How Much Land Does a Man Need? (Part 1) | July 20, 2025 AM

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

Proverbs 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11 today. With that being said, would you

stand please, for the reading of God's word, Proverbs Chapter 11

Proverbs 11 · chapter mention

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

Romans 6 · chapter mention

6? Romans chapter 6?

Romans 6 · chapter mention

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

[email protected]. 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.