WEBVTT 00:00:01.119 --> 00:00:05.440 Amen. And let's take our Bibles now and open 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:15.419 them to Luke. Luke chapter 12. We're going to 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:19.920 look at verses 13 through 34. I initially had 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:27.640 12 or 21 rather. But I think we need to see. 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:30.480 This parable that we're gonna look at we need 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.840 to see it in its context We need to see the teaching 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:37.520 that follows the parable now what we're doing 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:43.799 today is Looking at just one parable we finished 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:47.340 our series through the book of Jonah Lord willing 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:50.780 we're gonna start our new series on the miracles 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:55.380 of Jesus But today we just look at this one parable 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:58.929 and and there's a good reason for that Typically, 00:01:00.250 --> 00:01:04.709 each November, this church has a sermon on stewardship. 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:09.769 And I know how I used to hear that when I was 00:01:09.769 --> 00:01:12.969 a boy growing up in church. The preacher would 00:01:12.969 --> 00:01:16.510 say, I'm going to preach on money today. And 00:01:16.510 --> 00:01:20.189 I would groan. I hope that you're not groaning 00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:23.590 with this today. Because we must recognize that 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:28.549 what we have comes from God. And what we have, 00:01:28.969 --> 00:01:32.329 we should use to glorify God. And what we have, 00:01:32.969 --> 00:01:36.450 we should use to help others. And so let this 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:41.569 be encouraging to you to use the wealth that 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:45.709 God gives to you for kingdom purposes. And we 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:49.170 can do this whether we find ourselves with a 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:52.750 lot of wealth or just a little. We can do this 00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:56.090 whether we are children who might have a piggy 00:01:56.090 --> 00:01:59.209 bank. or whether we're adults who have saved 00:01:59.209 --> 00:02:02.909 for years. And so listen to this text. This is 00:02:02.909 --> 00:02:09.949 Luke 12, 13 through 34. Someone in the crowd 00:02:09.949 --> 00:02:15.710 said to him, him being Jesus, teacher, tell my 00:02:15.710 --> 00:02:19.169 brother to divide the inheritance with me. But 00:02:19.169 --> 00:02:23.310 he said to him, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator 00:02:23.310 --> 00:02:26.629 over you? And he said to them, take care. and 00:02:26.629 --> 00:02:31.030 be on your guard against all covetousness, for 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:34.330 one's life does not consist in the abundance 00:02:34.330 --> 00:02:37.330 of his possessions." And he told them a parable 00:02:37.330 --> 00:02:42.409 saying, the land of a rich man produced plentifully. 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:46.229 And he thought to himself, what shall I do? For 00:02:46.229 --> 00:02:48.750 I have nowhere to store my crops. And he said, 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:52.509 I will do this. I will tear down my barns and 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:56.229 build larger ones. And there, I will store all 00:02:56.229 --> 00:02:59.289 my grain and my goods and I will say to my soul, 00:02:59.330 --> 00:03:02.509 soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years, 00:03:02.530 --> 00:03:06.930 relax, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:11.849 him, fool. This night, your soul is required 00:03:11.849 --> 00:03:15.310 of you and the things you have prepared, whose 00:03:15.310 --> 00:03:19.129 will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:23.909 for himself and is not rich towards God. And 00:03:23.909 --> 00:03:27.050 he said to his disciples, therefore, I tell you, 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:30.389 do not be anxious about your life, what you will 00:03:30.389 --> 00:03:33.430 eat, nor about your body, what you'll put on. 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:36.430 For life is more than food, and the body more 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:39.710 than clothing. Consider the ravens. They neither 00:03:39.710 --> 00:03:43.490 sow nor reap. They have neither storehouse nor 00:03:43.490 --> 00:03:47.430 barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:51.169 value are you than the birds? And which of you 00:03:51.169 --> 00:03:54.449 by being anxious can add a single hour to his 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:57.669 span of life? If then you are not able to do 00:03:57.669 --> 00:04:00.409 as small a thing as that, why are you anxious 00:04:00.409 --> 00:04:03.870 about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they 00:04:03.870 --> 00:04:07.689 grow. They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell 00:04:07.689 --> 00:04:12.629 you even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed 00:04:12.629 --> 00:04:16.509 like one of these. But if God so closed the grass 00:04:16.509 --> 00:04:18.810 which is alive in the field today and tomorrow 00:04:18.810 --> 00:04:22.230 is thrown into the oven, how much more will He 00:04:22.230 --> 00:04:26.029 clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:28.189 seek what you are to eat or what you are to drink, 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:31.149 nor be worried for all the nations of the world. 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:34.430 Seek after these things. And your Father knows 00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:38.629 that you need them. Instead, seek His kingdom, 00:04:38.990 --> 00:04:42.389 and these things will be added to you. Fear not, 00:04:42.410 --> 00:04:45.329 little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure 00:04:45.329 --> 00:04:49.350 to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions 00:04:49.350 --> 00:04:52.870 and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with 00:04:52.870 --> 00:04:56.149 money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure 00:04:56.149 --> 00:04:59.310 in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:03.430 approaches and no moth destroys. For where your 00:05:03.430 --> 00:05:09.149 treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let's 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:17.490 pray. Father we thank you for this text And we 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:20.769 thank you for this parable and we remember why 00:05:20.769 --> 00:05:24.370 the parables were written They were written to 00:05:24.370 --> 00:05:28.529 edify and so Lord I ask that as we study this 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:31.529 parable and the teaching that follows Lord that 00:05:31.529 --> 00:05:34.910 we would really truly take it to heart and Serve 00:05:34.910 --> 00:05:38.050 you with everything we've got these things we 00:05:38.050 --> 00:05:45.129 pray in Christ's name Amen I was in a worship 00:05:45.129 --> 00:05:51.389 service in Bulgaria in a small village. A few 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.910 of you have been to this village before. This 00:05:53.910 --> 00:05:57.050 was years ago. We're having a worship service 00:05:57.050 --> 00:06:02.850 and we had our typical time of singing. We had 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:05.569 our time of prayer. We had our time of reading 00:06:05.569 --> 00:06:07.829 scripture and explaining of scripture. And then 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:11.329 it kind of turned into a bit of a Q &A. And one 00:06:11.329 --> 00:06:17.949 of the young gypsy men asked me, He said, you 00:06:17.949 --> 00:06:24.629 are rich. Why are you here? I don't remember 00:06:24.629 --> 00:06:28.850 my entire response to the young man, but I said, 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:36.769 I'm not rich. I'm not rich. I was wrong. We are 00:06:36.769 --> 00:06:42.269 rich. We are richly blessed. Indeed, In this 00:06:42.269 --> 00:06:44.689 sanctuary, we have different levels of people 00:06:44.689 --> 00:06:47.470 where you are with finances and things, but we 00:06:47.470 --> 00:06:52.050 can all say because we are here, we are richly 00:06:52.050 --> 00:06:56.209 blessed by knowing Jesus. But we also have received 00:06:56.209 --> 00:06:59.230 from the very hand of God everything we have. 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:02.589 You're wearing clothes today. You drove or somebody 00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:05.730 drove you here today. Most of us will go home 00:07:05.730 --> 00:07:12.180 today and eat lunch, right? We are indeed blessed. 00:07:13.699 --> 00:07:18.800 And so, when a young gypsy man who has spent 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.699 his entire life in despicable conditions, in 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:25.100 orphanages, living on the street, when that young 00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:29.939 man says to you, you are rich, you say yes, but 00:07:29.939 --> 00:07:33.660 you also point him to Luke chapter 12 verse 21 00:07:33.660 --> 00:07:38.860 and say yes, we must though be rich towards God. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.139 And that's what we're talking about today, being 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:46.139 rich towards God. You see the setting for this 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:50.620 parable, don't you? You see what led to it. There 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:54.939 is this man in the crowd. It sounds like he interrupts 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:57.420 Jesus. Can you imagine interrupting the greatest 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:01.660 teacher of all time to talk about this situation? 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:05.060 Can it not wait, right? Jesus has more patience 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:09.670 than I do. This man says tell my brother to divide 00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:14.490 the inheritance with me Now this this isn't entirely 00:08:14.490 --> 00:08:18.170 uncommon rabbis in Jesus's day some of them would 00:08:18.170 --> 00:08:20.970 have definitely done this but Jesus does not 00:08:20.970 --> 00:08:24.649 and The reason is because this Jesus has a mission 00:08:24.649 --> 00:08:27.129 to do and he's sticking with his mission and 00:08:27.129 --> 00:08:30.490 you can see verse 15 Kind of tells us the lesson 00:08:30.490 --> 00:08:35.730 here Be on your guard against all covetousness 00:08:36.029 --> 00:08:40.769 For one's life does not consist in the abundance 00:08:40.769 --> 00:08:45.429 of his possessions. The abundance of possessions, 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:49.289 of riches, of treasures is not what life is all 00:08:49.289 --> 00:08:54.330 about. It's not. And so today, if you find yourself 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:57.590 in love with your stuff, if you find yourself 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:00.289 in love with your bank account, if you find yourself 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:02.509 in love with your credit cards or your home or 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:06.470 your boat or whatever it may be, This parable 00:09:06.470 --> 00:09:11.450 is for you, and this parable is for me. We need 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:15.450 to see what all of this means. Where is Jesus 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:20.250 going with all of this? And so he helps us. And 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:24.289 he does so with the help of a parable. And so 00:09:24.289 --> 00:09:27.210 he tells this story, and initially the parable 00:09:27.210 --> 00:09:30.549 begins in this way that we might say, This is 00:09:30.549 --> 00:09:33.210 a good problem to have. You've got all of this 00:09:33.210 --> 00:09:35.889 grain, all of these crops. It's abundant. You 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:38.509 don't know what to do with it. This is what we 00:09:38.509 --> 00:09:41.429 call a good problem. You've all heard people 00:09:41.429 --> 00:09:43.009 say that before. Well, that's a good problem. 00:09:43.049 --> 00:09:46.330 Notice it's always the case the person who says 00:09:46.330 --> 00:09:48.769 this is a good problem to have is not the one 00:09:48.769 --> 00:09:51.190 who has to solve it. Kind of like when you have 00:09:51.190 --> 00:09:53.909 a fall festival and you have more show up than 00:09:53.909 --> 00:09:55.870 you think and so you have to do a rescue mission 00:09:55.870 --> 00:09:58.470 for more hot dogs, right? It's a good problem 00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:04.110 to have. This man is blessed, right? But notice 00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:11.110 the wording of it. Does Jesus attribute the all 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:14.269 of the wealth, all of the grain, all of the abundance? 00:10:14.389 --> 00:10:17.230 Does he attribute it to the man? Does the man 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:21.750 have a green thumb? No. Jesus attributes it to 00:10:21.750 --> 00:10:25.070 the land. The land does this. The land produces 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:29.600 this. The prosperity then is from God. who made 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:34.559 the land and who made the crops. This man is 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:39.899 quickly falling into a very serious error that 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:46.899 wealth can trap us. Wealth can trap us into only 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:50.360 thinking about ourselves. Wealth can trap us 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:54.480 into materialism. Wealth can trap us to thinking 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.299 that we're the ones who are bringing about all 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:02.480 of the good things in our lives. Wealth, if we're 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:06.340 not careful, has us just thinking about wealth 00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:12.740 and not other people. Now I can feel it welling 00:11:12.740 --> 00:11:16.000 up inside a little bit, and maybe you can too. 00:11:16.620 --> 00:11:19.740 As people in the West, people who have money, 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:25.419 many of us, We want to come quickly to the defense 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:28.539 of our wealth, don't we? It seems that any time 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:31.960 someone preaches or teaches on wealth, somebody 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:34.759 has to say, wait a second, wealth isn't wrong. 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:40.779 And that's true. It is true. Money, having money 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:45.980 is not wrong. We can see that. to at least two 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.600 of the Ten Commandments have to do with wealth. 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:51.039 You're not supposed to steal people's things, 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:52.700 and you're not supposed to covet those things. 00:11:53.179 --> 00:11:57.259 So surely it's okay to have wealth, but why is 00:11:57.259 --> 00:12:00.639 it that our first, the first thing that we do 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.639 when we talk about wealth is to come to the defense 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:10.299 of it? Sometimes when we do that, I wonder, are 00:12:10.299 --> 00:12:13.720 we loving our stuff more than we're loving other 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:16.970 people? Are we loving our stuff more than we're 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:21.789 loving God? How much do we really need? How much 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:28.250 time do we spend thinking about our stuff rather 00:12:28.250 --> 00:12:32.309 than spending our time striving for the kingdom 00:12:32.309 --> 00:12:36.730 of God? You're probably like me in that you have 00:12:36.730 --> 00:12:39.409 ordered something online before from a website. 00:12:39.879 --> 00:12:43.340 And in order to get that special deal of 15 % 00:12:43.340 --> 00:12:46.039 off, you give them your text, your phone number, 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:48.799 your email address, and then you proceed to get 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.000 blown up by all those texts and emails forever, 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.700 right? These companies are very good at these 00:12:55.700 --> 00:13:00.179 things, right? They kind of feed upon us in our 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:06.100 need for more. We ought to be using what we have 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:10.460 to serve God. and to serve his kingdom. And we 00:13:10.460 --> 00:13:13.860 should also recognize how scripture shows us 00:13:13.860 --> 00:13:18.080 the many times that people have been ruined by 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:23.399 their love of money. You remember Solomon. Solomon 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:27.759 had a lot, right? And it got to him. He wasn't 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.519 guarded against these things. You might remember 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:34.740 Ananias in Sapphira from Acts chapter five, right? 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:38.769 Who. kept back some of their proceeds and essentially 00:13:38.769 --> 00:13:43.750 lied to the Holy Spirit. The problem is the heart. 00:13:44.029 --> 00:13:47.110 Maybe the rich young ruler of Luke 18, whose 00:13:47.110 --> 00:13:49.950 chief obstruction to following Christ was his 00:13:49.950 --> 00:13:53.470 stuff. He had made all of his things and his 00:13:53.470 --> 00:13:58.129 wealth into an idol. And that's what this man 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:01.629 is doing within this parable. This man thinks 00:14:01.629 --> 00:14:05.820 to himself, What am I to do? And there's nothing 00:14:05.820 --> 00:14:08.460 wrong with that. At least to begin, we might 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:11.779 say the man is showing some wisdom here. He's 00:14:11.779 --> 00:14:15.799 thinking what to do. But one of the first problems 00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.480 that I see from this man is he doesn't acknowledge 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.240 God in the parable, does he? He does not acknowledge 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.539 God with this incredible harvest, right? And 00:14:28.539 --> 00:14:32.100 so he thinks to himself, what am I to do now? 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.519 I'm very thankful that he thought this to himself 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.240 and didn't say it out loud. Can you imagine saying 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:42.360 that out loud around other people who might not 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:45.940 have quite the harvest that you do? They would 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:47.720 not have liked him very much. And so he thinks 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:51.100 to himself, what am I to do? And without consulting 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:56.639 God, he makes a decision. I need bigger barns. 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:00.779 I need bigger barns. And part of that sounds 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:04.259 wise, too. It sounds like he's planning for the 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:09.519 future, but in reality, he's not even planning 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:14.139 for that very night. Wisdom should have had him 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:17.879 consulting the Lord, but he doesn't, and he's 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:21.899 also not concerned for the well -being of others. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.100 There's nothing to suggest in the parable that 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:27.639 he's going to build these bigger barns in order 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.000 to store food for other people, because look 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.899 at verse 19. And I will say to my soul, soul, 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:38.019 you have ample goods laid up for many years, 00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:45.600 relax, eat, drink, and be merry. He wants the 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:50.820 good life. He thinks he has the good life, right? 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:55.379 But remember the purpose of this parable, that 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:59.039 we would not covet, that we would not be greedy. 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:02.500 that we would not hoard things for ourselves. 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:05.240 Sometimes we do that with our wealth. Rather 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:08.779 than using it for kingdom purposes, we keep it 00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:11.580 for ourselves. We don't look out for the needs 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:15.659 of other people. God though gives us so that 00:16:15.659 --> 00:16:19.039 we can provide for others. And so this is what 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.379 a Christian should do. We must look out for other 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:25.259 people. And what a great thing it is within this 00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:28.399 church that we do things. where we do look out 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.639 for other people. We've got the Operation Christmas 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.940 Child Boxes. We've got the Deacon's Fund, which 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:37.720 provides for these things. We care for one another 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:42.399 with what we have. But this man, he has no interest 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:45.559 in doing that. And part of his problem is he 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:49.580 makes a very serious assumption. Notice what 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:53.399 he wants to do with this incredible harvest. 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:56.379 He wants to put his feet up and enjoy it. And 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:59.200 it says he wants to enjoy it for many years. 00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:02.299 And so this man makes a dangerous assumption. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:06.460 He assumes that he will always have his wealth. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.140 And he assumes that not only will he always have 00:17:11.140 --> 00:17:13.740 it, but he's going to live a very, very, very 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:18.220 long time to enjoy it. But friends, this is the 00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:24.430 reality of our wealth. It's fleeting. The writer 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:29.410 of Ecclesiastes says here, it's vanity. Let me 00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:34.670 read to you from Ecclesiastes chapter two, 18 00:17:34.670 --> 00:17:42.369 through 19. The writer says, I hated all my toil 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:45.670 in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I 00:17:45.670 --> 00:17:48.769 must leave it to the man who will come after 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:51.930 me. And who knows whether he will be wise or 00:17:51.930 --> 00:17:55.680 a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:59.500 I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:05.619 also is vanity. The writer of Ecclesiastes, he 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:08.200 gets it. Later on, he's going to say that wealth 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:12.019 doesn't satisfy. But the man in the parable, 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.640 what he is doing is he's thinking it will satisfy. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.039 And in doing so, he's breaking the first commandment. 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:21.829 He is making his money, his wealth, this harvest 00:18:21.829 --> 00:18:26.650 into an idol. Friends, when wealth becomes the 00:18:26.650 --> 00:18:30.490 thing that we think the most about, when we elevate 00:18:30.490 --> 00:18:34.990 our gifts over the giver, we are making idols 00:18:34.990 --> 00:18:41.369 out of our stuff. This is delusional to think 00:18:41.369 --> 00:18:47.029 that our things will truly satisfy us. Just ask 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:50.099 somebody who has ever lost it all. If you know 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:53.039 anybody who's ever made a very bad investment 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:56.240 or maybe they've been through some sort of tragedy 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.160 or loss and they have lost so much, they will 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:04.140 tell you, guard against these things because 00:19:04.140 --> 00:19:09.079 they will not satisfy. If wealth is your God, 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:14.319 it will lead to your destruction. This is the 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:18.380 truth that Paul talks about within 1 Timothy. 00:19:19.190 --> 00:19:25.930 If you will, go to 1 Timothy chapter 6. And no 00:19:25.930 --> 00:19:28.329 doubt you've heard part of this before. This 00:19:28.329 --> 00:19:32.009 is important. I would tell you to put a bookmark 00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:36.250 here or underline it, highlight it, maybe all 00:19:36.250 --> 00:19:41.130 of it at one time. 1 Timothy chapter 6, I'm going 00:19:41.130 --> 00:19:48.190 to read verses 9 and 10. But those who desire 00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:52.809 to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, 00:19:53.670 --> 00:19:58.250 into many senseless and harmful desires that 00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:01.910 plunge people into ruin and destruction. For 00:20:01.910 --> 00:20:06.309 the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:10.710 It is through this craving that some have wandered 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:14.509 away from the faith and pierced themselves with 00:20:14.509 --> 00:20:24.049 many You cannot love God and money. If you love 00:20:24.049 --> 00:20:27.710 your money, you are making an idol out of it. 00:20:28.190 --> 00:20:31.470 And the Bible would call that foolish. This is 00:20:31.470 --> 00:20:35.549 how Jesus refers to this man of this parable. 00:20:35.769 --> 00:20:42.089 Look in verse 20. God says to him, fool, this 00:20:42.089 --> 00:20:46.089 night your soul is required of you. and the things 00:20:46.089 --> 00:20:50.069 you have prepared, whose will they be? The Bible 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:53.289 doesn't throw around the word fool all the time. 00:20:53.349 --> 00:20:56.450 It's very intentional about this word. You see 00:20:56.450 --> 00:20:59.170 it in Psalm 14 about one who doesn't believe 00:20:59.170 --> 00:21:04.789 in God. To not believe in God is foolish. And 00:21:04.789 --> 00:21:08.630 this man is acting the fool. He may say he believes 00:21:08.630 --> 00:21:12.269 in God, but his God is his wealth. His God may 00:21:12.269 --> 00:21:15.890 be his stomach. And it's foolish to be more concerned 00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:19.809 with the treasures of this life than eternal 00:21:19.809 --> 00:21:24.329 life. And so this man, he thinks he will live 00:21:24.329 --> 00:21:27.589 forever enjoying his wealth, but this is very 00:21:27.589 --> 00:21:33.430 clear. This night, your soul is required of you, 00:21:33.430 --> 00:21:37.170 it says. And we know this from the book of James, 00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:40.809 chapter four. We are not promised a single day, 00:21:40.809 --> 00:21:45.670 are we? You are not promised a single day. And 00:21:45.670 --> 00:21:49.950 so do not put off knowing God until a later time. 00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:54.670 Don't wait until the crops run out. Don't wait 00:21:54.670 --> 00:21:58.089 until the good times become bad. Don't wait until 00:21:58.089 --> 00:22:03.150 the wine goes dry. Don't wait. You must believe 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:06.750 in Jesus Christ to be saved and to receive ultimate 00:22:06.750 --> 00:22:10.390 blessing. If you think that you are happy now 00:22:10.390 --> 00:22:14.349 with the things that you have, friends, Jesus 00:22:14.349 --> 00:22:19.670 is preparing a place for you that you cannot 00:22:19.670 --> 00:22:24.490 believe. Do you know what God has in store for 00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:30.150 you? When we give all of our attention to treasures 00:22:30.150 --> 00:22:33.609 in the here and now, we neglect what's in the 00:22:33.609 --> 00:22:36.839 storehouses of God. Listen to what Jesus says 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:40.000 here. What will it profit a man if he gains the 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.279 whole world and forfeits his soul or what shall 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:49.599 a man give in return for his soul? Look at verse 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:58.079 32 Fear not little flock for it is your father's 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:04.200 good pleasure to give you the kingdom It's the 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:07.799 Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:13.700 Are you worried about small things all the while 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:19.539 God is giving the kingdom? This indeed is foolish. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:29.140 I like how Psalm 84 puts this. This is what we 00:23:29.140 --> 00:23:31.200 have to look forward to. This is who we ought 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:34.740 to be. For a day in your courts is better than 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:38.059 a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper 00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:41.220 in the house of my God than dwell in the tents 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:44.819 of wickedness. For the Lord God is a son in shield. 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:48.880 The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:51.420 does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:54.900 O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:59.680 in you. Will God hold back anything? That He 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.759 has promised for us. No, of course not. And what 00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:10.640 is the kingdom of God but the King? Jesus. And 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:13.960 you, by your union with Christ, you are joint 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:20.920 heirs in the kingdom. Why does God love us like 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:27.119 this? Why does He care for us like this? Go back. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:36.519 into our chapter and look at verse 24. Consider 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:41.299 the ravens. They neither sow nor reap. They have 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:45.140 neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:50.380 them. Of how much more value are you than the 00:24:50.380 --> 00:24:57.200 birds? God values you, Christian. God loves you. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.680 And so do you know him? Do you know God through 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:03.720 Christ? If tonight were to be your last, would 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.200 you walk through those eternal doors into his 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:10.019 blessed presence? Would you go to the place that 00:25:10.019 --> 00:25:16.359 Jesus calls paradise? Are you rich towards God? 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:20.599 Do you know Jesus? And if you know Jesus, what 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:25.779 are you doing about it? We just celebrated Reformation. 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:28.250 day, week, month, whatever I want to call it 00:25:28.250 --> 00:25:31.309 recently. And I went over some of the characters 00:25:31.309 --> 00:25:35.369 of the Reformation. And one of them really shows 00:25:35.369 --> 00:25:38.029 what it means to be rich towards God and to lay 00:25:38.029 --> 00:25:40.950 up our treasures in heaven. His name was Peter 00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:43.289 Waldo. Some of you will remember me talking about 00:25:43.289 --> 00:25:49.009 Waldo. Peter Waldo lived in France in the end 00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:53.569 of the 1100s into the 1200s. And Waldo was very 00:25:53.569 --> 00:25:58.059 wealthy. wealthy, but he heard someone speak 00:25:58.059 --> 00:26:02.339 on this passage, either this passage or Matthew 00:26:02.339 --> 00:26:07.079 19 about giving our treasures away to people 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:09.559 who need them, about being rich towards God, 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:13.579 and it impacted Waldo. And so what Waldo did 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:17.960 was he gave away his wealth to people who were 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.240 in need. But he also did something very special 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:24.970 with some of that wealth. He gave it to some 00:26:24.970 --> 00:26:29.410 scholars to translate the Bible into the common 00:26:29.410 --> 00:26:34.150 language of the people. He gave up his wealth 00:26:34.150 --> 00:26:39.210 so others would hear and know who Jesus is. Friends, 00:26:39.849 --> 00:26:42.670 that's how to be rich towards God. That's how 00:26:42.670 --> 00:26:46.329 to lay up your treasures in heaven. Because the 00:26:46.329 --> 00:26:51.990 reality is that even for this man in this parable, 00:26:53.099 --> 00:26:56.700 He did have a place to put all of his grain. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.779 He did have a place to put all of this food. 00:27:00.259 --> 00:27:03.180 I like how Church Father Ambrose put it. Oh, 00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:05.619 foolish friend, he says, referring to this man, 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:10.480 you have room, you have barns, the cupboards 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:15.700 of the needy, the house of the widow, the mouth 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:21.339 of the orphan. There were places to put all of 00:27:21.339 --> 00:27:25.660 this. and there are places for us to put what 00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:29.240 we have into the hands of people who need it. 00:27:29.500 --> 00:27:33.700 God has given you the kingdom and he is at work 00:27:33.700 --> 00:27:37.980 in your lives conforming you more and more into 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:42.400 the image of Jesus that you would serve him with 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.359 everything that you have, that you would be rich 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.039 towards God and acknowledge that everything that 00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:51.319 you do have is from God's providential hand. 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:54.759 And so what you do have is not really yours. 00:27:55.259 --> 00:27:59.480 And so use what you have to serve other people. 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:03.599 Invest in the kingdom. And how interesting that 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:10.980 is. To be rich then is to give. To be rich is 00:28:10.980 --> 00:28:14.660 to give. That's the exact opposite of the rich 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:20.089 fool. And so friends, give to God with joy. Give 00:28:20.089 --> 00:28:23.970 in your tithes and your offerings. Support kingdom 00:28:23.970 --> 00:28:27.549 work by providing for missionaries. Give your 00:28:27.549 --> 00:28:31.490 time in investing in the lives of others. Give 00:28:31.490 --> 00:28:34.809 your talents recognizing where they come from. 00:28:35.329 --> 00:28:39.829 Give yourselves to the kingdom of God because 00:28:39.829 --> 00:28:45.190 God has given you his kingdom in Christ Jesus.