Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
Mentioned just a few moments ago, we will be preaching a
message this morning that will resume and finish this evening.
And the title of both messages are this How much land does a
man need? How much land does a man need?
Now this title is not unique to myself.
It actually comes from a short story by the writer Leo Tolstoy
and the story called How much land does a man need?
And it attempts to settle the question, how much is enough?
And certainly that's been a question that has been pondered
throughout time through humanity, how much is actually
enough? This story is about a man named
Payhum and he was a Russian peasant who heard a debate about
town life versus farm life and thinks if I had plenty of land I
wouldn't fear the devil, which Satan overhears.
As Payham eventually gains land, he becomes more greedy and
quarrels with his neighbors but eventually moves to larger plots
but grows frustrated. He hears of a land rich of the
land rich baskers who seek a cheap deal for 1000 rubles.
They offer him as much land as he can circle in a day, marking
the perimeter of that land with his spade.
If he can return by sunset and pick up his cap, it's all his.
If not, he gets nothing. And the 1000 rubles belong to
the baskers. Payham sees it as a deal of a
lifetime. Walk as far as he can as quick
as he can. As long as he gets back to the
starting point by sundown, it all belongs to him.
So the question is, how much land would be enough to make pay
him satisfied? But you know, this message isn't
necessarily about, you know, Russian literature or anything
like that this morning because I think I just gave you all the
information I know about Russian literature just in the last 30
seconds. Really the issue's about you and
it's about me this morning, isn't it?
Because that age-old question is how much is enough, including
for the child of God. How much is the question isn't
much different for us today. And as we consider Stewardship
Sunday, which it is today, and the commitments that we made
last year for this church to be self supporting as well as just
the fact that our church wants and desires to move ahead in the
issue of stewardship anyway. How much is enough?
How much does a man really need? And we'll try to, by God's
grace. Look at that from Proverbs
Chapter 11 today. With that being said, would you
stand please, for the reading of God's word, Proverbs Chapter 11
and we'll begin reading in verse #24 And the word of God says
there is that scattereth and yet increase it.
And there is that withholdeth more than his meat, but it
tended to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made
fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
He either withhold corn, the people shall curse him.
A blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.
He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor.
But he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.
He that trusts his riches shall fall, but the right to shall
flourish as a branch. He that troubles his own house
shall inherit the wind, but the fool and the fool shall be
servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a
tree of life, and he that with souls is wise, behold, the
righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.
Much more, the wicked and the Sinner.
There's a pretty big Bible words in there for us to be able to
look at this morning, but I believe by diving into the Word
of God this morning and this evening, we can answer the
question that Payham was vexed with.
How much does a man really need? Would you be seated and let's
pray together this morning? Heavenly Father, I do pray that
you would just be with me as I present the Word.
And Lord, certainly when the Word stewardship is uttered from
a pulpit, there are some that just immediately are set against
it or become nervous. And Lord, but my prayer is not
to do anything but just to present what Your Word says
completely and clearly. Today by Your grace, I pray to
Your Holy Spirit would work in the way that only He can work.
And Lord, help us all to examine ourselves to make sure that we
are the stewards that You have called us to be.
For You have given much and may we be right with what you have
given us. And we ask this all humbly in
Jesus name, Amen. Each of the 8 verses we just
read helps us understand the issue of how much is enough?
How much land does a person really need?
And so starting in verse #24 first of all, we see the paradox
of stewardship. The paradox of stewardship.
Look at it again. It says there is that scattereth
and yet increase it. There is that withholdeth more
than his meat, but it tendeth to poverty that that's a paradox.
The idea of that there's someone who holds on but then lose, and
there's someone that scatters and yet gains.
It's two phrases that don't seem like they ought to go together,
but yet we find it here in God's Word.
But really, if we're honest, the Bible is replete with paradoxes
just like this. God uses the weak things to
confound the wise. The first shall be last.
Those that humble themselves shall be exalted.
Christ must die so we might live.
The Bible is full of these paradoxes that don't really
sound like they ought to make a lot of sense, but they really do
in God's economy. And so we see that there's some
who hold on to more and they're lose, and there's some that
scatter and that they end up gaining.
But really, if we're honest with ourselves here this morning,
this verse makes a lot of sense upon inspection.
Because this isn't just something that's true in God's
economy. Really, this is just a basic
principle of life, isn't it? In many ways, if you scatter
seed into the ground, you end up getting more seed, don't you?
If you want to get more seed, you got to scatter it so that
there can be growth, and from that growth more seeds can be
gained. Unless you're me, who can't grow
anything, and so it doesn't matter how many seeds you have,
you're not getting anything back.
But generally, that's the way it works, isn't it?
Cutting back branches on a tree might seem like a loss, but that
pruning actually helps the tree to grow back more healthy than
ever was before. The tree that's just on the left
as you leave here today, that's in wonderful shape and flower
just a few weeks ago, about four or five years ago, was on the
verge of death. And I went through and I took
all the dead branches, which was many of them, and I removed
them. And now we have a tree that's
fairly vibrant today because it lost some branches, but in the
end, it ended up gaining you part with cash.
Now you put it in savings, you put it in investments.
What'll happen over time, it'll grow far beyond what you ended
up putting in the 1st place because you might have saved a
little, you might have put a little away, but it'll grow.
Listen, even free samples, apples are an example.
I'll tell you what, I sure did miss free samples with COVID.
I'm so glad they're coming back now.
I mean, that's the only reason to go to Costco anyway, as you
walk around and get the free samples.
Yeah, that got you all excited, didn't it?
All right, you give away a little product, but you get
something in return, don't you? In fact, that's one of the
principles of business. You have to spend money too,
make money. Isn't that we just understand
this is part of life, isn't it? That sometimes you've got to
give up a little bit to be able to get something that's greater
in return? So when it comes to our material
things, when it comes to things that we have, remember
stewardship means this, that we have been entrusted with things
that are not ours, that God has given you things that don't
really belong to you and don't really belong to me, but they
belong to him. Like what you would say, pastor?
Like your treasure, Sure, the things that we carry in our
pockets or in your purses, ladies, sure we understand the
treasure, but also our time, also our talents.
Listen, your whole life was given to you by God.
It all belongs to him. And we're to be the right types
of stewards in return. And so when we this is true
material things, how much more is it true in the spiritual?
You know, one of the reasons important for us to have a
missions program here at Liberty Baptist Church, people say,
well, your church isn't even fully established.
You still have money that's coming in to help sustain you.
You shouldn't be sending money out to other churches.
And I would argue that the path to a self-sustaining ministry is
to make sure that we are giving to other ministries as well.
You say that doesn't make any sense.
Well, it makes as much sense as verse #24 does the paradox of
stewardship. The idea is that yet we want to
invest in other ministries because many other ministries
have invested in this ministry. That there's a church in
Scotland today, that there is a church in Georgia, there's a
church in California, That there's a church in Texas.
There's a few churches in Oklahoma.
There's a church in Missouri. That there are churches all
around this country. And yes, even in a foreign
country that are investing in Liberty Baptist Church today.
The least we can do is invest in some other ministries as well.
And as we do so, guess what? God blesses this ministry here.
You say, well that doesn't make a whole lot of sense on a
spreadsheet. Well, does your tithing make
sense on a spreadsheet? This is the money that you give
to offerings and missions and ties.
Does any of that make sense? You look at and you say, I can
do so much with that money and God says, but I can do so much
more with you if you're willing to acknowledge what the I have
put as a principle in God's Word.
We give to someone in need, whether it's money, a meal, help
with a repair, or some other issue.
We find that many times we're the one who gains from that.
Or you might lose a little bit by making someone a meal.
Little bit of money, little bit of your time.
What a blessing to be able to be a help to someone else.
You gain or you won't remember how much money was out of your
bank account a month from now, but you'll remember their smile
on their face when you brought them that gift or you help them.
That's a game. But you don't get that if you
hold on so tight that you miss what God's trying to do.
This is true about money. Certainly we can talk about this
with money, but it's also true in other areas as well, even
outside of what we would maybe think of it, this idea of giving
to be able to get. It's true in our marriages, you
know, we think, well, I I wish I was more respected.
Maybe if you want to be more respected, you need to show more
respect. I wish I was more love.
Well, maybe you need to show some love.
This boy is going as popular as I thought it would this morning.
All right. No, no, this.
But this is how it works. We always want to get, but we're
not as willing to get. Well, I'll give once I get.
Well, maybe if you want to get, you got to give.
Well, I wish I had more friends. We'll be a friend.
No, I'm not trying to be glib in how I say it today, but the
Bible says he that has friends must show himself friendly, that
the onus is on us to be able to show ourselves somewhat.
Well, I'll tell you, I just don't think people very
friendly. Well, maybe they've been looking
at you. I'm not looking nobody in the
eye right now. I'm looking about 6 inches above
every single one of your heads and nobody thinks I'm pointing
you out. But I'm just saying this is the
way we are sometimes. Is it?
Well, I don't think it's only people very friendly around
there. And maybe there are people that
aren't friendly out there. They're out there, but you need
to know that you've done all that you can to be able to help
that first before we look at people the other way.
Well, church I, I just don't feel very connected to church.
We'll make connections in church.
It's important. Before church, get out and talk
to people. Talk to someone you don't know.
What will I talk about? The weather.
What do you talk about with somebody when you don't know
what? Boy, look at that weather
outside. Yep.
There's been weather every day since creation, sure enough.
But it's a great conversation to start from something and talk
and get around and talk to somebody else.
Don't just sit down, get up and talk.
And you find that more connections you make.
By the way, you can't make connections if you come in at
11:00 and leave at 12 O2. Well, if you leave at 12 O2, I
might not be done preaching. That might be awkward.
But I found the people that are most connected to the people who
will stay a little bit. And I know you can't stay all
the time. Sometimes you got something to
do. The pot, the pot roast is about
to burn. You got to go.
You got an appointment. I know what it is.
But the people feel most connected.
Listen to this. They're here Sunday morning,
Sunday night, Wednesday night. Why?
Because we're around each other. We get to see each other, we
talk to each other, we fellowship with each other.
We're family. I'm so glad I'm a part of the
family of God. Listen, you don't have to enjoy
the fruit of the family of God when you get in heaven.
I mean, you will, but you don't have to wait until then.
We get the fruit of enjoying that right here and right now
where we are. What a blessing.
That's the paradox of stewardship.
You're going to have to give to be able to receive.
Haggai, 16, says you've sewn much and bring in little.
You eat, but you have not enough.
You drink, but you are not filled with drink.
You clothe you, but there is none warm.
You earn wages, and the wage is put in the bag with holes.
The idea is, the tighter that we hold on to what we have, the
more chance it has of slipping right through our fingers.
That's the paradox of stewardship.
But #2 I also see in verse #12 the principle of giving.
Look again at verse 25. The liberals all shall be made
fat, and he that waters shall be watered also himself.
Now there's 2 words right there that kind of catch on our
throats a little bit right there.
Liberal and fat. They Pastor, where are you going
with this? I'm only going where the Bible's
going with this, I promise. OK, Liberal.
The word liberal as it's being met here, is of a free heart.
Free to give or to bestow, not close or contracted.
Bountiful, generous giving. Largely a liberal.
You want to be a liberal? Here's how you do it.
That didn't go over well either. All right?
It says liberal. What?
What the The giver, The one who is bountiful with that which
they have shall be made fat, rich, wealthy, affluent.
How would you like someone to say you have a fat soul?
I'd probably punch you out, honestly, if, if someone said
something that for the glory of God, of course, but I, I, I
can't imagine somebody saying that.
But you understand what the thought here is.
This is that it continues the idea of the paradox of
leadership, but it builds it into a principle.
It says this, if you are bountiful, you will be made
bountiful. If you are bountiful, you will
be made bountiful. The liberal soul shall be made
fat. And by the way, that soul means
this. It's something deeper than a
wallet. It's something that goes right
down to the core of the heart. That it is your time and your
talents and your treasure and yeah, your whole life.
That all of it together is going to be given to God.
Lord, whatever you want, I'll do it.
Wherever you want me to go, I'll go.
Whatever you want me to say, I'll say.
Whatever you want me to give, I'll give.
Because it all belongs to you in the 1st place.
And I'm going to be more liberal in my soul.
And as I am, I'm getting fat. I don't know if I've ever
constructed that sentence like that in a pulpit ever before and
been proud of it, but I am this morning because it's in the Word
of God. The paradox from the previous
verse is turning to a principle that believers will live by.
As you give, you will be given to.
As you water the seed sown, you will be watered yourself.
Luke 638 says this. Give and it shall be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, running over, shall men give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be
measured to you. Again.
The idea is this. As you give, you will not just
receive, but you will receive in such a way it's like a bucket
that's being filled. Imagine a bucket being filled
with sand, and as it fills up, you kind of press it down so you
can put more sand in you. And there's more coming.
So you keep pressing it down more and more and you get to the
place where you can't press it down anymore because it's so
come back. But it keeps coming and it's
running over the side. There's just so much.
It's pressed down, shaken, it's running over.
Shall men give unto your bosom, meaning this, that God will
provide your needs, often times through other people.
I remember this vividly in my mind when we were first married.
And Diane and I, we didn't have a lot when we were first
married. We lived on love and of ramen.
I pretty much this about what we what we lived on quite a bit and
I remember that we were in a place where we needed some some
money and I don't remember exactly what the need was, but
as it was the Lord provided and the Lord provided through
another believer. I don't remember if it was that
they gave us some cash, a gift certificate there, no gift cards
back in those days they had gift certificates.
And so I don't remember if it was something like that.
And and they gave it to us. And I remember talking with our
Sunday school teacher, a man named Russ Bishop, who preached
here before several years ago. And I remember talking to him
and I, I told him about this and I said it's a blessing.
And he said it's a blessing. But he said, he says it's not
like there's something more you want to say.
I said, well, it's kind of embarrassing.
So what's embarrassing? I said, embarrassing.
Somebody had to give to me to give to us.
And he looked at me, and he says, you better get over that
real quick. And I said, Well, what do you
mean? And he took me to this verse.
And he said this. It says, give, and it shall be
given unto you. And then the end of the verse
says, it says, well, it should continue given.
It should be given unto you. Good measure pressed down,
shaken together, and running over.
Shall men give unto your bosom? Yes, he says, God will use other
people in your life to fulfill this as long as you are a giver
that other people will give, he says.
But here's the part, don't just always be the receiver.
Look for chances to be the giver.
And it wasn't that long later that we had a friend who was in
a bad financial bind and they need a new battery for their
car. And I remember driving them to a
Walmart and we got there and then we got the battery, which
is about $35. This ought to tell you it was a
while ago, so I don't think you can buy D batteries for $35
anymore. And so we got the battery.
And before he get his wallet out, I remember swiping the
card. And I say this not to boast of
myself, but I just say, boy, we've received a lot.
So I felt like I needed to give. Oh, if you don't understand that
joy, I feel sorry for you that it's a principle to Christian
life. I was made a little fatter that
day. I gained some spiritual weight,
if you will. Why?
Because the Lord had taught me a principle and we had learned the
liberal soul shall be made fat. If you feel like your situation,
though, is an exception to the rule.
Some people say, well, I think that's good.
I think that's I think it's good to try to attain to that and
maybe someday I'll get there. No, no, this is not something
you get to someday. This is something God calls us
to do now. And I would say this, perhaps if
you are avoiding this because you, you will attain to it
someday, you may never get to it because you're actually
bypassing the principle that God has in your place to be able to
help you to gain in the first place.
What did you just say? No, no, you may be bypassing the
principle that God is trying to get you to Platt so that you can
gain in the 1st place while get there.
Eventually you won't unless you follow this principle.
Maybe you won't get more hours at work unless you follow this
principle. Well, once I get more hours,
then I'll follow the principle. You got it backwards.
Well, once the business gets better, then I'll tie.
No, no, maybe you need to tie so the business will get better.
You say you're talking tough. No, I'm just talking Bible.
And we're not challenged often in these ways.
And I'm thankful for what God has done in my life and whatever
God has done in my life, it's all to his glory.
And listen, I'm not talking about the, the, the type of, of,
of theology that talks about sowing a seed.
You give 100, you'll get 1000, you know, you give a hundred,
you know, you have 1000, you'll get a new car.
You know, I'm not talking about that kind of stuff.
I'm talking about Bible stuff. But with the Bible says that he
blesses us in ways immeasurable when you just trust him.
And often times that's more than money, just as stewardship is
more than money. I've been blessed with an
amazing amount of friends. I'm thankful for the friends
that I have all over the country.
I'm thankful for the friends that I have right here at
Liberty Baptist Church that are more like family sometimes
because I don't have a lot of family.
You're telling me that's not a blessing of the Lord?
In fact, I would take that more than some extra money in my
pocket. It's the principle of giving.
See the paradox of stewardship, principle of giving.
Verse #26 though teaches us the public reaction to givers.
Look at verse #26 He that withholdeth corn, the people
shall curse him, but blessing shall be upon the head of him
that selleth it. Now listen, we understand that
popularity is a very fickle thing, and certainly popularity
is not always in line with righteousness.
In fact, often times it's the opposite, is that the people who
are the most popular are the ones who are the most
unrighteous. If you're not sure about that,
just see, well, Hollywood as an example of that.
However, we see that the public reaction to the giver and the
public reaction to the withholder are much different.
They curse the one who withholds what is needed, but they bless
those who share what they have that the public reaction to
givers are. We all love givers, don't we?
Especially when we're the receivers.
We all love givers and we all have very little good to say
about people who hold and people who withhold things that are
necessary from people that need them.
I think back to the early part of the pandemic.
In March 2020, two brothers, Matt and Noah Colvin from
Tennessee bought 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and wipes and
started selling them on Amazon for over $70 a piece.
Remember the beginning of the pandemic when we when toilet
paper was a luxury and nobody could find hand sanitizer?
They all found 17,000 bottles of her selling it out of their
garage at $70 a piece. Well, the authorities got
involved and they ended up having to donate it all to avoid
charges. Well, nobody has much good to
say about something like that, do they?
I mean, I can't imagine somebody saying that's pretty savvy.
Well, it may have been savvy, but it was also unrighteous.
Why? Because there were things that
people needed. That was the withholding.
Nobody had anything good to say but the good things that are
said about those who give. Now, listen, if we like to see
giving in others, shouldn't it be fair to say that we should
see that same giving within our own life?
Also? No.
We love the givers. We're thankful for the givers.
We're thankful for the grants, we're thankful for the
scholarships, we're thankful for the nations, we're thankful for
the gifts. We're thankful for all of these
things. And, and we ought to be.
But if we're thankful and grateful for all these things,
shouldn't we, in the same vein, be the same type of people that
are paying into the system of which we receive from the
system? No words to be givers.
This is what God calls us to do. The joy of seeing others receive
should outpace your own desire to receive.
You know the joy of seeing others receive should outpace
your own desire to receive. Jesus said this in the Sermon on
the Mount. He says if ye being evil enjoy
giving good gifts to your children, so how much more so
does your heavenly Father enjoy giving good gifts to them that
love Him? Aren't you glad our Father is a
giver, that He gave His best for us?
He didn't withhold His only Son from saving us.
Oh, I'm glad our God is a giver. The public reaction to givers is
rejoicing. The paradox of stewardship, the
principle of giving, the public reaction to givers, and #4 and
finally, this morning we see the procuring of favor.
Look at verse #27 He that diligently seeketh good
procureth favor, but he is seeketh mischief.
It shall come unto him. Now that word procure there
means this, to get to gain, to obtain, as by request to loan,
effort, labor, or purchase. So it says to them that
diligently seek good, they will obtain, they get, they gain
favor. It says you seek to do good,
you'll get favored. Now, what is this favor?
The Hebrew word means pleasure, desight, delight, goodwill, and
acceptance. Now, it may not seem like this
has a lot to do with the rest of the text.
It sounds to seem like it has anything to do with stewardship,
but I would submit to you very much that it does.
So. You see, this verse tells us
that we must estimate the value of the things that are in our
life properly, that there are some that are good and they're
right, and there are some that are unnecessary and there are
some that are evil. And then it's our job to be able
to discern all of these different things so that we can
be a wise steward. Because if you don't know the
value of these things, you can't be a good investor.
As an example, I actually had to go back into some of my records
to make sure that I was telling the truth about the dates and
the numbers with this. But I remember back in 2015, I
heard of this Bitcoin thing. Anybody ever heard that?
And I thought I'm going to get in on that.
I want to find out a little bit. I invested a very small money
amount of money in Bitcoin in 2015 and I checked this to
verify this at $5000 a coin. And I remember it went up, up,
up, up, up, up. And it didn't have a large
amount in it. In fact, it was enough by the
time we got out to help finish paying off a vehicle to the to a
very small figure. But I remember when it got to
around $48,000. This is in 2021.
I said I'm out, this thing's imploding, it's no good anymore.
I saw it go up and then go back down.
Well, I got out and as of a couple days ago was at $120,000.
I got in at 5000. I did not rate the investment
well. And sure, we were able to get a
small amount. I think it was a little over
$1000, but it would have been twice that now, and who knows
what it would be in the future. I made a bad judgement call, but
this has been true throughout history.
The people trying to assess the value of things that are hard to
assess. You can go back to the 1630s and
the Tulip bulb craze where people bought tulips because
they thought that was going to be the thing that everybody was
investing. Could you imagine, like
investing heavily in tulips? Your portfolio, you know, your
Fidelity portfolio, Dave, is full of tulips.
All right, that's what it is. And guess what?
No, the market went bust. You know why?
Because I guess they figured out once they plant them, they can
probably, you know, plant more. And it just didn't work.
So, yeah, the Tulip bulb craze of the 1630s.
What about something a little bit more recent?
Hey, this is going to be worth a lot.
This Cabbage Patch Kids going to be worth a lot.
This Tickle Me Elmo will be worth a lot.
This Furby, this Pet Rock, this Disney VHS cassette will be
worth a lot. This thing from the Franklin
Mint, the the the Trumpy Bear. Let me know what that is.
Anyway, I just want to work that into a sermon somewhere.
But yeah, they're selling these bears that look like Donald
Trump. They're collectible item.
Well, maybe not, but what do we find that?
No, no, it's this idea of it's hard to assess the value of
something sometimes, isn't it? It can be really difficult.
But what we see here is this. The Bible says that when you
assess the things that are right and invest in those, what
happens? That God will bless, that God
will bring favor. But when you invest in things
that do not help, that have no worth, it's only going to be a
detriment to your life. An investment in church isn't a
waste of a day, it's a net gain. An investment in Bible reading
and prayer isn't a waste of your morning, it's a net gain.
Abstaining from world entertainment doesn't make you a
loser, it makes you gain. An investment in souls isn't a
drain on your schedule when you come to soul winning, it's a net
gain. An investment in others isn't
losing your personal time, it's actually gaining.
Giving to tithes and offerings isn't throwing money away, it's
a net gain. You know, when we see the
economy as God sees it, No, no, not the economy of the United
States and not the global economy.
No, no, God's economy. What God says in the Word of God
is good and right and righteous. And we invest in those things.
We will procure, we will obtain favor from God.
The blessings of God will be upon us, but we invest in the
things we ought not to. It's a loss.
You'll go bust. We got to invest in the things
that are right. Would you turn to Romans chapter
6? Romans chapter 6?
Look at verse #11 when you get there,
verse #11 Romans 6. Likewise.
Reckon. Now let's stop there for a
second. That word, reckon.
You know, we were in Missouri last week, you know, I reckon.
You know that's not what it's talking about here.
Reckon is to count to account for so likewise reckon account.
Count ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you
should obey it in the lust thereof.
Neither ye yield to your members as instrument of unrighteousness
unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
So what does it say here that we are to account our lives
properly? We're to give a proper account
of our life. Like an accountant would go
through files, an account would go through receipts, an
accountant would go through all of the different pertinent
materials to be able to make sure that all of the books were
exactly what they need to be. That you and I need to reckon
our life safe properly in that way as well.
That we have to go through the receipts of our life that we
need to go through to make sure that we are what we ought to be
according to the book. But I will tell you this this
morning that you cannot reckon your life properly when you are
stewarding the wrong way. You can't have a proper
reckoning of your life when you're stewarding the wrong way.
Why? Because you can't see your life
properly when you don't see your possessions and yourself in the
light of which God sees them. You can't look at these things
properly. I was amazed by an article.
I actually shared this on a online video, The 55 a few days
ago, but I want to read some of this for you again.
This was found on ESPN.com earlier in the week about a
golfer named Scotty Scheffler. Now, interestingly enough, this
is even more relevant than when I read it on Wednesday because
Scotty Scheffler just finished the third round of the British
Open ahead in first place. And very likely, if he doesn't
do anything foolish today, we'll have won another major.
Now think about this. He's going to win another major
tournament today if nothing else happens.
And he said this a few days ago. Scotty Scheffler said that
sometime this is on Tuesday, that sometimes he doesn't
understand the point of winning even a major championship
because golf moves quickly on. And the same questions follow.
This is a man that in four years has won over $150 million, has
won 15 tournaments. He's on the cusp to win his
fourth major, is on track to be probably one of the greatest
golfers of all time. We're talking Tiger Woods, Jack
Nicholas, Arnold Palmer, that level.
And he says I don't know that I understand the point of winning.
Now follow on, is it great to be able to win tournaments to
accomplish the things that I have in golf?
Yes. It brings tears to my eyes just
to think about it because I have literally worked my entire life
to be good at the sport, he said.
To have that sense of accomplishment, I think it's a
pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams
is very special. But at the end of the day, I'm
not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers or to
inspire someone to be the best player in the world, he says.
Because what's the point? He sided winning the Byron
Nelson event, his hometown tournament, earlier in the year
at 31 under par. That's an insane score.
But he said this, you win it, you celebrate, I get to hug my
family, my sister is there. It's such an amazing moment.
Then it's like, OK, what are we going to eat for dinner?
Life goes on. Scheffler said.
It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning
a tournament for a few minutes and it only lasts for a few
minutes. Still, he admitted he keeps
chasing that fleeting feeling despite knowing he's more likely
to lose than win each time. I hate it, I really do.
Instead of losing, we work so hard for such little moments.
I'm kind of a sicko. I love putting in the work.
I love getting to practice, I love getting to live out my
dreams. But the end of the day,
sometimes I just do not understand the point, $150
million, the number one player in the world, likely one of the
greatest players of all time. And it's hard to discern because
he's only 29 years old. And he says, I don't understand
the point. I win.
I hug my family. And I asked myself, what's for
dinner? It would be comical if it wasn't
so incredibly sad. You know, when you don't have a
proper reckoning or you don't have a proper stewardship in
your life, you can't reckon your life right?
When things are out of focus, do you kind of feel like this man
does? You keep chasing for something
you know you don't, that doesn't satisfy you, but you keep
chasing it anyway. He says, I, I know I keep
chasing. I know I'm probably going to
lose. And when I do win, I know it
doesn't satisfy, but I got to keep doing it.
I got to keep doing it over and over and over again.
And maybe this morning you know that only Christ satisfies your
life because you're saved. You know Jesus Christ as your
Savior, but yet you haven't stewarded your life the way that
you know God wants you to, to steward your life.
That you don't give him of your time, your talents, of your
treasure, that you don't offer your whole life at his altar to
be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. And you don't do that.
And you wonder why? Why don't I not feel fulfilled?
Why aren't things going the way I want them to go?
And even when they, when they do go the way I want them to go, I
still don't get that, the joy that I want out of them.
Why don't? Because you can't reckon your
life right until you're steward right.
And I will say this that I don't know Scotty Scheffler's eternity
and his eternal destination, but I do know this.
There's a thought process of this, that no one is truly
satisfied or has the opportunity to be satisfied until they know
Jesus Christ their Savior. There's a hole within your heart
that can only be filled by Jesus.
God has created us to be Worshipful creatures, and either
we worship the Creator or we try to worship any of the other
millions of entities that are out there.
And I'm not just talking about false gods, I'm talking about
worshiping yourself. I'll talk about worshipping
money, power, prestige, experiences that none of those
things can satisfy. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy.
What do you reckon to be important in your life today?
If I was to look through your calendar, If I was to look
through your bank accounts, by the way, I'm not as long as you
don't look through my bank accounts either.
All right, but the idea is this, what we spend our time on, what
we spend our treasure on, is pretty revealing about what we
find to be most important. How do you reckon your life
within all of that? Philippians 38 Read from this
this morning in our men's prayer.
Paul said this. Yay, doubtless I count all
things but loss for the Excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things.
I do count them, but dung that I may win Christ.
He said in the light of eternity, the other things of
this life are like refuse. They are like the things that
are to be thrown away. He says I want to move forward
for Christ. And when you do that, it puts
everything else into perspective.
So how much land did pay him need?
How much land does a man need? We'll get the rest of the story
tonight. Thank you for listening to the
sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday
at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.