Introduction:
The theme for today’s sermon is “set your hearts on things above”. Jesus, the perfect man, could only carry out His mission because He set His heart on things above. He is our example and according to the Scriptures He set His heart on the joy of being seated at the right hand of the throne of God when He endured the suffering and shame of the cross. (Heb. 12:1-2) Jesus focused on heaven and the joy that awaited Him instead of on the shame and the suffering of the cross. Unfortunately, many people today set their hearts on worldly goods rather than “set their hearts on things above”.
Step One: Focus on what Christ has done
a) Christ died to pay the penalty for sin.
To set our hearts on things above we must focus on what Christ has done. He died to pay the penalty for sin for in Adam “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death”. (Rom 6:23)
b) God died for our forgiveness
Christ died for our forgiveness. He bore the full judgement of God and “By grace we have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Eph. 2:8)
c) God died for our justification
Christ died for our justification, “Just-as-if-I” had never sinned. “As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men”. (Rom. 5:18) “Jesus was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our Justification.” (Rom. 4:25)
Illustration:
Christ took our place so that we can be forgiven, justified and identified with Him. When Christ died, we died and were buried with Him. We were made alive with Him by the Spirit of God, we rose from the dead with Him and are now seated with Him in the heavenly realms with His spiritual position and authority. According to the Preacher in Ecclesiastics any other thing apart from our spiritual position has no eternal value and are all vanity. In today’s parable, Jesus was interrupted while teaching on eternal issues with a request to resolve a family dispute over inheritance. This prompted Jesus to teach about the dangers of covetousness and the danger of placing one’s confidence in earthly riches rather than eternal treasures. In our materialistic society, what Jesus had to say is especially relevant today. For most people their main priority in life is to accumulate wealth. Money in itself is not bad. It is the love for money, in other words greed, which is so destructive. Greed simply wants more. It is having a desire that always keeps increasing and cannot be satisfied. The destructiveness of greed is evident all around us.
Application:
Life is not about possessions but about our relationship with God. It is not about material goods but about our commitment and faithfulness to Christ. What do we really value in life?
Step Two: Focus on Christ and His Words
a) Abide in God’s love
Our focus on what Christ has done will lead us to focus on Him and His word. His words are spirit and life and meditating on them leads to a transformed life. God is love and “Anyone who does not love does not know God”, (1John 4:8) “and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him”. (1 Jn. 4:16)
b) The promises of God
Set your hearts on things that are above is to think about and meditate on the promises of Christ. The Scriptures are filled with these promises and these promises take care of every aspect of our lives. Christ has promised to give us peace, joy, healing, and protection. He has promised to bless us and never leave us. No matter what we may be experiencing in life we can be assured of His promises because “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Num. 23:19)
c) The faithfulness of God
The Scriptures also teach that “The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one”. (2 Thess. 3:3) We need to accept the Word of God by faith and believe that the Lord is at work in our lives, protecting us and faithfully fulfilling all His promises.
Illustration:
The world would want us to believe that to be heavenly minded is to be of no earthly good but the truth is just the opposite. Abraham and Lot were both rich in this world’s goods, but whereas Abraham was heavenly minded, Lot was earthly minded. Abraham, although the elder and the one who had brought Lot along, gave Lot the first choice when the time came for them to separate. Lot, because he was earthly minded, chose the plain of Jordan because it was well watered everywhere. Abraham on the other hand, because he was heavenly minded, trusted God for his portion of the land. Lot eventually lost everything he owned teaching us that those who seek the things of this world end up empty handed, not only in this world, but also in the world to come. It is so sad to think about Lot but not realise that what happened to him is happening to many present-day believers who are not heavenly minded.
Application:
Life presents many problems but as believers we are not to meditate on those problems but on the promises of God. Focusing on the problem leads to unbelief whereas focusing our hearts on heavenly things leads to faith.
Step Three: Focus on our changed status
a) We have a godly nature
Our focus on Christ and His words will convince us that we have a godly nature. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”. (John 3:16) We have the life of Christ and He in us and we in Him.
b) We are righteous
We must be convinced that we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ, born without a sin nature and never sinned, was made sin with our sinfulness, past, present and future that we might be made righteous with His righteousness. “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:19)
c) We are God’s children
We are not only righteous but have become God’s beloved children and joint heirs with Christ.
Illustration:
The landowner in today’s parable was diligent but only concerned about his earthly goods and not about eternal things. He believed he was responsible for the harvest forgetting that he was not responsible for the rain, sunshine and the nutrients in the soil. He had nothing to do with the seed germinating, sprouting and multiplying. Yet, he viewed the harvest as the result of his own work and effort. He was not a fool because his fields produced a bumper crop and he planned to build bigger barns. He was a fool because his focus was worldly and directed by his greed instead of eternal and directed by his love. Like many today, the rich fool believed that life consists of what we own, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive and the houses we live in. They believe that the more they own, the happier they will be. God called the rich man a fool, and so is everyone who substitutes temporal treasures for eternal riches.
Application:
What appears most valuable in world, worldly goods, are of no eternal value when it is not used to further God’s purposes.
Conclusion:
Advertisers spend millions to entice us to think that the abundance of worldly goods will lead to more comfortable, happier, and fulfilled lives. What good are these things if we lose our souls. If we accumulate wealth only to enrich ourselves and satisfy our greed with no concern for heavenly things, we will enter eternity empty handed.
Personal Response:
No one can take money, cheques or credit cards with him to heaven but we can take with us the people whose lives we touched with our love and the gospel. Let us set our hearts on things above and be effective ministers of the grace of God to the praise and glory of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
