thing to Abram. I think she said, You know what, I want a child. And if you don't value the sanctity of our marriage, then I don't value it either. That's what I believe happened. Because you have to understand what he did. This is not just a small mistake. You know, a dozen roses is not going to fix this situation that you just did with your wife. This is a pretty major thing. We all make mistakes, but it doesn't matter how nice that poem is. It doesn't matter how nice that box of chocolates is. It doesn't matter what you do. It's going to take more than just, you know, Hey, I'm sorry, honey. And then the next day, things are done. You're creating a wound. And I believe this is probably a wound that came up over and over again, where she remembered exactly what her husband did because he cared. Now, Abram was a great guy. But you know what, that was obviously a terrible decision he made because he chased after money. And you know what, Sarah, and I believe he really harmed his marriage because Sarah does the exact same thing to him. She's like, you know what, you used me and I could have been involved with some other guy, so I'm going to use you for what I want. And I want a child so you end up lying with Hagar. And Abram ends up doing that. We know what ended up happening. But it's not just that you're going to harm your closest friends and you're going to harm your marriage. You're also going to harm your kids as well when you chase after money. And I didn't even think about this until just now, but I'm thinking of the story of Abram and Isaac, because you see Isaac make the same decisions that Abram does. But just thinking in my life, I remember growing up, and I've talked to my dad about this through the years now, he had chances to make more money, but he would have to live somewhere else temporarily and be gone for several months back and forth. He could have made a lot of money in the career he was in, and he chose not to do that. Now, I didn't know that as a kid. But he could have gone somewhere for six months and done this and that, but he decided, you know what, I care more about my family and my kids and my wife than making money. And I'm sure at the time it might have been tempting, because my parents struggled financially growing up, like a lot of us do when we're young and we're married. We don't have much. And they struggled financially, but he made the right decision. And they made the decision, my mom ended up staying home, and when they got married, once they had kids, when my sister was born, and then they ended up homeschooling us, my mom did, and they made decisions that were against money many times. And quite honestly, though, if you decide, if they had made the decisions instead to chase after money like they could have, they would have harmed the relationship we had. I talk to my parents several times every week. I know they live in a different state, but I am close to my parents. But, you know, if my dad was never there growing up, if he never watched me play soccer, if he never took me out to the ball field, do you really think I'd be that close to him? I probably wouldn't care about him that much. But he made a decision, they made decisions that were right. And honestly, you're going to harm your friends, your marriage, and your kids. And you might cause wounds that are going to take a long, long time to heal. Turn to Ruth chapter one. So we saw four things this morning that happen when you start chasing after money. We specifically see with Abram. One is you start to lie. The second thing is you start to loiter or hang out with the ungodly. The third thing is we see a major letdown of money. And the fourth thing is we see a long-term damage. But here's the thing about this. This is not just something that comes up once in the Bible. You see this pop up a lot in the Bible. You know, in Ruth chapter one, look at verse number one, it says, Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled that there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Do you notice the exact same thing that Abram did in Genesis 12? And you have to understand, though, about Elimelech in this story. Elimelech was Abraham Judah. He knew the story of Abram. He knew exactly what happened with Abram when he chased after money. He knew that story very well. And if you're here today, let's say you didn't know that story of Genesis 12 and the problems it can cause. You do know that story now. You saw what happened with Abram. You saw the problems that resulted. We're talking pretty serious things. His best friend Lot ends up losing everything. His wife ends up being killed. His daughters end up having a relationship. This is where we get Moab from. It's because Lot's daughter got him drunk and had a relationship with him. I mean, crazy things as a result of chasing after money. Many foolish and hurtful lusts. And Elimelech knew this full well. But he still decides to go to the country of Moab. And I want you to understand that when you chase after money and decide, I'm going to do something that is not a godly thing, it's not a spiritual thing, but it's a good thing financially, you're pretty much playing Russian roulette with your life. You know the game Russian roulette that drunk people play where they have one bullet and they just randomly turn the revolver and pull the trigger? People that do that are insane. If you don't know that, then praise the Lord. People do that when they're drunk and they do really stupid things. But here's the thing. They play that game, there's a one in six chance that they're going to kill themselves. But you know, when you do this with money and you choose to do ungodly things, there's like five bullets in that chamber. There's like five and a half. Your chances of surviving and end up becoming really spiritual and still living for the Lord, they are so minute. It is very unlikely that you're going to end up making it out. We see here the story of Elimelech, and Elimelech didn't make it. Look at verse two. And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Malon and Chilean, Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they came into the country of Moab and continued there. And Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died and she was left in her two sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about ten years. And Malon and Chilean died also both of them, and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband. This man Elimelech decides to move to Moab, which is a very wicked area in the Bible. Because there's a famine in the land, just like Abram went to Egypt when there was a famine in the land. What ends up happening? Elimelech ends up dying and his two sons die. There's a reason why. God is showing us that when you chase after money, you're going to destroy your life. Look down at verse number 19. Look at what his wife says here. And it says in verse 19, So they too went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass when they were come to Bethlehem that all the city was moved about them. And they said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? And verse 21, she is not blaming God, but she's just stating as a matter of fact, I had everything I needed even when we were poor in Bethlehem Judah. But I chose to go to Moab. We chose to go to Moab to get a little bit more money. Now I don't really believe it's her fault because I think there's a reason why the husband was struck down and the sons and she wasn't. But it took something pretty extreme to get her back into the will of God. Her husband dying and her sons. Now if you start chasing after money, I hope that doesn't happen to you. You know, we've had people at this church that have left and it's been largely due to money. And there are people I pray for every single week. And I hope something like this doesn't happen. But do you realize how an extreme of a thing God is willing to do to get someone back in the will of God? To have their husband die? To have their sons die? And if you start chasing after money... And there's lots of people in here that have struggled financially and have had times where they've thought about, man, maybe I need to move to make better money. I don't know if I can do it. But you know, if you make that decision, you're making a very risky decision. And you might say this, well, Brother Stuckey, I don't think this is an accurate comparison. You might say, if I left Verity Baptist Church to go to some other state where there's a church, I don't think that's an accurate comparison, you say. Well, here's what I want you to understand. That if you leave to go to some other... Here's what you need to understand. That right now, we already live in Egypt. We already live in Moab. We don't live in a godly area. You say, I don't think this is the right comparison because you're not leaving somewhere godly to go to somewhere ungodly. We already live in an ungodly place. Anywhere in the world right now is ungodly. You know, people have this idea, they're like, oh man, just go to Switzerland. Switzerland's like that one country where everything's great. It is not great over there. It's not great anywhere. No matter where you live, it's an ungodly place. But here's the difference. At Verity Baptist Church or at other like-minded churches, you have a refuge from Egypt when you come here Sunday morning. You have a refuge from Moab when you come here Sunday night. You have a refuge from Egypt when you come here Wednesday night. You come soul-winning. You hang out in fellowship with the people of this church. But if you leave, you're going to hang out with people that don't really love the Lord that much. You're going to hear watered-down preaching that will not keep you right and keep you in the things of God. We already live in Egypt. And if you choose to leave, you have no refuge. Unless you go to a place with a great church, you do not have a refuge from Egypt and Moab. You know, and here's the thing about this. Alem Alek knew everything I preached today. And honestly, this same sermon, this is nothing new. This is the same sermon that there's been independent Baptist preachers preaching for over a thousand years. These stories have been here for a long time. I'm sure this exact same sort of sermon was preached. Over and over and over again. And yet, over time, people come to the same thing in life as Alem Alek. And they say, you know what? I think I'm different. I think I'm going to just go down there. Nothing bad's going to happen. I'm going to make it out okay. I'm still going to live for the Lord. You know, your chances of making it are not very good. You know, and you're just going to end up having many foolish and hurtful lusts. You might spend all this effort to get out of the will of God and to go against the Bible. And then you're going to find out that money did you nothing. It didn't even make you happy. It ended up destroying your life. Do not make the decision that he did. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here this morning. And I ask you to just help all of us, including myself, to remember these words when we are struggling financially. To stand secure that you will provide our needs. And I just pray all these things, God, in Jesus' name. Amen.