“Financing for Peace” (Kingdom Cash VS the US Dollar)
(Let me start by saying that you do not buy your way into Heaven. But what you spend your money and your resources on certainly indicates where your heart is: in the world, or with God in Heaven.)
How many here obey God’s command to observe the Sabbath and take one day off every week?
What’s your favorite way to relax on that day off? I know Ric likes to go fishing. Alma, she likes to go to Costco on her days off… Keith, he enjoys golfing every now and then…
But how many of you, on your day of rest and relaxation love to get out all the paperwork and do your bills? Don’t you find it refreshing to pull out the credit card bills and the bank statements, and balance that checkbook on your day off? Of course not!
Money: finances are not typically a source of peace or relaxation for us, are they? They may be the means to an end of relaxation, but money itself, and the managing of our money does not bring us peace.
Earlier on in life, most of us assume the more money we have, the more peaceful our lives will be, but when we wise up, we begin to realize that money is not a source of peace. The more you have, the more you tend to worry.
I used to live part of my life day-trading stocks on the Internet… I would get up at 6:30 every morning, fire up the computer and the television, flip the channel to CNBC and stare at the ticker on my particular stocks… Every few seconds that ticker would go up or down, one or two pennies at a time and every penny was a $20 bill on a small 2,000 share trade. 7 cents was my target profit. Just 7 cents of profit was $140 a day. You can make a living on that. There were a few days when I made three or four thousands dollars. Sometimes I lost that much in one day. But no matter how well I did, I was always up the next morning, staring at the ticker and worrying about my money again.
Even in the evenings when the stock market closed, I was still worried about how the market would open the next day: higher or lower. I’d be up till 1:30 in the morning, watching the futures to see what the market conditions might be like in the morning. Now, I made money, but I have to admit that it was a particularly stressful time in my life.
No matter how well I did, the money I gained from trading stocks was never a source of peace for me.
Wealth does not bring people peace, as we think it will, even when it multiplies rapidly…
It only brings more stress.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a sure thing deal: a perfect investment with no downside: a perfectly safe place to invest, where no one ever lost a penny?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could invest our money with total peace of mind?
In the Bible, God gives us a way to do that: a way to invest with total peace… And it starts with Him. It begins with a whole new way of thinking: a new way of how we see our money: God’s way.
In the Bible, God tells us, “You cannot serve both God and money.” It’s either one or the other.
"No servant can serve two masters. [Go try and work for Coca-Cola and Pepsi at the same time and see it they let you…] Either he will hate the one [Coke] and love the other [Pepsi], or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Luke 16:13
You can’t serve both God and money, but you can serve God with your money.
That’s the whole purpose of the riches and the wealth God gives us: that we might serve Him…
? How do we invest and manage our finances in peace? By serving God with our resources.
I: Start seeing money as God does: as an investment tool for Him, not just you.
He doesn’t want us ashamed of the fact that we’re blessed, or that we have money. Nowhere in the Bible are Christians called to live in poverty… But He does want us to realize the purpose and the reason why we are blessed. We’re blessed because we are God’s children… But the purpose for the blessings is that we might earn a return on our investments (God is a businessman too): not the simple multiplication and reproduction of a dollar bill, but of something far more valuable: something, which outweighs and outlasts the dollar with eternal proportions. I’m talking about Kingdom Cash: the treasures we store up in Heaven by the things we do while we’re here on earth.
When we begin to see money the way God does, we begin to invest the way God desires, and the benefits for investing in the Kingdom of God are twofold: temporal and eternal return on investment.
I’m not just talking financially: I’m talking spiritually too.
ROLL VIDEO: “Money: The World’s Narcotic” 5:27 (from sermonspice.com)
Giving money to God is truly the only safe place to invest it.
I can give it to the stock market and they’ll be glad to take it from me: that’s a common occurrence called profit taking. There’s no guarantee I won’t loose everything I invest there.
I can give it to the cable company and they’ll use it to program my family to believe premarital sex is ok. There’s no return on that money.
I can give it to the Ford Motor Company so I can enjoy a better ride to work… But my truck is still susceptible to accidental loss… Besides that, cars are just money pits: you never get out what you put in to your car.
Although some are necessary, none of those investments will bring me peace like investing my money in God’s Kingdom. Matt 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 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.”
Storing treasure in Heaven: I: Begins when I recognize: everything I have, I received from God. Serving God with your money requires a departure from your current system of values.
II: It means I invest my money obediently. Instead of seeing my money as mine, I begin to see it as His. I begin to invest it obediently, the way He asks me to, as a good steward of what He’s given to me, and my life and resources begin to change as a result of that trust and obedience. I allow God’s supernatural provision to prosper my life according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13) when I place my finances in His trustworthy hands.
III: It means I honor God with the tithe. The tithe is more than just giving money to the church. It’s trust in God, acknowledging Him as your provider. It’s love for brother. It’s keeping this hospital for sick souls open so people can be healed and saved, it’s for the edification and building up of your brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s a solid investment in the Kingdom of God… It’s financing for peace.
IV: Storing treasure in Heaven means seeking God’s direction for how I invest.
The only truly safe place I can invest my money, where moth and rust do not destroy is in Heaven, in the hands of God. Putting our money to use for God is the only investment that brings us peace: a sense of unity and oneness with God. Money doesn’t buy us peace, but how we invest our money gives us peace. Investing money God’s way gives us peace…
? How do I invest God’s way? You begin by revolutionizing the way you think about money and by being obedient to Him in the area of your finances.
Jesus was in the region of Judea across the Jordan, making His way to Jerusalem when He ran into a rich man… Rather, the rich man ran into Him… The man literally ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees before Him. He was a dissatisfied man: rich, but lacking something important: tormented with the impending question that ran through his mind again and again and again, like a pounding heartbeat…
How do I get to Heaven? “What must I do to be saved?” Eternity tormented this man. It weighed upon his mind. He was a wise man to think hard about his future.
He said, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
There must have been some void this rich man’s life to make him that insecure about his life after death, and he was wise to take his question to Jesus.
Like so many good men and women in the world, he just wanted to know the way to Heaven.
He had inherited all the worldly wealth that was supposed to make him happy, but still eternal life eluded him, and so did his peace…
What must I do to inherit this most precious gift that brings true peace?
Jesus replied, "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-- except God alone.”
“You know the commandments: ’Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
He said, “Be obedient!” “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” I John 5:3-4
First: Obedience.
(He was obedient) "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
“Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
He had all the worldly wealth that he needed, but he was Heavenly bankrupt.
What had he done all this time, with the money that God had given him? How is it that, with all the resources he had on earth, yet he had no treasure in Heaven?
The cost of following Jesus would be very great… But even if the rich man were to give everythying he had in the world, was the cost too high for eternal life? If you were stripped of everything: if God demanded all from you, would it bee too high a cost for eternal life?
The young man’s question was simple: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus’ reply? “Learn to invest in eternal life. Figure out what’s most important.”
Jesus started by turning the man’s value system right side up… What’s worth more, the temporary gain, or the eternal gain? Which one has the lasting benefits? Where is the most sound investment? In the eternal things.
? Is it worth everything you have worldly to inherit everything Christ has Heavenly?
Do you have the vision to see the value of Heaven and the depth of eternity?
If you do, then how much is Heaven worth to obtain?
First, learn the value of eternity, then forsake everything to obtain it!
Jesus told the story of The Pearl of Great Price… Matt 13:45-46, “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
ROLL the video: “Everything for 1.” (from sermonspice.com)
The merchant man knew this one pearl was more valuable than anything else, so he sold everything to obtain it… All for one! The Kingdom of Heaven is that Pearl of Great Price!
Unfortunately, too many of us are so busy running after temporary gains: out to obtain all the player cards and all the while, giving up the most important one: salvation.
So busy running after the US dollar that we forget our eternal retirement.
There’s a pearl of great price that outnumbers everything of value in our lives. He defines love and new life. He is the Pearl of Great Price: He’s Jesus Christ. The wise man knows, if anything stands between himself and that pearl of great price, then it has to go. That’s why Jesus said to the rich man, "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Because the man’s riches stood between himself and his salvation. He lost sight of what was truly of value. His eye for money blinded his eyes of faith.
What’s it worth to you: this salvation that comes through Jesus Christ?
“Is he asking me to sell everything and give it to the poor?”
If He thought it stood between you and Heaven, He probably would… But I know He is telling us this:
Eternal life is worth forsaking everything you consider valuable here on earth.
Learn the value of your soul. Then come follow me. Then you will have treasure in Heaven and your heart will be evidenced to be in the right place.
All of us here today are (in a way) like the rich man… We’re all consumed by our wealth to some degree. Us Americans are wealthy people. Unfortunately, what wealth tends to do is take our eyes and our faith away from God…
We begin to trust in the mighty dollar instead of The Might God who gives it. And as we grow in wealth, we surround ourselves with things and begin to isolate ourselves from everyone else in our community. We forget to do good things for our brothers, we neglect our place in eternity and forget to build our treasure in Heaven. The end result is spiritual blindness, weakness & bankruptcy.
Titus 3:8, “This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.”
You see, knowledge and obedience were not enough to earn the rich man entry into the Kingdom of Heaven… First he had to learn the value of a human soul and evidence it through his living.
From the day Adam and Eve took the apple, they fixed their eyes on what they could have in their hands and lost sight of what could be had in eternity. The moment their desire shifted to all they earthly wanted, they lost sight of all their Heavenly value. Don’t fall into the same trap!
Let Jesus revolutionize your value system and turn it right side up.
In order to obtain salvation, the rich man would have to forsake his riches and worldly wealth.
What was lacking in this man’s life that he could gain by loosing it all? Peace with God: Salvation.
How much is that worth to you?
(I’m not telling you to sell your house and give it to the church. I’m telling you to start investing wisely)
Store up your wealth in Heaven, then you will follow Christ there. That’s where your heart will be.
If there is to be a likeness of Christ in us, then we must forsake the former: that which is less glorious, in order to receive the greater: that which is more glorious and long lasting.
For, “Wise is the man who forsakes the things he cannot hold onto forever for the things which he can have forever.” He is the man of great faith!
Jesus laid it all down: all His vast riches in Heaven. Why?
He saw the lasting effect it would have on you.
He did it so He might return to a great Heaven: a place adorned and decorated with the people He loves and cherishes: who shared His vision and followed Him in His redemptive work. His faith and great hope were in a place where we could live together with Him forever, restored and reconciled in relationship.
He is the Lord of Reconciliation… His desire is to mend broken relationships and bring new life where there was once death – at whatever cost. He considered the value of your soul, and it outweighed the limitless beauty and riches of Heaven. He only asks that we forsake our endless pursuit of worldly wealth and follow Him.
Forsake the chasing after wealth. Learn the value of a soul. If you want treasure in Heaven, you begin by building wealth in a lasting Kingdom… “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
By faith, I can see God’s Glory in Heaven. By faith, I can see His brilliant aura radiating from the throne, I can feel the brush of angels wings and hear them singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy…”
To be involved in that ministry: to be invited into that house, to be adopted into that family, present forever with my Savior Christ is my heart’s deepest longing. The question is: How much is it worth?
How much is it worth? Is worth your all for the one?
Then start investing in God’s Kingdom. Yours may crumble, but His is from everlasting to everlasting.
Is it possible for you to give the costliest of your gifts, to go through the darkest of your days, that you might be called to as a disciple of Christ and depend upon Him to repay you in Heaven?
? Is there really a treasure there worth everything we have here? If so, then give all to obtain it!
We give from what we have according to our faith in that eternal treasure… You cannot have salvation at your own price. You have it at the cost of Christ. He sets the cost. He holds the keys of death, hell and the grave, He looks deep into the hearts of men and determines if your name is written in the Book of Eternal Life.
When He examines your heart on that final day, what will He find?
When the fires of righteousness burn away all the wood, hay and stubble in your life: all the temporary gain and the worldly wealth, what will be found of lasting value? I pray He’ll find the gold, the silver and the fine stones of eternal value in your Heavenly treasure.
CHALLENGE: Learn what true value really is…
Practice investing in the eternal and see if God doesn’t open up the floodgates of Heaven into your life: eternal life…
