So many people wanted to win the lotto prize which was pegged at P700 million plus. All kinds of people wanted to win the huge amount. Our problem begins when even Christians get involved with lotto or some other kind of gambling such as: karera ng kabayo, pusoy, ending in basketball, cockfighting, betting on billiard games, spider fights or even Manny Pacquio fights.
Questions to ask:
- Is the Lord's work in church or in our lives dependent on the schemes of men?
- Does God endorse gambling?
- Does it speak well of Christ, Christianity or the Christian when we gamble?
- Shall the Lord accept all those noble reasons to justify gambling?
THE FACE OF GAMBLING
A. Means to an End
Some might say that gambling is not bad because the goals are noble. The end justifies the means.
- Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, raped Dinah the daughter of Jacob, because he was attracted to her and wanted to marry her. The end goal was noble, but the means was surely evil.
It comes from the root word "Gamble" which comes from an old English word "gammon". It conveys the idea of a game.
Gambling is an activity where a person risks something of value to the forces of chance, completely out of his control, or any rational expectation in the hope of winning something of greater value, usually more money.
Gambling promotes irrationality, fantasy, and thus promotes despair, because there is no guaranteed goal, there is no guaranteed achievement at the end of the thing.
C. Gambling Statistics
In the United States, there was no government sponsored gambling between 1894 and 1964...because Christians spoke out against the evils of it.
But in 1974, 10 years later, a Gallup poll indicated 61% of Americans gambled wagering $47.4 billion annually.
In 1989, 71% were wagering $246 billion.
In 1992, $330 billion was wagered.
By 1995, studies indicated that 95% of Americans gambled.
$5 billion is spent every year on slot machines in Nevada alone!
D. Gambling and Church History
Anonymous:
Satan's temptations are numerous, but the principle ones among them are: idolatry, fornication, theft, extortion, greed, fraud, drunkenness, impatience, adultery, murder, jealousy, false witness, lying, envying, wrath, heresy, and a thousand other crimes like them. And of this number is gambling.
It is at the gambling table where the devil slyly watches for the moment when he shall surprise the players and immediately rejoice in his triumph over his victim.
St. Augustine
The devil invented gambling.
John Calvin outlawed gambling in the entire city of Geneva.
Martin Luther:
Money won by gambling is not won without self-seeking and sin.
What about casting lots?
Casting lots in the Bible was not used to make money.
It was used in the Old Testament:
To make decisions - Exodus 28, Leviticus8
To identify the man (Jonah) who caused the storm - Jonah 1
To select animals for sacrifice - Leviticus 16: 7-10
In the New Testament, it was used to select Mattias to replace Judas - Acts 1: 21-26
Proverbs 16: 33
The lot is cast into the lap but its every decision is from the Lord.
There is not fate, there is no chance, there is no luck in casting lots -- simply a way by which a Sovereign God providentially reveals His will.
After Pentecost, the casting of lots was never again used as a means of determining God's will.
WHY GAMBLING IS WRONG
Gambling defies the reality of a sovereign and all-knowing God.
Psalm 47: 4, Psalm 103: 19, Isaiah 65: 11-12.
Gambling affirms luck or chance. Luck is an anti-God idea.
Our God reigns
Psalm 47: 4
He chooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves.
Psalm 103: 19
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.
Isaiah 65: 11-12
11"But you who forsake the LORD,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
12I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight."
Gambling is not good stewardship.
Ps. 50: 10-12, 1 Cor. 10: 31
Gambling is wrong because we misuse the resources that God has given us.
Whatever money we earn or receive from God was not meant to be used on something that goes against the glory of God.
God owns everything.
Ps. 50: 10-12
10"For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11"I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
12"If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and all it contains.
Our stewarship
Matthew 25: 27
The worst stewardship of God's gift is to throw it away to a god called "luck". That is idolatry and bad stewardship!
Gambling displaces and demeans the God-given place of work.
Gambling is wrong because it encourages laziness.
We are commanded to work.
Eph. 4: 28 Those who have been stealing must never steal again. Instead, they must work. They must do something useful with their hands. Then they will have something to give to people in need.
Gambling is driven by covetousness.
Gambling is wrong because it is fueled by green, materialism, and covetousness.
1 Tim. 6: 10
For the love of money is the root of all evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
When do we stray from the faithf? After we place our bets? NO! We wander from the faith when we decide that gambling, chance is more of a god than God Himself.
We wander also from the character of Christ because it goes against the call to be content.
Gambling built on covetousness is an act of unfaithfulness to God because it assumes that:
God has not given us what we ought to have
God has not given us enough
More is a good thing.
We live amidst a culture of greed. The noontime shows we see on TV all teach a philosophy of greed masked with charity or giving to the poor.
The rich, young ruler in Matthew 19 strayed from the faith because he could not let go of his riches. he chose damnation over salvation because of money.
If you won the P700 million in lotto, will you give ALL of it away?
Proverbs 30:7-9
7Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
8Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.
The Lord knows what we need and what we don't need. After obeying His commands (prayer, work, perseverance, etc.) the money we have is God's portion for us.
CONCLUSION
Mark 8: 36-37
36"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
37"For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
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