Investing in Eternal Things
Matthew 6:19-21
Intro:
1. This morning I want to preach to you a sermon entitled: Investing in Eternal Things
To begin with this morning I want to ask you some questions:
1) Where are your thoughts?
2) What do you think about?
3) Are your thoughts on earth or on heaven?
4) Is your mind on earthly things or on the things of God?
5) What are you seeking for, the things of this earth of the things of heaven?
6) Where is your heart, focused on earth or focused on heaven?
It¡¦s interesting to note in this passage that Jesus is concerned about money, possessions, and material things.
And His big concern is that we guard ourselves against focusing our lives around houses, furnishings, cars, trucks, lands, buildings, stocks and bonds, and all the things that make up security and wealth on this earth.
And Jesus is going to tell us in this passage that nothing on this earth is secure.
Nothing on this earth is lasting.
Everything is aging.
Everything is decaying.
And Everything is wasting away.
All of it is corruptible and temporal
And what Jesus wants from everyone of us is for us to center our lives around Him and heaven, for that is the only thing that has eternal values.
2. Many of you have investments in the Stock Market We do that for our future retirement.
3. All of us know what has happened to the Stock Market this past year. It¡¦s been pretty devastating, but it also proves how volatile our financial security is.
ƒÞ The stock market is down pretty drastically from where it was.
ƒÞ Of course, a number of significant people who know about it, forecasted this would happen.
ƒÞ The money you and I have invested in the stock market is not worth as much as when we first invested our monies.
ƒÞ For the time being our investments are not worth as much.
ƒÞ Some people have lost great sums of money because of the downfall of the Stock market.
4. To make it real simple for all of us to understand is to ask the question what does the Stock Market and the church have in common?
Answer: They both have to do with investing.
In the stock market:
ƒÞ the game is to find a stock that you think will pay off in the future.
ƒÞ So you invest your monies hoping that it will reach the potential you think it will reach
ƒÞ And you make money on the deal.
In the Church:
ƒÞ In the church we are called to make investments.
ƒÞ Except in this case, we are called to make investments in something that is guaranteed a return.
ƒÞ There is no way the Stock Market can guarantee a return, but Jesus does.
5. Have you ever been to an auction following the death of someone when personal items are put up for sale?
ƒÞ It¡¦s a sad and sobering experience.
ƒÞ Especially if it¡¦s a parent and you go around and see the stuff that meant something to your parent.
ƒÞ I have a friend of mine who recently had an auction after his mother passed away.
ƒÞ He couldn¡¦t handle being there, so he asked a friend if he could be there in his place.
ƒÞ He took his family and went to Amish Country while the auction took place.
ƒÞ It was just too tough for him to be there.
6. Someone has made the statement popular that says,
¡§One man¡¦s junk is another¡¦s treasure.¡¨
ƒÞ And while this might be true, you can¡¦t help but observe that there is always a lot of junk that remains when the average person passes away.
ƒÞ Maybe you¡¦ve seen it, but they get to the place where they just throw things in a box and ask for a bid.
ƒÞ And most of the time you can buy the whole box for a dollar or two.
Illus.
1. My wife tells me that I have a lot of junk in my garage, in my shed and in my attic.
2. I didn¡¦t have enough room for all my junk, so I built me a shed and my shed isn¡¦t big enough.
3. I¡¦m trying to figure out how to make it bigger.
4. Now this junk isn¡¦t junk to me.
5. You know - its stuff that I¡¦m convinced I¡¦ll use someday.
6. So I keep it. I¡¦m convinced that I¡¦ll have use for it someday on that special occasion when all of a sudden, I¡¦ll say, ¡§You know Dru, I knew I would need that, I¡¦m glad I kept it. I¡¦m glad I didn¡¦t listen to you about throwing it away.¡¨
7. So the Big Question is - Am I living for Junk or Stuff?
8. Am I living for values that will last for Eternity?
Jesus said, ¡§Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust corrupts, and where thieves break through and steal.¡¨
9. Or the other question is - am I living for stuff that will burn eventually, stuff will decay or rust?
What Jesus is saying here is - you can do one of three things with your life:
#1 You can Waste it
#2 You can Spend it
#3 You can Invest it
But you say, Pastor, how can I waste it?
ƒÞ You waste your life by living for the moment.
ƒÞ That¡¦s what the devil will try to get you to do, because in the moment of tempta-tion, he knows you will be weak and if you don¡¦t have Jesus to help you, you give in to the moment.
ƒÞ You can waste it by living for wild partying.
ƒÞ Waste it by being on drugs and alcohol
ƒÞ Waste it by engaging in sinful sexual behavior outside of marriage.
ƒÞ You can waste your life by procras-tinating and throwing opportunities down the drain.
ƒÞ And you can waste your life by living in sin and for the devil
In contrast - Let me ask you this question -
How can you turn your life around?
With Jesus in your life, you can invest your life in:
ƒÞ Instead of trying to reach the top of whatever it is you¡¦re trying to reach.
ƒÞ Instead of running over people and using people to accomplish what you want, you can turn to Jesus and He¡¦ll help you to reach different goals that will last for eternity.
ƒÞ You can use your time and your talents to make a difference in people¡¦s lives.
ƒÞ You can invest in being a true friend and someone people can count on no matter what.
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:13 ¡§For you were called to freedom brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.¡¨
What is Jesus trying to teach us here at this point?
I. Jesus came to Save Us People for a
Heavenly life.
A. God created our bodies for this earth, but destined for a Heaven.
I Corinthians 15:35-41 (Turn and read with me)
¡§But someone will ask, ¡¥How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have? 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn¡¦t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting. 38 Then God gives it a new body - just the kind he wants it to have. A different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 And just as there are different kinds of seeds and plants, so also there are different kinds of flesh - whether of humans, animals, birds, or fish. 40 There are bodies in the heavens, and there are bodies on earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the beauty of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their beauty and brightness.¡¨
The Apostle Paul is dealing with the subject of a Resurrected Body.
Folks, listen to me, God, the heavenly creator gave us earthly bodies that is perfectly adapted to this old earth.
It¡¦s amazing to set back and study astronomy and see how awesome God is when He created every star different.
To see how every star is placed perfectly in the universe.
And how every star as Paul says, ¡§differs from star in splendor.¡¨
ƒÞ The Big Dipper
ƒÞ The little Dipper
ƒÞ The North Star
To see how God created animals and birds and fish and how that every one of them is adapted for their specific environment -
To see how God created the plants of the field to produce the fruit that is specific for them.
B. We¡¦ll have a New and Glorified Bodies when we get to Heaven.
And Paul says in his argument: v.42 ¡§So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; v.43 ¡§It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; v.44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.¡¨
Someday Brothers and Sisters, God is going to take these old earthly bodies that we have and translate them into a glorious spiritual body.
These spiritual and glorious bodies will be adapted to the heavenlies. PTL
I won¡¦t have to worry about diabetes any more.
You won¡¦t have to worry about hearts problems anymore.
You won¡¦t have to worry about fatty foods and carbs.
The Father God has given us
C. The Holy Spirit to help us to live with the values of eternity. II Corinthians 5:1-2
Let me read to you just a couple of verses, but you need to go home and read the whole chapter:
v.1 ¡§Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. V.2 ¡§Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.¡¨
A man can be snatched away from this earth as quickly as the twinkling of an eye.
Every for which he has worked hard on this earth can be gone immediately.
You can loose what you have and lose it quickly.
You can loose it financially.
You can loose it in an accident.
You can loose it through marital problems
By giving us the Holy Spirit, the Father God is giving us a present guarantee that we will experience the Resurrection of this old body someday.
By giving us the Holy Spirit, the Father God has given us the promise that we will live eternally in heaven.
Heavenly home will be built by His son Jesus.
John 14:2-3 ¡§In My Father¡¦s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare for you a place, and I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.¡¨
II. Jesus teaches us to live and work with
Heaven on our minds.
The words of this text do not give us a gimmick to take up an offering.
A. The Lord is seeking to enrich us
rather than to make us poor.
How many of you would believe that God is poor?
God is not a thief.
God is not a beggar sitting on the sidewalk asking us for our change.
Giving what we give to God does not make God rich.
B. God is interested in our highest possible good in the present as well as in the future.
What does that mean to you and me.
It means - while we have all this stuff we have - we ought to be praising God for it.
We thank Him daily for all He does for us.
He provides for us shelter and food and transportation and so much more.
But we as Christian believers live daily with our trust in Him.
We live daily with issues of life.
We live daily with things that have eternal values.
When we do that, we are going to be richer right now and richer when we get to heaven.
III. Jesus Wants us to be Rich with the Riches
that do not Perish.
A. Jesus our Lord gives us Excellent Finan-cial Advice and Spiritual Counsel.
When the Stock Market was crashing, I called my Invest-ment company.
I was nervous loosing. We preachers don¡¦t have a lot of money invested.
I asked the guy in Kansas City what to do.
And he asked, ¡§Are you in this thing for the long term?¡¨
And I said, ¡§What do you mean long term?¡¨
And he said, ¡§Until you retire.¡¨
And I said, ¡§That¡¦s in about 12 to 14 years.¡¨
And he said, ¡§Dan, sit tight and you¡¦ll see it come back up. ¡§hang on and don¡¦t get discouraged. Just give it time and it will bounce back.¡¨
Application:
1. Jesus tells us - it¡¦s not the gifts or money
2. But rather Jesus is concerned about the location of our heart.
3. Jesus says, ¡§Where your treasures are there your heart will be also.¡¨
B. It is Possible for you to live all of your life for Treasures that you think are so important that end up as Junk.
What am I talking about? What is it that becomes junk?
Junk is what is worn-out, broken, or worthless.
Listen folks, you cannot take earthly treasures with you into eternity.
As one man said, ¡§He has never seen a U-haul trailer on the rear of a Hurst.¡¨
Illustration:
Get a trash can
Put toys, small car, furniture, boat, coins, bill money, ring
Our home is the most valuable material asset we have in our lives right now.
But in the end, a house will have no value for us.
My wife and I have two trucks. They are necessary for us to get around where we want to go. But in the end, not a one of us will be able to take our vehicles with us through the strainer that people call death.
Illus.
1. I read several years ago about a man who loved his car.
2. It was a classic convertible Cadillac.
3. When he died, it was in his will for him to be buried in the Cadillac.
4. So they dug a big hole and buried him in his Cadillac.
5. Do you think that guy really felt he was going to go anywhere with his Classic Cadillac?
In our home we have furniture just like you do, but the day will come when furniture will be no more valuable than junk.
Some people enjoy boats. I thought at one time that I would like to have a boat.
Friend, you can¡¦t even take a silver coin with you to heaven. In the end the Bible says that it will burned up by fire.
A diamond ring is a beautiful and highly treasured
thing, but not even a diamond will pass from here to there.
And it won¡¦t be worth more than junk some day.
C. It is possible to live for Treasures that will last forever.
„« #1 - You can take your spiritual soul from death to an eternity in heaven.
The greatest possession you will ever own is your own soul.
And your greatest possession is your own spiritual welfare.
„« #2 - You can take your personal spiritual growth with you into heaven.
You do not have to remain as a baby spiritually.
With the indwelling fullness of the Holy Spirit you can grow through the Word of God.
You can grow and invest in your spiritual life so that when you get to heaven you will receive a reward.
„« #3 - You can take your memory with you to heaven.
In Luke chapter 16 we read about the memory of an unsaved man who found himself in the torment of hell¡¦s fire.
Listen, friend, if people can remember in hell the life they lived while they were here on the earth, you can be certain that we will be able to remember when we get to heaven what our life was all about while we lived here on earth.
„« #4 - You can take those whom you have witnessed to and won to Jesus with you to heaven.
You will receive a reward for being a soul-winner.
But these souls will be the richest treasures and your most prized valuables once you enter into eternity.
„« #5 - You can take to heaven the service that you rendered to God and rendered to others.
„« #6 - You can take to heaven the believers you discipled.
Conclusion:
1. What are you living for?
2. Are you living for earthly treasures that someday will have no more value than mere junk?
3. You see - we have a choice of living for true treasures and investments that will last forever.
4. Or we have a choice to invest in things that will be considered as worthless in the end.
5. The Bible says, ¡§What will it profit a person if they were to gain the whole world and lose their own soul?¡¨
6. I want you to understand this morning that the highest wisdom that any person can have is the wisdom of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
7. No other decision is as important as this to your life.
8. What are these Heavenly Riches?
ƒÞ a blameless life
ƒÞ becoming a true child of God
ƒÞ The forgiveness of sins
ƒÞ Wisdom
ƒÞ Understanding the will of God
ƒÞ An enormous inheritance that is Eternal
ƒÞ A Constant helper and Comforter in the Holy Spirit
ƒÞ And life that is abundant and overflowing.
9. While money, houses, cars, trucks and material things are important to us - THEY ARE NOT THE MAIN THING!
Jesus says in verse 24 ¡§No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.¡¨
Jesus says here in this portion of the sermon on the mount that if your money talks and says that you put it before God...well then you have a problem.
Because, ¡§You cannot serve both God and Money.¡¨
To try and do so would force us to hate one and love the other because their purposes are opposed to each other.
Dietrich Bonhoefer said, ¡§Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord.¡¨
So, Jesus is warning us here that Money can become a lord in our lives....a force that disrupts our relationship with God and leads us away from accomplishing His purposes.
By the way, did you know that in Ghana the only way to ask the question, ¡§What is your religion?¡¨ is to ask, ¡§Whom do you serve?¡¨
Well, why don¡¦t we each ask ourselves¡Xor rather our bank books¡Xthat question this morning....
Whom do I serve?
For that is the question Jesus puts before us in this text from Matthew 6 .
He asks it because He wants us to understand that we must make a choice.
We can serve God, or we can serve money.
We cannot serve both. Jesus doesn¡¦t tell us it¡¦s unwise to serve both.
He doesn¡¦t tell us it¡¦s difficult to serve both.
He doesn¡¦t tell us it¡¦s spiritually immature to try to serve both.
He tells us it¡¦s impossible to serve both.
So - We must make a choice.
THE THINGS WE INVEST IN HEAVEN WILL BE RICHES THAT WILL LAST FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.
THIEVES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BREAK INTO HEAVEN.
THINGS WE INVEST IN HEAVEN WILL NOT RUST OR DECAY.
I leave you will Three Thoughts:
1) Christ does not stop a anyone from seeking treasures. He simply guides the person to real treasure.
2) A man must leave all to follow Christ or else he cannot be the Lord¡¦s disciple.
3) Christ says a man is to lay up treasures in heaven for himself, not lay up treasures on earth for his family.
