Thank you. Lord, we want this hour before us to be profitable, and I pray that you would make it so. Pray for the harvest of souls there in Lebanon, those Syrian refugees. I pray, Lord, have mercy upon them. Have mercy upon us, upon the city of Austin. Remember us, Lord. We plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we ask In the name of him who shed his blood for us Father we plead the name of your son remember us for his sake Amen So I figured I'd take the opportunity of being here in Austin to bring you some sermons in the three weeks I'm going to be with you concerning some very foundational matters. Matters that I guess I felt impressed with. You have to recognize, I and 11 others, we basically did what you're doing. We came out of a church, and we started a small church plant. And it basically grew to where it is now. And we planted this church. How many years has it been? How many years has it been, Arnie? It was in 2012. 2013. May 2013. May 2013. So it's a number of years. So we've walked the same path that you're walking. And we're walking that same path. We're just a little bit ahead of you, as far as the timeline goes. And I started thinking, back when we started, what were some of the foundational things? And I thought, oh. Those are some of the things that I want to stress in the three weeks that I have with you. Take that opportunity to just stress some of those. Prayer. We dealt with that in the first hour. I just can't. I can never overemphasize the necessity of a church that's desperate to have God work. I don't know how many of you came from religious backgrounds. I did. I came from nominal Catholicism. I hope you're not content with dead religion. You all remember converted Catholic priest Richard Bennett? He was here in Austin. Anybody ever meet him? Nobody met him. And he was right here. This guy was an Irish priest, and he trained Not only in Ireland, he trained in Rome, and of all things. You know when it occurred to him that maybe Catholicism wasn't right? He was at Mardi Gras with priests and nuns sitting in a strip club getting drunk with all these Catholic folk, and it occurred to him this might not be the right way. And he was wonderfully converted. And we had him down to San Antonio, and I remember he talked about leaving a certain Reformed church, and I asked him why. And he said, brother, I had enough of dead religion and Catholicism. And I'm not saying all Reformed churches are dead. I'm just saying, That ought to be our desire. God, help us. We only get to live one time. Last thing you want is dead religion, even if it's got the mantle of reformed or evangelical or Calvinistic or whatever title you want to put on it. Names don't matter. One of those churches in Asia Minor had a name that it was alive, but it was dead. It had a reputation of being alive. But the reality is Jesus looked at it The last thing we want is dead religion. Even if we're Bible toters and we've got dead religion, we don't want it. Prayer is such a measure of the life of a church. Now I'm going to get into something else that's very sensitive. We support a missionary that used to be in China for about 25 years, and some of you know his name. He told me one time that I was over there in China, and I was talking to him, and we were talking about this conference that he was going to be preaching, or certain messages he intended to preach back in the United States. And he said, well, there were just a few messages that he hadn't really dealt with strongly to the Reformed Baptist community. And he said, they tend to be the most sensitive things. And he said, one of them is you touched reformed people on their wallets. He said, you can punch them in the stomach, you can slap them in the head, you can kick them in the shin, and they won't budge. But you touch them on their wallet, and suddenly they come to life, they recoil. Well, I want to touch you there. And you know what? It's easy for me. If I'm standing before our own people, I typically preach on money once a year. And obviously, preachers preaching on money can be a bad deal. But listen, our Lord had a lot to say about it. And in my estimation, the classic text is the one that we find in the Sermon on the Mount. Now brother, you were preaching through this, or you are? You finished it. How long ago? About five months ago. So you probably dealt with laying out up for yourselves treasures here you put what year and a half ago two years ago So those of you that heard it hear it again, please let's let's go there Matthew chapter 6 Our Lord says this Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up, here's the opposite, don't lay up treasures here on earth, moth, rust, thief, Rather, here's the opposite. Now, that's important because I'm going to show you another passage in a second, and I'm going to show you the opposite. The first part's the same. The second part has just a twist of a different flavor to it. So keep this in mind. Here's the opposite. You don't lay up treasure here. You lay up treasure in heaven. Now, look, we need to take this by faith. You and I have the ability to put treasure in heaven ahead of us. We have the ability to right now be gathering up a stockpile. That's what he says. Now you can say, well, that sounds carnal to me. Look, I don't know what heaven there looks like, but I'll guarantee you this. Jesus calls it treasure. And he, better than anybody else, knows the true value of things. And I don't know what it looks like. I don't know if it comes in the form of coin, or dwelling place, or simply being drawn into His glory, and knowing... I don't know what it is. I guarantee it's got to do with Christ. It's got to do with the Father. It's got to do with being swallowed up into all that eternal a way of unimaginable glory. But here's the deal. Jesus doesn't say you store up treasure just simply by doing nothing. There's a way you do it. And it's obvious. It's the opposite of storing up treasure here, which means the very things that you would use to store up treasure here, you can rather take them and you can put treasure ahead of you in glory. That's what He's teaching. You can't get away from that reality. And what he's saying is, you know, it's not really wise to store it up here. Because the thing is, it gets wings and flies away. Or something with wings flies over and eats it. See, the problem with everything here is you're going to lose it. So it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to stockpile it here. All you kids will do is fight over it when you're dead. You ever seen people fight over inheritances? Oh, they get ugly. Rather, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure, this is a heart matter, where your treasure is, your heart will be there. If you're storing it up, how do you get it there? Well, you get it there by doing the things with it that have to do with setting the kingdom first, which text follows after this. Right? I mean, how do you seek first the kingdom with your money? Well, you support the things that He wants you to support. True and undefiled religion before the Lord is what? Visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction. Have you ever read 1 Corinthians 9? It says, don't muzzle the ox. Don't muzzle Tawfiq. Can you imagine Tawfiq with a muzzle on? Take it off of him. That's how you store up treasure there. What other ways? The needy, the lost or needy, Missionaries are needy. People need the gospel. There's needy people. We're surrounded by needs. And the primary needs are spiritual needs. They're not physical needs. The eye. Okay, now this is a very interesting passage. Because it's almost like we're moving off subject. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy whole bowl, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. And then he goes back. No one can serve two masters. For either will hate the one, love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The truth is, he didn't detour. What's the eye? Again, he's not talking physical realities here. He's talking spiritual realities. What does the eye do? Not rocket science. It sees. It perceives. So when you start talking spiritually speaking about perception, it's got to do with the mind. It's got to do with the way you process things, the way you perceive things. If the look, if the way you perceive your paycheck is, ah, I can get that brand new toy that I want. You see what's happening? There's a way you perceive things, whereas if you perceive riches as Ah, we can help Trevor. We can help Kevin. We can help Dan. We can help Vesk. We can help Andy. We can help Paul. We can help these people. We can help Tawfiq. We can help the poor. We can help get the Gospel where it's not. You see, it's all got to do with how you perceive. And Jesus is saying this, if your way of perceiving is bad, then you're just full of dark. You're full of darkness. And I'll tell you this, this thing with money and God, you can't serve both. We're not talking just about, oh, you know, this guy came from San Antonio and he came here to twist our arms and give more money into that little box right there. Listen, this has to do with big things. This has to do with where your heart is, because where your treasure is, your heart will be there. This has to do with your perception, how you see things, whether there's darkness in you. This has to do with even whether you're in the kingdom or not. Because, listen, you can't serve God and money. You can't do both. You can't serve God in mammon. It doesn't work. And what is money? Money is paper or coinage that you can pull out of your pocket. It might be a number that's in a checkbook ledger. But what is it? What is it really? You don't love money. Oh, the love of money is the root of... But nobody loves money just because of money. If my money wasn't worth anything, then nobody loves it. The only reason that anybody loves it is because they don't really love it. Because it by itself is just a pile of paper. Even if it's gold, you can't eat it. It doesn't make you warm. It doesn't clothe you. I mean, even gold and silver, all its value is is for what you can get for it. And you know what it does? It gets you things here. It gets you things man makes, or at man's disposal. That's what money is all about. And you can't serve that and God. It's got to do with who you're actually serving. Verse 25, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food? And you know one thing about our Lord? He really loves rhetorical questions. But let's answer these. Is your body, is your life... Listen to this. Don't be anxious about your life. He says, is not life more than food? Is it? Is life more than food? How is life more than food? I mean, I would just say just from, is anybody content just to have food? In fact, Jesus said something about it. What did he say? About bread alone? Man doesn't live by bread alone. In fact, he's putting a preeminence on the Word of God. Is not life more than food? The body more than clothing? Well, the obvious answer is yes. He expects us to answer that way. Yes, it is. I mean, we were looking yesterday at just the intimacy with Christ. Listen, I'll tell you this. If anybody's ever tasted Christ, and then they look at food, which is better? One is a whole lot better than the other one. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Here's another rhetorical question. Of course we are. Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to the span of his life? All the anxiety, all the worry in the world can't make you live a minute longer. The Lord knows when we're going to die. Look, we have an appointed hour. And you can be healthy. You can lift weights and drop dead. You cannot make this thing last long. You can worry. You can worry. People worry, and they worry, and they worry, and they eat right, and they exercise right. And still, all these people, yes, I have my smoothie back there at The Cottmanelles house, I brought it with me. It's this batch of real high-potency superfoods. But you know what? You guys are going to listen. You're going to hear, like, I don't know if it's going to be five years or 10. Oh, the pastor in San Antonio died. Oh, but we thought he ate the smoothies or drank them. Sometimes you do have to eat them. They're that consistency. But I'm going to die. And you're going to die. And we're going to die. You see what Jesus is saying? Why do we lay up treasure here? Because we're anxious about what's coming. You know what it is? We want to live tomorrow a certain way. And if I don't have a stockpile, I can't guarantee it. Who wants to go to a nursing home? You want to go to a nursing home? Are you going to put your daddy in a nursing home when he gets old? See, but your dad might not trust you. So you know what he's going to do? He's going to go out and he wants money in his IRA. I don't know. My kids. People often think when their children are little and cute like that, oh, they'd never put me in a nursing home. We don't want to go in a nursing home. You want to be old, destitute, decrepit, and not have money for... See, this is what we imagine. Oh, no. I don't want to live there. I don't want to have to do this. I don't want to be... And Jesus knows that. He knows that is the temptation. And you know what He says? Pagans the Gentiles concern themselves with all those things You know what, you know, you know as you get around people that are getting older. It's like lost people I'm talking about that's like all they talk about it's like Oh, what are we gonna eat next? And oh my this is wrong. And that's I need my medicine and it's just Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of his life, why are you anxious? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil or spin. And I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive, tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? Oh, you look a little faith. Therefore, do not be anxious. saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. Your heavenly father knows that you need them all. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these, all these things. This is a promise. These things will be added unto you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Now here's the thing. Let's take verse 19 and 20 just at face value. Those of us who have been Christians for any amount of... Anybody a Christian here that's never read these verses before? Verses 19 and 20. Don't lay up treasure here, lay up treasure in heaven. Any Christian here never heard those verses? No, you all have. We're familiar with this. My fear is not that you haven't heard these verses. You know what my fear is? Is we become desensitized to these verses. That's the bigger issue. And here's the thing. You know our Lord, he said things. He says, yes, we know he said things. But no, he said things like this. Unless you hate your mother and father, you cannot be one of my disciples. Okay, what do you do with that? What do you do with that statement? You see, we almost become programmed to tone down our Lord's words. Ah, well that's hyperbole. See, that's exaggeration. And so, what happens is we get to where You cannot actually always start looking for the way out. You look for the exception. You look for the excuse. Well, certainly that doesn't mean fill in the blank. And see, you know what happens to a lot of these really hard things the Lord says, these really dogmatic statements? We become so accustomed, so artful, so lawyer-like in our defense that we manage to put up the shield and not let it touch us. I don't touch me. You see, what I don't want is anybody walk out that door and it's like, you were able to dodge this. See, this comes from, this isn't me, this is Christ. We say, crown Him with many crowns. It says, crown Him Lord of all. You know what He said in Luke 6? Why do you call me Lord? Not do the things I say. You see, if He walked with you through your life, through your checkbook, through your finances, through your property, through your possessions, through your wealth, is He going to look at you and say, why would you sing, crown Him Lord of all, when you don't? You call me Lord, Lord. You sing the song. But you don't do what I say. And oh, by the way, you know what he goes on to say then? That one who hears His words and doesn't do them, he says, I'll show you who that's like. That's like the guy, the flood's coming, his house, it has no foundation. And when that flood hits that house, it's gone and great is the fall of it. Versus the one who hears and does. You know what our Lord expects? We're not master. He is. And He may have come in his weakness. You know, he's talking to people. Why do you call me Lord, Lord? And you don't do what I say. Well, if you looked at him, you're a Jewish carpenter. I mean, look at this guy. He's got a pathetic bunch of fishermen following this guy around. But he is Lord. And you know what? Today, he's not here standing in all of his glory. He's speaking through me. But his words lose... I mean, look, just because words come through an ambassador doesn't mean that those words don't come with the same authority. He's saying, Christian, my servant, my Lord. That means I tell you what to do. You know what? We're pilgrims, but we're more than pilgrims. We're stewards. You ever read the parable? He came, he bestowed five talents on this guy, and two talents on this guy, and one talent on this guy. And you know what he said? He's like this man who goes away on a long journey. And he said, you guys trade with those things. You use them. And it says that guy with five talents, he went out immediately and he began to trade with them. The other guy buried it. You know how you bury what the Lord has given to you? You just put it in possessions. You don't use it. You know what he said? He delivered his possessions to them. He delivered his goods. He delivered what was his. You know what a steward is? A steward is a person that's been entrusted with that which belongs to another and in the end he is to give an account to the one who entrusted it to him. Do you recognize Judgment Day? You're going to be called to account for every single penny you've been given, for every bit of wealth you've been given, for everything that you have, for all your abilities, for all that you have been bestowed with, you're going to be called to account. You know what the world thinks? The world thinks, I own this. This is mine. I remember, my dad mocked me when I first got saved. And I told him, I gave money at my church. He said, that pastor is laughing all the way to the bank. He just mocked. And he and my aunt, my dad and his sister were there. And I said, my possessions aren't mine. I have to do with them what he wants me to do. My aunt said, my possessions are mine. My aunt's dead. She didn't take a penny of it with her. It's not hers. You see, the thing about that which isn't yours is it can be taken away anytime. That's what moth and rust and thief is all about. And if you've got eyes to see, there's also a proverb that says, you set your eyes on it, it gets wings and it flies away. Death itself is the wake up call. You can't take it. And I'll tell you this, that guy in Luke 12 that was the rich fool, You know what made him so foolish? Well, yes, he wasn't rich towards God, but death caught him and he had all his goods. You know who a fool is? A fool is a person who lets death catch them and they still have everything. That is a fool. That is a fool because the Lord is saying, put it on a head, he'll store it up here. You have the ability to get these moneybags in glory. Don't dodge this. Don't try to avoid this. Don't try to not let the weight of this fall upon you. Lay up. Lay up. That's the word. Don't lay up. This is the exact word that's also used in Luke 12. Turn over to Luke 12 because I want you to see this passage too. Now look, Luke 12, you have basically much of the same teaching. I recognize it comes across a little bit differently, but just look. This rich man, verse 16, Luke 12, 16, he told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully. He thought to himself, what shall I do? I have nowhere to store my crops. He said, I'll do this. I'll tear down my barns, build larger ones, and I'm going to store all my grain and my goods. See, that's laying up treasure here. You can do it in a 401k. You can do it in an IRA. You can do it in wealth. You can do it in land. You just lay up things here. You can have some priceless statue or some plates from grandmother, or you can collect antiques, or you can have a car way beyond. You know what? If you can drive a 2002 Yukon with 250,000 miles, and it's going to get you where you're going, and it gets you there fairly well. It doesn't leave your wife and children abandoned on the side of the road. But you choose rather to go out and buy a Mercedes, and you didn't need it. You know what you just did? You did a really foolish thing. For one thing, you drive it off the lot. If you bought that thing brand new, you drove it off the lot. It just depreciated in value like 50% or 80%. And you know what? You're driving a vehicle you don't need. When you could have drove that Yukon and you could have taken all the rest of that money and you could have supported missionaries and sent that on ahead of you. That's really foolish that people would do that. That's really foolish that Christians would do that. It's just totally unbelief. It's not really believing what our Lord is saying. Do you really believe that there's heaven ahead of you? That heaven is something you're going to enter as a Christian? And that you want to be received there, having amassed as much as possible? Listen, Jesus doesn't say, well, that's selfish and that's wrong. He doesn't say that. He says, no, I am Lord and I'm telling you that's exactly what you need to be doing with your stuff. Now listen to this. He stores it up. He lays it up. He says, I'm going to say to my soul, this is a real issue. So you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. God said to him, fool, this night, your soul is required of you, the things you prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up. Now, here's our text. This text captures Matthew 6, 19, it's the same truth. So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. Now, he said to his disciples, before I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor your body, what you will put on. That all sounds very familiar, right? That Sermon on the Mount, chapter six, life is more than food, the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens, they need their sown to reap, They have neither storehouse nor barn. I mean, you go through this, it's the same stuff. Consider the lilies, consider the grass, all the way through this. But here's the difference. Over there in Matthew, the opposite of laying up treasure here is laying up treasure in heaven. Notice what the opposite is here. Verse 33, sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. You know what the difference in this text is? That if you've already laid up too much here, or maybe you got saved and you had stuff laid up, maybe you've received an inheritance. You know what he's saying? Sell your possessions. And I would just say this. Look, if you call him Lord, and you say, crown him Lord of all. It's so easy to sing. Oh yes, we went to church today. We sang, crown him Lord of all. Is he really Lord? Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say? I would just ask you, who is selling their stuff, rather than amassing more stuff? Who's doing this? You see the issue here? Don't lay up for yourselves treasure here, lay up treasure there. And if you already have too much laid up here, sell it and give to the needy. Who are the needy? Orphan, widow, men in the ministry, missionaries. Who's more needy than the lost who sit in darkness? Send somebody to them, go to them. You see, this is this is moneybags. You like that? Is that the Lord talking? That's not Benny Hinn talking. That's not these health, wealth prospects. This is the Lord talking. And this is incentive. Not to be like these shysters who, you know, have mansions and jets here. They're laying up here. They're the fools. Death is going to take them. This fool let death take him. And he had all this stuff. Don't be that guy. Like, listen to this. You know this man. This is Piper speaking. John Piper says, thank you, John Wesley, for your practicing what you preached about money. He is famous for saying, this is a quote of Wesley, Having first, gained all you can. Secondly, saved all you can, then give all you can. In 1731, he began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. In the first year, his income was 30 pounds. He found he could live on 28 pounds, so he gave away two. Second year, his income doubled, but he held his expenses even, so he had 32 pounds to give away. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. He gave away 62 pounds. In his long life, John Wesley's income advanced to as high as 1,400 pounds in a year. But he rarely let his expenses rise over 30. This so baffled the English tax commissioners that they investigated him in 1776. The IRS came after him. They were insisting that for a man of his income, he must have silver dishes that he was not paying excise tax on. He wrote them, I have two silver spoons at London. I have two silver spoons at Bristol. This is all the plate I have at present. And I shall not buy any more while so many around me need bread. When he died in 1791 at the age of 87, the only money mentioned in his will were the coins to be found in his pockets and dresser. Most of the 30,000 pounds he earned in his life had been given away. He wrote, I cannot help leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me. In other words, I'm keeping those till I die. There's no time I'm partying with them. But he said, in every other respect, My own hands will be my executors. You see what he's saying? An executor of an estate is the person who gives it where it needs to go. He says, uh-uh, uh-uh, that's not happening after my death. Except for my books and the few coins I have, my own hands are going to see that my wealth is distributed to the needy. And that's what he did. You see, this is what Jesus told us to do. God help us. Oftentimes reformed guys look down on John Wesley. I'll tell you, I have heard so many good things about Wesley. Any one of us would be glad to, I'm sure, have the treasure in heaven. That guy has. Brethren. The stuff we store up here is prone to thief. and moth, and rust, and termite, and ant, and rot, and financial collapse. Here's the thing. Last Sunday was our financial meeting at Grace. So I preached this message. But I thought, I didn't just preach this because it's fresh. I'm bringing it here because I think it's needful here as well. On Wednesday, after our financial meeting, we caught wind that a certain missionary in a certain place had $22,000 debt. And some young lady in the church was really willing to be sacrificial. And she said, could we pay his whole debt? And I said, your example really encouraged So I took it before the church on Wednesday and I said brethren I Said if we take up a collection tonight, I said you put $22,000 in that box back there. I said The moth can't get it. You just you just set it on out out of the reach of the moth We had about between $1,000 and $2,000 stolen out of the box during our school co-op on Thursday. The thief got it before we got it to the missionary. I don't think the people who gave that cash, and the reason we know is we took inventory in the box, and I was thinking nothing else is happening before Sunday, and so we left that cash in there. That young lady gave $1,000 in cash The thief got it. That's what happens here. And Jesus says, don't do that. Now I think every one of those people that gave cash that got stolen, their reward is still there. Their heart was in the right place. I didn't even want them to know. Hopefully they won't find out. Don't tell them. But brethren, you know, the thing is this, we want things to be a certain way because we're anxious about tomorrow. The Lord knows exactly why. Because we're thinking, how am I going to pay the bills tomorrow? How am I going to eat tomorrow? And you know what the thing is? We want a certain standard of life. We want our lifestyle a certain way. And that's what, did you hear the Lord? Don't be anxious about tomorrow. You see, what the Lord wants you to do is take your wealth and meet present needs without stockpiling it for tomorrow's needs. I know people will say, you know, I'm just not being a good provider for my family. Look, I'm not. Sell your possessions. You see, we start finding all the exceptions. Well, does that mean I have to go sell my Even my 2002 Yukon, does that mean I need to sell my house? Does that mean I need to sell my shirts? I mean, what do I need? Look, I'll tell you this. Do we need to take care of our families? Yes. We're worse than infidels. We're worse than unbelievers if we don't take care of our family. But the thing is, Americans, Americans. All you have to do, travel to Haiti, travel around the world. go places, you'll find out Americans are wealthy beyond measure. And we typically think we need to live in houses better than what we really need to live in and drive vehicles better than what we really need to be driving and wear clothes. The thing is, we have so many pairs of shoes and so many jackets and all of this, and this money could be used. I mean, the thing is, if we tapped the resources just in the evangelical Christian community, all these resources that are put into reserve. You say, well, what's going to happen when I get old? Well, that's what Jesus is saying. Don't be anxious about that. I am going to see to it that my father takes care of. Well, it's the father who sees to it that we're taking care of. But what we need to recognize is this. We are not the owners and we are not the Lord. And you can't keep that stuff anyway. If you can't keep it, why be a fool and die with it when you could amass money bags in glory? And I guarantee, whatever that is, it's good. He says this to a thief on a cross that didn't have a whole lot of time to amass very much, but he said, you're going to be with me in paradise. I don't know how paradise sounds to you, that sounds really good. And it's paradise. It's true paradise. This is where we're headed. Oh, no, what am I going to do when I get old? Look, I'm moving towards that. I'm at that age where you start looking ahead and realizing I'm not going to work my whole life. You see, when you're younger, you're 10 years younger than me or 20 years younger than me. It's like you're working and there's this influx of money and maybe the future you don't think a whole lot about. But when you start getting towards that point where, oh, I'm going to work for my whole life, who knows health problems or whatever, You see, this is where the Lord's speaking. The Gentiles worry about that. We don't walk by sight. We walk by faith in promises like this. That's the reality. The worldly man thinks that all he has is his own. He thinks he owns it. But the Christian says, no. The Christian says, I'm not the owner. I recognize. I'm the steward. He is the master. He came. He distributed his goods to me. I've got to answer for them. You need to look at your stuff that way. This shirt is not mine. We talk that way. We get so used to talking that way. This is mine. And when the thief steals it or the moth eats it, oh, look what they did! The fire ants! I think it was... no, it was a little silver fish. You know what those guys are? They like to eat the bindings out of books, but they also ate my suit. Thankfully, I had only one suit. If I had five suits, then I'd have five suits with holes. Like, how dare those things? They crawl in there. But see, that's the thing. I can't keep those things. You know those little silver fish? You know the Lord guides every one of them. He guides that moth. He guides that rust. He guides those termites. He guides that thief. I have to recognize this, that thief that put their hand in our box. I mean, it's the Lord guides the hand of the thief. The Lord brings about financial collapse. And in the end, this stuff doesn't really belong to me. I may say that's my suit. Those things ate. But it's not my suit. It was the Lord's suit. None of this is mine. It's all on loan. And it's all for the sake... Remember, the one guy, he went and traded immediately with the five pounds and made five more pounds. He said, that's what it's given to you for. And so when the Lord comes, he says, look, Lord, here's your five plus five more. Well done. Good and faithful servant. That's what it is to be good and faithful. You cannot look if you look down the aisle at somebody else and you know, you make twice as much as them. Rich people in this world. Well, they like to think they're high and they're mighty and they're in control. Rich people talk roughly to poor people. That's what the proverb says. Why? Because they have power. They think they have status. They they have buying power, undoubtedly. And they look at their things like it's mine. Don't don't. All it takes is one heart attack and it's you lost it all. I mean, all it takes is one turn in the market, and you just lost half your wealth. That happens to rich people all the time. You're Christians. See, Christians, you know the thing about the lost man? His eyes only go to the death. This life is everything. He doesn't want to think. I remember one time when I worked as an engineer, sitting next to a guy in the lunchroom. This is a cafeteria that can hold about 500 people. A lot of people worked at this place. This cafeteria was full. This guy was lost. I was sitting next to him. I said, Steve, you realize in 100 years, all the people in this room will be dead. He said, I try not to think about things like that. Well, exactly. They don't. They don't think beyond. But as Christians, what are we going to be? Are we going to be like the pagan? Are we going to be like the Gentile, where we don't think about those things? You see, Jesus is saying, think about those things. Think about the moment that heart attack takes you, that cancer finally drives you over the edge, that car accident. Think about the moment you step in. Luke 16, He says, look, you know what you want to do with your money? You want a reception there. And you want to use it now. so that you receive a reception there. You want to use it now so that there's money bags there. You want to use it now so that there's treasure in heaven. You want to use it? That day's coming. Do you really have faith for it? Or is faith more wrapped up in tomorrow, next year, when retirement comes? Let your faith lay hold on the reality of heaven. Let your faith lay hold on the promises of Christ and what He's saying here. He's saying, don't be anxious. If you are my servant and you are seeking first the kingdom, I give you my promise. You're not going to lack those things you need. Do you believe that? And I tell you, It's like my 10th grade geometry teacher said, the proof is in the pudding. You can say whatever you want to say. And see, that's what Jesus is dealing with. Why do you call me Lord, Lord? And you don't do the things I say. People say things all the time. Lord, Lord, crown him Lord of all. Yes, we say it. And he says this. You want to crown me Lord of all? You want to regard me as Lord, Lord? Then here, hear this. Lord tell you this you can't serve God in money Liquidate your possessions all those you don't need oh But I got those plates from grandma sentimental value I Bought that leather chair over there. It's got dust on it because nobody ever sits on it, but it matches that leather sofa I Had to have that the corner was empty I That's how we think why'd you buy that well because it matches that It's not ours It's not ours we have to hear the Lord I am Lord I Saved you I shed my blood for you. You're not your own and I've given you Possessions and they belong to me Here's what I want you to do with them Don't muzzle the ox. I want you to take good care of Tawfiq. You need to set your eyes on the horizons. Oh, I know there's a fool that sets his eyes on the ends of the earth. That's no fool who sets his eyes on the nations because he has a desire to carry forth that great commission that Christ has given the church. Set your eyes in places like Haiti. Set your eyes. I don't know whether you guys ever think about Lebanon or China or Indonesia. I know you've got all these cards here. But you know what? These cards and the Joshua Project, you know what? That's just facts and faces. You know what you need? Maybe you're already doing this. So I'm not making a judgment. I don't know. But you want more than just ambiguous facts and faces. You want to start supporting people that you really know that you can send people over to. You can have them in your church. You can share burdens. You can be earnest in prayer. You can follow their lives, follow their ministries. Widows and orphans. That is a chief thing, especially in your own midst. You want to look for the poor. And I'd start with your pastor and his wife. But if you've got people, whether it's health issues, remember this. As much as you did it to one of the least of these, my little ones, you did it to me. As much as possible, you need to seek to do good to all men, but especially to the household of faith. I'll tell you this, you know what the promises of God say? If you feed the hungry, you bring the homeless poor into your home. This is Isaiah 58. The Lord says this, you will cry out, you will call upon him and he will say, here I am. You want to have prayer meetings where you cry out and the Lord says here I am? Give your money lavishly to the needy. One of the reasons we support the missionaries we support, is because they're involved in the kind of ministries... Listen, what did Jesus say? I was hungry, you fed me. I was thirsty, you gave me to drink. I was homeless, you took me in. I was naked, you clothed me. I was sick, you visited me. I was in prison. You know these passages. Brethren, listen to me. Judgment day, when you have to stand before Him, Jesus is not concerned, I own John Owen. I listen to John Piper's sermons. Yeah, you know what you're saying? I heard. But you remember that foolish man who built his house on the sand. He heard and he didn't do. On Judgment Day, Jesus isn't saying, I'm going to look at what books you had on your shelf. I'm not saying these things don't matter. He doesn't say, did you homeschool your kids or not? You know what he says? I was homeless and you took me in. You see, you have to use your possessions if you're going to cover the costs of others. If you're going to really visit the orphan and the widow and their affliction, visiting just doesn't mean like visit grandma at Thanksgiving. Visiting means you tend to their needs. And you know what? There are people who don't want to see the needs. I'd say this, travel with this family right here to Haiti. Look, open your eyes and look. You may already be. I mean, I know through these, you're opening your eyes. You're trying to see things. I've been to India. I've smelled the smells. I've seen the poverty. But the poverty, that thing about idols, It's wicked. It's satanic. There's an evil over there, and these people are in bondage. And they just have their little three-score in ten, and they're gone. Eternity. And the vast majority of these people, they've never even heard Christ. You talk about poor, you talk about destitute, blind, naked, Spiritually speaking, it says sell your possessions and give to the needy. Try. You know what I found? No matter how small we were as a church, if we wanted to help needy people in faraway places like India or China, Mexico, God will open doors. Did you hear that? With regards, I think it was a church at Philadelphia, he says, I open doors that nobody can shut. If you want to take your possessions and you want to take them to go meet needs, God will throw doors open before you. Demons can't shut. Men can't shut. Communist governments can't shut. He'll make a way for you. You'll go. Brethren, lay up for yourselves treasure. And you think about it. It's like, OK, if I came to your house, And I just said, do you really need that? Okay, your inclination is going to be to defend yourself. But it's crazy. It's crazy. Think about this. Think about how we try to dodge and maneuver a passage like this. Don't lay up treasure here. Immediately we want to get defensive. Why? Why? I mean, isn't that odd? When Jesus is saying, why don't you have treasure forever? No, I want grandma's plates Wait, did you just not hear me? I want you to have treasure forever What are you why are you gonna hold on to those you can go sell those on eBay and You could you could help Trevor get out of the $22,000 debt that he's in Why would you not do that? You say I don't want treasure in heaven You but you're not gonna see that because you do but let your actions prove it do you really believe all this Is there faith at work? This is so odd that any Christian would even slightly Resist to embrace this you think we'd all run out want to be like John Wesley in a moment I mean isn't the Christians want to justify why they bought that thing or why they store up for retirement, why they need that thing. I mean, here's the question. What's wrong with this? What's wrong with this statement? What's wrong with our Lord wanting this? What do we find wrong about what the Lord's saying here? Why would we ever resist? Why would anybody want to resist this? Here's the rich young ruler. You know the story well. Mark's account specifically says this. It says, you know, he ran up, he fell down before the Lord. It's like, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life? What am I lacking? Mark, you know what Jesus said. He said, all these things I've kept from my youth up. It says Jesus looking at him loved him. I love Mark's account on that. He loved him. And he says, you lack one thing. What Luke 12 tells us all to do, go sell your possessions and have money bags, this is what he told him. He said, sell all that you have, give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. Listen to the next verse. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful. And it says, for he had great possessions. You see, what's wrong here? What could possibly be wrong with having treasure in heaven? What's wrong with that? Why the hesitation? Why? Why would you possibly connect disheartened and sorrowful with treasure in heaven? What's what gives here? Why the reluctance? You see, the thing is, we might have thought that this rich guy would have left for joy. Why? Great possessions, liquidated all, great treasure in heaven. Hallelujah. Why would anybody be disheartened and sorrowful? You know why. We all know why. And here's why. Nobody. It was Kobe Bryant a week ago. Whoever it is, do you want to die and having followed the Lord, meet Him in glory to hear well done, good and faithful servant and to have Him say, look at the treasure you have amassed. Does anybody not want that? Nobody's going to say so. Nobody will say they don't want that. Nobody wants to enter glory and be found naked forevermore and bankrupt. Nobody wants that. So what gives? Why sorrow? Why disheartened? For the same reason that any of you would be if you felt disheartened or sorrowful based on these words. Or defensive, ready to justify yourself because of what you have. You've got two computers, or you've got so many of this, or you've got cars you don't need, or you've got this, You remember what happened in that early church? They had lands they didn't need. They sold those lands. They bought proceeds and they put them at the feet of the apostles. That's what the early church did. You had people like the Macedonians. They were poor and there was affliction. And yet it produced such generosity. What gives? You know what the issue is. Imagine. This is the starting point. of a line. And that line, you can see it. It runs across here. It goes through that wall. And it goes to Bastrop. And it goes forever. You see it. It's a line. The starting point is here. And it goes forever. That timeline is the one we're all on. Right here is now. We're gonna exist forever every one of us it goes on forever Now you think about that timeline This much of the line Is here and now It's like if you go this far down the line like here is where we die this is now this is where we die When you're in eternity this long 50% you know there are people who've been in glory now for 30 years They live 30 years before that Do you know what happens when you get to Bastrop on that line This little piece back here starts becoming absolutely insignificant when you get to the moon into the Sun and and out of our galaxy, this little piece right here isn't even like a grain of sand. You know why people hoard and don't sell and lay up treasure here? They only do it for this. Just for that. It's the only reason they do it. It's because in this little piece of the timeline, what's going to happen if You see, that's where the anxiety comes in. What if? What if? What if? What if I sell everything, and then I get old, and I'm destitute, and I have to live in the poorest nursing home, and I don't have anything, and I get sick, and I don't have health insurance, and I'm abandoned? What if that happens? It's the time between now and death that controls us. And you know that's true. And it's such a small thing. And Jesus is saying, if you've got this treasure in heaven, never grows old. No thief and no moth can follow that. And you have it forever. It's truly yours. What's here isn't yours because it's taken away. That's the surest proof something isn't yours. It can be taken away from you. But what's yours for eternity? Never will you lose it. How foolish to die with your stuff. How foolish to store it up here. Disheartened, sorrowful. I mean, listen, what's the rest? Listen, I'm 54 years old. My dad got cancer and died when he was 59. How much longer do I have left? I mean, I've got five years left if I live as long as my dad. My father-in-law is 92. Even if I lived to be as old as him, I don't even have 40 years left. And these 54 have gone by like that. These children here. What do you think? 100 years? Any of us left? No. Maybe. I had a great-grandmother that lived to be 106. Maybe. But you're not here in 100 years. You're not here in 100 years. You're older than us. Are you six? How old are you? Eight! See, if you lived to be as old as my grandmother, you don't even have 100 years. You have 98. And then we're gone. We're all gone. It happens so fast. I want us all to consider this timeline. We're on it. And brethren, you know, if you have eyes to see and you look out there, we support these people that are helping the poorest of the poor all over Asia, in Thailand, in Nepal, in India, in China, They help the needy. They help the poor. You have Trevor, he's over there. He's helping the needy Papuans. There's different, there are very worthy ministries all around the world, and they're pleading for help. They often are overextended. You say, this missionary got $22,000 in debt? Yeah, you know how? 10 grand that Samaritan Ministries hasn't paid him yet, but they plan to. I'm not knocking Samaritan Ministries there. From what? Tropical diseases that he got from mosquitoes. The other 12 grand, helping people. We had a missionary over in the Middle East and he was $34,000 in debt. And you know what it had to do with? It had to do with helping Muslims in their poverty. With their medical needs. He couldn't say no. And I'll tell you what that compassion is doing. It's opening the door for the Gospel. And they have a church over there in the Middle East with 16 converts, where two years ago, three years ago, there was no church at all. And what money does is it provides medical help and food and clothing and Bibles, and it helps support the way for missionaries to go in. Brethren, It says, don't be anxious. Don't be anxious about what? What happens in that little, you know, that's what he's talking about. Don't be anxious about what? Food, clothing, where do we need that? Right there. It's this little thing. He's saying, don't be anxious. Why? Because your heavenly father loves you and he knows what you need. You see, this is the thing. I'm never going to get old and be abandoned. Why? Because he promises me I won't. He promises me that if I've helped the needy, that when I call, he's going to say, here I am. He's given me all manner of promises. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap. They don't gather into barns. Yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Or he says this, don't be anxious saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? The Gentiles seek after these things. Your heavenly father knows that you need them all. Brethren, I'm 54. I was just recently talking to a pastor. He was telling me he began to invest in IRAs. I said, when? He said, when I was about your age. See, something happens at my age. You start to recognize, hmm, I may not be in the ministry my whole life. He began to invest in IRAs. I don't have any IRAs, but I did the numbers quickly. You can start a 2019 IRA up until April 15 of this year. So I could do this. I could open two IRAs, one for me, one for my wife, for 2019. I could put $7,000 in each of them. And I could continue to do that for the next 15 years until I'm 70 years old. If I was making 12% which that's what Dave Ramsey says you ought to be able to make on your investments on average. Let's say I made 12%. When I turned 60, I would have about $600,000 in that IRA. Let me ask you this. Instead of that, I take that $14,000 a year, and I give it to the needy. I would just ask you this question. Will I have treasure in heaven? Based on what Jesus says. See, the text says that. Don't lay it up here, lay it up there. That's what he says. Moneybags there, sell your possessions. I mean, give, give, give, give. The question is this. If I do that and I make it to 70. Can I draw? See, this is where we get We recognize, well, yes, there will be Trevor. There will be treasure there when we die. But what about between here and death? What if I bank with God rather than banking with that IRA and whoever, whatever bank has that? What am I going to be taking care of here? You see, that's the question. And here's the thing. I've said this, this promise. If I've done these things, I will cry out and he's going to say, here I am or You have this, whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord. He will repay him again for his deed. Another thing is, does repayment only come in eternity or does? Here's the thing. If if I take everything that I have so that when I get to the end of I don't have retirement saved up, I've lived on these promises for years. If I give it all away and I don't have any savings, I try to liquidate as much as my property is manageable in this life and drive old cars and not have an overabundance of clothes and all this stuff. I'm not saying I don't live a lot too much like an American, but if I come to have need here, can I draw If I've been storing up there, can I draw on those funds here? Now listen to what the Lord says. Whoever gives to the poor will not want. But he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. Or there's this. This is a phenomenal blessing. This is a phenomenal promise of blessing. Listen to this. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. You want deliverance here? You want a God who hears your prayers? Give. Blessed is the one who considers the poor. In the day of trouble, the Lord delivers him. The Lord protects him, keeps him alive. He's called blessed in the land. You do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord sustains him on his sickbed. In his illness, you restore him to full health. You want health insurance? There it is right there. What is insurance? Because we want to ensure a quality of life for tomorrow. That's what it's all about. Now look, I'm not saying how much people should give. I'm not telling you not to have retirement. I'm not telling you not to have health insurance. We're all stewards, which means before the living God, we have to look. Look, if my wife ends up needing $30,000 a year, medication to help her with the problem she has. I'm going to look at being the best steward. And if certain types of health insurance would grant me the cheapest way forward, well, I'm going to utilize that. I have nothing just specifically against health insurance if it's going to make me the best steward. Because remember, I have to answer to him in the end. I want as little going to that medication as possible. And so I'm going to take that avenue. But brethren, you know what he says? He says that he's going to restore this person to full health if you consider the poor. See, there's these promises about the here and the now. Have you ever heard this in Luke 6? Give and it will be given to you. Press down. shaking together and overflowing. The King James says, will men give into your bosom? You see, we have these promises. The thing is, I can live on these promises. I can bank on these promises. I can bank with God. And when I'm in need, I can say, Lord, I'm in need. You know, one of the problems we have as Americans. We're afraid God may want us to live in a lifestyle that we don't want to live at. That's the bottom line. We want to be in control. We believe money makes us in control. And you know why people hesitate to bank with God and give it all away and not have reserves? Because they don't really trust that God is going to let them live at that quality of life that they, as Americans, want to live at when they get old. That's just the reality. You're afraid. Let me tell you something, Hudson Taylor, his wife was heiress to a fortune. When she turned 25, that estate became hers. Well, it became Hudson Taylor's because they were married at the time. It came to him. Do you know what his Christian business friends back in London told him back in England? They said, Hudson, that is such a fortune if you invest that here in England. You will be able to live off the interest. You will be able to provide for you and your family for all the rest of your life. He said, uh-uh. We are at a point right now where we are spearheading the drive into your China. We are trying to recruit all these missionaries. The present needs demand the whole thing now. Let me tell you something. He liquidated it all. You know what happened when he got old? Some family gave him a chateau in the Alps. And he retired there with his wife. And when his wife died, he went back to the mission field. He died on the mission field. But in those years, when his wife's health was declining, he knew he needed to retire immediately. There was a chateau in the Alps. Not a hovel at the end of the alley. I mean, I'm not saying what God will do or won't do. But you're his children. That's what Jesus is saying. He's your father. If he takes care... look, he takes care of these flowers over here and he takes care of these birds over here. Do you think he's not going to take care of you if you lay up your treasures in heaven? Brethren, these truths are all over the New Testament. And you see those early Christians, they sold their lands in the midst of dire poverty. Those Macedonians. That Philippian church, they gave to Paul once. again Those those you've got that widow. She threw in her two mites She threw in everything you think do you think in glory? We're gonna find out she went hungry you think she gonna end up out in the cold Don't you believe it? We don't know what happened to her afterwards but Based on the promises and God's Word. I know what happened to her. She was taken care of God will never not take care of His children. You see, the big deal about serving money or serving God, it's who you trust. Do you trust the money? There's something, brethren, we have a tendency, what's the checkbook say? How much is there? There's this sense of security when we have stockpiles here. You know it. I know it. It's the kind of thing that disheartens you when Jesus says, liquidate it all. And you're sorrowful. Why? Because we as Americans have great possessions. I don't want to get rid of it. It cramps my style. It changes my life. It does this. It does that. I don't look good. Doesn't have curb appeal. You know how it is. I've got to have that dress. Isn't it amazing how you get your eyes on something? It's like you're looking on Amazon or you start researching and say, I've got to have this thing. We're like that. And we have so much expendable As Americans, expendable cash and wealth and stuff and possessions. Brethren, remember this. With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you again. If you've been lavish, God is going to deal with you the same way that you have dealt with others. I just want you to remember this last thing. Jesus said this to his disciples, hey guys, when I sent you out without money bag, without staff, remember that? Remember when I sent you out and I told you to take nothing? Did you lack anything? What'd they say? Nada they just answered with one word nothing Do you think that was written for some reason like do you think maybe when we enter glory and it says hey remember when that truth got a hold of you back there from Matthew chapter 6 and you sold everything and you really were radical in this area and you guys wanted to support missions and support poor pastors in places and support these needy people and people that sat in darkness and you really went all out and you liquidated everything. From that time till you died, did you lack anything? What are we going to say? My Lord, yes, we lacked quite a bit. I mean, our answer is going to be the same if we trusted him. But you can't serve God in money. Listen, this is more than just a heavenly reward text. It's a life and death text. It's who's Lord, it's who do you serve, it's who do you trust. We say we stand on the promises. But you know where it really, it's like this brother said, you touch these reformed guys on their wallet, you can slap them about the head and knee them in the, kick them there. You can hardly faze them. Touch that wallet and they scream. They don't lack anything. God has to lead each one of us to do what each one of us needs to do. We're all stewards and we're accountable to Him. You are not accountable to me, nor me to you. And you know one of the beauties? of being that steward is you get to determine what to do with it. Your need, I mean, just because somebody comes to me and says, I have a need. Well, if I have the wealth, then I get to be the person that stands in the place to determine whether your need is really a valid one or not. We're all in that place. But I would just say this. You get to the end of your life. Will selling your possessions and having given to the needy Describe your life Because if jesus said to do it and you get to the end of your life and it's like No, that really doesn't describe my life at all. I never did that You called me lord lord and you didn't do what I said Not everybody that says to me lord lord is going to inherit the kingdom of heaven those that do the will of my father in heaven Wise man built his house on the rock He's the one that hears and does But it all comes down to faith What do you really believe? Do you believe these promises? Brethren, I'm going to stand on these promises. I'm going to live the rest of my life. Yes, I'm at the age of 54. I don't know if I've got five years left. I don't know what's going to happen. The church may kick me out. I may become senile in the head and I can't recall script. I told those guys. I started saying strange things from fault that you guys have to remove me. You know, there's a thing about old prophets. Guys get old, they start saying crazy things. If you start hearing me say crazy things, you guys better pull me from the pulpit. I don't know when that's going to happen. People start going senile and they get dementia and they get all these Alzheimer's. That happens at my age. Is that going to happen? I don't know what's going to happen. I mean, who knows? The Lord knows. But do you know what Jesus is saying? Don't be anxious. You have a father in heaven and he loves you. And he's going to take care of you. So give it all away. Do with my stuff what I want you to do, and trust it. Trust these promises. Prayer, money. These are two foundational things in the life of a church. We need people who give freely. We need people who have a burden to help the poor, and the needy, and the widow, and the missionary. At our church, Yes, the thief's hand see we don't have one of those little guys But I'm not saying we need one now, I'll tell you this box in our church it's been a miracle box I Hope it is here, too. You guys should not be just supporting your own pastor There's so much more in this world to be supporting Liberal givers We need to be like those Macedonians of old. Listen, I just close with this. We want you to know, brothers, and I would want you to know too, these are people who amazed an apostle of God. We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in severe test of affliction. Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty I suspect that no matter what poverty you think you have in this church, they had extreme poverty. It was real poverty. Not only was there extreme poverty, there was a severe test of affliction. And you know what it all overflowed in? It overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. They gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. That's what we want. I hope that the testimony that rings true from this church is this. Those brethren, they beg us for opportunities to help when there's crisis and need. When needs are heard about, the brethren respond. Brethren, I don't know how it is here. I don't live here, don't function here, but I can tell you at home, I so rejoice that I'm able to say to those brothers, And even though the thief's hand went in the box and took all the cash, there were sufficient checks in there to meet Trevor's needs. And for the church to respond like that, I just I have this picture of a bunch of us there. We're going to enter glory. And it's not all about what I get. It's like kind of like Paul with the Philippians. He says. It's not that it's not because of my needs, it's because this abounds to your account. And I could just see these Christians. I mean, we are going to delight just as much as Christ. Looking at you and you and you and him, just smile and joy. Well done for me to be standing off and watch that happen. It's going to be this is just great. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. He saved us. And then he gave us stuff. And we took his stuff and used his stuff and gave his stuff away. And now we get that which lasts forever. That's kind of like David, you know, when they're building the temple, it's like, Lord, we're only giving you what you gave to us. The whole thing is just grace. This isn't buying your way to heaven. It's grace from beginning to end. Think, think. Think. This is the primary reason you have possessions right now. You can do things with them for eternal benefit. Don't waste that opportunity. Don't waste it. Don't kick yourself later. Why did I squander that? Why did I get that thing and then it was rusted? I didn't need to do that. Father, I pray you'd help this church. I pray you'd drive these promises deep home in the hearts. And speaking of their hearts, that they might have their hearts set on a treasure that is truly in the abode beyond, in the glory above, out there on that timeline when each one of us must give up the spirit to be absent from the body. present with the Lord and to cast all our crowns at his feet and all our treasures. Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? I pray for this church. Have mercy, Lord. In Christ's name I pray, amen.