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[0:00] Matthew 6 verse 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

[0:16] ! But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

[0:31] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I want to talk today about values, about values, about what matters, what really counts, what's important, what are the values that we count dear.

[0:46] There's a lot of talk about values today. Like on the political scene, they're always talking about family values, or some might dare say Christian values, or conservative values, or Australian values.

[0:58] And there's this view, whether something's Australian, and maybe something's un-Australian. Something's un-Australian. There's something like Australian values as something that's particularly precious and a good thing.

[1:11] And maybe they are, as far as they measure up, with God's values. With God's values, with the word of God's values. What are values? What's the values of life that really matter, that really count for every one of us?

[1:25] We've all got to consider what's important for my life, what's truly important in my way of life. What is it that we value, that we count dear? And how do we measure?

[1:37] How do we measure our values? There's some value statements in here. Value statements. For example, Micah 6a. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to love mercy.

[1:53] How does it go? But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. That's a value statement, isn't it? To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with thy God.

[2:05] And I was talking with someone lately, and a question about doing good to people. And it says that we should do good to all men, but especially those that are of the household of faith.

[2:16] That's a value statement, isn't it? It's like our Lord says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

[2:30] We should love our neighbour. And he told the story of the Good Samaritan. And that's a value statement, isn't it? What about James 1.27? Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

[2:50] I know there's some folk in this church that go visiting widows. Amen? But I know as a church that we reach out to some who are the fatherless in our community.

[3:00] That's important, isn't it? That's a value statement. That's God's kind of values. And to gauge what you value, I put it to you in some ways that you can gauge what you value, and then see, does it stack up?

[3:13] Does it measure up with God's values? For example, the one we just read talks about love. Matthew 6, treasures upon earth, treasures in heaven. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

[3:27] It's about your love. It's about your heart. Where is your heart today? Number one, you gauge where your values are by what you love. By what you love, by where your heart is.

[3:38] Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart. All your heart. And love your neighbour. How is your values evident?

[3:48] It's evident by your application of your time. By the investment of your energy. By the devotion of your resources. It's about what you pour yourself into.

[3:59] Your heart. Where is your heart? You know, there's some that have got a heart, a passion for music. And God is using that talent, that ability, that calling. God has got different gifts and talents and callings that every one of us have.

[4:12] Are we using those things for his glory, for his honour? Is your heart such that it's in tune with his heart? What is it that you're committed to? What is it that you love, that you pay attention to?

[4:25] John 21 is a question, a challenging question that we all need to answer. That our Lord Jesus poses to Simon. He says, do you love me?

[4:36] Do you love me? John 21, 16. Do you love him today? You know, he asked Peter a few times, didn't he? Our love.

[4:47] That gauges our values. Our love shows our values. Secondly, our loyalty. It's our loyalty. We've talked about stand up for Jesus, you soldiers of the cross. Are you really?

[4:57] Are you really? Do you take up your cross daily? Follow him. Are you willing to be a soldier in that army? It is wartime now. It's time for combat. Face to face, hand to hand combat.

[5:10] And you're in an army. And sometimes we don't look like it. We don't act like it, do we? Have we got the uniform on? Are we clothed with Christ? Have we put on Christ? That honour of life.

[5:21] That is him. Our saviour. Our Lord. A core Christian value is that God is truly, truly first in our lives.

[5:32] As our Lord says later in Matthew 6, 33, that familiar one, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

[5:43] Seek ye first. First the kingdom of God. Is it first or does he come? A close second. Second. Is God and his kingdom and his righteousness just a close second?

[5:57] There's something instead. There's something in front. When it comes to choices, do you choose God first? God first. His way first. His kingdom first. Or is it that the world's values are shaping and squashing you and moulding you and pressing you into what the world wants for you?

[6:16] Our world has a loyalty to another king. Another king. Another master. A slave master. Satan. He's the one who dictates the world's values.

[6:30] Christian values. Truly Christian values. Bible values. Are contrary to the world's values. What the world values is contrary. How does God and his kingdom rate on a scale of priorities?

[6:43] If you were to put it on a scale. On a continuum. Where are you in terms of what you count as important in your life? It's important enough for you to be in church today.

[6:55] I know some of you work six days a week and you come here on a Sunday. That's a blessing to me. That you put God in that priority place.

[7:07] That coming to hear his words and to exhort one another for you to give. It's more important than having a sleep in or whatever else you could be doing.

[7:19] But sometimes God really just rates us as a close second, doesn't he? It's when we can fit him in. It's when we can make time. It's when we can give that little bit of effort that it takes.

[7:31] And yet, what did our Lord give for us? He gave his all, didn't he? Do we long for the kingdom of God? Long for it. Seek it. Seek. Hunger.

[7:41] Thirst for it. The kingdom and his righteousness. Truly we are from another kingdom. Another kingdom today. Whilst we're Aussies or members of some nation or other.

[7:56] You know, I'm an adopted Aussie. Kind of a fake Aussie really. Being naturalised. Aussie. What was that? Aussie. But by God's grace, we can be a born again Aussie, can't we?

[8:10] We can be born again into that holy nation. The kingdom of God. And we are from another kingdom. As if living in a foreign country here. Our kingdom is not of this world.

[8:25] As our Saviour said. This world is not our home. And it's not our friend. As the Bible says, we're not to make friendship with the world. Our object is to be an ambassador to the world.

[8:37] The world. Representing the king's orders and the king's offer of reconciliation. Of offering that transaction with God Almighty.

[8:49] Of salvation to those about us. This world does not have loyalty to this king. It does not honour our king. It does not obey him or give him any rightful place.

[8:59] This world does not value what God values. In terms of, for example, the sanctity of life. The sacredness of marriage, of family.

[9:09] The beauty of holiness. The things of God. This world does discount those things. And laugh and scorn at those things. And such things as street preachers.

[9:21] Or people are going witnessing. They would be scorned and joked and laughed at. And derided. And yet, what does our Lord want us to do? Are we to be deaf? Dumb?

[9:32] Blind? Silent? With the message? Will we neglect it? Such that one day it will be a reproach.

[9:43] We'll be ashamed before him that is coming. The world, by and large, rejects our king's authority. The truth of his word. Instead, it's all about what's relative. About what's subjective.

[9:54] It's about, you've got your truth and I've got mine. And we'll just agree to disagree. But hey, if God says something, you've got to agree with it. He says, come let us reason together.

[10:07] And the one who's got to give way is us. We've got to give ground to him. To his word. To his authority. And this world is under the loyalty of the evil one. Of his domain.

[10:20] And of unbelievers or the perishing. It says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not.

[10:31] Blinded the minds of them. They're shrouded and veiled. And blinded that they cannot believe. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.

[10:43] The gospel of Christ who is the image of God. Should dawn on them. Should bring them light. And people today. You are from another kingdom. You know. You're an alien.

[10:54] Believe it or not. You're a stranger. Some are stranger than others. But we're all strangers here aren't we? We're pilgrims. We're passing through. We're not of this world. We're not of this kingdom.

[11:06] We're of the other kingdom. Whose builder and maker is God. That city. So we've got to love. The love that you show. That you claim. And ideally that you truly love.

[11:20] Shows your loyalty. It shows your values. The loyalty that you have. It shows the king. In his kingdom. You're a subject. And thirdly.

[11:32] The values that we profess. Should be evident in our lifestyle. It's not love. Just a lip service. It's not a loyalty that you just profess. But you don't live out.

[11:44] It's a lifestyle. The Christian values. The Christian life. Is a lifestyle. It's the very life of God living in you. Living out of you. Your life invested. Is it invested? Is it your life?

[11:55] Or is it misspent? I know for me. I've spent many. A wasted hour. A wasted moment. And yet. How we should live in the light of eternity.

[12:08] Those things that we sometimes occupy ourselves with. Where is that going to be in eternity? Those things that we spend so much time fussing and fretting over. Like Matthew 6.

[12:19] Our Lord talks about what you're worrying over. You know. Look at the birds. They don't push themselves hard working. God feeds them and clothes them. Gives them what they need.

[12:31] And likewise too. God will give you that which you have need of. In Matthew 6. Read the context there. And in the context too. It's talking about serving two masters. He'll either hold to one and despise the other.

[12:43] And he says. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. And everything. All these other things that we worry so much. And trouble ourselves about.

[12:56] They'll come anyway. And so. What is your lifestyle like? Do the values that you claim. Are they evident in your life? One of the values of an Aussie lifestyle.

[13:09] We could see the popular picture painted of. You know. What is it? Norm. The Aussie Norm. With his can and his stubby. And his.

[13:20] You know. Thongs down at the. Under the shade. Reading a piece of paper. Or having a snooze. The Aussie blow. The Aussie ochre. The Aussie lifestyle. And of course.

[13:31] That's not to. Put all the men down here today. There's a few women that look like that too. The Aussie lifestyle. It's heavenism isn't it? It's heavenism. It's a.

[13:41] It's a. It's a. Just you know. Eat. Drink. And be merry. And just live the high life. The good life. You know. The lazy life. The godless life. The Aussie lifestyle.

[13:52] Aussie values. Are they really that. That good. But sometimes our life is a waste. Isn't it? Is our life invested. Or is it wasted. And we can think about. What is it that we value.

[14:05] And do we live what we value. You're meant to be a new creature. In Christ Jesus. Old things are passed away. Behold all things. Are become new. You're meant to be. A partaker.

[14:16] Of the divine nature. Now we partake of communion. We take part. We're partakers. Taking part. In the very divine nature. The very divine nature.

[14:27] Should dwell in us. 2 Peter 1 verse 4. It's about who. Who we belong to. That dictates our values. Christian character. Is about Christ in you. Christ in you.

[14:39] As it says. In Colossians 1 verse 27. To whom God will make known. What is. The riches. Of the glory. Of this mystery. Among the Gentiles. Which is. Christ.

[14:49] In you. The hope. The hope. Of glory. And that word hope. It's the expectation. Of glory. It's a confident. Expectation. Of glory. Christ. In you.

[15:00] That is what makes the difference. The value of Christ. It's Christ. In you. That makes. Life. Different. And it'll be evident. In our lives.

[15:10] And in our lives. For example. Luke 6. Our Lord. tells us. From verse 45. How a good man. Out of the good treasure. Of his heart. Bringeth forth. That which is good.

[15:22] But an evil man. Out of the evil treasure. Of his heart. Bringeth forth. That which is evil. For out of the abundance. Of the heart. The mouth speaketh.

[15:33] And why call ye me. Lord. Lord. And do not. The things. Which I say. Out of the abundance. Of the heart.

[15:44] Out of that overflowing. Of the heart. The mouth speaketh. What's coming out of your mouth. Is it blessing or cursing. Is our mouth giving blessing. Is it giving praise. Is it giving glory to God.

[15:56] Is it honouring to him. Out of the abundance. Out of the overflow. Of the heart. The mouth speaketh. It's got the sense. Is accustomed to be speaking. Is accustomed to be speaking.

[16:07] Now. I've been getting acquainted. With some people. On Facebook. Facebook. For example. Lots of people. Don't even have a computer here today. But some of you are.

[16:17] That. IT. Sort of. High tech guru. Nerds. Like me. And. But you've got a Facebook. And you start to see. Where people are coming from. It's the language they speak. Isn't it?

[16:28] It's. It's the things. That they dwell upon. That they. That they gloat about. That they talk about. That they rave on about. Out of the abundance. Of the heart. The mouth speaketh. You can see where they're coming from.

[16:39] You can see their wavelength. And you can see. Quite often. Really. Whether Christ counts for anything. By what they yarn on about. Can't you? And. Why call you me Lord.

[16:50] Lord. And do not the things that I say. Some blab on too. Lord. Lord. Lord. And yet. Their life doesn't stack up. They don't do. The things that I say.

[17:01] He says. And so the true Christian value. Is Christ. It's Christ. It's your saviour. Your master. The Lord Jesus Christ. Resident within you. Not just calling him Lord.

[17:13] Calling him Lord. But living. Out. A life. Where. Christ is your Lord. He is your master. And. Again.

[17:24] Back to values. Thinking of these values. There's much about treasure. Talk about the treasure of the heart. The mouth speaks. Talked about the. The sense where. Christ in you.

[17:35] He's the. The riches of glory. The hope of glory. That wealth of glory. Is Christ in you. The Lord Jesus says. In Luke. 17. 21.

[17:45] Behold. The kingdom of God. Is. Within you. It's within you. Your king. And his kingdom. Is inside of you. Is that true for you? Or is the kingdom of God.

[17:57] And the king. Our saviour. Is it just a token. Phrase that you use. Lord. Lord. Or is he truly. Master.

[18:10] Do we value Christ. Do we value him. Behold him. Behold him. As John. Said. The lamb of God. Behold him.

[18:21] Behold the man. As Pilate said. Behold him today. Take a look at him. Count him precious today. Unto you that believe. He is precious. Precious.

[18:33] He is. Richness today. He is wealth today. He is precious today. You know. I was talking with some folk. By email. A guy in Africa.

[18:44] Talking about prosperity. Precious. He was saying. He loves Kenneth Copeland. And Kenneth Hagin. And all this. And it's sad. When someone gets the mind shift. That somehow.

[18:55] God wants us to be. Driving a Rolls Royce. Or a BMW. And. Or you are having some kind of overflowing bank account.

[19:06] It's not about that. The riches of Christ. It's the riches of his glory. It's those who are poor in this world. Rich in faith. It's those who have the kingdom of God within you.

[19:17] It's the one in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2.3 All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

[19:28] They're hid in him. In whom we have redemption. Through his blood. The forgiveness of sins. According to the riches of his grace.

[19:43] Ephesians 1.17 In whom we have redemption. Deliverance. Freedom. Set free. Through his shed blood. We have the forgiveness of sins. According to the riches of his grace.

[19:56] The surpassing wealth. That's value. That's value brother. Sister. That's value. That's riches. That's generous. That's a surpassing wealth.

[20:07] That he lavishes upon you. So rich. So abundance. It's his grace. The riches of his grace. And we are mere containers of his glory. We're mere containers for that glory. As we see in 2 Corinthians 4.17 But we have this treasure.

[20:21] This treasure. That word again. Treasure. In earthen vessels. That the excellency of the power may be of God. And not of us. That's a great treasure store that you have.

[20:35] Christ in you. That treasure. In that earthen vessel. That we really just clay. Aren't we? Like Adam formed out of the dust of the ground. We really just kind of super improved kind of clay.

[20:49] Kind of stuck together and reconstituted. You know. We really just the elements of the earth. We're just earthen vessels. And the treasure is Christ in you. It's that treasure. The excellency of the power may be of God.

[21:01] It's not material terms. It's not such things as you can see in material senses. But it's that weight of the everlasting glory.

[21:13] And our Lord says that our God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory. His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. The glorious grace that he gives to us.

[21:24] And Ephesians 2.7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. In his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

[21:35] The riches of his grace. Think of it really. If you can just capture this one truth today. The riches of his grace. That's the riches that we are so bountifully blessed with.

[21:50] You've got an inheritance incorruptible reserve waiting for you. There's some super wealthy people here this morning. I'm just privileged to be in your acquaintance today.

[22:05] You that are sons and daughters of the living God. Sons and daughters of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. With an inheritance incorruptible.

[22:16] That is not going to pass away. His boundless wealth. His overflowing. Grace. The riches of Christ. The richness of Christ in you. The fullness of Christ. Christ in you.

[22:27] That's value isn't it? That's the value that matters. Godly values. And as Christ is resident within you. As Christ is formed within you. As Christ increases within you.

[22:38] As we decrease. He increases. His values become more evident in our lives. It will be Christ in you. His character. His life will be operating within you.

[22:49] Within you day by day. Within the 24 by 7. And people will see his values. They'll see Christ in you. They'll see his forgiveness. They'll see when you forgive those that don't deserve forgiveness.

[23:02] You'll love those that are your enemies. When you see the truth lived out. They'll see his righteousness in you. Not that of your own. Not that of your own profession.

[23:14] But his righteousness. They'll see his goodness. They'll see his excellence. In the workplace. As you give 110%. As you serve. As you serve Christ. As your ultimate employer.

[23:26] They'll see Christ in you. They'll see his honesty. They'll see his diligence. They'll see his respect. They'll see his life lived. As you go about. You'll see Christ walking in your shoes.

[23:39] They'll see his modesty. They'll see his humility. They'll see his compassion. As you live. As he would live. As you treat others. As he would treat them. Not selfishly.

[23:50] As we're inclined to. And what are the values people today? The values. Politicians talk about family values. Conservative values.

[24:01] Or traditional values. Or Australian values. What about Bible values? Do you value the Bible? Do you count this the precious word of the living God? In the English language.

[24:11] In your hands. Do you count it as truth? That's worth living for. Worth dying for. What are the values that show? By your love. By what you truly love.

[24:23] By your loyalty. By that which you pledge allegiance to. Beyond an Australian flag. We pledge allegiance to the King of Kings. And the Lord of Lords.

[24:33] And it will show. Those values will show in your lifestyle. It'll be Christ in you. Christ in you. Christ in your shoes. Christ in your clothes. Christ in your job.

[24:44] Christ in your home. Christ in you. These are not the values. That the media conveys. The media would convey. A completely contrary. Or at least.

[24:57] They may look like they're Christian some of the time. They might sound good. I mean democracy sounds good. But when you've got a population that's godless. You know. It's not always. Obviously the ultimate is theocracy.

[25:09] Even the values that we know as a nation. Are getting eroded. What was once Christian. In terms of the foundation of our nation. Is scarcely even religious anymore.

[25:21] I've heard it said that. You know. We know the family is under attack. Marriage is under attack. As they're trying to redefine marriage. So it's any kind of combination you could imagine. And then the next step I'm told is.

[25:34] Ultimately they won't even have marriage. There won't even be marriage. There won't even be a wedding. There won't even be the token gesture.

[25:45] Of a service. Of a man and woman marrying. In a wedding. The government may one day just disallow marriage. All together. Just shack up with whoever you want.

[25:56] However much you please. Whatever gender you feel like. At the time. That's the Australian values people today. That's what ultimately will be Aussie values. And that's our godless nation.

[26:08] The value of marriage. The value of family. The value of relationships. The value of time. The value of godly instruction. This world would mock at such things. And scorn it.

[26:19] The values of our entertainment media. Of humanistic thinking. Are godless. Anti-god. Anti-Christ. And we see that more so. As time goes by.

[26:30] People today. Do you have Christian values? And think for a moment. About faith. Someone said this. A quote about faith. It's in three dimensions. Faith.

[26:40] In three dimensions. In three impacts. On all of our lives. Faith. It impacts the mind. Believe. What we think. Number one.

[26:51] Our mind. What we believe. What we think. Number two. It involves our heart. What we trust. What we feel. With the heart. Man. Believer. Unto righteousness.

[27:03] And with the will. We confess with our mouth. The Lord Jesus. Faith involves a response. It involves someone saying. Jesus Christ is. My Lord.

[27:13] My Master. My Saviour. My God. My King. He's confessing Christ. It's your will.

[27:24] So just to recap. Your mind. Your heart. Your will. Your thinking. Your feeling. Your doing. Your belief.

[27:35] Your trust. Your response. What is your response today? Maybe you believe it. You trust it. Are you going to do it? Be a doer. Of the word. Put it into action.

[27:45] Just to wrap up. For bodily exercise. Profiteth. A little. But godliness. Is profitable. Unto all things. Having promise. Of the life. That now is.

[27:57] And of that. Which is to come. Godliness. Is profitable. Unto all things. Having promise. Of the life. That now is. And of that. Which is to come. Godly spiritual training.

[28:08] Bodily exercise. Is good. You can do yourself some good. Going for a jog. Although I've heard. You can jog too much. And hurt your knees. So. Go watch it. Bodily exercise. Profiteth a little. You know.

[28:18] You can. You can have a body like mine. If you exercise like I do. But. Godliness is profitable. Godliness is valuable. Godliness has got value. In all things.

[28:30] Godliness is something. That we should pursue. It's got eternal value. Is your life lived. According to eternal values. Or just the fleshly. Just the worldly. Just the secular.

[28:41] Just the humanistic. Just the Aussie values. Have you got that real treasure. That treasure that is Christ in you. Are you saved this morning. That's the ultimate. And absolute question. And I'm not meaning to.

[28:53] Take that for granted. Do you know him. Have you had that. Word. Getting in your ear. That faith. Getting in your heart. That.

[29:04] Decision. That response. To follow. To obey. To receive. To claim Christ. I trust you can. Claim him today. Know that. Eternal value.

[29:15] Of a heavenly home. Of a heavenly inheritance. Of a heavenly assurance. Of a heavenly king. Invest your life. In what counts. In what counts. We can spend our time.

[29:26] And energy. In so many trivia. And so many. Wasted moments. So many wasted. Activities. So much waste. Where is your life. Going to be invested.

[29:36] Where is your love. Going to be invested. Where is your loyalty. Is it Christ in you. I trust that it can be. But what he values. Is what matters. That's what matters. That's the values that count.

[29:47] And when we hear this talk. This talk of values. This is what we value. It's God's truth. It's God's truth. It's God's life. It's his saving grace. The riches of his grace.

[29:58]  People today. Know that today. Put it into action. Let's go.