You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry
podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we
learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.
Praise the Lord, how many of you are thankful for the treasure
that we have been given in Christ?
I pray that the rest of you will get that.
How many of you are thankful for the treasure that we do have in
Jesus Christ? One thing I will not.
Do is be a cheerleader? You're either overwhelmed with
praise because of Christ, or you're not yet overwhelmed with
praise because you don't know Christ.
What a treasure we have been given in.
Christ, all of the riches of this world fade away, and we see
the blessings of Christ. You have your.
Bibles if you would open the first Timothy.
Chapter 6 today. Is we will talk much about
riches in our message this morning.
Most importantly, we will talk about how to handle our.
Riches in a Message entitled How to handle worldly riches
Biblically? Now for those of you who would
say immediately, well, I don't have to worry about that because
I'm not rich, let me just give the American.
Church a statistic that they need.
I'm a stat man. Stats don't lie.
Did you know this? That the median income of the
entire world, if it were measured in U.S. dollars, do you
know what the median income would be?
3 to $5000 per year. I dare say that most of you make
a little bit more than that. Why do I bring this fact of why
would I throw you a statistic? Why would I throw you a number
at the beginning? Of this sermon the reason is
because Paul is. Going to address those who are
rich there at the church at Ephesus.
He's going to tell Timothy to command those who are rich.
And So what we have to assume is that they're at Ephesus.
There were in that body of believers, some people who were
well off, who were by the world standards rich.
And I give you that statistic this morning that the the
world's economy says that the median income and the entirety
of the earth is 3 to $5000 annual salary.
So that all of you Americans are spoilt.
Americans here in this country that has been overwhelmingly
blessed by God would realize that every single one of us are
rich. And why do I want you to
understand that you're rich? So that when we read this
passage, you don't tune me out. So that you will realize that
everyone in front of you, everyone behind you, everyone
around you in this congregation this morning by the world
standard is rich said, well, Kirk, I don't feel rich.
Let me just tell you what the median annual income in the
United States of America is measured out in dollars.
It is 82 to $85,000 per year. And you think you're not rich?
You asked of that man in that thatched roof Hut without any
electricity in any water, who at best makes 3 to $4.00 a day if
he doesn't think that you're rich with your 82 to $85,000 a
year for your salary. So I say that so that we'll pay
attention to this because I know what happens when a preacher
gets up and he's going to preach something.
That has to do with worldly riches and God forbid that when
we get to the part where we get get to it where it says that
we're to be generous with them actually give them away there's.
Going to be someone who gets upset.
You're going to lie to yourself and say I'm tired of that
preacher talking about giving all the time.
I can tell you. I bet you I can count on one
hand how many sermons I've ever preached on giving.
I only preach on it if I. Get to the topic here I am.
I'm at this topic dealing with worldly riches.
How are we to handle? The riches that God has blessed
us with as a country, as a church, as individuals.
However it may fall upon you today, I pray that you would pay
attention to it. We jump right into the scripture
here. First Timothy chapter 6, verse
17. We'll be looking for 7 from 17
all the way through 19 this morning.
Paul tells Timothy this. He says command those who are
rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put up put
their hope in wealth which is so uncertain.
But to put their hope in God. Who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment. Please underline or highlight
that word enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be
rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a
firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold.
Of the life that is truly life. Let's pray together and ask that
God would give us insight into this passage.
Lord, we thank you for your word.
We thank you that it is true. Our feelings are not true.
Our philosophies are not. True.
Your word is true. God, I pray as the truth goes
out today that You would accomplish that which You set
out to accomplish through your truth.
That You would deliver those who are greedy and stingy from their
greed. God, that you would raise up for
yourself and Your namesake givers who would give generously
storing up treasures in heaven. God, that You would cause us all
to have an eternal mindset, to not think about the things of
this earth and the stockpiles that we have here, but to dwell
on our heavenly home. To long to be with you and to
long to enjoy in your presence that inheritance that you keep
for us in heaven. God, I pray for the lost soul
who's here today, who does not know Christ, who's wasting
everything in his life, the pleasures of his flesh, lust,
lust, and passions of His unregenerated heart.
I pray today that you would rebirth him into Christ, that
you would give him or her faith to believe and to trust in
Christ as you show them their need for a Savior and you show
them Christ is that Savior, that they would lay it all down
today, turning from sin and self and turning to Christ.
They would be saved according to your word.
God, we thank you for this time. We ask that you, our great
Teacher, Good Shepherd, lead us and teach us this morning
through the Scriptures, and we pray these things in Christ's
name, Amen. So we get to the topic of
riches, and I want us to begin this right where Paul begins it.
He says command those who are rich in this present world not
to be arrogant nor to put their hope and wealth which is so
uncertain. But to put their hope in God.
Who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
I told you to underline or to highlight that word enjoyment.
I had a purpose in doing that because I want to make something
crystal clear to you today. I want to make something so
clear that you really understand it.
God's Word never ever, ever caused Christians to desire to
be poor through some kind of vow of vow of poverty or some type
of asceticism that would somehow bring us closer to God.
There are many throughout the ages who have thought this
incorrectly, but the Word of God plainly says here that the
riches that God has provided for us, we are to enjoy.
I say that because there are many people who feel bad about
ever enjoying that which God has blessed them with.
And I say this, don't do that. Don't fall into that trap of
legalism. Don't let it happen.
Know that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father.
And if He has blessed you with riches, He has blessed you with
riches because He wants you to have them.
And God's Word clearly says here he wants you to enjoy them.
Now there are ways that we are to enjoy them, and there are
ways that we are not to. Enjoy the riches of this world
and nevertheless we're to enjoy them.
We're to see that a sovereign God has chosen to bless us with
the financial income that we have for His purposes, for His
glory. For our good and even for us to
enjoy while we are here on this earth and also to enjoy, if
handled properly, for all eternity.
So we don't have to feel bad, right when we put those
statistics out there. We don't have to feel bad
because our salary is more than three to $5000 a year.
Perhaps you are a closer to the average of the US 82 to 85,000
and God has blessed you with that.
You don't need to feel bad about it.
You need to humbly kneel before Him and you need to say thank
you. Lord.
My hope is not in these riches. My hope is in You.
Let me be content with with wherever I am.
If I have a little, let me be content.
If I have a lot, let me be content.
But let me enjoy these things because they came directly from
Your sovereign hand into my life.
That's the right. Perspective because worldly
riches to the believer are a blessing to be enjoyed, and I
want you to get that today that we can enjoy God's blessings we
can enjoy them because they are a blessing to be.
Enjoyed. And so for us to not enjoy them
is to neglect to see what Scripture has commanded.
Note that that he says command those who are rich in this
present world not to be arrogant in order to put their hope and
wealth which is so uncertain, to put their hope in God who richly
provides us with everything for. Our what enjoyment.
So what are the stipulations? Well, they're contained right
there in that one powerful verse.
There in verse 17, we can enjoy God's blessing.
And you can write this down #1 as long as you aren't
condescending due to riches. He says command those who are
rich in this present world not to be arrogant.
That word arrogant means to be haughty.
He's he's talking about that type of person that we see in
James chapter 2. James chapter 2, a very familiar
passage of Scripture, I'm sure to all of you, but he tells
James that he, James tells the people, excuse me, that we're
not to to show a favoritism. And by doing this, he uses an
illustration. If someone comes in and they
have shabby clothes on and they're obviously poor, you
can't treat them differently than you treat the person who
comes in and they're dressed nicely and they're obviously
rich. You can't give them a better
seat and look down on the person who doesn't have as much.
That's that haughty, arrogant attitude that Paul is commanding
Timothy to teach against. And it can be very easily,
especially in our American culture.
Can it? Because we have been rich.
We have been rich beyond measure.
We've been blessed, made rich by God.
As long as we're not condescending due to this, we
can enjoy it. How do we do?
That well, I think we have to remember something, many things,
but one thing that we have to remember is this.
All things come from God, so we have no right to be arrogant
about it. Now I know what many hardworking
Americans say to that. Well, you don't understand.
I worked hard all these years. My blood, sweat and tear and the
only way that you were allowed to do.
That is because God sovereignly preserved your health, gave you
the strength that you need, gave you the wisdom, the intellect
that you have, the money making skills that you have.
You were allowed to do that because God allowed you to do
that. Give credit where credit is due.
So there are none of us who can walk around arrogantly looking
down on others with haughty attitudes simply because we have
a lot of money in our pocket, or a lot of money in our bank
account, or stacks of cash in our save, or huge 4-O1K.
Program We're never to become arrogant, putting our hope and
wealth looking down in a condescending way to others.
We must humbly remember that it all comes from God.
Deuteronomy 818 God's Word gives us insight into this, that God
gave the Israelites ability to produce wealth.
How did they receive this ability?
God gave it to them. How do you have the ability that
you have? How is this country blessed the
way that it is? Because God has allowed it to
be. So we must humbly approach this
as scripture is telling us to do, not with an arrogant
attitude. We we must humbly approach
others in the same way to look down on someone simply because
they are lesser off than you. Is a detestable thing to God.
Proverbs chapter 6 tells us in the 16th verse that there's six
things the Lord hates 7 that are detestable to him.
The first one that he. Mentions there in 17 is this
haughty eyes. That's where the wealthy cast
their eyes down to those who might not be as wealthy as if
they have somehow attained some status that that other person
was not able or capable to attain.
May I remind you, ma'am or Sir, everything that you have comes
from God and everything that you have that came from God can be
taken away by God just the same. So never approach it with an
arrogant attitude that you have built your fortune or you have
built your success, or you have built your future or the future
for your children or your grandchildren.
Is God who has done all of this, so you're never in a position to
look down on someone else because you think that you have
arrived financially? Why do I say this?
Because God opposes the proud, but he shows favor to the
humble, just as James declares in James chapter 4 verse 6.
So we have to approach riches and the blessing that they are
in this life with great humility so that we're not arrogant in
this present world. So we can enjoy the riches that
we've been given as long as you aren't condescending due to
those riches. He said well, I would never do
that. Well, you might not ever do
that, but you might. Or you may have in the past, or
you may have been on the other end of that.
We all know that. It's a reality that exists.
The rich, often with condescension, look down on the
poor and in the church it should never be that way.
So we can enjoy them as long as we're not condescending due to
those riches. Secondly, we can enjoy them as
long as you aren't controlled by riches.
We all know what Jesus taught. We don't have to rehash this,
but he taught this and we saw it just a few weeks ago.
I'm talking about those false teachers who were greedy and
chasing after money. You can't.
Serve both God and money. You can't serve 2 masters and so
you can't be mastered by your riches.
And as long as you aren't mastered by your riches, you can
enjoy them. How do we prevent?
This, well, it's very simple. What doesn't belong?
To you should never control you. And so it's the right
perspective. If I realize that the riches I
have are not mine, you say, well, Kirk, yes, they are mine.
They're in my bank account and it has my name on it.
And that's the problem. You still think they're yours.
But the psalmist hit the nail on the head when he says this in
Psalm 24, verse 1. He says very plainly the earth
is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live
in it. When we realized that nothing in
this. World belongs to us and nothing
in this world will control. Us.
That's your finances, that's your success, that's your career
with all the other idols that you could potentially chase.
In this world, everything belongs to God.
Your home, your cars, your children, your grandchildren,
every dime to your name, it's His.
It belongs to him. And we need to realize that so
that these things don't become ours, because when they're ours,
we think we're in control of them.
But isn't it true that job that you have, that God has given
you, that requires your health, could be stripped from you
tomorrow as your health is stripped from you?
So let us pay close attention to this.
We own nothing. We, in fact, are owned
ourselves. Oh, the Christian has forgotten
that you are not your own. You were bought with a price.
The price of Jesus Christ purchased you.
He is the owner you. My friend, are but a mere
manager, a steward, a manager of your life, a steward of your
life, a manager of your riches, and a steward of your riches.
When we get. This in our heads and in our
hearts. Oh, it helps us in not being
controlled by the things that don't belong to us, because we
understand that principle. Stewardship is not ownership.
So none of this money is mine. Isn't that a good feeling?
None of this money's mine. None of the things that I
possess are mine. It all belongs to the Lord.
So then it poses this question, are we stewarding our master's
resources the way that we should?
Are we stewarding the master's resources according to the
guidance that the master has provided?
He's provided some guidance right here.
We're going to see that. Are we stewarding our resources
according to the word of God, the wisdom from the word of God
Are we stewarding our resources as we walk in the.
Spirit. As the Spirit indwells us and
leads us into the way, God would have us to do things according
to His Word. So as long as you're not
controlled by riches, enjoy. Them.
If they're not your master and Christ is your master, you will
enjoy them in Christ. You will put them to good use
for the glory of. God, you will enjoy the blessing
of that. I can promise you that, and I
can show you that in Scripture over and over and over again.
For the people of God enjoyed the blessing of God because they
knew where that blessing came from and they weren't afraid to
only steward it and never own it.
Because if we realize that if we ever lose it, it won't be the
end of the world because we still have Christ and He's our
master. But for the poor soul who's
mastered by their riches, if they lost them today, brace
yourself American. If the American dream faltered.
And it will, because it's a man made idea.
You won't lose. Hope if you realize that you're
just a steward of these things and that there is a greater
master who is truly the treasure.
So as long. As you're not controlled by
riches, enjoy them. Stop feeling bad when you spend
money on something because God has blessed you with money.
Now listen, don't live an extravagant lifestyle.
Don't buy things just for the sake of buying things.
But also, when God blesses you with something, thank Him for
it. Give credit where credit's due.
So worldly riches are a blessing to be enjoyed.
As long as you're not condescending due to those
riches, looking down on others with haughty eyes.
As long as you're not controlled by the riches, you understand
that the Lord owns it all. He's the Master of all things.
And thirdly, as long as you are content in the Lord.
He says command those who are rich in this present world not
to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth which is so
uncertain, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us
with everything for our enjoyment.
He says if your hope is in God, then enjoy what He's given you.
You're doing nothing wrong as long as you are content with the
Lord and content. In the Lord isn't that.
Where our hope ought to be anyways?
Should our hope be in God alone and not the riches of this
world? The riches of this world are
just tools. It's just a thing.
None of them will. Last, as they are in their
earthly form. So we can't put a whole lot of
hope and a whole lot of trust in that.
In fact, when we do, we err. Proverbs 11/28 says this.
Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous
will thrive like a green leaf. We place our hope in our own
riches, our own. Thought riches, God's word
predicts a fall. It's going to be your fall, that
which once was your foundation. So don't build your foundation
upon the sand, the shifting sand of this earth.
Build all foundations upon Christ.
So we must be content. And as long as you're in content
with the Lord, your hope is in him, you can enjoy these
blessings as long as you're content with God being the
supply in your life. You never walk in covetousness
or discontentment. And we struggle with that in the
American church and in the world that we live in covetousness and
discontentment. We covet other people's things.
We covet their riches. We covet their bodies.
We covet their facial features. We're discontent with everything
that God has done for us. It shouldn't be that way.
As long as we are not walking in these things, but walking in the
Spirit, we can enjoy the things of God content in him.
First Timothy 6 verse 6 says But godliness with contentment is
what, as Paul taught us a few weeks ago, great.
Gain. You gain so much when you're
just content with that which God has given you.
If it's a lot, be content and enjoy it.
If it's not much, be content and enjoy it.
Because in all reality, you're enjoying the blesser and not the
blessing. You see it for what it is, a
walk in covetousness or discontentment.
Philippians chapter 4, Paul gives us a great lesson on this
and verse 11 he says I am not saying this because I am in need
for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
We could probably just highlight that right there and it would
preach volumes to us, wouldn't I've learned to be content
whatever the circumstances. Paul then says I know what it's
like, what it is to be in need. He says I know what it is to not
have a lot. And then he says, and I know
what it is to have plenty. He doesn't say either one of
them are sinful or wrong. Says I know what it is to have
both of those things. And I've learned the secret to
being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or
hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Here's the most out of context taken verse in all of the world.
He says I can do all things to him, talking about Christ who
gives me strength. What is Paul saying there?
Well, he's not saying as this verse.
Is often misquoted. I can do anything that I want to
do because Jesus. No, he's saying I can be content
in every situation because my true riches are found in Christ.
If I have little in this world, that's fine, I'm content in
Christ. If I have a lot in this world,
that doesn't impress me much because I have the treasure of
Christ and I'm content in Him. And so worldly riches are a
blessing to be enjoyed as long as you are.
Content in the Lord first, because when we find our
contentment in the Lord, there's really nothing lacking, is
there? No matter where we are.
Hebrews 13 five it says keep your lives free from the love of
money and be content with what you have.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content
with what you have. Why?
Because if you're loving the Lord with all your heart, soul,
mind, and. Strength you don't have time to
love money you'll be content right where you are in him
whether you have a lot by the world standard or whether you
have a little by the world standard.
Jeremiah Burrows, he authored a work called The Rare Jewel of
Christian Contentment. It was a life changer for me as
I read that book and it talked about being content in Christ.
And he said this the comforts of the world are but streams.
God is the fountain. I would to God that we would
understand that that. All streams of blessing flow
from God, and he decides how much comes down the stream, how
wide the stream is, how deep the stream is, and he decides that
according to his good, pleasing and perfect will.
What do I mean by that? Whatever comes into your life as
a child of God, it. Flows from God and you must be
content with that. And if it is richest, you are
free to enjoy those riches as long as you are content.
And where those riches come from, From the throne of God,
You are content in Him. So worldly riches should be
enjoyed. We should be thankful to God for
all the worldly riches that He has given us.
So we don't place our hope in them, though we rejoice in every
situation and we're content in every situation.
I want you to understand what Paul is telling Timothy here.
Command those who are rich not to take some vow of poverty, not
to equally distribute it among people.
He's just to enjoy it, but to enjoy it biblically, the right
way, a way that's honoring to God, a way that's pleasing to
God, a way that brings God glory.
And so our earthly riches are to be enjoyed as a blessing that
comes from God. Secondly, our riches according
to what the Word of God teaches here.
Let us remember this are a grace.
To be extended, he says, command them to do good.
Here's that word, command again. You know what Paul is not
telling Timothy to do? Ask them what they should do
with their riches. These are strong words.
He says command them. And then he says again, command
them to use the riches in this manner.
Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be
generous and willing to share. So our riches are a grace to be
extended. God wants the recipients of his
grace to show that same kind of grace to others.
How many of you that in this room have been blessed beyond
measure? Let me just answer it for you.
All of you, all of you, you are here.
You have life, you have air in your lungs, your heart is
beating. Most of you have beautiful
families, loved ones, most of you here have Christ.
I I pray so you're lacking nothing and you've been blessed
beyond measure with the grace of God that we.
Can't even begin to fathom. So we received a lot.
God gives us all of these blessings, not so that we can
hoard them unto ourselves. Your worldly riches should never
be hoarded for you and you alone.
Remember, we're stewards, not owners.
God's Word reminds us of this in Luke chapter 12.
He says from everyone who has been given much, much will be
demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked. I I learned that verse in a
different translation. To whom much is given, much is
required. We can all say confidently here
today we've been given much grace.
May I invite anyone, if you would like to stand and explain
to me while you think you haven't been given much grace?
Well, we'll stop and we'll entertain that thought for just
a moment. And if and if anyone would be so
bold as to do that, you would be sadly upset when I remind you
that the only reason that you were able to stand and you were
able to breathe, to get a word in your mouth to even try to
deny that God has been overly gracious to you.
It's because God has been overly gracious to you.
And so you would be a. Fool to stand and make that
claim. For even the lost and the
unbelieving have no idea of how gracious God has truly been to
them. Until they are in Christ.
Their eyes can be open to see the truth of how gracious God
has been. And so if he has been gracious
to us in return, we ought to extend grace to others.
Our riches are grace from God, and that grace is to be
extended. That means you're going to have
to open up your tight hands and let it go.
And to release it for Kingdom use, for the glory of God, so
through the riches that God has given us graciously.
And again, this is not up for debate.
You are all rich. People and the blessings that He
has graciously given us or ought to be offered to others.
How do we do that? He says command them to do good,
do good. This is talking about goodness
as a believer, using the treasures that you have been
given by the hand of God. His grace to display God's
goodness to others. Oh, don't you dare steal from
God and take his glory when people notice that you've been
blessed with riches. Oh, don't you dare say that's
because of my hard work and my dedication, my long hours.
Why would you steal the glory from God?
Why would you not tell of his goodness?
Why would you not say it's all from God?
And the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, and blessed be the
name of the Lord, my hope is in him.
He says command them to do good, to use every dime that you have.
For goodness, Proverbs 327 says this, Do not withhold good from
those to whom it is due. When it is in your power to act.
Do not say to your neighbor, Come back tomorrow and I'll give
it to you when you already have it with you.
Oh, what words of wisdom from Proverbs there, Because we've
all fallen into this trap, haven't we?
Where the Lord prompts us in our heart to give now.
Immediately and we delay. And the only reason that we
really delay if we were to get down to it is because we really
wanted to hold on to it. Maybe we wanted to hold on it
for one more day, one more week, one more month.
We really wanted to hold on to it.
I know none of you have ever been there, but I'll be the
honest guy in the room. I've been there.
I knew that I should show God's goodness to someone else because
I have received so much goodness from God.
And I held it in my hand and I held it in my hand maybe for an
hour. Maybe for two hours, maybe for
24 hours. I held it when I should have
released it immediately. I should have let it go.
And I tried to justify my flesh didn't getting involved.
You've all been here. My flesh getting involved.
Well, I. I felt like I should give them
$1000, but you know what? I instead, I think I'm going to
give them 900. And if I keep thinking about it,
it's going to go to 800 and then it's going to go to 700 and then
it's going to, you know how it works.
There's no goodness to others, as God prompts us to do that
display His goodness that we've received as a blessing to other.
People when you know that someone.
Struggling financially and you're not.
As a believer, we ought to contemplate goodness then,
shouldn't we? Did you receive goodness to God
when you were a pauper? Did you receive goodness from
God when you were bankrupt and ravaged by your own sin?
Then it is goodness that we are to share to others as well, he
says. To do good, To be rich in good
deeds. Good deeds, What is he saying?
Using your riches to fund good works?
Using your riches to fund gospel works to do things globally
through the blessings that you have.
Like the Good Samaritan did in Luke chapter 10, the Good
Samaritan sees the man in the ditch who had been robbed and
left for dead. What did he do?
All the other religious people passed by.
Had no true pity on him, never showing him any good work of
giving anything of themselves to him.
Be at the Good Samaritan took him and he cared for him and he
nurtured him. He gave him a place to
recuperate in that inn. And you know what?
It was at the good Samaritan's expense.
He paid for it all out of the riches that he steward, that
stewarded, that actually belonged to God.
Displaying for us what a true neighbor ought.
To look like but unfortunately many times hoard our money.
We hold on to it instead of using it.
See the gospel expand in the Kingdom of God to grow.
Please know this Christian when we fund gospel work throughout
this world. When we give cheerfully toward
the work of the gospel, and I'm thankful we do that here.
You are allowing people in other countries that you'll never
meet, you may never see them face to face.
You're allowing them to do the work of ministry.
Giving them the resources that they need.
You can think what you want to think.
You can create all kind of illusions in your mind that
ministry doesn't cost money. Ministry always has and always
will cost money. Jesus himself had a money bag
that his disciples lived off of as they were doing the gospel
work and cost money today and. When you're not greedy with your
money, when you extend grace and good deeds, doing for others are
giving so that others can do for others, you're funding.
God's work. You're using your finances
properly. Matthew 19, 21 Jesus in a
conversation with a young man says if you want to be perfect,
go sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will
have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.
What was Jesus saying here? When we do good deeds for those
who are in a lesser state than us, it equates to literal
treasures that are stored up for us in heaven.
That he has already said in Matthew chapter 6.
Ross. Moths and rust will not corrode
or eternal. So see the benefits of your good
deeds. There are grace to be extended
through goodness, through good deeds, then through generosity.
And I know we don't quite like this topic, the topic of
Christian generosity, Christian giving.
There are many. I am afraid we'll leave here
today and ridicule me because I even tackled this topic, but I'm
going to tackle it because it's here in the Word of God.
He says and to be generous and willing to share those of you
who are rich. And again I remind you, that's
all of you. You are to share with those who
are in need. Second Corinthians Chapter 9 We
see here an instance of an offering being taken in the
church. Verse 7.
It says each of you should give what you have decided in your
heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver. What a statement.
God loves a cheerful giver when you obediently give with a
cheerful heart to the work of God for the glory of God,
Scripture says. God loves this kind of giver,
one who doesn't hold on. To their worldly riches with a
stingy or greedy heart, one who opens his hands so that his
riches can be poured out to others.
That's the giver that God loves. Acts, chapter 20, verse 35.
We see a statement here. It says it is more a blessed to
give than to receive. Well, blessed to give than to
receive. I know you thought that was only
for Christmas time. Christian, that's all the time.
And have you received much from Christ?
Then give much for Christ, Be generous, willing to share, be
rich toward God like Jesus spoke of in Luke chapter 12.
Where he gave us an instance there of a person who he became
greedy with his riches. It says this in verse 15.
Then he said to them, watch out, be on your guard against all
kinds of greed. Life does not consistent in
abundance of possessions. And he told them this parable.
He said they're they're on the ground of a certain man, a rich
man yielded an abundant harvest. And he thought to himself, what
shall I do? I have no place to store my
crops. It never crossed his mind.
I should give them to others who have none, who are suffering A
drought, who are less fortunate and have no land.
He didn't think like that. He thought in much.
Consistency with the American Dream 7 verse 18 where we should
we say the American? Nightmare.
Then he said. This is what I'll do.
I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I
will store my surplus green. And I'll say to myself, you have
plenty of grain laid up for many.
Years take life easy, eat, drink and be merry.
But God said to him, You fool. You fool, this very night your
life will be demanded from you and then who will get what you
have prepared for? Yourself.
This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for
themselves but is not rich toward God.
Oh, you're storing up much for yourself, ma'am, Sir, living out
your dreams and fantasies upon this earth.
But could it be that in doing that, you're neglecting the
generosity that God desires for His people to have?
Extending grace to others as grace has been extended to us.
I pray that we would be rich toward God, not building bigger
barns, but asking for bigger hands to give out that which God
has given us. Delighting in the fact that He
allows us to share just as Christ has shared with us.
Hebrews chapter 13 verse 16 it says and do not forget to do
good and to share with others for with such sacrifices God is
pleased. This Christ who gives us the
picture of that ultimate sacrifice, isn't it, where he
sacrificed himself on a cross for others?
He. Who knew no sin became sin so
that we might become the righteousness of God and then
for us to only turn around and be stingy with grace that we
give to other. May it never be so.
Proverbs 1917. Whoever is kind to the poor
lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have
done. So whoever is kind to the poor,
does it unto the Lord. Now watch this.
Whoever stingy to the Lord does it unto the Lord as well.
Pay close attention to those things.
Pay close attention to those scriptures that we can turn the
other way and see the whole truth of it just like that.
Be kind because the Lord has been kind to you.
Proverbs 1431 says whoever oppresses the poor shows
contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy
honors God, so our riches. Are a grace to be extended so
that we may honor God through goodness, good deeds and
generosity. Worldly riches have been given
to us. American Christian, listen to
me. They have been given to us not
so that we can build bigger barns.
So that we can show other people the grace that we have received
in Christ. Thirdly, as we continue on the
ever so popular into entertaining subject of how to
handle worldly riches, let me just stop for a moment and pause
and tell you this. If you're convicted already,
rightfully so, rightfully so, may your conviction lead to
obedience. Thirdly, our riches are an
investment for all eternity. Here's what we're to do with our
riches. We are to invest them.
Not in this world. Don't think for a second that
you're going to get any return on that.
You may get a return in your short life, but eventually
someone is going to fight for your riches and they're going to
squander them away. Or ultimately they will perish
and burn with the fire of the Lord.
But yet, when we store for ourselves treasures in heaven,
as he says here, in this way, they will lay up treasure for
themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age.
He's talking about eternity. That's what the coming age is,
so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
He's talking about taking hold of that which has already taken
hold of you. We've already spoken about.
This Paul's language and what he has said to the Ephesians here
addressing Timothy. We say the same thing about our
riches. We're commanded by God to invest
our riches in eternity, to use our earthly resources to build a
lasting inheritance for you and for those who will come to know
Christ through your generosity. Our riches are an investment.
We need to see it in the right manner.
We are to be investing where our heart should.
Be. And I'm not saying where your
heart is, because obviously some of you, your heart's not where
it should. Be Jesus made very clear in
Matthew 621 in our scripture reading.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Where's your heart? Is your heart set in heaven and
set on heaven? Because if your heart is set on
heaven, you don't mind. Storing up treasures there
doesn't bother you at all, because you know one day you and
those treasures will meet again in the presence and in the glory
of the Lord. But many don't want to invest in
heaven simply because their heart is here on this earth.
And that goes exactly. Along with what Jesus was
saying, if your heart is truly an eternity, then that's where
you're going to want to invest your money.
But if your heart is here. I know this is difficult.
If your heart is here, you're going to invest here, and
congratulations, you will die a rich man or you will die a rich
woman, but you will die, and so will all of your earthly riches.
But those who are in Christ, whose heart is in the right
place, their souls and the treasures that they store up for
themselves in heaven, will live eternally well.
I know it's difficult in today's Christian culture to actually
attempt to even have eternal minds because we've been so
reprogrammed in the so-called church for so long to have
earthly minds. But I pray right now that the
word of God in the heart of the true believers, reprogramming
your mind, renewing it in Christ Jesus this very moment.
So that you'll. Be investing where your heart
should be in heaven, storing up treasures there.
Not only investing where your heart should be, we're also to
be investing where our home, our eternal home is.
That's. What he's talking about taking
hold of that which has already taken hold of you, true life in
Christ. Are you investing in your
eternal home now? If you were purchasing a home
right now, you were in the middle of that process.
You're a month out from closing, closing on the sale of the house
that you live in now and closing on the sale of your new home.
You would be a fool to invest a whole bunch of money in that
house that you're about to be leaving.
In fact, we know this. No one would do that.
If you were going to invest any money into any home, you would
invest it in the home that you were moving to, correct?
Let us not forget that we have a home that awaits us that's not
in this world. Let us stop investing in the
home here. And invest in the home where we
will live for all eternity. In case you don't know how long
that is, that is forever. And then when forever ends, it's
forever again. And then when forever ends, it's
forever again, and so on and so forth.
That's what eternity is. Are you investing in that home?
Are you a recipient of eternal life?
Investing in your eternal. Home.
Isn't that a good question? Are you fixing your eyes upon
that home? 2nd Corinthians 418 So we fix
our eyes not on what is seen, but what on is on what is
unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal. Are you investing in temporal
things, or are you investing in the unseen eternal things?
I know it sounds crazy to the unredeemed mind, but pardon me,
I thought I was talking to regenerated people.
The redeemed, those who are in Christ.
And if you're in Christ, you're a new creation.
If you're in Christ, your citizenship is no longer.
In this earth or on this earth, How do I know this?
Philippians 320 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we
eagerly await a Savior from there.
The Lord Jesus Christ, Stop investing in a place that is not
your forever home. Store treasures in heaven.
It's a firm foundation for the coming age.
Are you investing in your eternal home where your
citizenship lies? Are you investing where your
heart should be in heaven? And thirdly, investing in the
security of what you hold, you hold.
Eternal life. Eternal life is found in Christ,
and because you are in Christ, you now hold eternal life.
And so why would you invest in the eternal, I mean in the
temporal, when you can invest in the eternal which you hold.
Prior to Christ, you held no eternality but in Christ.
You. Hold the eternal because you're
held by Christ. That's what he's saying here, so
that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Are you taking hold of that? Are you holding that which you
don't yet hold, knowing that it's as good as if you were
holding it? It's interesting that all of you
folks would claim to have eternal life, but you settled
for storing up temporary treasure.
It makes no sense, does it? Investing in the security of
what you hold. How secure is your eternal life?
I'll tell you how secure it is. If you were to be able to lose
it, Christ would have to come back to this earth and somehow
undo his sacrifice, because that's what holds you secure,
and he won't do that. Therefore, you are secure for
evermore in Christ. And so because you are eternally
secure in Christ, and your eternal dwelling is secure in
Christ, perhaps we should contemplate ceasing to invest in
the temporary and investing in the eternal, because the
temporary is fleeting and it's fading, just as we saw in first
Timothy chapter 6 verse 7. When we were, therefore we
brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of
it. You know the old adage, the old
American proverb. I've never seen a U-Haul behind
hers, and you never will. You're not taking any of this
with you. This is not where you belong.
You have an eternal Kingdom that has been prepared for you
according to what Jesus has promised.
John chapter 14. Are you investing in that?
What is the cure, investment investments of this world as we
saw Matthews 619 through 20. They spoil and they fade.
We invest in heaven. It's secure forever.
John Bunyan once wrote this in the second part of the Pilgrims
Progress, which was the journey of Christiana and his family
from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City.
He said this. He said there was a there was a
man. Some called him mad.
The more he gave, the more he had.
I was talking about a particular character there who was giving
to the Lord, and all the others around him thought he was
foolish to give away so much. But he understood this
principle. The more that I give toward the
Kingdom of God, the more that I give toward eternal things,
though, I lose in the eyes of the worldlings.
I gain in the Kingdom of God. I store up for myself eternal
treasures that will never perish, spoil or fade, kept for
me in Christ Jesus. And those who take hold of
eternal life, who really do. They will have an eternal
outlook on how they give an eternal outlook on their riches
and how they invest for all eternity.
Because I can tell you this, you can give me.
A gazillion dollars, if that's even a real amount.
You get what I'm saying. And it would shrink into, in
comparison to this, the day that I enter into heaven and as I'm
worshiping around the throne of God, someone comes up to me who
I've never met, never seen, and introduces themselves to me.
They began to tell me the testimony of how they came to
know Christ. They tell the story of how they
were in some third world country that I never visited, but God
urged me and my heart to give to the mission and the ministry
that was going on in that country.
They began to proclaim that they are there because of the work of
the gospel that was able to go on in that country.
Now we know. Ultimately, they're there
because God sovereignly saved them.
But how would they know, lest the preacher tell them?
That's all set up by God's design.
He wants us to be a part of this.
Why, What a blessing. A gazillion dollars would
quickly fade When I embrace that person and I know that they're
there because I was no longer stingy with my riches.
Well, that's thinking eternally I.
Don't say those things to pull your heartstring.
I'm not asking you at the end of this service to give an offering
to missions. I pray that you would do that
constantly. I'm saying that because that's a
reality. If I have truly taken hold of
eternal life, I want to invest eternally.
I want to along with Jesus and all the Saints who go before me.
I want to enjoy these riches in His presence.
And He promises us that we can. Know what a day that will be?
When the rich who were rich in Christ get to see their
investment for the first time in the presence of their Savior,
there should be no such thing as a stingy St.
In fact, that's a total oxymoron.
Should be generous, gracious, investing in eternal things and
leaving the temporal things of this earth because they will
perish. That inheritance, that
foundation that we secure in Christ, that has been secured
for us, the riches that we give in response to that will be sort
out for us for all eternity where we see the importance and
the stewardship of our earthly riches through the word of God.
This morning to the believer, as we prepare to close all of you
in this room, the rich people, are you being rich toward God?
Are you behaving like all your other Pagan friends, storing up
wealth in a place that will be destroyed by fire?
The Word of God has spoken. Be convicted, be humbled, be
broken. But May God use this message so
that you will use your riches for His glory, so that His name
will be made known, His praises will resound, and unbelievers
will come to know Christ. To the unbeliever who's here
today, those who are not in Christ, before you can ever
realize that everything belongs to God, you must belong to God.
And right now, frankly, you don't.
You're not a child of God. You're a child of Satan.
You're a child of sin. I don't say that to be harsh or
to be mean. I say that because that is the
gospel truth. Unless you turn to Christ in
repentance and faith, believing in His sacrifice is the only way
to be reconciled to God the Father, you will remain an enemy
of God because of your sin. You will spend an eternity
facing the wrath of God in hell. And again, I say that because I
care about your soul enough to tell you the honest truth.
You will never understand what it means to belong to God and
your riches to belong to God until you yourself belong to
God. I would implore you today,
surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior.
Turn from your sin, turn from yourself and your own self
destruction yourself deceit. Call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus, and those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Then live your life surrendered
to Christ, all of you, your heart, your soul, and all of
your riches belonging to Him. And for His glory, let's pray
together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
come to you, thanking you for your word.
And I pray as it has gone forth, that it does exactly what you
seek for it to do this day. That it would convict hearts,
that it would cause sinners to see their need for Christ, that
they would run to Jesus for salvation, knowing that He is
the only name under heaven whereby men must be saved.
And they would cry out, calling upon that name, turning from
sin, believing on Christ. God, I pray for each believer
who's here today, those who struggle with the stinginess of
their flesh. God, I pray that they lay that
down, that they call it the sin that it is, that you would birth
in them a generous heart, heart that desires to store up
treasure in heaven, to be rich toward God, and we'll give you
all the glory and all the praise for it in Jesus name, Amen.
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