Failsafe Investing Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• At some point most of us will consider taking some of the money that we have today and investing it so that it will grow for tomorrow.

• There are inherent risks when we decide to invest our money. We could easily lose all or part of our investment.

• Will Rogers was quoted as saying that he was more interested in the return OF his money than the return ON his money.

• There are many factors that go into deciding to put your money in a particular investment, but when it is all said and done, the main thing we are looking for is best return on our investment.

• Not many of us would take our money and intentionally put it into an investment that would guarantee we would lose our money. If an investment agent told us he had a hot tip on a mutual fund he would guarantee we would not get a penny of our money back. How many of us would jump on that “hot tip”?

• Even with the perils that can come with investing, a wise person will invest for the future.

• Our lives are somewhat the same. We are investing the life we have now so we can have something wonderful in the future.

• Today we are going to consider how we should invest our lives.

• Are you investing your life in a failsafe investment?

• We are going to examine some principles that will help us to be wise investors.

• SLIDE #2

SERMON

Wise investors will:

I. EXAMINE THE OPTIONS (19-21)

• If you are going to invest in the right place, you need to examine your options.

• Let’s look at verse 19 for our first option.

• SLIDE #3

• Matthew 6:19 ( ESV ) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

• SLIDE #4

A. Investing your life in the world

• The first investment option that is mentioned is investing into the world.

• This is an option that our investment broker Jesus encourages us not to make.

• In verse 19 Jesus is telling His listeners to STOP making this kind of investment with their lives. When Jesus says “do not” He is telling them to stop making that investment now.

• When we make investments with our money, we want to put our money in something that is going to give us a good return, we should want to do the same thing with our lives.

• We have money and we can make more money, but we have only been given one life to live and we want to make sure that we make the most of the gift that we have been given.

• Jesus demonstrates that these earthly possessions offer no security, since they are subject to elements bringing about their destruction and loss:

• Lay up and treasures come from the same basic Greek term, which is also the source of our English thesaurus, a treasury of words. A literal translation of this phrase would therefore be, “do not treasure up treasures for yourselves.”

• Jesus says that treasures stored up on earth are subject to being eaten away by moths. When we think of treasures, we think of gold, silver and money, but in Jesus day clothing was a great sign of wealth.

• The wealthy would flaunt their wealth by what they wore. They would have gold threat sewn into their clothing. Most of the fine clothing made in Jesus day was made of wool which moths loved to eat. Even the wealthy had a hard time protecting their clothing from insects.

• Jesus tells us that if we put our investment into the world that our investment is subject to rust. The word we translate “rust” denotes anything that would eat away at something, or corrode it.

• In Jesus’ day, there were no banks like we have today so some would bury their money in the ground (remember the parable of the talents) and if it was left long enough it could have been lost to the elements.

• Jesus also says that if we put or investment into the world it will be subject to being stolen. In Jesus’ day houses had dirt, mud or rock walls in which thieves could dig through to steal from you if they wanted to.

• The basic message of Jesus concerning storing up our treasures on earth is that they will not last.

• Are you investing your life into the world? When you invest in the world, you cannot take that investment with you.

• Jesus gives us another investment option.

• SLIDE #5