think should bring Comfort it’s brought Comfort to our family it’s in second Timothy chapter 12 where David is confronted by the prophet and he’s identified as the one who has plotted the death of Uriah and taken uriah’s wife baath Sheba and through baath Sheba she has given birth to a boy and Nathan the prophet came to David and confronted him and David said I have sinned against the Lord Nathan replied the Lord has taken away your sin you’re not going to die but because by doing

this you have made the enemies of the Lord show contempt the son born to you will die Take It To The Bank David your son will die David took that word and then instruction and he got up and he went to his home and he began to prostrate himself on the ground on the floor and pray he didn’t eat he didn’t do anything else in terms administratively the text says he got up he went and he prayed and he prayed that in fact maybe God would

change his mind through the word na through the words of Nathan and that by the way should tell you something about prayer even if you have a take it to the bank likely result that’s going to come because of God’s determination in your life and it hasn’t happened yet pray because God’s been known to change his mind and even Jesus in the garden said if it be your will let this cup pass from me we won’t do a sermon on that but I want to encourage

you that even if you’re in the throws of consequences good or bad because of God’s Providence in your life until it happens pray not my will but yours but pray well the boy died and his servants didn’t know how to tell him that but they noticed that the servants were kind of skullking around his home and at one point he said what’s going on he says has the baby died and they said yes he’s dead and David said got up from the ground after he’ washed

and put on lotions and changed his clothes he went into the house of the Lord and He worshiped then he went to his own house and at his request they served him food and he ate his servants said I we don’t we don’t get that verse 22 of 2 Samuel 12 he answered while the child was still alive I fasted and wept I thought who knows the Lord may be gracious to me and let the Child live but now that he’s dead why should I fast

can I bring him back again I will go to him but he will not return to me not only is that a remarkable remarkable illustration of the life of David a man after God’s Own Heart the nature of prayer the nature of Providence trusting God for circumstances in life at the end did you see what he said I’ll go to him he won’t come to me and that in my judgment is the best verse we have in the Bible for the Innocents for the babies I

think they go immediately into the threshold of heaven and and their analys the analysis of their life is different than those who are known adults but for today past the housekeeping issues we’re in the final season of politics and there is a lowgrade wager going around the church about whether I’ll say anything about that where you’re going to lose on that one Teddy Roosevelt remarkable president ill in health and yet he muscled his way through his poor health he learned how to ride a horse how

to herd cattle in in the central part of of United States he he powered so many good things for the school for the for the country through Teddy Roosevelt was speaking one night and right in the middle of his speaking a man blurted out and he said I’m a Democrat so Roosevelt thought for a minute and he said okay why are you a Democrat he said well my grandfather was a Democrat my father was a Democrat and I’m a Democrat Roosevelt thought for a minute and

said okay what if your grandfather was a jackass and your father was a jackass what would you be and he didn’t hesitate he said I’d be a republican so that’s as political as I’m going to get today except to say that we keep praying and we vote I actually like the quote by Thomas Jefferson another one of our presidents who said I never considered a difference of opinion in politics in religion or in philosophy as a cause for withdrawing from a friend that’s good advice that’s

good advice we’re not divided as a church by our politics by our religion by our social economic status we’re brothers and sisters all at the feet of the Cross following Jesus and U and I’ve seen the other I don’t have any experience in politics thankfully but I have experience in churchy and I’ve seen churches and worked with churches and been part of a main church that I grew up in busted wide open over differences among the Brethren an elder who got fed a disproportionate amount of

food on a Wednesday night meal in a small Church in my church the fighting over Calvinism and the dynamic of limited versus unlimited atonement and whether Jesus died for all men or just for those who are going to be saved and I saw at Central Bible Church that church split wide open and families separating and friendships severed and a whole different Church started and that Severance continued to where my my church is now gone and this new church is continuing but the whole point of that

is there’s no reason for that there’s no reason for that if we in Good Spirit disagree about certain aspects of life it’s not a reason to separate the brethren we’re a humble we’re a gentle people we understand that the mix in life and circumstances of Life take us a lot of different directions and in fact that really does apply to what we’re talking about today because today we’re talking about what it means to invest in a way that counts for eternity and anytime we talk about

money then people feel like I’m messing with them well let me encourage you that Jesus w sixth of everything he taught was about money in the Proverbs onethird of everything that was instructed was about money so when we talk about that we’re talking about the fact about what is the nature of the Kingdom and The Parables that we’re going through that construct for us what it means to live face to face with Jesus to live in a way that says how then can I live in

a way that counts for eternity both before and today give you some personal illustrations out of my own life which is risky but I don’t care because we live in a complicated world and we’re among friends here and we have to kind of think wisely and prudently about how to live in a Biblical Manner and at the same time in a balanced manner so in your outline I suggest for you that there are basically three ways in which in America we can get wealthy you see

that we can work hard we can invest or we can inherit of the three statistically which of the three do you think provides the most wealth for Americans working hard by far working hard by far the Bible does not mince words when it talks about working hard there’s something there’s something unseemly about laziness about a person being unwilling to work hard and the Bible speaks with some directiveness about that out of the Book of Proverbs out of the wisdom literature which is job Ecclesiastes and Proverbs

we have the following Proverbs 13:4 the soul of the Slugger craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied 14:23 in all toil there’s profit but mere talk tends only to Poverty Proverbs 16:3 commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established Proverbs 12:24 the hand of the diligent will rule while the slothful will be put to forced labor that’s pretty dramatic Ecclesiastes 9:10 one of my favorites whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your might

for there’s no work or thought or knowledge and wisdom and shield to which you’re going in other words now you got your chance Make It Count Proverbs 1211 whoever works his land will have plenty of bread but he who follows worthless Pursuits lacks sense Proverbs 6 6-8 go to the ant oh sluggard consider her ways and be wise without having any chief officer or ruler that she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in Harvest and it goes on and on Proverbs 610 through2

a little sleep a little Slumber a little holding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man a worthless person a wicked man goes about with crooked speech Proverbs 22:29 do you see a man skill man skillful in his work he will stand before Kings he’ll not stand before men Proverbs 18:9 whoever is slacking his work a brother to him who destroys there is a high calling a righteous calling a sacred calling in hard work

one of the men that I I see at the club recently advised me that he hired three people he has a fabrication shop I said how’s it going he said not good I said what do you mean said I can’t find anybody that wants to work five days a week we’re we’re in a day and age where my generation maybe the generation below me or two we are workers but then we get into the I don’t know what it is but the ones who say I

can do this better at home in my pajamas I can do this without doing it 5 days a week and to them the scriptures would say knock it off now you can do real and hard work at home I guess in your pajamas on your working from home and all that although I’m not a fan of that but but you can do that the point is diligence we are designed to be a people who work principally men but certainly men and women so when we find

that wealth is acur in this country it’s accured through hard work there is a instruction that comes out of the new testament which says if a man does not work he should not eat there’s another instruction that says he that doesn’t care for his own family is worse than an unbeliever so we need to be at the front end front end of the message that says we’re to be hard workers were’re to be diligent and what we do with that then becomes the sequel to what

we’ll talk about today the scriptures also talk about two other ways in which you can be wealthy one is through investment strategies and savings the scriptures has a high priority in savings and if you’re living your life and working through your basic means in life and you have discretionary money and we’ll talk about the difference between basic money and discretionary money and you’re not saving you’re not doing it right the scriptures have a high priority in savings so that you can make your life count and

your efforts count in a way that counts for eternity we’ll see that verse in a minute the whole point is if my mindset is I’ve got a fair amount of money but I can’t think of all the ways I’m going to spend it and if I get more I’m going to spend it there that expanding ing our lifestyle through economic spending is not commendable in the Bible we’re to be a people who lives be below our means in terms of the means that God has given

us the third way way in which we we get wealth in this country is through inheritance and I find that to be fascinating because I work in that area some in the whole area of probate it’s a court that at times we call greed Court because people get to fussing about a lot of different things and and go off different directions and divide families and all the like of that and in future parables in the in the coming weeks we’re going to talk about what it

means to be given Resources by God be it 10 talents five talents or one talent and what we’re to do with the resources God’s given us and we’re told that there are other kinds of times in which Jesus taught about the way in which we are to invest in a strategy in a way that counts for eternity so for our our Parable we are in Luke we’re in Luke chap 12 so if you want to turn to Luke 12 today our Parable is called the rich

fool the parable of the rich fool actually this Parable covers all four parts of what we have as the resources God has given us you remember we’ve said in many weeks before that God’s given us four things he’s given us money he’s given us time he’s given us property and he’s given us relationships and this Parable actually touches on all four of those reading in verse 13 someone in the crowd said to him teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me well there’s inheritance

right there and there’s a fuss over future resources Jesus replied man who appointed me a judge or an arbit between you then he said to them watch out be on your guard for all kinds of greed well this is consistent with a parable we saw in Matthew 13 which says that the desires for wealth and riches are the kinds of things that choke the Vitality of the word of God in our life Jesus says be on guard for all kinds of grief read man’s life does

not consist in the abundance of his possessions and he told in this Parable the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop he thought what shall I do I have no place to store my crops so far so good then he said this is what I’ll do I’ll tear down my Barns and build bigger ones and there I’ll store up all my grain and all my goods and so far so good there’s nothing wrong with that I build buildings on my Farms as we

grow and I’ll say to to myself here we go you have good things laid up for yourself for many years take life easy eat drink and be marry again enjoying the quality of life spoken of in Ecclesiastes of eating drinking and being married is okay it’s the mindset behind it keep reading but God said to him you fool this very night your life will be demanded from you then who will get what you have prepared for yourself this is how it will be with anyone who

stores up for himself but is not rich toward God so the agenda of this man was he was a successful farmer and he made business decisions that were consistent with that success but behind that he said it’s so that I can take life easy and live in a way to maximize the joy and enjoyment of my life without regard for eternity and I suggest to you in your in your study in your bulletin that this man made three mistakes first of all he mistook time for

eternity take it to the bank one out of one people die it’s going to happen and if we are calculating that the resources that God has given us are only to be enjoyed and experience now we’re in trouble because there’s more in 2001 Martha Stewart got involved in a company and she invested in that company and it was for putting out a particular cancer drug and she and other investors were excited about that but then they got the word that the cancer drug treatment wasn’t going

to come out they got the word through the CEO and through some of the leaders mean some of the executives in the company and Martha and those Executives dumped their stock based on that private information it’s called insider trading and there’s certain narrow ways in which it can be okay which we need to go into but essentially it’s that if there’s inside information that you have that the public doesn’t have yet that’s going to be reversal in your company and you make stock decisions as a

result potentially it’s a crime and you can be prosecuted for insider trading I think they should tell that to our Congress because our whole Congress Republicans and Democrats do that and they’re immune from prosecution which I think is outrageous but we move to another subject so Martha went to prison for five months and then she was on house arrest for two years and she was prosecuted for insider trading and she was convicted of that crime the good news that we have is that with this Parable

we have insider trading we do first mistake we want to avoid is don’t mistake time for eternity second mistake don’t mistake your body for your soul it doesn’t all end when this thing gets laid down it just moves to the next level which is what’s going on with what I’ve laid up in heaven and the Treasures in Heaven and the events of Heaven third mistake this man made was he mistook what was God’s what was his for what was God’s that farm wasn’t his he was

a steward of it for a period of time my farm is not mine I’m a steward of it for a few years your house your Investments are not yours they are an opportunity that you have to live in a way to be as this proverb says Rich toward God we could try the alternative we could say I’ve got an idea let’s get all we can let’s can all we get and then let’s sit on the can doesn’t work that’s not a good philosophy so for this

man his planning in life had catmi cataclysmically poor results because such as such though it started out with a probate fight it started out with inheritance fussing it ended with him being labeled in the scriptures as a fool well if that’s not the way to do it what is the way to do it if we turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6 we have instructions from God about what it means to have insider trading in a way that counts for eternity and it starts off with a

very simple premise in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verses 6-8 if we’ve got on the screen there it is but godliness with contentment is great gain for he brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it but if we have food and clothing we’ll be content with that that for a Christian is the Baseline for every Christian for me for you and what we’re talking about is investing in a way that counts for eternity and so the Baseline is what is it

I should expect and reasonably have as Provisions in my life and there it is it’s food and covering which is certainly improve clothing and housing something that keeps you in the basic functioning of life and to the New Testament Church of which 70% of them were slaves that must have sounded really wise because many of them would say we’re in hog heaven if we have that I mean at least we’ve got the basic necessities of my life covered but Paul writes to Timothy for godliness with

contentment is great gain for we brought nothing in this world and we can bring nothing out of it so if we have food and clothing we’re content with that and then he immediately flips over in his instructions to Timothy to the other side to the dark side and he writes those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction For the Love of Money is a root of all kinds of

evil some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced thems with many griefs well actually actually it was one author who said Bernard Shaw who said well actually it’s the lack of money that is in his mind the it’s the lack of money that’s the root of all evil not the having of money so Shaw said I live in a way that I get fearful about not having money than really having it but this instruction says watch out because be careful what you

wish for because if you get wealthy and in this country close to half of you will end up toward the end of your life Wealthy by most terms through one of those three categories work Investments or inheritance and we’re just talking about money now but in that sense you found yourself at risk James 5 says instruct those who are rich that it is evil that they are that they’re they’re living within the M the life of evil as they are rich you say well give it

to me you know I’ll do that you remember the sermon I started about a year ago where I said somebody was calling into Steve and couldn’t get through and finally got through to him with in serious panic and and said to him those five words which threw Terror into his life he said I just won the lottery so where are your dreams where are your wishes where is it that you desire that with the excesses you have in life how you’re going to use them Timothy

says be careful because those who want to get rich they’re not rich yet they just want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires you know Rockefeller is credited with the critical observation that toward the end of his life when he was worth in the neighborhood of 0 million and he was still working Rockefeller was asked why are you still working and he said well just a little bit more now I’m not sure that’s fair because time Rockefeller died

my research says he went from 900 million to 26 million he was a great Giver of Charities and supporting of things around the world but the whole point is it’s kind of what leak coka said after he was fired from Ford he said I I had to remember again what my Italian father told me many times he said Lee if you got ,000 you want 10 and if you got ,000 you want 15 and he’s right so where do we go in terms of understanding that

there are two places before we go back to Timothy we go to another passage and on this I’ll have you turn to it it’s 1 Corinthians chapter 16 1 Corinthians 16 gives us basically the instructions of what it means to now in this age live in a way that is prudent and wise in the Old Testament how we doing we’re good in the Old Testament the Jew gave 10% of what they receive by way of wages or Revenue back to the priesthood and then there was

a second tithe every other year where out of the nine10 that was remaining they give another tenth and then there was a third tithe that came in the third year for those who were poor and needy in the community of Israel and most people estimate that by Israel standards that was between 22 and 25% that Israel gave now they were supporting not just the circumstances of their life and in the community of Israel but the government as well but the whole point is that as New

Testament folks today we kind of get stuck into if we give it all we give 10% well that’s doesn’t really come out of the Old Testament and so at a minimum if you’re giving pattern is one where you’re giving a regular amount of money every month out of your out of your income don’t do 10% do nine do 11 do something because of this passage in 1 Corinthians 16 1 Corinthians chapter 16 we reads father now about the collection of God’s people do what I told

the galatian church to do three things on the first day of every week so our giving pattern should be regular you should be ones who are consistent in the way in which you give to those Christian charities that you support on the first day of each week each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income so the second thing that we do is we give proportionally in other words depending on the means that God has given you you proportionately

decide what can be done that is both honorable and sacrificial to the Lord and then he says saving it up so that when I come for collections no collections will have to be made so there’s a third level in this scripture that says we’re to be saving we’re to be setting money aside for the unusual needs for the traveling Ministry that comes to our church or for others now in terms of sequence I recommend you go from near to far and that you be ones who

support the local church that you’re in and you start there because of the Ministries that we enjoy and then you go from there into the near Charities and other kinds of circumstances we I have both Christian and non-Christian Charities I support I love Good Samaritan Ministries I love tunnels to Towers I love that group nothing Christian about it but it’s a wonderful charity that tries to go out and help injured military people that come back from the service but here’s what I do and I’m going

to I’m going to risk it here in my own purposes in life I’ve structured my state after 1 Corinthians 16 meaning that proportionally and percentagewise my state is set up so it first of all doesn’t go to my kids it doesn’t go to my family there’s a percentage that I’ve chosen that first of all the personal representative from my state sends that out into various Charities that have been designated and I think that’s an honorable way to do it if in fact we’ll talk about family

in a minute but if you have what you think are significant amounts of money or money that’s upon your death going to be distributed think first about things that count for eternity don’t think first about just Distributing it all among your kids they likely don’t need it and it might hurt them if you gave it to them all like that now there’s exceptions to that one of my clients wants to give everything he has to all all these Christian Charities six of them but he’s got

a daughter that has really serious financial and physical needs and so I’m working with him to redirect him hopefully his decision to move some of his estate back into his daughter’s life who will need it upon his death so we want to be people who are balanced we want people who are gracious but bottom line and this is for you and for me I’m talking to me you want to be rich toward God you know I shared recently that I bought a new car told you

the amount because we’re not we’re friends here we’re not playing Secrets well wouldn’t you know it the next thing I was told is I need to BR buy a bra for this car I said excuse me yeah yeah you got a new car you got to buy this plastic thing that goes over the front of the car to keep from road shs and it made me think about the fact you know everything we have owns us it was James Family Focus on the Family James who

Dobson who when I was a young man with babies in the in in the house I watched this thing he did where he put together a swing set for about two weeks and at the end of it he turned around and looked at the tag and may have used this sermon illustration before looked at a tag on the back of the swing set and it said Titan the bolts every two weeks and to him and to me at that as a young man it dawned on

me everything we own ends up owning us without exception so move carefully through life and what you accumulate around you and think in terms of living in a way that is Rich toward God now we’re into the third section of 1 Timothy chapter 6 and that’s where Paul gets directive gets straight on with Timothy and I I want you to look at that first word in verse 17 it says command this is Paul telling Timothy that in his flock he’s to command them it doesn’t say

remind doesn’t say occasionally give them a highlight it’s very directive and Paul says be direct with your people so I’m going to be direct with you as I am direct with me command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant not to put their hope in wealth but in which is uncertain but to put their hope in God which richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment command them to do good to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and

willing to share in this way they lay up for them Treasures lay up for themselves Treasures in Heaven as a firm foundation for the coming age so they may take hold of that which is life is truly life so there’s the agenda once you’ve got your Baseline set which is food and covering and once you’ve kind of gone through the mental apparatus that says I’m G be careful about what I wish for in terms of wealth then the scripture says turn yourself loose on the kinds

of things which are the good deeds and good works that come to everyone around us you may be at a place in life where you don’t have extra money but You’ got some time or you’ve got an opportunity to provide encouragement or send out a note of encouragement that’s good the emphasis in this text is use the resources that God has given you not just money but time relationships and possessions use them in a way that says I don’t want it to all end when they

lay me in the ground I don’t want it to end in terms of my investment strategy on this planet the scripture says that’s the best kind of insider trading that you can have you can have ones that and you don’t have to prove it to me me but each of us have our own standards that say I want my life and the ways I use the resources God has given me to invest in a way that makes me as the word said lays up a firm

foundation for the coming age so they may take hold of the life which is truly life I suggested to you last week that spiritual vision for us as Christians really is looking at life through the L of God’s eyes and that really is true it really is looking at life in a way that says this is not all that it is that that there is to life it’s just an opportunity a foothold into things that we have the incredible privilege of participating in for eternity and

in that not only we saved but we are the Most Blessed of people to say can you imagine as I go out that door I can do things that count for eternity amazing let’s pray father we thank you for your word we thank you for its instruction to us in a way that brings for us life and godliness we pray for the ginger family and the homegoing of Mark and we recognize Lord Lord that you’ve given us all a season of time you’ve given us opportunities

you’ve given us resources and relationships and we want to be found wise with that and we ask for you to give us that kind of encouragement and direction in Jesus name amen the servers can come we’ll have communion you know the focus in this church is not on just the important things that are happening around us in our world and there are important things that are happen happening both today and this coming Tuesday and with the circumstances of Life as we as a country try to

live in a way that’s wise but the scriptures teach us that our ultimate focus is on him who is our savior and so we’re taught that on a regular basis that as we examine ourselves and as we find that we have a short list with God in terms of the sins or struggles of our life and we’ve confessed them and said Lord I acknowledge that’s wrong and it’s a barrier between my relationship with you that in examining you examining ourselves Jesus then said that we are

to be people who have taken his body and his blood and celebrated what he’s done for us and so we have that today by the communion thank you B I am know Lord I have heard thy voice and it all thy love to me but I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee me near a blessed Lord to the Cross where thou me here near blessed Lord to thy

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,839 words.