WEBVTT 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.300 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:39.759 Lifehouse Church. And if I can encourage this 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:42.799 church to just continue, when you feel God's 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:44.840 presence moving like it's been moving this morning 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:48.159 during worship, just press in. There are things 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.159 that change in the presence of God. When God's 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:54.909 presence manifests. Things shift, it has to, 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:58.609 because God, that's his glory coming down and 00:00:58.609 --> 00:01:01.570 just getting amongst us. So just press in, just 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:03.929 focus on him during those worship gatherings. 00:01:04.010 --> 00:01:05.469 And I know that's happening. I look back over 00:01:05.469 --> 00:01:07.469 and see it taking place, but just continue to 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:10.230 do that because God's incredible and he wants 00:01:10.230 --> 00:01:12.989 to come in and he wants you to feel his presence, 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:15.930 amen? He's not only a God who can be heard, seen, 00:01:16.129 --> 00:01:18.609 but he can be felt as well. So thank you for 00:01:18.609 --> 00:01:20.650 doing that. Thank you for pressing in. Well, 00:01:20.689 --> 00:01:23.150 listen, this is the last message of this series. 00:01:24.010 --> 00:01:28.909 Holy buckets. Say holy buckets. Yeah, holy buckets. 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:30.870 They're like, holy buckets. This has been a long 00:01:30.870 --> 00:01:34.709 one, right? And this may have left you with as 00:01:34.709 --> 00:01:37.469 many questions as answers because there's so 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:39.489 much to cover in God's word on this subject. 00:01:39.689 --> 00:01:42.430 And the reason you might have more questions 00:01:42.430 --> 00:01:45.909 is because Christians really ask themselves more 00:01:45.909 --> 00:01:49.069 questions about money and possessions than the 00:01:49.069 --> 00:01:51.549 average individual does. You know, when it comes 00:01:51.549 --> 00:01:54.489 to money and possessions and our money and possession 00:01:54.489 --> 00:01:58.069 bucket, we ask questions. a lot of times that 00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:01.689 others just don't ask. People in the world, people 00:02:01.689 --> 00:02:04.069 that aren't following Jesus, don't ask some of 00:02:04.069 --> 00:02:07.290 the questions we ask ourselves. God's word prompts 00:02:07.290 --> 00:02:09.969 us to ask some questions that an unbeliever might 00:02:09.969 --> 00:02:12.509 not ask. One of those questions might be like, 00:02:12.590 --> 00:02:15.569 how much money is too much money to have in my 00:02:15.569 --> 00:02:19.340 bank account? Is it 10 ,000? Is it 100 ,000? 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:22.620 Is it a million, right? The world's philosophy, 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:24.580 they don't ever question that. They're never 00:02:24.580 --> 00:02:26.659 like, well, I got too much. I need to give some 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:29.159 of this away. That's just not how the world thinks. 00:02:29.319 --> 00:02:31.419 But we as Christians, we ask ourselves these 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:34.460 things. We ponder on or wrestle with the idea 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:37.520 of how many possessions should I have? Is too 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.780 much stuff, too much stuff, right? That's not 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:42.900 how the world thinks. The world thinks the more 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:46.069 the what? Yeah, the more the merrier, right? 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:48.949 The more stuff I've got, the merrier I am, right? 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:52.289 They don't think to themselves, where's the line 00:02:52.289 --> 00:02:56.349 with money and possessions? They don't even know 00:02:56.349 --> 00:03:00.030 there is a line. So as Christians, we ask ourselves 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:04.169 a lot of questions about money and possessions. 00:03:05.370 --> 00:03:08.969 And we begin to realize it's not all mine. And 00:03:08.969 --> 00:03:12.250 as followers of Jesus, excuse me, we wanna ask 00:03:12.250 --> 00:03:17.379 these questions. And not just live for the here 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:20.400 and now. I don't know if you understand as we've 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.060 gone through this series in particular, but we 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:26.520 don't live for just the here and now. We don't 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:30.000 live for just a moment. In God's economy, we 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.319 live for there and then. So we ask ourselves 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:36.080 questions as believers that a lot of others don't 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:39.139 ask because we realize that this life is just 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:41.280 a testing ground. This is a place where we're 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:44.199 just hanging out for a little while. And as I 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:48.000 think about this, and as I ponder on this, an 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:50.000 image came back to my mind. I think the first 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.620 person I heard talk about this image was Francis 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:54.219 Chan. They're gonna put it up on the screens. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.819 It's just a simple image. And when they throw 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:00.500 that up there, how many can see that right now, 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:04.740 right? That image is just a dot and a line. And 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:07.479 that line, if you can in your imagination, is 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:10.699 going out to infinity. And if I can give you 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:13.240 just a little illustration of what this life 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:16.600 is all about, that dot, that little tiny dot 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:21.420 represents this life. And the line is our life 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:25.370 for all of eternity with God. So anytime I want 00:04:25.370 --> 00:04:27.829 to gain some perspective on what this life is 00:04:27.829 --> 00:04:30.769 all about and everything that I'm working towards 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:33.290 and everything that I have, I remember this image, 00:04:33.449 --> 00:04:36.170 right? That this dot, that dot just represents 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:39.610 my life, whether that's 50, 60, 70, 80, 100 years, 00:04:39.769 --> 00:04:42.389 whatever God gives you represents that. But the 00:04:42.389 --> 00:04:46.129 next life and everything I do in this life sets 00:04:46.129 --> 00:04:49.129 up for the next life. Everything I do is setting 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:51.730 up, right? And determining the dot determines 00:04:51.730 --> 00:04:54.060 what eternity is going to look like. for me. 00:04:54.579 --> 00:04:57.060 Everything I do, everything I handle, everything 00:04:57.060 --> 00:04:59.860 that I manage, that God has given me, it's all 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.800 about the dot, and that is going to set things 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.060 up for all of eternity. If you can picture that 00:05:06.060 --> 00:05:08.600 line, I couldn't get the image to go out like 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:13.519 3D, just into infinity. So we ask ourselves the 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.089 questions that other people don't ask. Right? 00:05:16.170 --> 00:05:19.029 We ask ourselves the questions about money and 00:05:19.029 --> 00:05:21.209 possessions and the things that God's placed 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:23.290 in my bucket. We ask him. And we've done that 00:05:23.290 --> 00:05:25.110 through this message series. We've got you to 00:05:25.110 --> 00:05:27.689 ask a few questions, right? We got you to ask 00:05:27.689 --> 00:05:30.170 questions like, who owns it all? Who owns it 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:33.930 all? He does, right? We don't own anything. Anything 00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:35.769 that's in our money and possession bucket, we 00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:38.129 don't really own. It's all God's. The earth is 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:40.089 his and everything therein. Everything in the 00:05:40.089 --> 00:05:41.750 heavens and the earth, the word of God declares, 00:05:41.829 --> 00:05:45.629 is his. Who really owns it all? He does. He just 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:48.569 calls us to be the manager. We're the ones that's 00:05:48.569 --> 00:05:50.750 just managing it while he's gone. That's what 00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:53.029 the word of God tells us, right? We answer questions 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:55.230 or ask questions like, what does Jesus want me 00:05:55.230 --> 00:05:57.129 to do with the money and possessions that are 00:05:57.129 --> 00:05:58.889 in my bucket? Now, that's a loaded question. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:01.139 What does he want me to do with the money and 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:03.100 possessions in this bucket is a big question. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:04.519 So we just answered the first thing that you 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.500 need to do. And the word of God tells us that 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:08.600 the first thing that we need to do is give back 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:10.720 to him first fruits. That's what the word of 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:13.360 God says. We give him back our first, we give 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:15.680 him back our best, and we give him back the 10th, 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:17.899 the tithe. That's what the word of God declares. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.720 And he promises if we give the first, if we give 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.079 the best, if we give the 10th, if we get the 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:25.519 tithe, he'll bless all the rest. It's what the 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.480 word of God declares, right? So we asked and 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:29.439 answered that particular question. What does 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.139 he require of us? We also asked and answered, 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.720 is it biblical to save money? And the word is 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.939 what? Yes. Thank you. You were listening. Awesome. 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:41.079 All right. It is biblical to save money. And 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:43.500 we learned this from the ant, a little insect. 00:06:44.269 --> 00:06:47.610 We save money because we know that winter is 00:06:47.610 --> 00:06:49.829 coming in our life. There'll be a winter season 00:06:49.829 --> 00:06:51.610 when you're gonna need a savings account and 00:06:51.610 --> 00:06:54.329 we save money so the rest of the colony has something 00:06:54.329 --> 00:06:57.009 to eat because somebody's in need somewhere in 00:06:57.009 --> 00:06:59.730 the colony. We learned that out of God's word. 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:02.290 We learned that you need to have a written plan. 00:07:02.529 --> 00:07:04.949 You need to have a wisdom and you need to put 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:07.370 down on paper a budget. You learned this last 00:07:07.370 --> 00:07:09.509 week, right? How many know it's not a plan unless 00:07:09.509 --> 00:07:12.250 you really write it down? Come on, it's true. 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:14.730 We're always like, well, I got a plan right here. 00:07:15.129 --> 00:07:17.250 It is right here. That means you didn't really 00:07:17.250 --> 00:07:19.430 write it down and work it all out, right? You 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:21.449 got a half a plan floating around up there somewhere 00:07:21.449 --> 00:07:25.490 in your head. It's a plan. We've answered and 00:07:25.490 --> 00:07:28.189 asked these questions. And today I want to finalize 00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:31.449 all this. And there's so much more. We literally 00:07:31.449 --> 00:07:33.410 could spend an entire year just talking about 00:07:33.410 --> 00:07:35.069 money and possessions and what God's word has 00:07:35.069 --> 00:07:37.250 to say about it. But today I want to tackle the 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:40.800 question, am I serving my money? or is my money 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:45.259 serving me? Am I serving my money, or is my money 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:47.660 serving me? I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:49.980 six, and we're gonna start at verse 19. Matthew 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:51.819 chapter six. If you got your Bibles, if you're 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:54.759 getting your notebooks out, taking notes, please 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:56.500 get those out right now. I'm gonna pray while 00:07:56.500 --> 00:07:58.259 we're turning. Father, we thank you for this 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:00.279 day. God, I ask that the word of God, Lord, it 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:02.160 would be a lamp to our feet and a light to our 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:03.839 path, and God, that it would open our hearts 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:05.839 and our minds, and God, that we would discover 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.860 truth. And Lord, not only will we discover it, 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:11.240 but we would apply it. And we thank you for what 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.699 your word does and how it guides us in Jesus' 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:17.620 name. And amen and amen. Matthew 6, 19 says this, 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.339 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:22.899 where moth and rust destroy and where thieves 00:08:22.899 --> 00:08:25.220 break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:27.439 treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:29.759 destroys and where thieves do not break in and 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:32.320 steal. For where your treasure is, there your 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:36.179 heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:39.379 eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:42.220 body will be full of light. But if your eye is 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:44.259 bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:46.980 If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:51.399 how great is that darkness? Verse 24 says, no 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:53.379 one can serve two masters for either he will 00:08:53.379 --> 00:08:55.679 hate the one and love the other or else he will 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:58.379 be loyal to the one and he will despise the other. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:03.779 You cannot serve God and mammon. Three sets of 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:06.980 scriptures. That Jesus lumps together, that he 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:10.500 packages together when he's talking about money 00:09:10.500 --> 00:09:14.220 and possessions. He stacks them together to teach 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:17.019 us some things about whether we're serving money 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:21.000 or money is serving us. And holy buckets is really 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.679 about who is serving whom. Who is serving who? 00:09:26.220 --> 00:09:30.000 right? Who is serving who here and now in this 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.059 time, in this moment? And I'm going to start 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:34.120 off with verse 24 that says, no one can serve 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:36.779 two masters for either he will hate the one and 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:38.379 love the other or else he will be loyal to the 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:40.879 one and despise the other. You cannot serve God 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.120 and mammon. Mammon in scripture is money, all 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:45.580 right? It's money and possessions. That's what 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:47.899 mammon means, all right? That's the definition 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:51.139 for it. And the word of God is telling us that 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:54.750 we cannot serve two masters. There's only gonna 00:09:54.750 --> 00:09:57.110 be one master in your life. Turn to somebody 00:09:57.110 --> 00:09:58.210 right now, look them in the eye and tell them, 00:09:58.210 --> 00:10:00.649 you got one master, just one. You got one master, 00:10:00.769 --> 00:10:03.409 that's it. And go ahead and say, I'm not it. 00:10:03.549 --> 00:10:06.350 All right, please say that right now. You got 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:12.649 one master. There's one master. Only one leads 00:10:12.649 --> 00:10:16.539 out front. There's only one master key. This 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:18.980 building has a master key. I've actually used 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:21.519 it a few times and they gave it back to the owners, 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:23.759 but there's a master key for this building. And 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.379 the beautiful thing is with the master key, it's 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:27.899 one key, but it opens all the doors in the building. 00:10:27.980 --> 00:10:30.200 You go to any door at all and it opens it up. 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:32.940 It's a master key, right? A grandmaster is out 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:35.340 front, master of the universe, who's God, he 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:38.460 leads it all. A masterpiece is one of a kind. 00:10:38.940 --> 00:10:43.059 It's one. It's the number one. And whatever and 00:10:43.059 --> 00:10:46.379 whoever or whoever is master in our lives is 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:51.059 what is steering us in life. Whoever or whatever 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:53.820 is master in your life is what's steering you. 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:57.659 If you have multiple people in your car, in your 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:00.840 vehicle, the person who is the master in the 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:04.070 car is the person behind the wheel. All right? 00:11:04.190 --> 00:11:07.250 If you own the car, but you're not behind the 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:09.450 wheel, how many know you're not the master of 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:13.570 the craft? Amen? It's true. Whoever is behind 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:15.649 the wheel, and some of the men need to amen here, 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:18.549 right? Whoever's behind the wheel is king. Come 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:23.320 on, say it, amen. We control it all as soon as 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:26.120 our wives tell us what to do. We're the king. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:30.860 If the wife or female is behind the wheel, it's 00:11:30.860 --> 00:11:32.820 a male, female, they're the king. But whoever 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:36.240 is behind the wheel is master of the vehicle. 00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:39.299 They steer the vehicle. And if there's two people 00:11:39.299 --> 00:11:41.740 in the car, three people in the car, six people 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:44.799 in the car, whoever's riding in the car, you're 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:46.860 going wherever the master steers. How many know 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:49.220 that's true? You can complain, you can fuss, 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:50.960 you can make a... deal about the whole thing, 00:11:51.019 --> 00:11:53.620 but you're gone wherever the master takes you, 00:11:53.659 --> 00:11:55.700 wherever they steal. And that's how it is in 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:58.480 our lives. Whatever is master in your life is 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:01.039 steering your life. It's moving you down the 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.019 road. It is controlling where you're going, whether 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:04.940 you believe it or not, it's true. Whether you 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:07.960 say amen or not, it's true. Whatever is master. 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:11.220 And Jesus used these descriptive words in this 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:14.379 particular verse. And he says, what we love, 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.220 right? You'll love one and you'll hate the other. 00:12:17.299 --> 00:12:20.730 You'll be loyal to one. will despise the other. 00:12:20.889 --> 00:12:24.269 I'll stick to one and I'll forsake everything 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:28.350 else. It's what's master, definitive, decisive 00:12:28.350 --> 00:12:31.529 words. He's not mincing words. He's talking straight. 00:12:31.769 --> 00:12:35.190 And he puts them together to create this idea. 00:12:35.269 --> 00:12:40.889 You cannot serve God and money. Can't do it. 00:12:41.409 --> 00:12:45.230 And it's super interesting to me that what Jesus 00:12:45.230 --> 00:12:49.259 says or does not say right here. More in factly, 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.460 what he does not say. You know, we're talking 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.279 about spiritual things. And I would expect Jesus, 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.340 when he would make a statement that bold, that 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:02.059 he would say, you know, you cannot serve God 00:13:02.059 --> 00:13:05.879 and Satan, right? They're the two opposing forces. 00:13:05.980 --> 00:13:08.529 That would make complete sense to me. That would 00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:10.570 be very understandable because there's only two 00:13:10.570 --> 00:13:12.809 kingdoms in the spiritual world. There's the 00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:14.710 kingdom of God and there's the kingdom of darkness. 00:13:14.870 --> 00:13:17.990 There is heaven and there is hell. There is Satan 00:13:17.990 --> 00:13:21.029 and there is God, right? There's the two. So 00:13:21.029 --> 00:13:23.929 it's super interesting that Jesus is in this 00:13:23.929 --> 00:13:26.330 conversation and he's saying, you cannot serve 00:13:26.330 --> 00:13:31.330 God and money, money. My expectation would have 00:13:31.330 --> 00:13:33.990 been something completely different. Why did 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:38.220 he say this? Why did he talk about serving God 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:42.600 and money? Because Jesus knew something. He knew 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.159 that he was talking, first of all, to his people. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.100 And he was talking to the people of God. And 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:49.899 then even if they weren't the people of God, 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:53.360 it's a weird thing to say Satan is my master, 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:55.460 right? How many know the average person is not 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:57.000 going to come up and say Satan is my master? 00:13:57.879 --> 00:13:59.940 How many know anybody that's ever said that to 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:01.929 you, ever? Raise your hand, all right? Maybe 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:04.529 one or two in the house, right? They don't say 00:14:04.529 --> 00:14:07.710 that. It's not a desirable statement, especially 00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:09.649 for a Christian, but a non -believer even to 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:13.750 say, you know, that Satan, the devil is my master. 00:14:14.350 --> 00:14:17.070 even for an unbeliever, even somebody who's far 00:14:17.070 --> 00:14:19.769 from God. And if you ask most people how they 00:14:19.769 --> 00:14:21.409 feel about the devil, you're going to probably 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:23.190 get a couple of different responses. You know, 00:14:23.190 --> 00:14:24.570 if you ask somebody how they feel about the devil, 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:26.029 some people say, well, I don't even believe he's 00:14:26.029 --> 00:14:28.529 real. And so others are going to say, you know, 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:30.090 I just want to stay away from all that. That's 00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:33.549 scary stuff. If they're not Christian, like, 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:35.289 I just don't, I want to stay away from that. 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:37.809 But there's a, you know, they're not going to 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:40.730 say I'm loyal to the devil, right? I love the 00:14:40.730 --> 00:14:42.429 devil. You're not going to hear that come out 00:14:42.429 --> 00:14:45.470 of their mouth, even from unbelievers, but there, 00:14:45.610 --> 00:14:48.929 and Jesus knew, he knew that that was not going 00:14:48.929 --> 00:14:51.409 to be a temptation, but he did know that there's 00:14:51.409 --> 00:14:53.929 going to be deep temptation. There's going to 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:57.649 be desire and acceptance that accompanies the 00:14:57.649 --> 00:15:03.169 idea of loving money, being loyal to money, putting 00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:07.210 money in first place as a master. It's the literal 00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:11.480 definition of success in our society. If we measure 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.519 success in our society, we look at how much money 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:16.659 they got in their account, this house that they 00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:19.639 live in, this stuff that they drive, and that's 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.639 immediately what we do. We do a visual scan like, 00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:29.200 oh, they're successful, right? They got it. Jesus 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:33.299 knew exactly what he was saying in his money 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.059 and possession conversation when he focused the 00:15:36.059 --> 00:15:39.919 listener to ask the question, who are you serving? 00:15:40.350 --> 00:15:43.029 Who are you serving? Where do your loyalties 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:48.470 lie? What do you love? Because we will never 00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:52.090 master what's in the bucket if the bucket is 00:15:52.090 --> 00:15:55.669 mastering us, right? We'll never love God. We'll 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:57.710 love what's in the bucket and it will master 00:15:57.710 --> 00:16:02.450 us instead of us mastering it. It'll be all a 00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:05.460 role reversal. So we got to ask ourselves the 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.500 hard question and answer where I'm really at. 00:16:08.620 --> 00:16:11.200 What do I love? Where do my loyalties lie? What 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.039 am I serving? And answer, what is the master 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.379 of my life? What's mastering my life? It's true. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:20.679 Because if I don't ask myself this question, 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:24.360 if I don't search God's word in this, money and 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.419 possessions will become this cheap substitute 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.539 for God. That's what money and possessions can 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:33.149 become. They have the potential to become. a 00:16:33.149 --> 00:16:35.809 cheap substitute for God. Because money and possessions 00:16:35.809 --> 00:16:38.370 promise something. They offer something that 00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:42.429 all of us crave. Now, it's a false offering. 00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:46.909 It's a false notion. But all of us crave security, 00:16:47.129 --> 00:16:52.019 significance, and power. Every one of us in our 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:55.080 lives, there's a craving for us inside. And it 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.259 can be in different orders, right? That security 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:59.539 might not be your first one. Significance might 00:16:59.539 --> 00:17:02.059 not be, or maybe power. But every human being, 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:06.019 there's this piece of us that looks for and desires 00:17:06.019 --> 00:17:09.759 security and significance and power. And if you 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:12.400 break us down to the core of who we are and what 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.940 we really desire, it'll come back to these three. 00:17:15.639 --> 00:17:17.779 It'll come back to security, significance, or 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:20.420 power. And these are things that money and possessions 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:24.599 seem to offer, right? But never really deliver 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:27.920 on. Never really deliver. 1 Timothy 6 .10 says 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:29.279 this, for the love of money is the root of all 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:31.920 kinds of evil. It is through this craving that 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.480 some have wandered away from the faith and pierced 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.039 themselves through with many pangs. I use this 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.920 in one of the other messages. Let me prove to 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.539 you what I'm talking about a little bit. Security, 00:17:42.859 --> 00:17:47.740 right? Money can cause me to think that I'm insulated, 00:17:47.859 --> 00:17:53.319 that somehow money is gonna remove all my problems, 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:57.920 that if I just had enough money, all my problems 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.200 would disappear, right? How many of you have 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:03.839 ever said, you know, if I just had that first 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.519 million bucks, anybody ever say that? Come on, 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:09.099 I have, right? You know, if I just had that first 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.160 million bucks and you're thinking in your head, 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.529 all my problems would go away. They'd all disappear. 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:19.049 I'd be set. There'd be no worries in life. It'd 00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:23.029 all be cool, right? And we think that because 00:18:23.029 --> 00:18:25.930 we think we can buy our way out of problems. 00:18:26.410 --> 00:18:29.410 We really do. We think if you got enough money, 00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:33.650 you can buy your way out of a problem. And we'd 00:18:33.650 --> 00:18:37.349 feel secure with all that. We think if we get 00:18:37.349 --> 00:18:40.799 enough stuff around us, right? We feel we got 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.519 enough equity buildup, but we got enough stuff. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:46.259 If we got enough assets just allocated in the 00:18:46.259 --> 00:18:49.759 right places, we're going to feel secure, right? 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:52.859 And we feel it. That's why you hoard stuff. Some 00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:54.700 of you hoarders out there, you know who you are. 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.619 Sometimes there's a sense of security that goes 00:18:58.619 --> 00:19:01.900 along with that. And if I get enough stuff accumulated, 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:06.200 right, it makes me feel secure. But this is something 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:08.890 that money and possessions can't deliver. You 00:19:08.890 --> 00:19:11.369 can't get enough money and you can't get enough 00:19:11.369 --> 00:19:14.049 possessions to feel secure. You really can't. 00:19:14.210 --> 00:19:17.410 It is God and God alone who will give you eternal 00:19:17.410 --> 00:19:20.450 security. He's the one that will make you feel 00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.609 secure now in this life and in the next. And 00:19:23.609 --> 00:19:25.329 if you don't believe me, read the book of Job. 00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:27.509 I've been reading in the book of Job. Job lost 00:19:27.509 --> 00:19:31.450 all his possessions in one day. He was wealthy 00:19:31.450 --> 00:19:35.049 beyond wealthy. And in one day, the enemy took 00:19:35.049 --> 00:19:40.240 it all, all of it from him. Security. The second 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.599 one, significance. Significance, right? Money 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:45.299 offers false promises of significance. It really 00:19:45.299 --> 00:19:48.640 does. If I had enough money, I would be respected. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:53.519 If I had enough money, I'd be popular. If I had 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.299 enough money, I'd be invited to a lot more places 00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:57.259 than I'm invited to right now. How many of you 00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:58.779 got lots and lots of money? People like to invite 00:19:58.779 --> 00:20:00.500 you to places, right? Because they want to get 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:04.099 your money, right? I would matter if I had lots 00:20:04.099 --> 00:20:06.420 of money. I could buy the car. I could live in 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:08.359 the neighborhood. That really matters, right? 00:20:08.539 --> 00:20:11.480 There's significance tied to it. I will be well 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:16.000 -respected. I will matter. It's time for money. 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:22.819 People will notice me. But mammon, man, money 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:26.980 and possessions will only offer or deliver a 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:32.180 superficial significance. It'll be surfacy. Don't 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:34.279 believe me? Take a good look at Hollywood right 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:36.980 now. Most of the people in Hollywood are a mess. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.319 Amen? They need Jesus. They really do. They're 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.619 grabbing for significance in all the wrong places. 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:46.839 And mammon becomes this cheap substitute for 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:49.740 God. You don't even know what significance is 00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:53.579 until you come to Jesus Christ. Do you come into 00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:55.759 faith and you start to understand what it is 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.109 to be a son or a daughter of the Most High? I 00:20:58.109 --> 00:21:01.170 did not know what significance was until I started 00:21:01.170 --> 00:21:03.829 to understand who I was in Christ Jesus. That 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:06.049 is significant. When you start to understand 00:21:06.049 --> 00:21:08.450 that he's got an eternal plan for you and that 00:21:08.450 --> 00:21:11.009 he's got an inheritance and that he's got a heritage 00:21:11.009 --> 00:21:13.849 and that he's walking with you and talking with 00:21:13.849 --> 00:21:15.990 you and he wants to walk you the whole way through 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:18.329 and take you into the next life and bless you 00:21:18.329 --> 00:21:20.410 beyond anything that you can even imagine. If 00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:21.849 you want to understand significance, understand 00:21:21.849 --> 00:21:23.809 who you are in Christ because everything in the 00:21:23.809 --> 00:21:27.130 world will suddenly go dim, right? It'll fade 00:21:27.130 --> 00:21:30.740 away. into nothingness. It is significance. Mammon 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:34.000 makes me think I can get power, right? It's a 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.319 false power. If you have the bucks, you call 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:38.980 the shots. If you have the bucks, you are the 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:42.339 big shot, right? If I got enough money, I own 00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:45.059 the business. I own the organization. I own the 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:49.200 city. I own the state. I own the country. I own 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:53.240 it. When I talk, people listen and they serve 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:59.049 me at my pleasure. What I choose to do. Money 00:21:59.049 --> 00:22:03.509 can give you a false sense of power. But Jesus 00:22:03.509 --> 00:22:06.109 said this in Luke 22. He said, that's not how 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:09.769 it's gonna be with you if you follow me. He said 00:22:09.769 --> 00:22:11.309 this, now when there was a dispute among them, 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:13.849 which was the disciples, as to which one of them 00:22:13.849 --> 00:22:16.230 should be considered the greatest. And he said 00:22:16.230 --> 00:22:18.289 to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercised 00:22:18.289 --> 00:22:20.549 lordship over them, right? That's how the world 00:22:20.549 --> 00:22:22.630 works. And those who exercise authority over 00:22:22.630 --> 00:22:25.410 them are called benefactors, but not so among 00:22:25.410 --> 00:22:28.589 you. On the contrary, you who are greatest among 00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:31.609 you, let him be as the younger and he who governs 00:22:31.609 --> 00:22:34.490 as he who serves. For who is greater, he who 00:22:34.490 --> 00:22:37.190 sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not 00:22:37.190 --> 00:22:39.869 he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you 00:22:39.869 --> 00:22:47.809 as one who serves. Security, significance, and 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:51.130 power. Money will give you a false sense of all 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:54.910 three. It'll make you think that somehow you 00:22:54.910 --> 00:22:59.150 have this and it is a cheap promise of the enemy. 00:22:59.690 --> 00:23:03.769 The devil is behind the idea of the love of money. 00:23:04.210 --> 00:23:06.490 The word of God says that the love of money is 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:08.849 the root of all evil, not money itself, but the 00:23:08.849 --> 00:23:12.460 love of money. And Satan is perfectly happy to 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:15.039 hide behind the money for you never to mention 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.140 the word Satan or devil or his name as long as 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:21.299 it draws you away from God, as long as your dependence 00:23:21.299 --> 00:23:24.640 pulls away from God. He's perfectly fine with 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:27.200 you hanging on to the buck and sliding right 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:31.039 into hell with it. He's okay with that. I'll 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.319 never forget my brother -in -law. And this was 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:35.660 some years back now, probably two decades or 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:37.680 more ago. But I remember my brother -in -law 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:41.019 working for a company, a smaller company in Indiana, 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:45.000 Pennsylvania. And the work that he did, that 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:47.400 business began to get very successful. And this 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:51.039 young business owner was in his 30s, was wildly 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.990 successful. He was one of those guys that just 00:23:53.990 --> 00:23:56.589 shot up from the bottom and rose to the top. 00:23:56.670 --> 00:23:59.809 And he had the cars. He had the house. He had 00:23:59.809 --> 00:24:03.549 a plane, right? He had a jet, actually. He did 00:24:03.549 --> 00:24:05.910 it. He was one of those guys who made it, right? 00:24:05.970 --> 00:24:08.349 The world called successful. He had it all. It 00:24:08.349 --> 00:24:10.630 was all at his fingertips. Everything was happening. 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:14.390 This same guy put a gun in his mouth and ended 00:24:14.390 --> 00:24:18.589 his life in the middle of his money and his possessions 00:24:18.589 --> 00:24:23.519 all around him. falsely drug in with significance, 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:28.500 security, right? And power by money. And he ended 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:32.799 his own life. He ended his own life. If the worship 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:37.799 team would come. Jesus talked one more thing 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:41.000 in this clump of scriptures where he's talking 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.440 about money possessions. And it's super interesting 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.579 what he says. In Matthew 6, 22, he says this, 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:50.519 the lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.099 your eye is good, your whole body will be full 00:24:53.099 --> 00:24:56.000 of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.539 body will be full of darkness. If therefore the 00:24:58.539 --> 00:25:02.200 light that is in you is darkness, how great is 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:03.740 that darkness? Now, let me ask you a question 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:05.279 because we've been asking questions all through 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:08.880 this series. What's in your eye? What's in your 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.660 eye? What's in your eye? Look at the person beside 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:13.900 you. Say, what's in your eye? What's in your 00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:15.819 eye? Go whisper. Go ahead. Whisper. I know it's 00:25:15.819 --> 00:25:21.920 a quiet moment. What's in your eye? This passage 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.579 makes complete sense, but yet at the same time 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:27.200 sounds contradictory, right? Because Jesus says 00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:30.819 if the eye is good, the whole body will be full 00:25:30.819 --> 00:25:33.299 of light. If you open your eyes, how many of 00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:35.180 you woke up this morning and opened your eyes? 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:37.799 Raise your hands. This is one of those questions 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.420 I tell if you're paying attention, okay? I know 00:25:40.420 --> 00:25:42.940 the answer, right? When you woke up this morning, 00:25:43.019 --> 00:25:45.940 you opened your eyes, and it was dark because 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:47.700 your eyes were closed. And as soon as you opened 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:51.359 your eyes, your body was filled with light. Light 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:54.099 came into your eyes. You began to see what was 00:25:54.099 --> 00:25:57.200 around you, right? And if your eye is bad, if 00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:59.839 my eye goes bad and I've injured my eye already 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:03.200 and had to have it pasted shut, right, as they 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.700 treat it, then it's dark and you can't see anything. 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.599 That makes complete sense. But when you read 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:11.640 this scripture a little further, there's a curve 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:13.859 ball, right? There seems like there's a contradiction 00:26:13.859 --> 00:26:16.160 in this because Jesus says, if therefore the 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.839 light that is in you is darkness, how great is 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:21.779 that darkness? That sounds really contradictory 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:24.720 to me because how many know light and darkness 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:28.619 can't exist in the same place? They can't. Light 00:26:28.619 --> 00:26:31.039 dries out darkness. But Jesus said, if therefore 00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:33.880 the light that is in you is darkness, how great 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.220 is that darkness? And it sounds contradictory. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:39.859 It sounds like double talk. But what was Jesus 00:26:39.859 --> 00:26:41.680 saying about money and possessions? Because that's 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:44.500 what he was talking about here. If money and 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.200 possessions are the master of our life, they 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:52.240 possess the power to appear as light in our eyes. 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.500 Money and possessions, they have the appearance 00:26:56.500 --> 00:27:00.779 of light. It is false light that can actually 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:04.380 be darkness if we love the money and possessions. 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:11.279 And Jesus said, how great is that darkness? How 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:15.460 great is that darkness? He was warning us. Money 00:27:15.460 --> 00:27:18.319 and possessions hold the power to fill our body 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:22.740 with what appears to be light. And it is false. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.440 It is darkness. If we love the money, if we love 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.519 the possessions, if we gain significance and 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:35.099 security and power because of the money, and 00:27:35.099 --> 00:27:37.319 in the end, it will bring nothing but destruction. 00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:41.380 Who's serving who? Who's serving who? I'm going 00:27:41.380 --> 00:28:08.119 to ask you to stand. Visit our website at www 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.599 .lifehousecog .com.