First National Bank of Paradise

Find ourselves once again in
the gospel of Luke. The context is the same this
week as we found last week, but by way of review, Jesus had started
this interchange several chapters ago, chapter 11. He was having
lunch with a Pharisee and they ended up in a uncomfortable interchange. That bled over to an equally
uncomfortable interchange with the scribes, the law experts. That spilled over into an abrupt
question. Here, Jesus was trying to encourage
his apostles in what they were hearing. And in the midst of
this great encouragement, Jesus is interrupted. Remember, by
a young man who felt shorted, slighted in the family inheritance. And so, Jesus used that opportunity
to begin to teach about money and finances and greed and wealth. And all of those things rolled
into one where we put our confidence. In chapter 12, verses 1-12, we
looked at that parable and on the folly of the fear of man,
the foolishness of fearing others. Ultimately, we saw that God’s
truth would prevail. And we saw there, even then,
that in many cases, the fear of men is driven by a fear, ultimately,
of finances. What they might take away. What
privileges might we lose? That led into that question and
the warning of godless greed. that Jesus used that parable
of the rich man to sow cement in our minds and in the minds
of those who are listening to him even then. A warning of godless
greed and of what greed produces. Hoarding and haughtiness and
ultimately hedonism, living only for self. Jesus used that to
act as a springboard, as it were, into what we call the trust fund.
A place where we can place our confidence, a settled confidence
that God is able and God is willing. We saw there that our faith is
encouraged in God’s providence. Our faith should be encouraged
in God’s providence because He is the ultimate source for our
sustenance. We saw there that God is ultimately
sovereign over our lives. Things don’t just happen And
all of our worry in the world can’t change a thing. God knows
our needs and he will provide. And then finally, last week,
we saw essentially in the in the image of an expedition, if
you will, the purpose or the pursuit that a Christian is supposed
to engage in. What are we supposed to seek?
Are we supposed to set all of our energy and all of our time
and all of our physical resources on the pursuit of wealth? We
saw that that wasn’t the case. We saw that we were supposed
to be focused and it isn’t on the things of the world. But
Jesus this morning is still talking about money. Some of you perhaps
Maybe you want him to get off of it. Change subjects. Move
on. Maybe you want me to pick up
the pace. Roll them all into one and hit us all at once on
one Sunday. But that isn’t the case. And
in that sense, it’s more about money. More about our finances
this morning. More about how we should think
and behave about our earthly things. There’s a danger though
this morning, especially. I don’t want to flag it ahead
of time. There’s a danger in the topic at hand because it’s
going to sound like so many Christmas messages. Christmas has come to be known
as, quote unquote, the season of giving, right? You see it
on the news channels and what they promote and how they get
in the act. And even the NBA, I googled this little phrase
this past week, the season of giving. Even the NBA is tagging
on the season of giving and all the NBA players are pitching
in. And that’s what really most people think of. Christmas is
being about. It’s the season of giving. It’s
when our hearts are all supposed to be softened and melted and
we’re supposed to let go for just a brief moment of our earthly
things. And that’s what Christmas is
all about, right? That’s what most people promote.
That’s what many of us fall into, even in our gift giving, right?
It’s about it’s better. It’s more blessed to give than
to receive. And oh, isn’t this fun? And it
is fun. It’s great to give gifts. There’s
nothing wrong with that. And I don’t want you to get this.
I don’t want you to misunderstand. But the purpose of this message
isn’t just. Isn’t just to promote the season
of giving. This is supposed to not be a
seasonal thing for the Christian, just like the worship of Christ
isn’t a seasonal thing. We’re Christmas people all year
long and we are supposed to be givers. It’s supposed to be the
season of giving all year long. It’s not supposed to have a season. We’ve looked at our money and
greed. We’ve looked at our money and
our trust in God. We’ve looked at our money in
view of what we’re supposed to be pursuing. Jesus today wants
us to look at our money in view of others in need. Our money
in view of others in need. I’ve entitled the message, curiously,
I knew this was a stretch. Nothing else. If you came in
this morning half groggy when you read this, perhaps it perked
you up. I’ve entitled the message The First National Bank of Paradise. I looked at banks this week in
the Yellow Pages and in the ads and the papers. It’s an interesting
thing, banks. Basically, one bank is the same
as the next. You might have some customer
service elements. You might have a few percentage points. But
the interesting thing is, even though all banks are just basically
the same, same person, same function, they all use all these perks
to try to get you in. Many offer, you know, websites,
online banking, big perk nowadays. Some offered various incentives
and giveaways. If you just come in and free
checking was a big one. In fact, somebody said, if you
pay for checking, you’re a fool. Sorry. Others, my own bank, offered
a free piggy bank. No kidding. A free plastic piggy
bank. The interesting thing with all
those things is I began to think about this passage at hand. How
long will those gifts last? The radio that won Bank offered
well-made radio. But how long would a radio last?
Realistically, 30 years, maybe tops. That’s pushing it. How long would this little plastic
bank last? We lost the key to Emily’s plaque
bank. Now we’ve had to carve into it
and break into it so many times that the lock doesn’t even work
on it anymore. How long is a plastic bank due to last in this world?
And it just gave pause that there are so many times when we are
taking our things, our money and putting them in a place and
we are getting back a return. The spiff won’t last that long.
The little toy that they give you at the bank a few years,
maybe the interest on it is fleeting. Ultimately, the money, as we
saw last week, is all going. And that gave me pause to think
of the First National Bank of Hanken, where the perks, the
spits, the offers are eternal. They don’t go away. They don’t
fade. They’re not fleeting. And if we would only engage in
a transaction with this bank, put it in a place that’s sure
and lasting, where the results, the return is guaranteed, Not simply an empty promise. Look, if you would, in Luke chapter
12, just two verses this morning. Luke chapter 12, verse 33, where
Jesus turns and it must have been a it must have been a striking moment when he turned to his
apostles, his disciples and said to them, sell your possessions.
and give to charity. Make yourselves moths’ melts
which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief
comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also.” These are solemn words. And in order to challenge us
to engage in a transaction with the First National Bank of Paradise.
What I selected out of this was essentially three features of
this eternal transaction. Three features of a transaction
that is going to have everlasting return. What a great promise. First of all, the steps to the
transaction. Curious thing on Mondays when
the wife sends me to the bank Because she could ship this thing.
She’s got all these plates spinning. It’s like it’s a great. It’s
a great grant She’s got accounts on top of accounts and everything
has its purpose and when we go to the bank It takes her 20 minutes
just to coach me on. Okay, this goes goes there. This
goes here This money’s going to go in this account. This money’s
going to go on this account. Everything’s fixed. I I go away
with all my paper stacked with yellow sticky notes on it. And
it takes me 15 minutes just to communicate to the people what
my wife communicated to me. Simple. Jesus offers some simpler
steps to this transaction that we will engage in. Simple steps. Sell your possessions and give
to charity. Now, you say, how on earth is
he going to get his way out of this one? Sell your possessions
and give to charity. You know what? This isn’t the
only time that Jesus said that. It was a man that came to Christ,
claimed to have lived essentially the perfect life, claimed to
have lived according to the law and its demands. And Jesus says,
great. One last thing. One last little
thing. Go sell everything you have and
give it to the poor. Jesus knew that the man’s heart
wasn’t righteous. He knew that he wasn’t perfect.
And this was a way to expose to that man, to bring him to
repentance. All that Scripture records is
that he went away grieved. We don’t know ultimately what
happened to the man. Perhaps he was grieved at his
own heart being so greedy. Perhaps he was grieved that he
had the audacity to stand before God Himself and claim to have
upheld the law. But the truth is, the passage
seems to indicate he was grieved because he couldn’t bear to let
go of those things and he knew it. He was grieved at the very
thought of letting go of all of his earthly goods to sell
all and give to the poor. What Jesus is addressing here
is our attachment to those things, our attachment to our possessions,
And what Jesus is saying is we need to be ready to part with
them. If need be, sell all and give to charity, as we’ll see
in a moment. It’s our love of those things.
It’s our fondness of them that oftentimes is used by us as a
justification for keeping them. They’re precious, right? They’re
heirlooms. They’re dear to my heart. It was a gift from another. But Jesus says, and He’s not
saying that there’s a condemnation here for keeping things. There’s
not a condemnation for having those kinds of things. But ultimately,
we need to be willing to let go. Ultimately speaking, if requested
by God, we are asked to loosen our grip on things. And if need
be, sell them and give to the poor. We have plenty of examples in
Scripture Abraham left his country. Remember, cashed it all in. Left
his country for a better place at God’s command, and he reaped
storehouses of wealth. Moses gave up his life and his
pleasures in the court in order to lead the children of Israel
out of captivity and through the wilderness. Elijah left his
property Paul abandoned his place, his high place in the Jewish
Sanhedrin to follow Christ. And that is what Christ issues
forth to all of us. There are going to be times when
we are asked to sacrifice. Sacrifice is a part of Christianity. It’s part of our walk with God,
isn’t it? There have been many times when you’ve been asked
where you know that God has put on your heart. To set your own
needs, your own desires, your own wants aside and to minister
to someone else for a change. And that’s the second part of
the transaction. I said it was a simple one. Sell and give. Sell and give. Give to charity.
It’s an interesting word. It literally means, this word
charity means mercy gifts. is a gift inherent. It comes
from a heart of mercy. It comes from a heart of mercy.
It comes from a heart of looking at someone else and seeing their
need and feeling their hurt and wanting to participate, minister,
relieve that hurt. It’s a mercy gift. From 1611 on, it so often has
been translated alms. As if any of us knew really what
that is. The root word there is mercy,
and it’s a gift of mercy. It’s a gift knowing that God
has so ministered to us. As it were, we are taking the
place of God in that one little place and fulfilling what we
have been revealed. It isn’t only here that the practice
is seen. This is a living out of The Beatitudes,
Matthew 5, 7, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive
mercy. That mercy there we saw was practical
mercy, mercy of the most practical kind. It isn’t the kind that
we saw in James. Be warmed, be filled. I’ll pray
for you, brother. It’s not that kind of mercy.
This is the kind of mercy that digs deep. that goes home and
scraps together some funds to go and to practically minister
to somebody in need. What Jesus is combating in this
passage this morning is a selfish spirit. We’ve seen the spirit
that is fearful of the future. Jesus dealt with that. We’ve
seen the person that is fearful of what others might take away.
Jesus dealt with that. What he’s dealing with here is
us as this tendency that we have to be misers, to be stingy, to
care only for our own needs, to cry out ourselves, mercy,
mercy, mercy, when there are others with far greater needs. Jesus addressed the attitude
in giving. Almsgiving was a practice, a
habit. It was part of the daily ritual
in the temple. There were those that were expected
to give alms. Everybody was expected. And it became it became a simple
practice, people began to do this, you know, publicly with
great pomp to be noticed by other people. Jesus addressed that
Matthew chapter six. Beware of practicing your righteousness
before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, otherwise you have
no reward with your father who is in heaven. So when you give
to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be honored
by men. Truly, I say to you, they have
the reward in full. But when you give to the poor,
isn’t that interesting? Jesus doesn’t say if you give
to the poor, if you happen to give to the poor, he says when.
It’s not optional. It’s almost expected of us. Having
been shown great mercy that we too would look, look for opportunities,
not if, but when. When you give to the poor, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that
you your giving will be in secret and your father who sees what
is done in secret will reward you. Jesus addressed there the motive
or the attitude, if you will, in giving. But He prefigures,
He presupposes that we will be about giving. Not just because
the temple demands it. Because our heart does. Having
tasted God’s great mercies, our heart wants to give. Our heart
wants to open up. It wants to minister to others. Jesus challenged. The Pharisees,
earlier in chapter 11, verse 41, give that which is within
as charity, then all things are clean for you. In other words,
what Jesus was challenging them to was practical righteousness.
This is where they failed so miserably, did the Pharisees. They had the law down pat. They
could obey all their little man-made laws. And what they couldn’t
obey, they simply reasoned away as not pertaining to themselves. The sad thing is that they had
reasoned away God’s law and God’s law said righteousness. How do
you treat your fellow man? It’s crucial. Ohm’s giving this mercy gifts
wasn’t supposed to be from our surplus. That’s what
he was challenging the Pharisees to right there. It wasn’t supposed
to be out of our surplus. It’s not supposed to be what
we could spare. And that’s why he says, sell
what you have and give. We should turn to an interesting
passage of Scripture. Turn to Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two, we see the
pattern advance there. In Acts chapter two, the church
had just newly been formed. And as is so often the case,
there is where we see the real enthusiasm, the heart of ministry.
In Acts 2, look at verse 44. And all those who had believed
were coming together. They wanted to be with one another.
Like-minded believers. Flipping. And they had all the
same thing in common. Wait a minute, my version says
all things. That’s what it’s supposed to
read. It is all things. You know, some people have taken
this passage wrongly so and twisted it to be a text for communism. They said that what we’re supposed
to do as Christians is bring everything, everything we have,
bring it in, mix it up and distribute it evenly. It isn’t a tech for
communism. It was never intended to be that
way. But from their heart, people’s hearts wanted to be magnanimous
and generous and giving. And it was as it were. They had
all things in common. What’s mine is yours. Amen. We say that, don’t we? That when
it comes to our tools, right? When we say that sometimes, we’ll
open our house and say, what’s mine is yours. And when they
put their feet on our coffee table, right? What’s mine is
yours. But when they reach in and they
grab the last Hanson’s, you know, they were together and they had
all things in common. What’s mine is yours. What’s
yours is mine. And they began selling their
property, verse 45, and possessions and were sharing with them all
as anyone might. What a great place this was.
What a great place. The early church, the enthusiasm
there turned to chapter four. It didn’t stop. It didn’t stop
there. Look at verse 32 of chapter four. The congregation of those who
believed were of one heart and soul. Wouldn’t you want to go
to this church? A church where there was no quibbling
and squabbling. One heart and soul. They had
one purpose, one goal. They functioned as one. They
were a unit. The congregation who believed
were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that
anything belonging to him was his own. What a radical thing. We carve our names on everything.
We even have a tool, you know, they sell a tool nowadays where
you can carve it, where you can’t even read it with the naked eye.
You carve your name and everything, everything that we think is ours.
They didn’t have anything. Nothing that they wanted to lay
claim to because they knew ultimately everything had come from God’s
hand. that all things were common property
to them. And with great power, the apostles
were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord. And
abundant grace was upon them all.” Maybe that’s what we lack.
Maybe we lack a magnanimous heart, a giving heart. It’s every man
for himself, right? The saddest thing I can hear
of is when I hear somebody’s engaged in a project and left
me out. Because that’s fellowship time,
right? That’s fellowship time. Verse 34, there was not a needy
person among them. For all who are owners of land
or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of this. You
know what? It begins to almost read repetitiously. We just went
through this, didn’t we? Just in Acts chapter two, too.
We just went through this. Yeah. It was habit. All who were owners of land or
houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and
lay them at the apostles feet, and they would be distributed
to each as any had need. Then it gives us a couple of
illustrations of that. Joseph. Joseph did it, a Levite
of Cyprian birth, who was called Barnabas by the apostles, means
the son of encouragement. And look what this encouraging
man did. He owned a tract of land. He
sold it, brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.
He didn’t have anything else to sell, not after that land.
He gave what was his or what he thought was his. And the story
is well known what happens from there. It wasn’t issues as a
dictate. It wasn’t mandatory that everybody,
OK, everybody, now you all need to go sell your land. Ananias and Sapphira played games
with God. They played games with the church.
They pretended to do what had never been commanded them. But the early church was magnanimous. They were generous in their being.
They faithfully honored God’s words here. And they eventually
found themselves in need. You know, the Jerusalem church
is what the epistles often refer to as being a great need, great
famine. And you know what happened to
them in God’s good graciousness? Other churches ministered to
them. That’s what 2 Corinthians chapter 8 is all about. 1 Corinthians
9. When it speaks of the Philippians being these generous givers,
that’s who he’s talking about. Greed, said one person, is the
most exacting of all vices. It is never off guard and it
never relaxes its hold. Sights which would make even
the hardened sinner compassionate for a brief space make the miser
draw his purse strings tighter. The claims not only of relations
and friends and country, but even of honor and comfort and
health are disregarded when money is at stake. Is that true with
you? How and to whom are you ministering? And it isn’t just a seasonal
thing. And that’s the danger. How tight is your grip? How tight
has your grip been? How great is your faith in God’s
ability to minister to you in your moment of need? Because
that’s usually the issue. There’s a second feature of this
eternal transaction. Our transaction in the First
National Bank of Paris is seen not only in the steps to the
train, the train’s loosening our grip. But secondly, in the
security of the transaction, where exactly are we putting
this deposit? Look further on there in verse
thirty three, make yourselves be belts which do not wear out
an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes nor moth
destroys. The money belt that he speaks
of, we’ve already seen it. He told the apostles when they
were sent out, remember, on their initial mission, he told them,
don’t even take a money belt with you. He wanted them to know. On whom they were dependent,
he wanted them to know who was going to feed them. He wanted
them to trust God. Here he uses the illustration
a bit differently. Make yourselves money belts which
do not wear out. They were made of cloth. Sometimes
ends up like But there was no Kevlar in that day. There was
no tough skin. What they point, what Jesus called
them to is a is a wallet, if you will, that isn’t going to
wear out. What kind of wallet is that? It’s a wallet, essentially,
that is in heaven. That’s where your treasure is
going to be stored. That’s where you’re going to
keep it. Treasure in heaven. Matthew records
another occasion. Jesus mentioned this little illustration. Treasure in heaven. Matthew chapter
10, verse 41, he said he who receives a prophet in the name
of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. In other words, there
he’s talking about practical hospitality. He who receives
a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive
a right man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a
disciple gives to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold
water to drink. Truly, I say to you, he shall
not lose his reward. Shouldn’t that be the I mean,
even doesn’t this manners even tell us that that’s basic manners
when somebody comes into your house, you ask them something
to drink. Jesus says that’s basic, and when you do, you will have
treasure, you will have a reward. God puts a premium on practical
righteousness, as we’ll see even more in a moment. But at the
end of this, he mentions this unfailing treasure in heaven
where neither thief nor moth destroys. It’s a regular feature
in Christ’s teaching. They hadn’t invented mothballs
and cedar closets and all those other things back then, because
it seems to have been a grave problem. I think I’ve told you
about my own moth experience. I went to the garage and I saw
what I had longed for for many years. The camel coat, right? Tan, made of wool. Walked out
of the garage sale looking sharp. Hung it up in the closet. It
was warm that summer to wear. By the time I went to get it
in the winter, not only had the camel coat been chewed up, but
everything that was wool in our closet. The moth is not dead. The moth is living and active
in our own day, not just in Jesus’ days. I said it was a regular
feature in the Gospels. Matthew 6, store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. Verse 20 and 21, where neither
moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal.
What Jesus is saying there, he’s not limiting it just to moths
and rust. He’s saying earthly things, physical
things are constantly going through a state of decay, right? They’re
constantly wearing away. What somebody called the second
law of thermodynamics. Everything is breaking down.
Everything is going to fall away and turn back to dust. He just happens to mention the
few things, things that are so visible to the eye. Moths and
rusts. What he basically says, though,
is that material possessions, they might look well made, they
might look long lasting, but they’re going. They’re subject
to decay in a whole lot of ways, aren’t they? Leave your bread on the counter
for a week and it becomes moldy, right? Your garments, your best,
best made garments, even the ones with polyester in them,
right? They wear out. Leave your field,
leave your garden for a season and see what happens to your
garden. Last year in my own house, I
had an occasion to replace a fence post. You see, the people that lived
there before me sunk a perfectly good cedar fence post into concrete,
the cardinal sin of fence building. Because it doesn’t allow the
moisture to evaporate from the cedar post. But you know what?
Even a cedar post, even if you just sink it in the ground, surrounded
by rocks like you’re supposed to, that cedar post one day is
going away. It will dwindle down to a toothpick.
Roofs leak. Termites come. Hurricanes come.
Tornadoes come. Freeze and thaw will crack your
driveway. Earthquakes, disease. Disease
will attack your gardens, your lawns, your trees. Thieves will
come in and steal. What we have to work around nowadays,
right, is accommodating the thieves. You basically make it, you put
the things that you know they’re going to steal so that they can
take it and leave the rest. One of the things that in the
paper that they sent us, if you have a fire, go and rifle through
your papers and leave your papers, the fire through your papers
and leave your papers. The fire safe is for fires, not
for thieves. Even a safe, they ended up just
carrying off the whole safe in one of my friends houses. Jesus says, you know what? All
of your things, they’re going to rust. They’re going to rust. They’re going to decay. They’re
going to evaporate before your very eyes. Jesus says it as a
promise. He will a threat. It’s a warning
to us. Don’t put your stock in these
earthly things because they’re going away. You know what the
Apostle James does? He looks back on a rich man’s
life. Listen to chapter five of James. James looks back on
the rich man’s life. Come now, you rich, weep and
howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches
have rotted. Your garments have become moth
eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted. And their rust will
be a witness against you. What he says there is your things
were hoarded to your own destruction. And it’s a witness against you
when you don’t put a premium, as God does, on practical righteousness. Ministering to others with your
bounties. These heavenly rewards, these
treasures are not earned by us. This is just an option for us
to be faithful with what God has given to us. And so the question
here, the question here is, what is your treasure? And where are
you storing it? Are you sure that it’s safe?
Are you absolutely positive that it’s in a place where nothing
and nobody can get to it? There’s only one place. First National Bank of Paradise. And there’s a third feature to
this eternal transaction, not only the steps to it, loosening
your grip, Not only in the security of the transaction, placing it
where nobody and nothing can touch it. But finally, the stimulus,
if you will, the purpose, the cause for the transaction, look
at verse 34. Where Jesus adds in just a silent,
a quiet little capstone to this passage, where you’re where you’re
is there will your heart be also. What a great passage that is.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The
reason why treasure is supposed to be in heaven is that God wants
our hearts focused on heaven as well, right? That’s why He
wants us to loosen our grip, ministering to others, because
in so doing, that’s where we’re putting our treasure. That’s
where our focus is. The passage reminds us of Colossians
3. If you’ve been raised up with
Christ, what a great question. If you’ve been raised up with
Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Is that our focus? Set your mind
on the things above, not on the things of the earth. You’ve died
and your life is hidden in Christ and God. What a beautiful quotation. He calls us to heavenly mindedness. One Puritan said it this way.
Jesus here states the reason why these exhortations, sell
and give, should be obeyed. Naturally, if a person’s real
treasure, his ultimate aim and all his striving is something
earthly, the acquisition of money, fame, popularity, prestige, power,
then his heart, the very center of his life is going to be completely
absorbed in that mundane object. All of his activities, including
even the spiritual, will be subservient to this one goal. Isn’t that
frightening? That your whole life gets absorbed
in pursuing that one bland thing. On the other hand, yet he says,
If out of sincere and humble gratitude to God, he has made
God’s kingdom, the joyful recognition of God’s sovereignty in his own
life. If he’s made that his treasure, then where his heart, then his
heart also will be. Remember, years ago, the four
spiritual laws tracked, right? I’m not here to So, you know,
it’s not that we can’t determine what people think of it or whether
it’s useful. But remember, in the back of the four spiritual
laws track, there was a little train, right? Remember what it
was? Fact, faith, feeling. A little image. They called us
to put the facts first, place our faith in the facts and then
the feelings will come. And in a sense, that’s exactly
the issue that you have here. Put your money there and your
heart will follow. Conversely, this can be used
as a test of our own hearts. Where is your money? Because
where your money is, that’s a good indicator of where your heart
is. That’s what you love. That’s where your trust is. That’s
who you trust. One pastor said it this way.
If a person’s real treasure, his ultimate aim and all his
striving is something pertaining to this earth, then his life will completely
be absorbed in that thing. It’s a sad truth. James 5 went
on. He started this way. Your riches
have rotted. Your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold
and your silver have rusted. Their rust will be a witness
against you and consume your flesh like fire. It is in these
last days you have stored up your treasure. Well, with that
kind of A rebuke. What kind of a treasure are you
going to have? What he says is it’s going to vanish before your
very eyes instantaneously. Just like that rich fool. This
very day, your soul is required of you. If it isn’t treasure
in heaven, it’s empty and void and worthless. A question for us this morning.
Are we so motivated? Is that where our heart is? is
ministering to other people and storing up treasure for eternity.
The real test is where is our money? Where’s our heart? If the Lord has moved your heart,
my wife has a few ideas on how we can minister this next few
weeks. But let’s not make it a Christmas
thing. Make it a start of something new. A new way of living. A new
way of releasing your grip and trusting in the Lord. Let’s pray. Gracious God, we’re humbled in
Your presence that You are so faithful and merciful to us.
To minister to us so powerfully and so abundantly in all that
You give. Father, help us to be faithful.
To let go and look up. To trust You. and serve others
for your glory in Jesus name. Amen.