Financial Advice From Christ - Luke 12:13-34

Luke 12 we're going to be looking at verses 13 through 34.

That's one of the interesting passages because it all started with Jesus teaching on various topics and then a man kind of interrupted Christ and he asked the Lord to settle a personal issue.

His parents or his father had passed away and now he and his siblings were arguing about the inheritance.

Most likely it was the older brother who was keeping it all for himself.

And maybe this was the younger brother coming to Christ and saying, Christ, hey, would you help me out here?

Will you tell my brother to share this?

Give me at least some of it. I need my portion.

And that's a reasonable request, it seems.

But what's strange is how the Lord responded back in verse 13.

He basically gave them the cold shoulder.

He's like, who am I who made me to be your judge or your arbiter?

I'm not worried about this and literally leaves it for himself to figure out.

I'm not going to help you here.

I mean, that's strange to me. I found that strange.

And after he kind of tells them, I'm not going to figure this out for you.

He warns them and warns everybody about covetousness and then goes and gives a sermon. It's kind of an impromptu sermon that was stimulated by this question.

He turns and he's addressing the whole audience, the crowd, and gives them a sermon, a lesson on finances.

He's giving them advice, wealth management advice, counsel, how to view their possessions, their resources.

And I can see at least seven major points that Christ gives for us to have wisdom and how we deal with our money.

Seven principles, if you would, on how to manage your resources.

Before we go into these seven resources or seven principles on how to manage your finances, I pray that you're willing to listen to these counsel by God and say, I want to do these things.

Now, don't hear Jeff Johnson. You're going to have to be a good Varee.

And he goes, this is what indeed Jesus preached.

And if this is what he preached, Lord, help me to listen.

I want to be changed by this counsel. I want my life to be affected.

I don't want to just hear the word and not be a doer of the word.

I want to listen and I want to obey. I want to be a good manager, good steward of the resources God has given me.

I also want you to think that you're not too poor to apply this to yourself or too young. We think, oh, this is for the wealthy among us or this is for the older generation.

I wish my sons and my daughter would take heed to this and start applying it immediately, not wait until you have a career.

And I want you to think that you're not too poor to apply this to yourself.

I want you to think that you're not too poor to apply this to yourself.

I want you to think that you're not too poor to apply this to yourself.

I want you to think that you're not too poor to apply this to yourself.

And that Christ, who was rich, became poor on our behalf.

And He set the example of how to live a life and how to manage His resources and view it through the gospel that we don't have to earn our way to heaven, but we should apply this out of great gratitude for the riches that Christ has already given us in Christ Jesus.

So this should be done out of a heart.

These principles should be done out of a motivation of love, not out of some moral obligation.

And we don't want to apply this away.

So if we are excelling in this area that we look down upon others who may struggle in this area.

Remember the guy that came into the temple, he says, I tithe everything I get.

And he bragged in his tithing.

That's not helpful.

We don't actually know what the right hand is doing.

But here are seven principles that I want to apply to myself.

And I pray that you will see that these principles come from the very mouth of Jesus Christ.

That He is going to instruct us on money.

And though Christ is not worried about figuring out where the inheritance goes for this man, He was worried about something more important.

And so don't mistake Christ as not being concerned about how you handle your pocketbook and how you divvy out your finances.

He's very much concerned because how you handle your money is a indicator of where your heart is.

It's an indicator of your love and your affection.

And God is very much worried about your affections in your law.

So let's apply these seven principles to our life.

And may the Lord use it to shape us and transform us.

Because no matter where we're at on this grid or how well we already do these things, we all know that we could do better.

The first principle that Christ gives us is found in verse 13 and 14.

If you're taking notes, write this down.

Don't worry about being defrauded or cheated.

In other words, don't allow your money to control you, but rather control your money.

It's easy for your money to grip you and shape you and control you.

But the Lord says we're to hold our wealth loosely.

We're steward. It's not actually ours.

And we don't need to be managed by our money, but rather we need to manage our money.

Don't allow the pursuit of wealth to drive you or to control you.

You said, well, Jeff, I don't do that.

Well, put yourself under this test.

Maybe you're already good at when you have a surplus and giving some out and helping out someone.

But how would you do if someone stole your inheritance?

You thought you were about to receive a windfall.

You know, this money is about to come to you.

And before your parents passed away or your father passed away, you loved your siblings.

And we're not going to fight about this.

You know, it'll all work out.

We'll be just fine until a week after the funeral and your older brother or your older sister thinks all of it belongs to him or her.

Then things change because you feel it's not just about not getting the money.

It feels I'm getting defrauded.

I'm getting cheated.

I'm getting what rightfully belongs to me as being taken away.

And surely Christ cares about this.

Surely Christ would stand on my side and He would defend me and He would go and tell my brother or my sister to share the inheritance.

We see that in verse 13.

Someone in the crowd said to Him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

He just wanted things to be right.

But Jesus said this is not my concern.

Look at verse 14.

But He said to Him, Man, who made me a judge or arbiter over you?

Why are you coming to me about this matter?

I mean, if you want to be healed, I'll heal you.

If you want to know the gospel, I'll preach it to you.

But this is not why I'm here.

I'm not here to make sure you get your inheritance.

I'm not worried about that.

But it's as if the Lord is saying, I am worried based upon the sermon He's about to preach.

I am worried about your heart.

I am worried about your issues of how you think about money.

And He warns him and all those who are listening, beyond your guard against covetousness.

That is, I'm not worried about you getting all that you deserve in this life.

I'm not worried about that.

If you lose out, that's fine.

I'm not too concerned.

You'll be okay.

But I am worried about you coveting your inheritance.

I am worried about that.

You see, it's not a sin to be cheated.

But it is a sin to covet.

And that takes me to the second principle.

First principle is, don't worry about being defrauded when it comes to the world's goods.

Someone sues you, someone asks for your coat, your jacket.

Go ahead and give it to them.

Don't worry about losing out in this world.

Principle number one.

Secondly, principle number two, don't covet.

Don't covet.

Be on guard, verse 15 says, against covetousness.

Jesus said to them, take care, I mean, pay special attention.

Be mindful of this.

Don't worry about getting your inheritance.

Don't make that the focus of your thoughts.

But rather focus on this.

Take heed and be on your guard against all covetousness.

Covetousness is a sin.

It's brought out of jealousy and greed.

But really, it's a sign of discontentment and unhappiness.

Solomon said, Ecclesiastes 5, 10, whoever loves money never has enough.

And whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income.

You see, be on guard about discontentment.

If you're not content with what you have right now, you wouldn't be content if you got your inheritance.

If what you have is not enough, and I'll make this clear, all of us have enough.

I mean, all of us are wealthy compared to the average person of the world, especially throughout history.

You have enough.

We have enough.

We have more than enough.

We all really have surplus.

We have extra.

And if we're not content with being so wealthy, then we wouldn't be content if we had twice as much as what we have.

The problem with covetousness is why we had to be our guard against it.

It's one of the greatest of all sins.

It's just a small sin.

Everybody does it.

No, it's a great sin because the Bible says covetousness is idolatry.

Jesus put it this way.

No one can serve two masters.

Either he will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one who despises the other.

You cannot serve both God and money.

So be careful that you don't covet after money, that that's not your passions or your heart's desire.

You see, Paul tells us in the Empathy 6.6, Godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world and we cannot take anything out of this world.

But if we have food and clothing, now that's all of us.

We have that.

With these we will be content.

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

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pinks.

The Puritan Thomas Burke said, Solomon, from his wealth, then he got good by his wisdom.

Charles Spurgeon says, it is very difficult for a man to have much money running through his hands without some of it sticking.

It's a very sticky stuff.

And once it sticks to the hands, they are not clean in the sight of the Lord.

Unless a man is able to use money without abusing, accepting it as a talent lit to him and not as treasures given to him, it will very soon happen that the more money he has, the more troubles he will have.

The reason guard against covetousness, we see in verse 15, the end of verse 15, is because one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

That is, God made you for a purpose.

He designed you.

He crafted you.

For his glory, he did not make you simply so you could make you.

Simply so you can gather possessions.

Your life doesn't consist of how much stuff you have.

Hebrews 13, 15 says, make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have.

For he himself has said, I've never deserted you, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.

You see wealth, your clothing, your car, your vehicles, your home, that doesn't determine your value.

Your value.

Now, man may value that and deem you more valuable in their eyes, but God, he doesn't look upon a man and look at the outward appearance and he doesn't look at the possessions and think, oh, this one's more important than another.

Our value is not determined by our wealth.

We are not born to simply gather an abundance of possessions.

So that's the second principle that Christ gives us.

Guard against covetousness.

The third principle in his sermon, he gives us illustration, he gives us kind of a parable or story to tell us not to hoard our possessions.

We see this in verse 16 through 21.

And he told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man produced plantifully, and he thought to himself, what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops?

And he said, I will do this, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and all my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years.

I mean, you can retire, relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?

So is one who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God.

Now this is odd financial advice, counterintuitive.

This is not what you are going to hear when you go sit down at the desk at Edward Jones.

They are not going to give you an illustration like this one.

In fact, it is strange because he had bumper crops.

What is he supposed to do?

He is going to let the crops rot?

Is he going to say, I just can't reap all this, I just need to let it go to waste.

What is he supposed to do?

Is it not good califold to make good investments and use your wealth to turn it over to build more will?

And maybe this guy was on the verge of having enough for retirement, but with this bumper crops he could settle the matter and have all that he needed to retire upon.

Now isn't that good counsel?

Why did Christ call this man a fool when everybody else would say he was wise?

Why is he a fool?

Because he thought of himself and not of God.

He is rich towards himself and not rich towards God.

He didn't go, I have more than enough, how can I help the poor?

He thought, how can I enrich myself even the more?

He put his desires upon himself in this life and not in the life to come.

This is a poor investment indeed.

Remember death ends your retirement fund.

We gather and gather and gather, we may build bigger and bigger barns, but for what?

For what?

Before dying at the age of 40 from stomach cancer, the world famous designer and author, Christa Rodriguez, wrote on her social media account these words.

I mean this is days before her death.

I had the most expensive car in the world in my garage, but now I have to use a wheelchair.

She is 40 years old when she wrote this.

In my house there are all kinds of branded clothes, shoes and valuables, but now my body is wrapped in a small cloth provided by the hospital.

I got plenty of money in the bank, but now I'm benefiting from, I'm not benefiting from that amount.

My house was like a castle, but now I'm sleeping on two beds in the hospital.

From five-star hotel to now spending time in hospitals moving from clinic to clinic.

I've been to seven barbers to get my hair done, but now I don't have a hair on my head.

With a private jet I can fly anywhere, but now I need two assistants to walk to the hospital gate.

Although there are many foods, now my diet is two tablets a day and a few drops of salt water at night.

This house, this car, this plane, this fortune, this bank, this excessive fame and glory, none of these things are useful to me.

None of this will relax me.

There is nothing real except death.

You fool, Jesus would say to someone like this, you've gathered this all up and this day your soul is required of you.

Now who's wiser?

I've heard of two different men.

One man was very wealthy in a city not too far from here.

I just heard this last week.

That in his office is a secret room, and if you go into that secret room, I haven't seen it but I heard about it.

You go in the secret room behind his desk or somewhere in his office, it's full of guns and stacks of cash and stacks of gold.

He's prepared.

He has what he needs for the zombie apocalypse that's to come.

I heard of another wealthy man.

In fact, I know of another wealthy man that gave so much away that he had to push back his retirement and work longer because he gave so much of the way.

You know John Calvin, John Wesley and Charles Spurgeon all died poor men.

John Wesley died a pauper with no more than equivalent to today's economy,$2,000 in his account when he had over $6 million that he gave away.

He built Methodist churches around Britain.

Charles Spurgeon died with just a little over $100,000 in today's equivalent funds.

He died with just a little over $100,000.

He goes, well that's a pretty good stash.

Well, not when you consider that he gave away $26 million.

He built the metropolitan tabernacle almost himself with his own funds.

He didn't take a salary from the church.

He made so much money through the book sales that he funded orphanages in his own college and gave it all away.

He was a steward of money that come to him and he would pass it on for the calls of God.

Now he died with nothing.

In fact, many men die with nothing and you have some men that die with a fortune.

Tell yourself, ask yourself, which is wiser?

So this is the third principle that Christ is giving.

Don't hoard your wealth.

Don't just collect it just for yourself.

The fourth principle that he gives us, we see in verse 21, honor God with your wealth.

We see this in verse 21, so is the one who lays up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God.

The fool is the one who is thinking about himself.

The wise man is the one who is thinking about God, is rich not towards self but rich towards God.

You see, when it comes to our money, our first priority, our first priority should be the Lord.

We get some money, what should we think first?

Not second or third or down the list or hopefully if I have a little left over, I'll help God out or I'll give to God or honor God.

No, the Bible says in 2 John 8, 18, remember the Lord your God for he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.

And then Solomon said in Proverbs 3, 9, honor the Lord with your wealth and from the first of all your increase.

My grandfather, my mother has told me, was take his paycheck, cash it and he would take the percentage out of it that he was going to give the first percentage out of it.

First thing he would do is take that out of the cash and he put it in a secret spot in his wallet.

So on Sunday he could take that out of that secret spot and put it in an offering plate and one particular cold day, my mother being a twin and said the twins need a new jackets and my grandmother suggested to my grandfather, well here we have the money in this, you know, you have some money set aside, we could pay the Lord back later, not necessarily steal it from the Lord, but pay that back later, we need the jackets today.

And my grandfather stood his ground and says, no, I've already given that to the Lord.

And they leave town and come home without jackets to only find two jackets in the mail.

Do you not realize keeping your wealth is robbing God?

Does not what Malachi 3, 8 tells us, will man rob God?

Yet you are robbing me, but you say, how have we robbed you?

In your tithes and offerings.

He goes on to say, bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house, and therefore put me to the test, says the Lord of Hosts.

If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you blessings until there is no more need, has God not promised you and I that if we give generously, He will generously bless us?

There's not Proverbs 11, 24 says, there is one who scatters yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

Spurgeon says many people will always be poor because they never give to the cause of God.

Proverbs 22, 9 says whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed for he shares his bread with the poor.

Spurgeon says God has a way of giving by cartloads to those who give away with shovelfuls.

Jesus put it this way in Luke 6, 38, if you give, you will get.

Your gift will return to you in full, an overflowing measure, press downs shaken together to make room for more and running over.

Whatever measure you use to give, large or small, will be used to measure what is given back to you.

I don't know if we believe that, I have a hard time believing that, as evidenced by my giving little.

Proverbs 3, 9 tells us to honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops, then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Proverbs 11, 25, a generous soul will prosper and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Well that's Old Testament, well here's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9, 6, whoever souls sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever souls bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency and all things at all times, you may abound in every good work, as it is written, he has distributed freely, he is given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

What Paul is saying, the more you give, the more God will give you to give.

The goal is not I'm going to give so I can build well for myself.

That's not the heart and the issue here.

The more flows out of you, more will flow into you to continue to flow out to you.

You could be a conduit of giving more and more to the Lord by just stretching what you and I already give.

You see this is the fourth principle, according to Christ, we are to honor the Lord with our wealth, to be rich towards God.

Fifth principle we see in verse 22, don't focus or make it your aim, or don't be anxious or overly concerned with becoming wealthy.

He said in verse 22, and he said to his disciples, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you put on it.

Proverbs 24 for says, do not told or acquire well, be discerning enough to desist.

John 6, 27, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

First Timothy 6, 9, those who want to be rich fall into temptation and snared by many foolish and harmful desires that plague them into ruin and destruction.

Don't make it your life focus to be wealthy.

Don't teach your kids, Christian parents, don't teach your kids that being successful means being wealthy.

That's not what we are here for.

It's not the purpose of life.

And we are not to be anxious about this.

And real quickly I know you are going to go, what?

There are six reasons why not to be anxious about money.

So there are seven principles, there are six reasons not to be anxious or overly concerned about principles.

Let's run through these six real quick.

Verse 23, because you were not created to build wealth.

Look at 23, for life is more than food and body is more than clothing.

You think Jesus when he came and lived among us, he goes, I just have to have all the designer clothes and I've got to have all this wealth and I need all this stuff.

You know, why did he say foxes have homes and birds have places to live in, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

Well, he didn't have anything.

You may think to yourself, well, that's because Christ knew he had a purpose greater than all that.

Or do you not have a purpose greater than all that?

Well, that's because Christ knew he was going to die young.

I mean, he didn't need a retirement.

He knew he was going to die at an early age.

Who says you are going to live that long?

Wait a minute, wait a minute.

You are going to make it past your thirties, you are going to live into your sixties.

Okay, that's a long time.

Oh, wait, no, you will make it into your nineties.

In the scheme of all eternity, that's just a long time.

You see, we are not here, but for a moment.

We are pilgrims.

We are passing through this world.

It's not about I am in a tent, you know, and I have to hang the Mona Lisa up in my tent.

We are just passing by.

We are not here to collect the stuff.

We are not here to build bigger barns.

We are here to serve Christ and use our resources for His kingdom.

At least this seems to be what Christ is telling us.

Second reason not to be overly anxious and building wealth, we see in verse 24, consider the ravens they neither sold or reed.

They neither storehouse nor barn yet God feeds them.

How much more valuable are you than the birds?

It's like, well, you know, I need a big pantry and I need multiple deep freezes and I need security.

I need a retirement fund.

Well, consider the birds.

They are not worried about that.

Charles Spurgeon talks about, in fact, there's an American who is visiting Spurgeon and they were driving in a carriage and Spurgeon looked out the window and said, hey, there's my bank.

The American looked out the window and says, what bank?

I don't see a bank.

All there was was just a little plaque and the plaque read two words.

Jehovah Jireh.

My God supplies.

He says, that is the bank I depend upon for my orphanages.

Why do we worry about such matters when God has already given you and I a promise?

I feed the birds.

I clothe the lilies of the valley.

I'm going to take care of your deeds.

The reason we may worry about it is we know we're going to have food in our stomach and clothes on our body, but we're worried about our standard of living.

We may not have the standard of living that we would want.

It says, don't worry about this.

The third reason not to worry, we see in verse 25 and 26, is because anxiety and worry and concern is just a waste of time.

Verse 25, in which of you being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life.

If then you're not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

Why are you worried about the stock market?

If there's going to be a recession or not?

Why are you worried about these matters?

Your anxiety doesn't change a thing.

I hear report after report people say, I've watched Fox News for so long and I realize that all it does is make me anxious and nothing changes.

And now that I've turned off the television, I'm happier.

Well, don't, I mean this is a wonderful promise that God says to all his children.

You seek first the kingdom of God and I'll take care of this.

But you see, forcefully, why we're not to be anxious, about tomorrow and about our future and about our retirement and about security.

It shows that we don't have faith or we lack faith.

Look at verse 27, consider the lilies how they grow, they neither toil nor span, yet I tell you, even Solomon, all of his glory was not a raid, like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow he is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you?

Oh, you of little faith.

You see, are you worried about the down economy, the falling value of the dollar, the real possibility of recession?

Are you worried about the future of your financial stability?

And maybe you're not giving or you can't give as much or you're worried about giving because you're worried about all these things.

What does Jesus say?

Oh, you of little faith.

Fifth, don't be anxious because all that does is take your focus off the kingdom of God.

You see, unbelievers are the ones that give their attention and their worry to financial security and matters of that matters of wealth.

Verse 29, 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.

That's what they worry about.

But second, God already knows you need these things.

It says, and your father knows that you need them.

He knows what you need.

He's got you.

He's promised to take care of you.

Rather, when we're worried about this, it keeps us from worried about what God does want us to worry about and that his kingdom, his mission.

Verse 31, instead, seek the kingdom, his kingdom, and these will be added to you.

You know, you go work on the front lines, battle in the war, fight.

God says, if you're fighting on the front line, I'm going to keep the supply chain coming to you.

I'll keep you fed.

I'll keep you clothed.

You just worry about fighting.

You worry about why you're here and do that.

Six is one of the most.

This is the last reason not to be anxious.

It is the most glorious.

You're already rich as can be.

Why are you worried about becoming wealthy when you're already filthy rich?

Look at verse 32.

Fear not.

Don't be anxious about what you're going to eat or drink, little flog.

For it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

I mean, God says I'm going to give you everything.

You're going to have wealth untold.

I'm going to give you all of it.

I've already made you joint heirs with Christ.

You're a brother and sister with the Lord.

You're the son and daughter of God.

It's an argument from the greater, the lesser.

If he's going to give you the world, if he's going to give you riches, he's going to give you eternal life and heaven and everything you can imagine.

You're not going to make sure you have food and clothing.

So don't worry, little flog.

It is God's good pleasure to give you everything.

So this is the fifth principle that Christ gives us about wealth.

Don't be overly focused on it.

Six.

Oh, this one's good.

This is where it gets very practical.

According to Christ, exchange God's wealth.

That is what you merely steward because none of you own anything in this life.

You're just stewards.

You own nothing.

Hey, we're all on the same playing field.

We're all equally broke.

Now we have the joint heirs with Christ and we're going to have everything given to us.

And this life, we have nothing.

We'll keep nothing.

We're just stewards of God's talents, God's wealth.

So we'll steward it well.

We're to take what doesn't belong to us and exchange it for possessions that will never be taken away from us.

Now, he starts by giving us the craziest of all the council.

You thought, you know, the council of this story about a guy that wanted to invest his crops and build bigger barns was crazy.

This is definitely not what we do.

We don't want to hear from Edward Jones or even so much from any financial advisor.

You're worried about tomorrow?

Do this.

Sell your possessions.

I want my inheritance.

Hey, I'm not worried about your inheritance.

If you get it, don't get it.

But I'll tell you this, you should sell what you have.

Look at verse 33, sell your possessions.

What kind of califel is this?

Liquidate.

Liquidate, not build bigger barns.

How about decreasing?

That seems so counterintuitive.

What would you do if you decrease sell your stuff into what?

Give to the needy.

Give to those who don't have as much.

Now, you might want to think of this council as hyperbole.

You know, when Jesus says, if your hand offends you cut it off, your eye offends you pluck it out.

Well, that's hyperbole.

Well, maybe this is hyperbole.

Sell your possessions.

We'd like for that to be hyperbole, so I don't plan on selling anything.

I don't want to sell anything.

And remember, this is not a command.

This is council.

I'm not here saying all of us need to start selling our stuff.

This is just council.

In fact, it's wise council.

When you think of eternity, it's wise.

Because this is what he says.

Sell your possessions and give to the needy.

And this is why.

Provide yourself with muddy bags.

Some translations, purses, or other translations say treasures in heaven.

I mean, sell what you have and get real well.

Teaching us, exchange what really doesn't belong to you for things that will belong to you.

Nothing we have is eternal.

We brought nothing in this world.

We're going to carry absolutely nothing out of this world.

Nothing.

Everything we do own is waxing old.

I mean, everything is in the long run.

I like to think I have some things that I appreciate in value.

I mean, I think my house is appreciating in value, especially with inflation.

But ultimately, you take enough time, you know, I just take about enough time going by.

My house is going to depreciate eventually.

In fact, everything is going to wax old.

Why not take what doesn't belong to us and exchange it for something that can never be taken away from us?

This is what it says.

Jesus said, provide for yourself money bags that do not grow old, with treasures in heavens that do not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

I think this is the lesson of the unjust steward.

The unjust steward is another parable that Jesus says that gives a couple of chapters later.

And the unjust steward is a man that knows he's going to lose his job.

And he takes what doesn't belong to him unjustly, by the way.

And forgives everybody's debt so that he can secure himself a better future, a job, when he loses his job.

Now, Christ is not commending the unjustness of those actions.

That's pretty sinful behavior.

But he is commending the person taking what doesn't belong to him and securing a better future.

And that's pretty wise.

And he says the children of this world are wiser than the children of the kingdom.

Luke 16, Jesus says, for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, as all money will fail, they may receive you into eternal dwelling.

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you to true riches, those real moneybags?

And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one in love the other, or he will be devoted to the one in despising the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

This is why Jim Elliott says he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

That is no foolishness.

No foolishness. That is why.

If we were wise, now this is not commands we're not going to go around and say, if you sold your possessions or how much money you're giving, but if we were wise, we would be generous.

We would stretch ourselves.

Over the years I've tried to collect various things that I think appreciate in value.

And so you take $500 every now and then and take it from the cash, put it into some physical object, precious stones or precious actually metals.

And so you're putting and buying silver here.

I wish I could afford gold, but I can't buy a little silver here.

Hopefully buy a little silver there and you do it in a way you never lose.

You never miss the money, right?

It's like, well, I wasn't going to miss that $100 or $500.

I'm just as it's kind of collecting there, I just kind of transfer it there that the silver just hopefully grows.

You know, that sounds pretty cool and all, but I thought to myself, how much wiser would have been for all the money I put in silver to have put it in to the church coffers or to give to the needy, to give to the poor.

You know, if we, you know, that money is if you just just kind of let it shovel over to the kingdom of God and to the needs that you see.

I mean, you say, well, I'm going to miss it. I need that money.

Do you know how long forever is?

And I don't understand what money bags are in heaven.

I don't understand what treasures in heaven are.

I don't understand that.

But what we can't keep turns into that which we cannot lose.

Oh, if we just follow Christ's counsel, we would be wise.

This brings me to the last piece of counsel found in verse 34.

We're bringing this sermon to a conclusion here.

And I think this is the heart of the whole matter.

He ends his sermon with kind of getting to the heart of the issue because it's not about the value amount of what we give or we can afford to give.

This is nothing about if it's ten dollars or ten billion dollars.

That's not the issue.

It's the heart that Christ is worried about.

So the seventh and final principle that Christ gives us is place your affections on things above.

Verse 34 says, for where your treasure is, there were heart be also.

You see, this is a heart issue.

Where you spend your money is the biggest indicator, one of the biggest indicators, that in your time, which is your resources.

Where you spend your time and money is the indication of where your heart is.

You can look back over your life and kind of evaluate your checkbook.

I mean, I don't have a checkbook.

Those are long gone for anybody my age or younger.

But you can go back and look at your bank account and evaluate how you spent your money over the years.

You can see your affections change.

When you're small kids, you had a little extra money.

You go to Walmart and buy toys.

So toys was where your hearts were located.

Then it goes when you're teenagers, you start buying clothes.

Then you get older and older, almost in your twenties, you start thinking about your cars and vehicles.

You put all your money in that.

Then finally, you get a little bit wiser, you start thinking about your homes and your houses.

Then after you get a house, you think, well, maybe I need more land.

You start buying land or build your business a little bit more.

Your heart and your affections are changing.

You get older, you're like, I'm not too worried about clothes anymore.

I've got to close the, you know, kind of like, hopefully you get a point where it's not about what I wear.

It's not indication of my wealth or my status.

I need to actually spend my money more wisely.

You start seeing things, shh, and you start, then you get my age and older, you start, well, I've got to start thinking about retirement.

I wish I would have thought about that when I was younger.

But now I'm thinking about it a little too late, you know, and you start thinking about that.

It's only on your death bed that you start thinking about laying up treasures in heaven.

We shouldn't wait.

You know, you hear of people that they're on their death bed and they've collected all this wealth and they disperse it, not throughout their life.

They wait until they're about dead when they realize, I don't need this anymore.

My kids don't need it.

In fact, I want my kids to have it.

Then they start thinking about how can I prepare myself treasures in heaven.

I hear about that quite a bit.

In fact, I know one guy that built two churches because he thought he was going to die.

Then he started going to church, got diagnosed, and terminal cancer.

He thought he was going to die.

He gave a lot of money to the church.

They built a new church.

And then he got better.

He didn't die, so he quit going to church.

You know, I was like, like, yeah, you get right on your death.

But now let me think about the next lie.

But see, I want your kids, children, the smallest of us.

Don't wait until you have a career to start thinking, I need to give to the Lord.

If you have an allowance, even if it's a dollar a week or dollar a month, how do I honor the Lord with that?

How do I invest for all eternity with what I have?

If you can be faithful with just a little, God might give you a raise in your allowance so that you can be more generous and more because, you know, where you spend your money is going to be where your heart is.

And the reason we're buying all this stuff, you know, we buy yard sales and storage sheds tell us that we buy too much stuff that we really don't need or want.

What a shame.

I mean, let's rebuke myself.

What a shame that we have surplus of stuff and we just buy more stuff.

And what a shame, you know, that, well, I don't waste my money.

What a shame if you just put in the bank.

Seriously, you're just collecting so you can die.

What a shame.

Take your heart not in this world.

You say, don't put your heart in this life.

This is not the life that we're seeking.

This is world is not our whole.

This is not where our love should be.

But, you know, where love is, think about Christ and his calls and his purposes, his kingdom.

Think about heaven.

You know, that is where your affections are.

That's where you're going to put your treasures.

Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is.

And if your heart is on Christ, it'll be easy to give.

It'll be easy.

Clausius tells us, if things have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds and your affections on things that are above, not on the things of the earth.

If you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God, when Christ who is your life appears then, then you will appear with Him in glory.

That is what we're shooting for, eternity.

So lay out treasures in heaven.

And the more we give to God, the more our affections will rise up towards God.

Closing.

Children start now, poor people, as if they were poor among us.

But there are poor people.

There are some of us, like myself, you, some of us are the lower end of things, maybe.

This applies to us.

Remember the widower who gave a might.

Don't think, well, this applies to wealthy.

This applies to all of us.

Remember, as I started this, this functions out of the Gospel.

We don't earn our way to heaven.

We don't buy our way to heaven.

This is not something we have, if we fail, we know the Gospel forgives us and we've been unwise and we have motivation out of the love of Christ to give.

So maybe the Lord help us look at these seven principles and say, this is an amazing sermon or counsel.

This is, if you would, financial counsel from the book.

Let's pray.

Lord, we are thankful for that Christ moment to instruct us how to view our money, how to view our possessions.

Lord, increase our faith in eternity, in Your Word, in Your promises.

And use us as conduits, as good stewards of the wealth that You have invested or You have temporarily given us to steward.

For this we pray for Your name's sake. Amen.

.

Thank you.