Prosperity Gospel 4

Really?

Ah, okay.

Okay, we go back to, am I good?

Okay, we go back to what we stopped talking about.

I don't know whether it's part three or part four, I'm not sure, but we were talking about it a month ago.

I felt it was time to revisit it.

So continue with Prosperity Gospel.

I mean, the name sounds so wrong because we're not promoting Prosperity Gospel.

We are trying to establish what God's thought is on prosperity and how he sees it.

So that's what we are trying to do.

So if you haven't heard part one and part two, please go listen to it because it's one of the most life-changing teachings you can get on money and God's thoughts on money and how you and I should handle money.

It's very exhaustive and I don't know whether this is the last part, there might be more.

So let's go to Matthew 6, verse 20 to 33.

Matthew 6:20–33

Matthew 6, verse 20 to 33.

Matthew 6:20–33

I'll read some of it from the NIV and some of it from the message.

So I'm starting with the message.

Matthew 6, 19 onwards.

Matthew 6, 19.

Don't hoard treasures down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust, or worse, stolen by burglars.

Remember when Jesus is saying this, they didn't have banking systems.

They didn't have crypto.

Everything was kept at home or everything was goods.

So either goods or hard currency.

So everything was kept at home.

So there was always the possibility that treasures kept at home could be stolen.

It could be damaged.

It could decay.

So we can't forget that context of it when Jesus is talking about it.

So don't hoard treasures down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust, or worse, stolen by burglars.

Not burglars, burglars.

I see burglars everywhere.

Stockpile treasure in heaven.

Stockpile treasure in heaven where it's safe from moths and rust and burglars.

It's obvious, isn't it?

The place where your treasure is is the place you will most want to be and end up being.

It's obvious, isn't it?

The place where your treasure is is the place you will most want to be and end up being.

Your eyes are windows into your body.

If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body lights up with light.

If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar.

If you pull the blinds on your window, what a dark life you will have.

You can't worship two gods at once.

Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other.

Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other.

You can't worship God and money both.

Let me shift to an IV.

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, about your body, what you will wear.

It's not life more than food and body and the body more than clothes.

Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow nor reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

This is Jesus speaking, eh?

This is what you will not hear in stewardship classes.

Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin.

When Jesus is talking about clothes, those were the important things at that time.

What you wear, where you live, what you eat.

For us, it's gotten more complicated.

So just because you may not be worried about your clothes doesn't mean this isn't speaking to you.

Yeah?

Because very few people at Act 29 are worried about their clothes.

Hmm.

So...

No, I saw this gentleman walking because he was a pastor.

And I looked at him and I looked at you and I thought, hmm.

Yeah.

So do not worry about your clothes.

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,

will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?

So do not worry saying, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear?

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

These are Jesus' words.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Yeah?

So that's the passage we'll be borrowing from as we talk about this.

So basically what it outlines is a disciple's attitude.

A disciple's attitude to material possession.

A disciple's attitude to material possession.

That's what it's outlining.

So this word is important here because it's not a Christian's attitude.

It's a disciple's attitude.

A Christian's attitude and a disciple's attitude will be different, guys.

A Christian's attitude.

You know, it's almost impossible for materialism and capitalism not to clash with the kingdom at some point.

There will be conflict.

It's almost impossible for them to walk together.

So I'm not talking about a Christian's attitude to money.

I'm talking about a disciple's attitude to money.

So make that distinction as we go around because you'll find today that many times we are Christian, we're not necessarily disciples.

There is a distinction.

And in our lives we'll find that on many occasions that we are Christian, but we are not disciples.

In many different areas you'll find that.

So a disciple's attitude to material possession is what we are talking about.

So what is Jesus' expectation?

Here are Jesus' expectations of a disciple.

One, he expects them to be subjects, to be subjects of God's kingdom, of God's kingship.

He expects them to be subjects of God's kingship.

Every word here is so important.

Subject.

Not even citizen.

Subject.

It's slightly above slave.

We love being sons and daughters of God.

We hate being slaves and subjects and servants of God because it changes everything.

But we are supposed to be both.

So one of the things he's saying is if you're a disciple, Jacob, then I have certain expectations.

And one of my expectations is that you'll be subject to my kingship.

Subject to my kingship.

Even to break that down is so difficult because we don't live in a monarchy.

So we don't understand.

You're subject to kingship.

If I say that women cannot drive, then women will not drive.

If I say that men cannot wear shoes, men will not wear shoes.

I was in a kingdom, not in the Middle East.

I was in a kingdom some time ago where the king declared that you will not eat meat.

I just happened to land up there when the king declared that.

All I had for four days was vegetables.

Yeah.

And then I remember in the same kingdom he declared that men cannot wear pants.

If you are a citizen, you cannot wear pants.

You think I'm kidding? I'm not kidding.

So men can't wear pants. So all the men came there. They weren't wearing pants.

So what were they wearing? They had to wear long robes.

Our taxi driver had pants on.

And the cops would come and look into the taxi to see if he had pants on underneath.

And so he would roll up his pants right till here when he'd see cops coming.

I'm not sustaining stories, but the point is this, that if you are subject to kingship,

then you do not have a choice in this matter.

We don't think like that because we live in amazing democracies, right?

We don't think like this.

So that's an expectation he has.

I pray God that this hits us really hard.

Last week I was preaching. I was preaching to myself.

This is what was required. I cannot delay obedience.

This week I'm preaching. I'm again preaching to myself.

I hope it hits you and hits me.

Subject to God's kingship.

Next one. He has an expectation that you will prioritize spiritual allegiance

to material security.

That you will prioritize it where there is just no contention, no struggle,

no should I, should I not. It is an easy choice.

Do you prioritize it over material security?

Yeah. Prioritize spiritual allegiance over material security.

Over material security.

To prioritize it. So there's never a struggle.

That's what happens with priority.

If I prioritize, nothing is a struggle.

Because I prioritized it.

This is his expectation.

Another expectation that the assurance of his goodness,

the assurance of his goodness is enough for your cares

and material needs being taken care of.

I know enough is spelled wrong.

The assurance of his goodness is enough for your cares

and material needs being taken care of.

That there is an expectation that Jacob, I'm your father. I am good.

I know what you need before you even know it.

I provide before you ask for it.

You must be assured of my goodness and stop chasing after,

even wasting time praying sometimes for the things that I know you need

and as a good father, I intend to supply.

This is an expectation of disciples, of Christians, no.

Who do you want to be? Who do I want to be?

Do I want to be a Christian when it comes to money?

Or do I want to be a disciple? It changes everything.

May I suggest to you that many of us flip-flop between it.

In this church, right now, in this room.

Fourth, he calls us to uncalculating generosity.

Uncalculating generosity.

He calls us to uncalculating generosity.

Sometimes I bet he regrets saying, Tithes 10%.

That's Christian.

It's on this basis that he says, hey, when you pray, pray, give us this day our daily bread.

Whenever he says pray a certain way, what he's trying to say is,

this is who I am, this is what I'm going to do,

but pray so that I can do it for you and you realize it's me doing it.

So another way of saying, give us this day our daily bread is,

you give us this day our daily bread.

That's the statement we are making.

You give us this day our daily bread.

If we have that assurance of Matthew 6.11,

then we can also have the assurance of Matthew 6.33.

That since you give us our daily bread anyways, because you are Father and you are good,

therefore it is very easy for me to seek your kingdom and your righteousness,

because all the other things called daily bread are being taken care of you by anyways.

Any questions?

In about 14 minutes, 33 seconds.

And Jesus says, so stop storing up for yourself,

so stop storing up for yourself treasures on earth, treasures on earth.

Stop storing up for yourself treasures on earth.

What's he trying to do?

Hey Jacob, can you reorient the way you think?

Reorient the way you think from one type to the acquisition of something else.

The reason stewardship programs in churches are successful

is because they are basically telling you how to make money

and so that when you turn 65, you will still have money to bless others and to keep tithing.

It's highly irresponsible, because it's not the disciples' way of living.

But Jacob, in Proverbs it also says,

you will well condition your thoughts and pay attention to them.

Yeah, which we talked about in Prosperity 1 and Prosperity 2.

Well elaborated in both.

I'm not good to sometimes I go and listen to what I've already spoken.

And this is why we need three, four parts to this,

because you can't bring it together in one.

In Prosperity 2, we talked about,

check the condition of your hearts and flocks,

leave an inheritance for your children.

We talked about those things.

So we've got to put this, hold it all together.

It is never this or that.

It is always together.

And in the church, and I'll talk about it a little later,

in the church there have to be two types.

Some who divest themselves of everything,

and others who do not divest themselves of everything,

so that they can supply those that have divested themselves.

This is where we are heading, guys.

This is where Jesus went.

One type as in holding treasures of the earth is what Jesus is calling one type,

and gathering treasures of heaven is the other type.

So he's asking us to reorient from what it means to gather treasures of the earth

to treasures of heaven.

So why is he asking us to reorient? Why?

Here are some reasons that some of them may strike home,

some of them may not strike home.

First, he wants us to know that material wealth is no use after you die.

Material wealth is no use after you die.

And what he means by that is, listen,

not only is material no use after you die,

because you're dead and you don't need it,

but it doesn't help you in the life hereafter if you've been storing it up,

because you will not be appointed to the things that you're supposed to be appointed to.

Money gets in the way of how we will deal with things in the hereafter.

Just imagine that for a second.

We can spend about 50 years of our life saving up for 65 and beyond,

and you will not be able to live in the hereafter the way you are supposed to be,

if money gets in the way.

Please don't hear what I'm saying as,

therefore give up your jobs and let Nick work and the rest of us can eat off him.

Yeah, that's not what we are saying.

Sounds good, yeah.

Okay, let's just take that entire row, Nick, Mark and Dilna.

Now we should be taken care of.

So, Nick and Dilna,

yeah, so we're not saying that for a second,

but we are saying that money gets in the way of how we function here on earth and it affects the hereafter.

I always say it's oranges to oranges.

It's not a different life when you stop living here on earth.

The moment I die, the only thing that changes is I leave this body behind.

Everything else is the same.

Eternal life began the moment I received Christ.

It is the same eternal life that continues.

I get a new body.

That's the only difference.

And so what I do here is how I will live there.

How I dealt with the least of things called mammon here is how I will be given things to rule there.

You did well with five talents.

Let me give you ten cities.

We don't realize this because we do not have a clear picture of the hereafter,

which is just heaven, which is like worship.

And it's not.

You know, there are people who come here from India, from Bangladesh, from Philippines, Pakistan, the Middle East.

They used to have amazing positions there.

They used to be highly placed senior officials, very educated, could beat a UBC graduate any day.

Sorry, Derek, Dawn.

Could be the UBC graduate any day.

Highly skilled at their work, practical work, not theoretical work, practical work.

They come here and I've seen them.

How what they did in their countries and how they did in their countries doesn't translate when they come here.

You find them sometimes guys who've worked their life very hard and they come here and they're pumping gas at Chevron or at Shell

after having run companies because they do not get a job.

You don't know what it feels like.

Why am I painting this picture?

Because we got to realize that what we do here on earth is how we will be rewarded later.

Money gets in the way of how we function here.

And there will not be tears and fears and stuff like that in heaven.

But there can be regret of opportunities wasted when we were alive.

That's how critical our work with money is.

Which then brings me to another point.

Just because you're retired does not mean that you're free of this.

Because what you are as a retired person is actually a continuation of what you were when you were working.

And in the same way what you will be here after will be a continuation of what you will have accomplished here.

That's how important this is.

Hereafter is not heaven guys.

Hereafter is what Adam and Eve were supposed to be.

Hereafter is what Adam and Eve were supposed to be.

I give you all this.

Go forth, multiply, replenish, subdue.

Rule over everything that I have given you.

I give you dominion over creation.

I give you power over creation.

I give you power over creation.

I give you power over creation.

The hereafter is a restoration to what Adam and Eve and mankind were supposed to be.

If you want to catch a picture of what heaven looks like, look at Genesis 1 before the fall.

And you will begin to see signs of what it looks like.

And there is no mention of worship.

Because worship is the most natural thing when you see God.

Adoration is natural when you see God.

There is no worship. There is no prayer time.

There is nothing like that.

There is nothing churchy in heaven.

There are no pastors.

Praise the Lord.

There are no pastors.

Everything we do on Sunday morning is absent in heaven.

The only thing that is present in heaven that is present here on Sunday morning is God.

Nothing else.

So why do we do this?

Because one, we've been instructed to do it.

Two, because here is where we learn how to do this so that we can live the six days out there without this.

Genesis 1 is what it will look like.

Stewarding things that God has appointed us to.

Which is why how we steward this thing called mammon critically affects what we steward in the future.

Any questions?

It will happen naturally.

You'll catch a glimpse of him on his throne or walking and you will, wherever he is, will be his throne and you will just begin to.

It's the same way you feel about a baby, some of you at least, or a cat, a few of you, or a burger.

It's a sudden burst of, oh wow.

No, I'm not hungry.

I just was surprised that I mixed up burger and burglar.

So that says something about me.

So yeah, worship will be so different.

Why do you think the angels are worshiping him?

Not because they were created to worship him.

They were created to serve us.

But they cannot but help when they see him.

Crazy, eh?

There's nothing on the Sunday service that will be left in heaven.

So material wealth is of no use beyond life on earth.

No use.

And he's saying don't just think of it as you're dead now so it's no use.

It's actually no use.

It doesn't help.

How you steward it will help.

But it is of no use otherwise.

Two, treasures that the heart is set on may rot or may be stolen.

Whenever your heart is set on treasures,

when your heart is set on treasures,

when your heart is set on treasures, it is stolen.

It can decay.

Why?

Because the only treasure that Satan knows he cannot touch

is the treasure that I have of God and of people.

That he cannot touch.

But any other treasure he will come to steal, kill and destroy.

Treasures.

When your heart is set on treasures, it can be stolen.

It can decay.

When your heart is set on treasures, it can be stolen.

It can decay.

I'm not saying it will be.

I'm saying it can be stolen.

It can decay.

Why?

Because the enemy has a habit of touching that which has become an idol.

And so what do we do when things that are treasures are touched?

We nail them down.

And the more we nail them down, the more they make us dance for them.

The more we nail them down, the more they make us dance for them.

Your job is important.

You don't want it taken away?

Nail it down.

Suck up to the boss.

Do whatever is necessary.

Nail it down.

The more you nail an idol down, the more the idol makes you dance.

Someone should write a song.

Good.

Holding, which is basically stockpiling and preserving.

When we say holding, we think we are not holders.

So let me simplify it.

Stockpiling and preserving.

That's what holding is.

Stockpiling and preserving.

As in, we gather it together, and then we preserve it from being lost.

That's what holding is.

Because nobody wants to be a holder.

But in our own ways, we stockpile and preserve.

Holding harms the eye.

Holding harms the eye.

What do you mean holding harms the eye?

The Bible says that in that same passage, 620 to 33, it says that if your eye is bad or evil,

how great is the darkness within you?

And so it seems to be an odd word that's thrown in there.

But when you look at Matthew, 2015, Jesus explains that in a way when he says,

Hey guys, if your eyes are not singularly generous, if your eyes are instead full of greed,

then know that the darkness within you will be greater.

A stingy, covetous person walks even as a believer in darkness.

Matthew, 2015, talks about it or explains what he says in Matthew 6, 22 to 24.

Stinginess, selfishness and reluctance will cloud your life with darkness.

Any questions?

Stinginess, selfishness and reluctance will cloud my life with darkness.

Remember the word I used earlier on, uncalculating generosity.

It's an important word.

Important words.

Canada lost today 4-1, big time loss.

I feel bad for the coach after what he said.

Hey, this isn't super important, but pray for...

I don't even know whether...

No, it's a good thing.

Spencer Tracy, who's the backup goalie for the Canucks, is pretty obvious about his beliefs.

Spencer Martin, sorry, not Spencer Tracy.

Spencer Tracy was an old actor who died some years ago.

Who's coming for dinner?

Sorry, Spencer Martin.

Spencer Martin, who's the backup goalie for the Canucks, is pretty loud about his faith.

Even if you look at his helmet, on the back of it it says Jeremiah 29, 11, and it has a cross on it.

So I'm not praying that he stops every goal and the Canucks win the Stanley Cup,

because we're not looking for miracles right now.

But pray that he has the ability to speak, because it's a game where speaking is very difficult.

Pray that he has the... because he speaks of his faith.

And for a rookie, it's not easy.

It's got nothing to do with hockey, guys, because you'll need... yeah.

More faith, no.

Really bad jokes, but if they win today, the Canucks will have a website,

because they would have strung three Ws together.

It's just a really bad joke, yeah.

Okay, sorry.

Can you repeat that line?

They'll string three Ws together.

No.

Yeah, uncalculating generosity is a word that we need to keep in mind,

because our generosity is usually limited.

Guys, when we talk like this, the immediate thing that comes up in our mind,

because we are supposed to be good stewards, is everything needs to be balanced.

Tell me anything in your father that is balanced towards you.

Tell me how balanced he is towards you.

There's nothing balanced.

We are the ones who say we should be balanced in our stewardship, we should be balanced.

These words are all just ways of getting away with whatever we want to.

Uncalculating generosity is not knowing what you have given.

How much I have left for myself.

Scary living like this, man.

Even as I teach, I feel some of...

I can literally see words in your mind saying, this is irresponsible.

No, it's very hard to make blank statements like,

you shouldn't be bothered about what you've got left,

because what if you have a wife and she has to be fed,

or you have a child and you have to be fed.

You can't just throw it all away saying, oh well, I gave it away.

Jesus called guys like that, kaffirs, saying,

if you can't take care of your family and you say I gave it as korban to the Lord,

then you're worse than an infidel.

So there is this ability to take these things that we are talking about,

knit them together, and be able to live on one hand,

responsible for my child and my wife, on the other hand,

irresponsibly giving away.

And they both exist together.

It is held in tension.

It is impossible to make a blanket statement on any of these.

Here's the easy way to go about it.

Begin to err on the side of what you're not.

Begin to err on the side of what you're not.

Are you someone who's irresponsibly giving away?

Well then, become responsible for your dog.

Are you someone who is very responsible for your dog and your turtle,

and you are irresponsible?

You're very responsible for that, but you're very calculated about your giving?

Well, err on the side of giving.

Fix the area that is weak.

I give you permission, Iris, to get both a dog and a turtle,

because Derek wants to give that to you.

Happy life, Derek.

Here's another reason why God...

Oh, you know what? You don't give it.

Donald will give it as a gift.

Possessions compete for loyalty.

Possessions compete for loyalty with kingdom.

Possessions compete for loyalty with kingdom.

Here's a terrible truth that applies to, I think, all of us.

You and I live in a space where we assign our personal rights.

To both God and Mammon, or money.

You and I live in a space where we assign, as in we give,

we assign our rights to the authority of both God and money.

And that is exactly why Jesus said, Jacob, stop living like that.

You can't assign it to both me and money.

You've got to choose one or the other.

And when we live like this, then it's like having a ball and chain on your leg.

Your progress is slower in the kingdom,

and there's an invisible spiritual ceiling over you,

because you have assigned and I have assigned our personal rights

to the authority of both God and money.

That's the space that most Christians live in.

That is the space disciples are called to not live in.

Questions?

As in I'm saying, Nick, I'm giving you the right to tell me what to do,

and Vivian, I'm giving you the right to tell me what to do.

Both of you can now tell me what to do,

and both of you will be contradictory because you work against each other's purposes.

So now I've assigned my rights to both of you, because I need both of you.

I need you because I see you as God, and I need salvation,

and I know how helpful you can be.

But I need you because I see you as money that makes my life run,

and now I have to submit to you also.

And you both contradict each other.

Christians live in this space.

It's a very practical, common sense way to live,

but it is not a disciple's way to live.

Everything in us is screaming right now, be practical.

Go talk to Jesus, because his statements were more irresponsible than mine.

At least I'm not telling you to look at the birds with the eye.

Jesus overturns, Jesus overturns the, Jesus overturns the pursuit of God and money,

by reminding you that you are not his employee,

but wholly owned by him.

I'm just being kind, so let me call you what he called you, slave.

Jesus absolutely dismantles or destroys this concept that you can serve both God and money,

that Jacob, you can assign your rights to both.

He dismantles it by saying, here I want you to know that you're not employed by me.

You're fully owned by me.

And because you're fully owned by me, the other word for it is slave,

and you're dependent on me, you cannot be dependent on both.

And yet he gives me the free will too, but he wants to remind me that you cannot be dependent on both.

I wholly own you.

Another song someone can write, Moonlighting with Mammon.

So each disciple's trajectory is determined by the valuation you put on earthly treasure.

A disciple's trajectory is determined by the valuation you put on earthly treasure.

When I say earthly treasure, don't think only money.

Think of everything that gives me security here on earth.

Money, job, position, prospects, future security.

Come on, Jacob, are you saying that I'm not supposed to pay attention to it?

I'm saying that you're not supposed to pay attention to it the way you're paying attention to it

because it is most important in your life right now, and it cannot have that place.

Can you say that again?

Yeah, a disciple's trajectory, each disciple's trajectory will be determined by the valuation

that they put on earthly treasures.

Each disciple's trajectory is determined by the valuation they put on earthly treasure.

It's determined both here and in the future.

Crazy, eh?

Because it orients the heart, guys. It orients the heart.

Another thing we must not fall into the trap of, just because I may not have money right now

does not mean this does not apply to me.

It's a condition of the heart.

Money doesn't change the condition of the heart.

Money projects the condition of the heart.

Money never changes the condition of the heart.

Money only takes on the color of your heart.

So when sometimes we think, I don't have money, so this is not really applying to me.

I got 40 years ahead of me. This really doesn't apply to me.

I'm staying with my parents. This really doesn't apply to me.

It applies to you.

Because all of us at one point didn't have money, stayed with our parents, and were 20 years old.

Some of us are still 20.

Dawn's not looking up. That's good.

So what are heavenly treasures?

What is this? Jesus is asking us to exchange earthly treasures for heavenly treasures.

So what are heavenly treasures?

We'll just touch on one or two today, because there's more than one or two.

Treasures in heaven also means treasures with God now,

because you begin to live by kingdom priorities.

Where do we read about this?

We read about it in Matthew 6, where Jesus says,

Listen, I want you to know that whenever a seed falls, it is choked out by the cares of the world.

So when we talk about treasures in heaven, we always think of streets of gold and mansions.

Perish that idea. It is not what you're going to get.

There were no streets of gold in Eden.

There was gold, but it wasn't like a big deal.

It's a way of saying, mansions in heaven.

What are you going to do in a mansion in heaven?

You'll have to clean it.

You'll have to clean it, and there's no rumba either.

It's all cleaning on yourself.

By the way, the rumba, if someone offers you a rumba, don't necessarily think it's the best thing in the world,

because that blooming thing can't figure its way around the chairs, so you've got to keep removing the chairs so it can go.

So I felt sad for the thing.

It was like having a little pup that doesn't know its way.

It keeps bumping into chairs, keeps bumping into corners.

Then I'd pick it up and put it in the center so it'd start again.

Finally, I decided, why not just sweep all the dust and put it in its path?

So I swept everything.

I put it in its path and then said, now go.

I mean, I did more work after I got it than before I did.

Thank you, Bahrain, for your thoughtful gift.

It's agonizing to watch.

Oh, so it's coming back at me now.

So treasures in heaven means treasures with God now.

Guys, money will always get in the way of your trajectory and your present relationship with God.

Mammon will get in the way of your trajectory, because once you assign your rights to both, and we all do,

it'll determine trajectory and it will affect my relationship with God,

because it squeezes God life out of you.

Mammon and the cares of the world, the security that is required to live in this world,

will always squeeze the God life out of you.

Jesus said it in Matthew 6.

Hey, if this is hard to receive, hit yourself like this so the thing shifts at least.

Yeah, you literally have to do that.

It is so encrusted that you're going to shift it.

Sometimes the Berlin Wall doesn't come down in a day.

Second, heavenly treasures has to do with eternal life.

Heavenly treasures have to do with eternal life.

But here's the thing, it can either help you enter into kingdom life,

or it will stop you from participating.

Jacob, how can you say that?

There's a terrible story in the Bible, Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

And a rich young ruler came to Jesus and he said, what shall I do to gain eternal life?

And Jesus tells him.

And the message puts it this way.

It's terrible.

Sometimes the message just makes things really ugly.

Mark 10, 23.

Look at what he says.

Mark 10 verse, at this the man's face fell.

Mark 10, 22.

Reading from the message.

The man's face clouded over.

This was the last thing he expected to hear.

And he walked off with a heavy heart.

He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let go.

Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God's kingdom?

The disciples couldn't believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on.

You can't imagine how difficult it is.

I'd say it's easier for a camel to go throw a needle's eye than for the rich to get into God's kingdom.

So we are ones that are saved, but we cannot live as Christians.

We have to live as disciples.

And if you want to participate in the kingdom, I beg you, please don't take the middle road.

Don't try to balance this off.

Don't plan your retirement.

There's too much at stake.

Some of us may die before our retirement.

What happens then?

May you not die.

But I'm saying.

Oh, there's a better way.

May you not retire.

I think that's smarter.

What about the freedom of doing things that you haven't been able to do because you've been working for it?

Yeah, but work different.

But that's a whole new topic.

Let's stick with the first one.

Yeah.

Guys, in the church there should be two types of people, and we're getting close to answering Betty's question.

Two types.

Two types in the church.

And both are kingdom-minded.

Both are kingdom-minded.

So don't think one is less or one is more.

One is a mobile, as in easy to move at the drop of a hat, a mobile, divested lifestyle.

Like that of Jesus.

And his disciples.

And they were dependent on the support of others.

So that's one type of people in the church.

And then the second one is those who had not been able to do anything.

Those who had not divested themselves of all possessions.

Those who had not divested themselves of all possessions.

But they supply the need of the dependent.

But they are detached.

But they are detached from what they possess.

They are detached from what they possess.

What if we could find people that fit into both?

Where you have a Priscilla type or a Phoebe type.

They are both mobile and divested of possessions.

Yet they have been able to walk in and...

They have businesses or they have ways to function where on one hand they have possessions,

they divest themselves of it, are completely detached from it.

What if there were people, there was a third group that could do both?

The church has to have two or three types.

And these types are important for the church to function.

A mobile.

Jesus lifestyle group of people who have divested themselves of possessions

and are dependent on the support of others.

But they can go at the drop of a hat wherever they are sent.

And then others who have not divested themselves of possessions.

And they supply the need of the dependent.

But they are completely detached from possessions.

How do you measure detachment? Very simple.

Do you feel emotions like fear?

Envy?

A craving for more when it comes to money.

Is there a fear?

If there is fear attached to money, then I know that I am not detached to money.

If there is a craving that I need more, that I am not secure enough,

then I know I am not detached from money.

If there are emotions like greed or envy or covetousness.

I remember a Christian couple who got so envious because they were invited to someone's house.

That was really good and the food was good and everything was such a great thing.

But this couple is sitting there and you can see them turning green

because it was like, how come they have this?

What are the emotions that rage through your heart when it comes to money?

It will show you that you are still not detached.

I want to tell you that I am not detached from money.

I still feel emotions when it comes to money.

Money doesn't feel any emotions. It's amoral and not emotional.

But I am about it.

Until the day I am not, I am assigning my rights to both.

God and mammon.

This is where we want to get. Why? Because this is Jesus-like.

That's why.

How dare you stop anywhere else?

How dare you?

Any questions, guys?

I just want to suddenly shift to, again,

within giving, but I want to shift to what giving looks like in the church.

Twisted Christian giving. This is twisted Christian giving.

I'll just read it. I won't write it down.

Some people will not give because the church is doing well.

Some people will not give because the church is doing well.

That's what I'm saying.

Some people will not give because the church is doing well.

That's the sound for not a good idea.

Not giving because the church is doing well.

How do you measure well?

Second, your sole focus is to give to people in other nations,

but you won't give to the house because you've got people to support in India

and in Africa and in Eastern Europe and in the US and other ministries,

and so you won't give here.

This will sound odd on the recording, but so be it.

At least you'll remember.

What did he say about? And then you can recount everything.

Third, not giving because the church isn't doing a good job.

Well, then leave.

If the church is not going, I don't feel like giving to this church

because it's not doing a good job.

Please leave.

Find a better church.

I don't hear a single hallelujah.

Thanks.

Another way of giving is control of leaders and pastors through money,

where you give because you want to have some say.

It's happened in this church, and there was one particular person

who used to give money directly to me and then would ask me to do things,

and so finally I asked her to go give the money to Heidi,

and she would put it through the church, and then the lady stopped giving.

So sometimes money is given to see if leaders can be controlled.

Fourth, giving when I will get more.

When the Lord blesses me, I will give.

That's like the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup.

Then not paying attention to the homeless, to the widows, to the orphans.

Not paying attention to the homeless, the widows, and the orphans

because I'm giving in church, so I don't need to do that.

Containing all, you're giving within 10%.

Try 11, 11 and a half.

It's a way to start.

Giving for a charitable deduction.

Any questions, guys, on that?

Okay.

So what giving can we practice?

Giving to the house so God can supply his vision through your generosity.

Give tithes, first fruits, arms free of percentages.

Give to poorer churches, emergencies,

widows, orphans who have no one else to take care of them.

Give to the gospel, the spreading of the gospel.

What, the church is supposed to do all this? Yep.

The gospel is free. It must remain so.

Give to people who break bread into your life.

Give to those in need.

As in either lend or give.

You can decide. Once you decide, stick with it.

Glean, give away good, new stuff

that you have sentimental value for the last 40 years towards.

Deuteronomy 24, 19 to 21.

Pay your debts.

I put that with giving. So all this is giving.

The thing is, come on, Jacob, you can't expect us to give towards all this.

No, you give towards the church. The church is supposed to give all this.

This is how churches used to operate in the New Testament.

And if you can do that, or if your church is not doing that, well, then you take it on.

But Jacob, what will I live on?

If you're saying go 30%, 40%, 50%, go 11 and a half.

Increase.

Take a hammer to the tithe.

Because it's limiting everything.

Ask me questions if you want to challenge me on this.

Yeah.

Tithes are what I want to bring, say, let's say, let's stick with our understanding of tithes, 10%,

when it actually was 23 and one-third.

Let's just go with 10, because 23 was frightening everybody.

So let's go with 10%.

So let's assume you start with 10 and you decide I'm going to give 11 or 12% starting next month.

So that's one.

First fruits.

When you receive a bonus, when you receive something, you decide, okay, I'm going to take whatever percentage,

maybe one-tenth of 1%, or maybe all of it, or maybe 2%.

I'll take it and I'll give it.

What are you doing?

It's an old principle where God is saying, hey, I gave you an increase, guess what he did first?

You brought a portion of it and gave it to me, and therefore, because you've given me the first, I'll bless the rest.

Simple. Arms.

They're a poor.

Give to the poor.

This is how you, now you have reason to cultivate this thing called uncalculating generosity.

If this is not there, then we have calculating generosity, which is 10%, depending on which church you come from.

It's before or after taxes, which gets even more complicated.

Let's not even go there.

We should ask, give cheerfully.

Yeah. Yeah.

And if it is hard to give cheerfully, then still give her, because if we are going to wait for your cheerfulness, it might be forever.

Yeah. Sometimes the joy comes only in the morning.

Those who, those who sow in the morning will reap a joy tomorrow.

So come up sadly, because tomorrow you will laugh.

Yeah, but it is important that we give cheerfully.

And what God meant by cheerfully is not ha ha, because I've seen in churches you have to come laughing and dancing and so on.

And so I'm not even, I'm not talking about that.

When he said cheerfully is, don't give it a compulsion.

Don't give out of obligation.

Don't give out of necessity.

Compulsion, obligation, necessity, rob you of joy.

Compulsion, obligation, and necessity rob you of joy.

Gleaning. I heard dating.

What about dating?

Okay, what was he listening to?

Gleaning. Gleaning is when God would say, hey, there are trees in your orchard.

Go get the fruit from the tree.

But after you get most of the fruit, don't go shake the tree multiple times so that every fruit falls.

It's like it's okay if you don't pluck all the fruit.

You know why?

So that immigrants or laborers who are walking by your tree can pluck and eat what is left.

And then after they've done it, don't go shake it one more time, because there are birds that need to be fed.

Let the birds eat it.

It's crazy what God was saying.

He was saying, you don't have to wait till you've sucked every drop of blood out of that leather jacket.

It's time to give it away.

I mean, there are things in our cupboards that are 40 or 50 years old that you will never use,

because to wash the dust off the bottom of the cup will take forever.

But it's precious china given to you by your grandmother.

At least when they used to mummify people, they used to put stuff like that also in.

In our case, we don't even get that.

So glean, give away.

Give away.

Give away those 84 plastic bags you've been saving up.

Stand at shoppers and hand it out to people like me who are holding multiple things in our hands.

Give to people that break bread into your life, like Abraham gave to Melchizedek.

Give. You've broken bread and wine into my life.

I just want to bless you with this.

Give to those in need.

Decide whether you want to lend to them or whether you want to give them, and then choose whichever one you want.

While you're doing this, you can't say to Sheldon, hey Sheldon, I know I owe you 700 bucks, but I'm giving a lot, man.

So I pray that the Lord will provide for you.

No.

Pay your debt.

And lend and give.

I remember this happened at Act 29.

We used to be at Ross Street.

A person comes up to me and says, I don't have rent to pay.

And I said, don't worry, I'll pray for you.

And in my pocket there are like $700.

And I'm praying for them saying, amazing prayer.

The more you don't want to give, the more amazing the prayer.

And so I'm praying like crazy.

Like I feel heat, man.

And I'm saying, Jehovah Jireh, you will supply.

And I can hear God.

Everything I'm saying, God is saying through you, through you, through you.

So finally, I thought to myself, this isn't working.

So I stopped the prayer.

I said, listen guys, here.

I thought to myself, okay, I'm going to get the money or what.

Sometimes it is through you, man.

And now the problem was, I don't have the money to pay my rent.

And so I go to a friend who lives in the same building,

and I borrow money from him saying, can I borrow money to pay the rent?

And I come back to my apartment and open the door,

and there's an envelope under the door.

I don't know who it came from, but it had the rent that I was supposed to pay.

I thought to myself, Jacob, why do you always not wait for another hour

so that you can see the brilliance of God?

And so I went back, gave the person I borrowed from the money, and paid the rent.

And what if it didn't happen?

Well then, I'd have had to pay back what I borrowed

because I was in a better position to borrow from someone

than the person who came and asked me for the money.

Otherwise, money can, mammon can turn us into orphans

because it creates this fear of abandonment by God and by man.

Money turns us into orphans because it has the ability to create fear of abandonment,

fear of abandonment.

This is so alive that it can create the fear of abandonment,

both by your father and by people.

It creates that fear that both are going to abandon.

Money has that power.

It renders you an orphan.

Just be careful of that, eh?

Any questions, guys? I'll stop here.

I've got one other thing to say, but I'll say it off camera.

Yeah, look, there's less hair here.

You have to go over these points and pick the one that you can really work with.

The one that I am presently working with is,

I am wholly owned by him.

Why am I assigning my rights to two masters?

Why am I thinking that I'm on contract with him 20 hours a day

and that I've got four hours where I can assign my rights to this?

Why am I thinking like that?

So what is it that affects you from all these points?

Begin with that. Just take one point out of all these.

For me, that is one.

The other thing is that this can affect the trajectory of my life.

I'm 57. I don't have as many years as I did 20 years ago.

This can affect the trajectory of my life based on the evaluation I place on treasures.

And can I afford it?

So these are the things you have to consider.

I can't bear the thought of getting into heaven and finding the things undone.

I cannot. I do not like the thought.

For us who are older, we've got to work on this faster.

For those of you who are young, you've got to get old fast if you don't work on this.

Really, I mean that. It wasn't even a pun.

Money is a tyrannical master, but a great servant.

You let it become your master when you're young, and it will make you old because it will make you work for it.

If you can learn the art of both divesting and supporting, brilliant.

But if not, decide which one you want to be and become detached with your possessions

so that you can support others with it.

I've met people like that. Just marvel at them.

Detached. And here's the thing.

The moment you're detached from money, it will beg to be your servant.

The moment you're detached from money, money will beg, saying, please, please, can I be your servant?

And the moment you're attached to money, it takes over as master.

And it enslaves. This is not a master who's benevolent.

This is a master who enslaves.

Which is why, even as I'm talking, our minds are struggling with it.

You must see the struggle of your mind, not as stewardship, but as enslavement.

Please, please don't see the struggle in your mind right now as, oh, I'm going to be a slave.

Don't see the struggle in your mind right now as, I'm being a good steward.

No, you're being an enslaved steward.

I just want to break that barrier down.

Because there are different things we do during a teaching to prevent the truth from penetrating too far in.

It's a trick. I want to expose it.

So start there. I just pick one or two of these, and then I write them down and go over and over and over again.

Maybe two weeks from now, I'll begin a change.

Okay, can we switch the recording off?