Cornerstone Church
October 6, 2013
“The Power of a New Affection”
Matthew 6:19-21
“Mrs. Bertha Adams was seventy-one years old when she died alone in West Palm Beach, Florida on Easter Sunday 1976. The Coroner’s report read, ‘Cause of Death…malnutrition.’ After wasting away to fifty pounds she could no longer stay alive. When the state authorities made their preliminary investigation of her home, they found a veritable ‘pigpen…the biggest mess you can imagine.’ One seasoned inspector declared he had never seen a dwelling in greater disarray.
Bertha had begged food at her neighbors’ door and had gotten what clothes she had from the Salvation Army. From all appearances she was a penniless recluse – a pitiful and forgotten widow. But such was not the case! Amid the jumble of her filthy, disheveled belongings were found two keys to safe-deposit boxes at two different local banks. The discovery was unbelievable.
* The first box contained over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus other valuable notes, bonds, and financial securities, not to mention cash amounting to $200,000.00.
* The second box had no certificates, just cash - $600,000.00 to be exact.
Bertha Adams was a millionaire and then some! Yet she died of starvation. Her case was even more tragic if she was destitute spiritually.”
Dr. R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, pg. 205
What was once considered rare is now trending and more mainstream.
Hoarding: Buried Alive on The Learning Channel and Discovery Health Channel take the audience behind the scenes to witness this phenomenon.
Houses filled with so much stuff those living there cannot even navigate their own home.
The worst case I saw was an individual who filled up their home and rented several homes and a commercial property to store their “Treasures.”
I use the word “Treasures” because it best describes their view of the stuff! When their family tries to help them along with people from the community or professional organizers they refuse to let these “treasures” go.
Please note I mean no disrespect. This is a serious problem.
* People save because of the memories associated with it.
* They save because it may be useful to them in the future.
* They save for a future day or because of some hobby.
What begins with good motives and intentions gets out of hand. The trap is sprung.
* The individual’s attachment to the material goods eventually drives a wedge between them and their family and loved ones.
* Parents risk losing custody of their minor age children.
* They often cut ties with their friends.
* Their home becomes a toxic environment affecting their physical health.
The bottom line is that the very treasures they seek to collect, store, and protect rot and disintegrate away before their eyes in the hands of the professional organizers.
Worthless Treasures bound for the landfill and dump!
Why would I talk about this subject on a Sunday morning (especially just after breakfast and before lunch)?
I am speaking on this subject because I believe the trap is sprung on the American Church!
Christians in America have become Spiritual Hoarders: Buried Alive with stuff and debt.
Our pursuit of “treasures” and the accumulation of stuff hinder our pursuit of God.
God is buried alive (pushed aside) by trinkets and treasures
Missionaries wait endlessly to go to Mission Fields waiting for support
Churches face more and more difficulty every year meeting financial costs.
The treasures we pursue, collect and protect are equally going to disintegrate before our eyes.
The treasures have a limited shelf - planet earth! Then they expire!
We have believed a lie and are cheating God!
The one with the most toys actually loses!
I’m sharing this message so that we might be set free!
I’m not sharing this because the church needs more money!
I’m sharing this so that you can begin to obey God and experience His joy and freedom in your life again or for the first time.
* Christians do not give because God needs money.
* Christians are not called to give because the church wants your money!
* Christians give because God asks us to obey Him in this area.
Everything we own is already His!
We are His!
He wants us to joyfully and generously give to Him as an act of worship!
We will remain stunted in our relationship with God missing His joy and pleasure if we do not learn to give!
The place of greatest blessing, joy and happiness is found in obeying God from the heart!
Points of Clarification:
* Wealth is not wrong – it is how we use it.
* Owning things is not wrong – it is the value we place on them.
* Earning a living and responsibly caring for our family and paying our bills is not wrong.
* Saving wisely for our future is not wrong.
* It is also understandable that there are times of hardship in all of our lives that test our obedience to give but we should still seek to give to Him.
Remember: Jesus was impressed with the Widow’s mite because it came from her heart.
Outline:
WHAT SHOULDN’T WE DO WITH TREASURES? – Matthew 6:19
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH TREASURES? – Matthew 6:20
WISDOM FOR LIFE ON EARTH – Matthew 6:21
WHAT SHOULDN’T WE DO WITH TREASURES?
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…”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…”
This is simple easy to understand advice!
Don’t do this!
* Don’t gather up!
* Don’t heap up!
* Don’t store up!
The word for “lay up” and “treasures” is where we get our word thesaurus (storehouse or treasury of words).
Treasures of the ancient world:
* Expensive finely woven clothes
* Grain stored in barns
* Coins
* Gems
Today we stockpile even more stuff. The cost is taking its toll on families.
PBS special “Affluenza – the modern day plague of materialism”
* “The average American shops six hours a week while spending forty minutes playing with their children.
* By age twenty, we’ve seen one million commercials.
* Recently, more Americans declared bankruptcy than graduated from college.
* In 90 percent of divorce cases, arguments about money play a prominent role”
Quoted by Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle, pg. 52
Here is the problem with stockpiling earthly treasures:
“…moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…”
Limited shelf life:
* Moths eat your garments
* Corrosion destroys your metal
* Worms, bugs, mice and rats eat your grain
* Thieves break in and steal (dig through the mud walls)
These treasures only have some value on earth.
Treasures, the currency of earth is like having Confederate Money after the Civil War was over! It was worthless.
You can’t take these treasures with you:
Job 1:21 NIV Job said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
“An old miser called his doctor, lawyer, and minister to his deathbed. ‘They say you can’t take it with you,’ the dying man said. ‘But I’m going to try. I have three envelopes with $30,000 cash in each one. I want each of you to take an envelope, and as they lower my casket, throw in the envelopes!’ Each man tossed in his envelope as requested.
* But on the way home the minister confessed, ‘I needed the money for the church, so I took out $10,000 and threw only $20,000 into the grave.
* The doctor said, ‘I too, must confess. I’m building a clinic. So I took $20,000 and threw in only $10,000.’
* The lawyer said, ‘Gentleman, I’m ashamed of you. I threw in a personal check for the full amount.’”
Dr. R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount, pg 207
George Bernard Shaw said this about the statistics on death:
“One out of one die”
Keys open up doors!
Keys are thoughts that can unlock understanding!
Randy Alcorn: Treasure Principle Keys:
“God owns everything: I’m His Money Manager”
“We are managers of the assets God has entrusted-not given-to us”
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH TREASURES?
Matthew 6:20 ESV
“…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
The language here is reversed! We are given just the opposite instructions.
We are counseled and commanded to lay up “treasures in heaven.”
We are to make deposits to our heavenly account!
* Nothing there dwindles, decays or can be stolen.
* Fluctuating markets don’t affect it!
* It is always a “Bull Market” in heaven!
Let’s camp here for a moment:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went
and sold all he had and bought that field.
Matt. 13:44 NIV
We are passing through this world like the man passing through the field.
Our citizenship is in heaven! Now that we are born again we are made for heaven and heaven is made for us!
* The individual found a hidden treasure!
* What does he do? He invests all he has in that field to have the hidden treasure!
This is why giving is important! It is why we are told to not store up treasure on earth but to store it up in heaven!
Your obedience to God through your giving is investing in the treasure that presently is hidden from us in heaven!
Your giving is the greatest possible investment and is more precious and valuable than any material item on earth except the souls of people.
* Giving money
* Giving time (to serve)
Your financial gift is an offering to God.
* It funds compassion ministries to the body, community, and world
Individuals with needs
Christian Assistance Network
R.E.S.T. Ministry to the Homeless
* It funds missionary outreach (locally and globally)
* It funds ministry to children, youth and adults where lives are being transformed
People saved
Marriages put back together
People set free from addictions and bad choices
* It funds the faithful proclamation of the Word of God and allows us a place to freely gather to worship and use our spiritual gifts to minister to one another.
“The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it…”
Psa. 24:1 NIV
Storing up treasures in heaven means now is the time to make a difference in the world. This has nothing to do with being so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good!
It is just the opposite! It means that today is the day to serve and give!
As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.
Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4 NIV
HOW DO WE START GIVING?
Some have tried this method!
A Priest, a Pastor and a Rabbi are discussing tithing. They draw a circle in chalk on the pavement below them.
* The Priest says: "We should take the money and throw it in the air, and whatever lands inside the circle, we give to God."
* The Pastor says: "No, we should throw the money in the air and whatever lands outside the circle we give to God."
* The Rabbi says: “No ,no, no. We’ll throw the money way up in the air; and whatever God wants, He keeps!”
Teaching on giving from the Word of God (1 Cor. 16:1-4):
THE NEED FOR GIVING IS UNIVERSAL
“Now about the collection for God’s people:
Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.”
1 Cor. 16:1 NIV
Paul did not single the Corinthians out. All believers are to give!
GIVING IS WORSHIP
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come
no collections will have to be made.
1 Cor. 16:2 NIV
The first day of the week was the Lord’s Day. It is the day when Christians assembled to worship. Justin Martyr who wrote in the Second Century stated, “Contributions were received on the Lord’s day.” (Apology I, 67.6)
On the day that believers are gathered for worship they should present their gift to God.
WHO SHOULD GIVE?
“…each one of you should set aside a sum of money
in keeping with his income, saving it up…”
Nobody seems exempt! If God has enabled you to earn some money then you ought to give a portion of it back to God.
* Remember, it is all His! This is true for all who earn money youth and adults.
* The widow gave her mite! (Mark 12:42)
* The Macedonians gave out of their poverty and hardship
2 Cor. 8:1-3 NIV And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own…”
HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU GIVE?
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money
The idea is systematic giving. Not spasmodic giving. He is not saying that those who are paid monthly or quarterly have to give every week.
HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU GIVE?
“in keeping with his income…”
The only time tithing is mentioned in the New Testament is when Jesus was talking to Jews who were practicing the Old Testament practice of tithing.
The New Testament talks about our giving being proportionate to the way the Lord has prospered the individual.
Luke 12:48 b ESV Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
If we stick to the strict 10% rule those less fortunate bear a heavier burden.
* If a person making $10,000.00 annually gives 10% = $1,000.00 they have $9,000.00 left with which to live.
* If a person making $100,000.00 annually gives 10% = $10,000.00 they still have $90,000.00 left with which to live.
Which made the greater sacrifice?
The Lord is interested in your heart attitude and whether you are giving according to that which He has entrusted you.
THEY CONTRIBUTED FREELY – NO COERCION
“…so that when I come no collections will have to be made.”
Americans are impulse buyers and impulse givers!
* Paul wants to avoid any emotional appeals so as to coerce money from them.
* This is why there is very little hype about giving at Cornerstone Church.
* Giving is part of being an obedient Christian.
One of the first transformations that takes place when someone becomes a believer is that Jesus becomes LORD of their pocket book!
* In our giving the Lord wants the cream off the top (First-fruits)!
* I do not see in the word of God the idea that we are to take care of everything that we want to do first and then give God the remaining scrapes.
THEIR GIFT WAS HANDLED WITH INTEGRITY
Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men
you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.
If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
1 Cor. 16:3-4 NIV
Let’s go back to the man who was seeking to invest all that he had to buy the field and to unearth the hidden treasure.
Did you catch his heart attitude?
“…in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
Matt. 13:44 NIV
This is not an emotional appeal to you today!
It is a logical appeal based on the reality of what God is asking of us and the future reality of our life in heaven!
The man sold all he had because he understood and knew that the treasure was worth more than all he gave up for it!
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
to gain that which he cannot lose.”
Jim Elliot
Have the right perspective:
In 1976 Apple Computer was cofounded by three men: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne who most have never heard of over the years.
Ronald Wayne sketched the first company Logo, wrote the first manual and wrote the original partnership agreement.
For this he became a 10% shareholder in Apple. Today with 940 million active shares consistently trading above $500 a share his 10% stake in the company would equal $47 Billion Dollars.
Sadly two weeks after the company was launched he sold his shares for $800.00!
Mark Batterson, “All In All”
Focus on the Eternal:
* If we hang tightly to the stuff of earth! Storing up treasures here and are not obedient to God we will make an even larger mistake than Ronald Wayne.
* Life on earth is promised to be 70 years (some die sooner and others later).
What is that next to eternity?
The investment made to store up treasures today in heaven will pay dividends for eternity!
Imagine after you get to the 1,000-year mark that is just like a day according to the LORD! Then the million-year mark, and another million and a million beyond that and it is never-ending.
Your life in heaven is tied to your investment made here on earth!
Is this begging to make sense?
* The time to invest in the eternal is today!
* When giving to God is not a priority you are really robbing yourself!
WISDOM FOR LIFE ON EARTH
Matthew 6:21 ESV
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Your heart is tied (linked) to what you treasure!
One of the first areas of transformation that takes place in the heart of someone who has trusted Christ as their Savior is their attitude toward giving.
This is “The Power of a New Affection!”
When Christ saves, redeems and transforms:
* Life is Different!
* Priorities are Different!
* Destination is Different!
* The woman with the Alabaster Jar of perfume that was her entire life savings and future retirement was poured out over Jesus’ feet out of adoration and love for Him.
* Matthew the tax collector used his resources to gather all his friends to hear about Jesus!
* The woman at the well told the whole city about Jesus
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Luke 19:8-10 NIV
Earth will look a lot like it did in the movie Wall-E cluttered with all of the junk left behind.
God’s eternal purpose and heaven should be trending in our hearts!
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:20-21 NIV
