Rich in the Kingdom

Thank you guys for coming here this morning, especially for those who knew that Sean was going to be out and you still came. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Now I want to tell you, last week I was at my parents' house in West Virginia and my dad had asked me ahead of time if I would preach, which is the first time he's done that.

And so I actually preached this message last week for them. But as you'll find out from the message, preaching that message in a small town church in West Virginia has a different effect than preaching it in a new young church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

But there's still a lot of similarities. There's still a lot of worldly desires that both churches struggle with.

There's still a lot of things in the world that pull us away from God and those things are the same.

So when I was preaching to them, I told them that we would be praying for them and I asked them to pray for us because even though we're quite different, we live in worlds that look a lot different.

We still struggle with the same sin and we still want to follow the same God.

So we have those things in common. So I think it was encouraging to them and I pray that it's encouraging to you this morning.

This morning, our passage is taken from Luke chapter 12, chapter 12, verses 13 through 34.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

So I'll start with verse 13.

Verse 13.

And he said to his disciples,

Therefore,

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink.

Nor be worried.

For all the nations of the world seek after these things and your father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you.

Let's pray before we begin.

Lord, we ask your help as we dig into these verses, this passage.

Lord, we ask that you would help convict in the areas that need convicting and correcting.

Lord, we ask that you would pull away distractions.

We ask that you would just open our hearts and help us to learn.

Teach us from your word how you would want us to live with what you've given to us.

Lord, so that we can glorify you.

So we can live the way that you desire us to live and not ourselves.

And Lord, we ask these things in your precious and holy name.

Amen.

So this morning, the main idea for the message is this.

Put your treasure in heaven.

Put your trust in God.

And you will have everything you need now and for eternity.

The three points that we'll be talking about this morning are going to be treasure, trust, and the kingdom of God.

So in this first part of this passage, you'll know that we have a dispute over inheritance.

Now, I don't know how many people here have been involved with a family dispute over an inheritance.

There's a lot of young people out there, so I'm guessing not many.

But you can imagine that with all the emotions and with all this history and the desire to want what's fair,

that going through dealing with how to disperse an inheritance after someone dies can get a little difficult.

It's been known to split families up, even cause siblings to not talk to each other for many years.

And that's what we have about to happen at the beginning of this passage.

This man comes up to Jesus and says,

I want you to intervene and tell my brother to give me what is owed me for my inheritance.

Now, we don't find out whether or not what he's asking for is fair.

He just wants Jesus to get it for him.

And we also see that it isn't that Jesus doesn't care about what this man is getting or not getting.

But Jesus doesn't want to get pulled down into the details of what's taking place.

He is concerned, however, about a larger issue that's going on, and he wants to warn those around him.

So he tells the man, who am I to judge you?

Which is rather ironic coming from Jesus, the King of Kings.

But again, he doesn't want to, at this time, he's not here to judge.

He doesn't want to get involved with the details.

But he wants to say an important thing.

And that's what we're going to get into.

Now, I will warn you that the first part of this message, the first point, is the longest of the three.

It's also the heaviest.

So depending on where you are in life, what your possessions look like, you may struggle a little bit more.

It might be a little heavy for you.

But the reason for this is because there's a seriousness and a weight that Jesus is bringing to this passage.

And so he wants us to feel the dangers that can come from what he's going to warn us about.

But it will lighten up.

There is comfort in the end.

But my prayer is that you will be corrected in those areas where Jesus wants to correct you.

But you will be comforted by the promises and the blessings that we have from being children of God this morning.

So that's my prayer for you.

And it was my prayer for you this week as I was going over this,

knowing that we live in an area that is very much about stuff.

It's very much about education and degrees and money and possessions.

And so it's easier for us, especially for young people who are just at the point of their lives where they're getting into this new area.

Maybe you're just ending school or just getting into school or starting a new job.

These are some things that you're going to have to wrestle with.

And Jesus wants to warn you about them.

So the first part of our passage this morning deals with treasure.

Where is your treasure?

And are you desiring to be rich on earth or rich toward God?

Let's take a look at verse 15.

And Jesus, he, Jesus, said to them, notice he turns from the man and turns to the crowd to say this.

He says, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.

For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

A person's life does not consist, that is, is not made up of the abundance of his possessions.

Now, it can also, as you read this, it also means that not just for those who have an abundance of possessions,

but those who have possessions, whether a lot or a little.

So the important point here is that this is not a parable for rich people only.

It's a parable about a rich man, but it's a parable for the rich and the poor and anyone in between.

Jesus wants us to know that our life is not defined by, cannot be preserved or protected by our stuff, our possessions, our wealth.

They don't define us, they can't save us, whether physically or spiritually.

That control belongs to God alone.

Just as a point to that, in case anyone wrestles with that, how many people here decided what country they would be born in,

whether America or someone else?

Raise your hand if that was a decision you made yourself.

No one was.

How about, for those Christians here this morning, how many of you chose your salvation without any help from God?

Again, none of us.

That means that God controlled both our physical and our spiritual places of birth, where they were going to start out.

We didn't have any control over that.

We know who's in control, and that's God.

And that's why Jesus says that one's life doesn't consist in our things.

He tells us, just before this in verse 15,

take care and be on your guard against covetousness.

Now, the ESV, if that's the Bible you're looking at, to me, take care sounds a little soft in its translation.

We get the idea.

Take care.

Don't fall in that hole.

It's kind of a nice way to say it.

But don't let those words take you away from the severity of what's being warned about.

Other translations say,

Beware and watch out for greed.

Why?

Because covetousness and greed is real.

It's real, and it's a sin.

1 Timothy 6, 9.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

That sounds serious.

It is serious.

It's serious enough that it's one of the Ten Commandments, as you know.

So, Exodus 20, 17.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.

Now, we know this, and we know what covetousness means.

But sometimes I think the age in this verse can kind of lighten what's being said.

Okay?

Because I don't know anyone who has a donkey anymore, and if they did, I wouldn't covet it.

So, change those words for something that is more fitting for you in the life that you lead.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house, your neighbor's car, or anything that they own.

You can change the pronoun so that it relates to you.

Men don't covet someone else's woman, and ladies don't covet someone else's man.

Okay, but we're not going to stop there, because it's not just anything that they have, as in physical things,

but it's anything that they have, as far as what God has given to them.

So, with that can come popularity, job status, intellect, their retirement, their health.

These are all things that we can look at and say, I wish I had that.

Why can't that be in my life, God?

God, if he wanted it for you, if he thought it was best for you, he would have given it to you.

Now, in saying that if he wanted it for you, he would give it to you,

I also want to say that there are things that are in our life that are brought about,

not because God gave it to you, but because you chose to go out and get it.

So, sometimes, living in this United States where debt is so easy to get into,

we can get things that we want, even though God didn't want us to have those.

So, we get them, but with it becomes a hardship God didn't intend for us to have.

He lets us make decisions.

We have that freedom, but with bad decisions come bad results.

We also know that we can make other bad decisions, not just about stuff that will affect our life.

I'm thinking of sometimes we want to pursue or date someone who is not wise for us as Christians to pursue,

and yet we want to do it anyway, and with that comes hardships and trials,

because we decided to make a decision that we knew wasn't wise.

Those happen.

That's not what I'm talking about when I say God gives you things in your life.

He does give you those things, but some of the bad ones we choose for ourselves.

Why is covetousness a sin?

Why does the Bible give such a strong warning against it?

The reason is because with covetousness and greed comes the desire for something else.

It's a, I'm not happy with what God has given me, so I need that.

Or, I almost have what I need in Christ, but...

And then you fill in the blank with something else.

God is no longer all that we need.

We look at that other thing.

I wish I had that thing, or I wish I was like them.

I wish my life was easier by doing this.

And so that starts to grow, and we become discontented.

And that discontentment causes us to lose our joy and our happiness in Christ.

Besides pulling away from God, it also pulls us away from other people.

It's difficult to be thoughtful and loving toward other people

if we're more busy about thinking what we want to get for ourselves.

So it pulls us away from God, and it pulls us away from other people.

Let's take a look at the parable that Jesus gives about this warning on covetousness.

It says in verse 16,

The land of a rich man produced plentifully.

So the man was rich, and his land was plentiful.

So he had a double blessing going on there.

In verse 17, the rich man thinks about it and says to himself,

Where shall I store all my wealth?

And he says in verse 18,

I know, I'll tear down the barns that I have, and I'll build bigger ones.

That's where I can put all my stuff.

Then in verse 19, he congratulates himself like he's done such a good job.

He says,

So you rock.

You have enough food saved up for many years.

Now take it easy, kick back, and relax.

His ultimate treasure was to be able to take it easy and retire and live a life of ease.

His riches made that possible.

Sounds nice.

It sounds easy.

Sounds like a nice retirement and a lot of fun.

Sounds like the typical American retirement dream.

But that's not what God wants out of our lives.

Because the trust, because our heart is on our things and not on God.

Then we get to verse 20, and we find out what his end really looks like.

God says to him,

Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

In the Old Testament, when the word fool was used, it meant someone who either acts without God or without wisdom about potential destruction.

That's a fool.

Let me first say, there's nothing wrong with being a farmer who is prosperous.

There's nothing wrong with anyone in any occupation, assuming that it's lawful, being prosperous and doing well.

Those are signs of God's favor and blessing on that person.

Those aren't wrong.

So what did the man here in this parable do wrong?

He was rich and had good land, in verse 16.

But did he thank God for it?

No, there's no mention of God.

Verse 17, did he ask God what he should do when he continued to get more things?

No.

He made his own plans to gain and store up more riches.

And with all those increasing riches, did he still acknowledge God at all?

Did he even think to help anyone other than himself?

He did not.

The man's problem was that he lived a selfish and godless life, storing up things only for himself and not for God.

All his security and trust was in his things, in his money and his possessions, as if anything of it was in his control.

So what happened?

God calls him a fool.

Actually, if you look into it a little bit, he actually calls him a damned fool.

He says, tonight you're going to lose your soul.

In other words, you're going to die and all your riches are going to be someone else's.

If you're not a Christian this morning, I would urge you to seek God today.

Come and see me after the service.

Come speak with a number of people here.

John 3.16 says,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

Why?

That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Like this man, when we reach the end of our lives, and most likely it'll be at a time where we're not expecting it.

We don't want God to say to us, you're a damn fool.

You're damned because I never knew you as my child.

And you're a fool because all your life was for yourself.

Now, if you're a Christian this morning, when you die, God's not going to say that you're damned,

but he can look at you and say, you're a fool.

All that I gave you, all that you were blessed with, all these people in need,

all these opportunities to serve me, and you lived for yourself.

So, how do we avoid being the fool?

Verse 21, Jesus says,

The fool is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

So, if we want to avoid being a fool, then we lay up treasure in heaven and we're rich toward God.

Okay, what does that mean?

What does it mean to be rich toward God?

It's when our riches are not aimed at ourselves.

It's when our riches are aimed towards God's work.

Our time, our money, our resources are used for what God wants to do.

It's caring for and loving for other people.

It's taking the earthly riches that we have and showing the world that they're not valuable to us.

They're valuable for God and his kingdom work.

We don't need the things of this world.

Do you make much of your talents and earthly things, or do you make much of God and store up treasure in heaven?

Are you generous with time and money?

Do you help people in need?

Do you care about the church, its people, the spread of the gospel?

Now, I know that we all are different in different ways.

We have different skills.

We live out different schedules.

We have different jobs and responsibilities.

So how we store up heavenly treasure is going to look different person to person.

So some people might say, well, what does that look like for me to store up treasure in heaven?

For the details of that, you're going to have to take that with God.

That's a God question between you and God.

God, of the things that you give me, how am I using them for your work?

Am I selfish in any way with the things that I have?

What am I being a fool about?

If I give you a list of those things, it's not going to be helpful.

You're just going to go by the list and not by the heart.

So where is your treasure?

And what is your heart settling?

That's our first section this morning.

The first section deals with our trust.

Verse 22 in this section.

After the parable, Jesus says to his disciples,

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will put on.

Verse 23.

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Jesus tells us not to be anxious or worry about food or clothing.

And then he gives us a connection back to verse 15.

Look at the second half of verse 15.

It says,

One's life does not consist in the abundance of his possession.

Your life is not in your stuff.

It is about bigger things than food or clothing.

And Jesus says not to be anxious or worry about those things.

Those things that we can get consumed about and think that our life is in,

And Jesus wants us not to be worried about those things.

In verse 24, Jesus gives us an example from nature of why we shouldn't worry.

He says,

Now, I'm a science and nature guy.

So, as I come across this verse,

I couldn't help but wonder,

Why did Jesus, for this story, choose to say or use ravens as an example?

If we look back in verse 6 of this chapter,

We see that Jesus says,

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies,

And not one of them is forgotten by God?

He could have used sparrows again, right?

But he didn't.

Did he just change it up for something different?

Or, and this was my thought,

Did Jesus, the Son of God, creator of all animals,

Have a reason for putting ravens in this section or not?

Now, obviously, we could read past it,

And there's nothing there for us,

And we still get the point.

But I couldn't help but not dig in a little bit,

So luckily, you get to go with me on our little excursion

As to why Jesus says ravens here and not something else.

If you don't know what a raven is,

It's similar to a crow.

It's a large blackbird.

It's a little bit larger than a crow.

And they're pretty common over all areas of the world.

They're a predatory bird

That, in addition to that,

Across many people and cultures,

Even in the movies,

They have association with death.

When you think of a raven.

Which makes sense because ravens seek after death.

They're carnivores.

They eat meat.

So their diet comes from eating the remains of other animals.

They're greedy.

They're restless.

They're also highly intelligent birds.

So what happens is,

When a large hunting animal,

Like a lion or a wolf,

Kills its prey,

A raven has this uncanny ability

To know about it very fast,

And he moves in to steal some of the food.

Now a lion,

As you know,

A lion has to act quickly

When he's getting his food,

Because shortly,

The hyenas are going to come,

And he's going to have to share it with them.

So the raven takes advantage of this,

And moves in fast to get what he wants.

It's also been known,

That ravens will fly up behind a hawk,

And pull their tail feather out,

While they're flying,

So that they'll drop the food that are in their talons.

So they take advantage of the opportunity.

They're greedy.

They're restless.

They're slick and sly.

Okay, so what about ravens in the Bible?

If we look back to the Mosaic Law,

Jews were allowed to eat birds,

That were considered clean.

That is anything that fed on grains.

So doves and sparrows fell into that category.

However, birds that ate other flesh,

And other blood from other animals,

Were considered unclean.

That makes sense.

This category includes hawks,

And vultures,

And of course ravens.

So we see that there's something unclean about a raven.

There's something greedy about a raven.

What else do we see?

I notice something interesting from the story of Noah.

If we look back at,

I don't have it here.

If we look back at Genesis 8, 6 and 7,

It says,

At the end of 40 days,

Noah opened the window of the ark,

That he had made,

And sent forth a what?

A raven.

Why did he send forth a raven?

It went to and fro,

Until the waters were dried up upon the earth.

The thing to notice is,

He sent out a raven first,

Because the raven,

Is going to ravishly,

Very,

With all of its being,

Find something to eat.

He's not as soft and loving as a dove.

He's going to go after it.

The other thing to note is,

The raven wasn't allowed back into the ark,

When Noah let it out.

Because it was unclean,

If it came back,

It would have to stay on the top of the ark,

And not be allowed in.

Which,

As we read from this same story,

The dove was allowed back in,

But the raven was not.

So the raven was used to see,

When there was land available,

And what was available out there.

So we come back to,

Why Jesus chose a raven,

In this example.

I think it's interesting,

That following his warning,

And the parable about greed,

He chose to use a bird,

That's very greedy.

It's all about himself.

Very cunning in his craftiness,

And greedy people are like that.

Going after something you want,

Causes those same tendencies,

And reactions.

In the verses,

Jesus finally,

Where Jesus actually uses the raven,

After this parable,

Is when he's talking about,

How God takes care of us.

So here,

Even the birds that are unclean,

And unfit,

For human consumption,

God takes care of.

These greedy,

Selfish,

Unattractive birds,

Yet they're part of God's creation,

He loves them enough,

To feed them.

And then he says,

Of how much more value,

Are you than birds?

And speaking of these ravens.

So I think there's a lot,

In why Jesus chose those birds,

So that we would be more comforted,

By not worrying,

About what he says,

He's going to provide.

In verses 25 and 26,

Jesus gives us another example,

For why we shouldn't be anxious.

This time,

He uses something in our own life,

Something that we can't control.

He says,

And which of you,

By being anxious,

Can add a single hour,

To his span of life?

If then,

If you can't do,

As small a thing as this,

Why are you anxious about the rest?

It's interesting,

That the average lifespan,

Of a person living in the U.S.,

692,500 hours.

And by worrying,

You can't add one,

To that number.

Now we can try to live healthier,

And make us get more of those,

Sure,

But that's not guaranteed to us.

Who controls the hours that we live,

Is God alone.

He says,

So why,

If you can't add one,

To that very large number,

Why do you worry about everything else?

In verses 27 and 28,

Jesus gives us some more examples,

From a creation.

First he says,

Look at the lilies,

See how they grow.

They don't do anything.

I couldn't help,

But think we have a small garden,

On our patio behind our house,

And we planted some wildflowers,

And we put them in the ground,

And we give them water when it's dry,

And they grow.

They don't do anything.

They don't have to work.

They just grow,

Because that's what God made them to do.

And yet they're beautiful.

Jesus says,

They don't work.

They don't do anything.

And yet they are more beautiful,

Than Solomon was,

In all of his glory.

Verse 28,

But as God so clothes the grass,

Which is alive in the field today,

And tomorrow is thrown in the oven,

How much more will he clothe you,

With little faith?

Now it helps here,

To have a little bit of context,

Because you first read that,

And go,

Why is the grass in the field?

And then why is it thrown into the oven,

The next day?

So it's helpful to know,

That in Palestine,

At this time,

Wood was very scarce.

So it was often,

The case that dry grass,

Or grass was cut down,

Dried,

And then burned for fuel.

So it makes more sense,

To hear that grass,

As quick as it light,

Its life comes and goes,

God still cares about it.

So the point Jesus is making,

Is that God takes care of lilies,

And grass.

And if he's going to do that,

How much more is he going to take care of you?

So what is the point,

Where are we going with all this?

We're getting there.

Verse 29,

And seek not what you should eat,

Or what you should drink,

Neither be of doubtful mind.

Jesus isn't saying,

That you should go without eating,

You should go without food,

Or water.

He's not saying,

That you shouldn't work,

And provide for yourself.

But he is saying,

Not to worry,

Not to continually seek after,

What you're going to eat,

What you're going to wear,

What are you going to do?

What if I don't have enough,

For my needs?

God says,

Don't worry about it.

Why does he say that?

It seems like something,

We should worry about,

At times.

He tells us in verse 30,

Because all the nations of the world,

Seek after these things.

And your father knows,

That you need them.

You're loved more than birds,

More than flowers,

More than grass.

And he sees your need,

And he's going to take care of you.

Don't seek after the things of this world.

Verse 31,

Instead,

Seek his kingdom,

And these things,

Speaking of the food,

And everything else that we worry about,

The thing that everyone else worries about,

Those will be added to you.

Seek the kingdom first.

Don't worry about things,

That you can't control.

Is worrying about something,

God has promised you,

Something that you struggle with?

And if so,

I would urge you,

I would encourage you,

To spend time with God,

And helping him,

Helping you,

Put your trust in him.

He's promised to take care of you,

So if you worry about that,

Then are you putting your trust in God?

Our third point,

In this message today,

Is,

About the kingdom of God.

We looked at where our treasure should be,

We looked at where our trust should,

What our trust should be in,

Now we're going to look at the kingdom of God.

So take a look at verse 32 with me,

And I want you to hear some comforting words,

That we get from Jesus,

At the end of this passage.

Verse 32,

He says,

Fear not,

Little flock.

So I want you to grab a hold of the picture,

That he's starting to draw here,

Right?

Sheep are,

Helpless,

Animals,

In and of themselves,

That don't normally know,

What's going on.

They're kind of clueless,

That's just,

What sheep are like.

So Jesus says,

Fear not,

Don't worry about that.

He also calls us sheep,

So we have this connection,

To him being our shepherd.

He won't call us sheep,

If he's not taking care of us,

And being the shepherd of our life,

Which we know to be true.

As we look on to the next,

To the next section,

We'll see that,

It says,

For it is your father's good pleasure,

To give you the kingdom.

He says,

Your father,

Which means that,

You are a son,

Or a daughter,

If you're his child.

And it is his pleasure,

To give you the kingdom.

In order to give you the kingdom,

That implies,

That he is the king.

And what happens,

If your father is the king,

Is that you are heir,

To his kingdom.

So in this short verse,

We see that,

God is our shepherd.

He's also,

Our father,

And our king,

Who wants to give us,

His kingdom.

Philippians 4.19 says,

And God will supply,

Every need of yours,

According to his riches,

In glory,

In Christ Jesus.

That's,

Way more than we could ever,

Supply in and of ourselves.

God will take care,

Of our needs.

What he wants,

Is for us to live different,

Than the world.

If you remember,

The Israelites,

In the Old Testament,

God chose them,

As his people,

And he wanted them,

To live differently,

Than everyone else.

He wanted them,

To love him,

And follow him only.

Even in the wilderness,

Where they didn't have,

Any water,

Any food,

God wanted them,

To trust him.

And he took care of them,

They struggled,

Their struggle was,

That they didn't completely,

Trust and put their faith,

In God.

But God just,

Wanted them to trust him,

And he would provide,

For them.

If you're a child,

Of God this morning,

That's what he wants,

For you.

He wants you,

To be able,

To live the life,

That he has for you,

And not worry,

About the things,

He's going to take care of.

If he calls you,

To something,

He's going to provide you,

All that you need,

To do it.

Verse 33 says,

Sell your possessions,

And give to the needy.

And by doing so,

Will provide yourselves,

With money bags,

That don't grow old,

With a treasure in heavens,

That do not fail,

Where no thief approaches,

And no moth destroys.

Why does Jesus tell us,

To give to those in need,

And to store up treasure,

In heaven?

Verse 34,

Gives us that answer.

Because where your treasure is,

There will your heart,

Be also.

All through scripture,

A person's heart,

Is the center,

Of their being.

The heart is where,

Our deepest desires are.

Our emotions,

Come from there.

So it's safe,

That the focus,

Of a person's heart,

Is the reference,

You want the most.

If you're saved,

That focus,

The focus of your heart,

Should not be,

What the world's heart is.

It should be on God.

Verse Corinthians 5,

17 says,

Therefore if anyone is in Christ,

He's a new creation.

The old has passed away,

Behold the new has come.

It doesn't make any sense,

If we're going to say as Christians,

God I love you,

And I believe in Jesus,

He went to the cross,

And died for me,

And took away my sins,

So I can have a relationship,

With God,

So I don't have to go to hell,

I can go to heaven,

But I still want to live,

However I want to live.

You can't have both.

It's not the heart,

Of a true Christian,

If it's set on the things,

Of the world,

And the things that we want.

In Luke chapter 18,

Luke 18 · chapter mention

A little further ahead,

You can read a story,

About a rich young ruler,

That approached Jesus,

And asked,

What he needed to do,

To be saved.

And I'm sure a lot of you,

Are familiar with this passage.

Jesus tells him,

You know what,

You need to follow,

The ten commandments.

He says,

Cake,

I've done that,

Since I've been young.

I got that one.

Now you and I both know,

That salvation,

Doesn't come from following,

A list of rules.

It's a heart change.

It's setting our hearts,

On God,

And not on ourselves.

Jesus knows this,

When the man approached him,

So he,

He leaned in a little bit harder,

And says,

There is one thing,

I see that you lack.

And you can imagine,

The man is anticipating,

What Jesus is about to say.

He's like one step away,

From eternal life.

Only God doesn't tell him,

What he thinks,

That he's going to say.

He says,

So all that you have,

And distribute to the poor,

And you will have treasure in heaven,

And come and follow me.

It's not what he wanted to hear.

The Bible says,

That he was very sorrowful,

Because he was very rich.

Because he was sad,

Because he loved his riches,

More than God.

Because his heart was set,

On the things of earth,

So much so,

He couldn't let them go.

So again,

Some people might ask,

Well,

How much do I have to give away?

And again,

It's the wrong question,

Because it's going to give you,

A list of amounts,

Or times,

To give to God,

And it's not about that,

It's about your heart.

Where your heart is,

You could be,

Giving God money and time,

Only because you know,

That's the right thing to do,

All the while,

Your heart is after,

Things of the world.

It's not about how small,

Or how big your house is,

It's not about how much you get paid,

It's not about how much you save,

What your retirement's going to look like,

It's not about a degree,

Or how many degrees that you earn,

The research that you do,

The kids that you have,

The sports that you play,

The instruments that you're talented with,

Not how healthy you are,

There's nothing wrong,

With any of those things,

Those are all God given talents,

And blessings that we have,

But we're not to live,

For those things,

We're to live for Christ,

We live in such a way,

That the world sees what we have,

And says,

They have a lot of stuff,

But they don't care about their stuff,

Their eyes are focused on God,

And heaven,

This is weird,

That's what God wants,

So what are you doing,

To store up treasure in heaven,

You weren't saved,

If you're a Christian this morning,

You weren't saved,

So that you could continue,

To live like everyone else,

Enjoy food,

But don't live for it,

Enjoy the things you have,

But don't live for them,

Because when we live,

For getting more stuff,

Then we aren't living for God,

When we worry about,

All the things we need to have,

Then we're not trusting in God,

So again,

This is the question,

Or the statement,

That I want to leave for you,

And you can,

Work it over as a question,

To yourself,

Put your treasure in heaven,

And your trust in God,

And you will have everything you need now,

For now,

And for eternity,

So as we close,

We're going to take a few minutes,

Just think about,

The questions,

In that sentence,

Where is your treasure,

Are you putting it,

On earth,

Are you putting it,

Are you putting it in heaven,

Where is your trust,

Are you trusting in God,

For what you need,

Are you trusting in God,

For that next step in your life,

Even though you may not see what it is,

Are you trying to do it yourself,

God says,

Trust me,

I know who you are,

I love you way more,

Than my animals,

So trust me,

My child,

Think about those things,

For a few minutes,

And then we'll have a time of prayer,

And then we'll have a time of prayer,