[0:00] What do you have? What do you have? All right. If you're new to vision, you'll know that's not, you should know that's not how I normally start off the service. But if you're from Atlanta, you probably know where that's a greeting to. How many of you have ever eaten at the varsity?
[0:14] Would you raise your hand? How many of you have eaten at the varsity and enjoyed it? Would you raise your hand? Not as many hands, but still a large number of hands. If you haven't been there before, just imagine the best concession stand that you've ever been to. All right. And it's it's good food. I enjoy it. And, but that saying, what do you have? What do you have? Here's a picture of my wife's pappy in the back. He was one of the first car hops at the varsity down in Atlanta, I guess it's around 1950 or so. And he would always say that, what do you have? What do you have? And then he had something longer. He would say, we got hamburgers, we got hot dogs, something, something, something fried, bologna and pickles. And he had this long saying he would have, and we just love to hear him say, what do you have? What do you have? First time I went there to meet up with some youth pastors from Atlanta, I called my father-in-law and I said, tell me what's your favorite things from the varsity? And he told me. And so I ordered what he said. And then I sat down and I got my food and they said, that's interesting. You have a chili dog, you have a chocolate milk and you have a frosted orange. That's quite the lunch you're about to eat. And I called him and I said, why did you tell me to order a chili dog and a chocolate milk? He said, you didn't ask me what my favorite meal was.
[1:25] You said, just tell me what some of your favorite things are from the varsity. Should have been a little more specific. All right. Cause that was a tough lunch to handle. And so we'll say it like that. All right. If you need more questions, we'll talk after church. All right. And so what do you have? What do you have? And so that's the question. A better, if you'd prefer a more dignified title, it'd be beware of covetousness, but what do you have? What do you have? That's what the world asks from us all the time. Hey, what do you want to get out of this thing? You got so many years to live. What do you have? What do you want? What do you want? Come at us. Give us an answer. The varsity, you know, you got to answer quickly, right? If you're not, you got to go to the back of the line.
[2:04] And so what do you have? That song that was just sung, that would be a great answer as a church. Father, not my will, but thy will be done. That's supposed to be our answer of what we'd want is to praise him. Well, Jesus warns us to beware of covetousness. Why would, why would he need to teach the disciples this? They were pretty much of rather modest means. Think about the way they're living. He's going to send them out on missions and they're going to have, they're going to stay in people's homes. And Jesus said at times he didn't even have a place to lay his head because covetousness, it trips all of us up differently, trips up all people. It can trip up all people in a different manner. To the poor, those of us that have less or believe that we have less, you look at those that have more and you can be envious and you think, if I had what he had, my life would be better. To those that are wealthier, have more means, you can be tripped up because, not because you envy what someone else has, but because you find your security and your treasure in it. So Jesus gave a lesson in the great multitude of people to his disciples and he says, beware of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Yes, but also I want you to be aware of covetousness because no matter where you're at financially, this is something that could get into your heart and it's going to have a great effect upon you. And so why address the disciples when they were modest means? One reason being that covetousness is a very subtle sin. It's often very difficult to detect it in our lives. Nobody comes up to us and says, you know what? I'm a very covetous person. Can you help me? None of us say that. We all say, no, that's not something that I have. Exodus 20, 17 says, thou shalt not covet the neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet the neighbor's wife, nor as man's servant, nor as maid's servant, nor as ox, nor as ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's, nor anything that is on Amazon, nor anything that is at the Ford dealership when you drive by it, nor anything that's in your neighbor's parking lot, nor any of these other things that are there.
[4:01] So when you think of it like as a commandment, like, no, surely, like I know that I sin, but I'm usually doing pretty good on the big 10, right? And so when you ask me if I'm coveting, I would say no, but maybe you'll recognize it like this. Covetousness is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God. Now, when I say it like that, is it coming where we live now? Oh, I'm not breaking one of the 10 commandments, but if I ask you, do you desire something so much that you've lost your contentment in God, you'd say, okay, now, now we're talking about something that relates to me. Just three simple questions to help us see it. Am I content with my condition, where I'm at, whatever you're going through, whatever place in life you're at right now? Is there a contentment that's there? Here's one. Can you be happy when other people are blessed? Are you able to enjoy that for them?
[4:53] Can you sincerely be happy when other people are blessed? And then another way, a negative way to say it is, are you discontent with what you have? Are you murmuring or complaining constantly with what you have in life? So he is, Jesus telling his disciples to beware, beware of covetousness.
[5:13] When our hearts are set on what we don't have, but what we want, it diminishes our joy and what really matters. When our heart is set on what we do not have, it diminishes the joy on what really matters. So it's subtle. Jesus tells them to beware of it because it's subtle. I tell you, beware of it because it's subtle. It's also a very dangerous sin because it tempts us towards hypocrisy, which Jesus already warned us about. So as we looked last week about the beware and hypocrisy, how is covetousness hypocrisy? This is how it is. You know, we say that our hearts are set on things above, but when in fact our desire is set on things below. This morning, we all say amen to the songless man saying, I live for the glory of God. I sing praises to the Lord. But many of us know that many times during our day, our heart is not set on eternal things. They're set on earthly things. And so Hebrews 13, 5, let your conversation, let your life be without covetousness and be content with such things that you have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
[6:23] If you live in a covetous life, you're going to live a double life. You're going to live one that says, yes, God, I'm happy with you, but secretly in my heart, I'm discontent. It can bring, and then lastly of these three things, it can bring the ruin to your soul because it will lead you towards idolatry. Covetousness is important for us to think about. It's important for Jesus and the rest of the disciples because it's at the root of sin. 1 Timothy 6, 10, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Covetousness is idolatry. Plainly said in Colossians 3, 5, mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry. So why in this kind of elongated introduction I give what I would like to do is I really want you to pay attention to Jesus' teaching on covetousness. One, because it's more subtle than you think it is because it deals with this area of contentment. Also because it brings ruin into your life and then we see that it's going to lead towards hypocrisy. It's going to cause you to want to serve another master. The Bible plainly tells us that we cannot serve two masters. First question, verse number 14, and he said unto him, man, who made me a judge or divider over you? I've already read the passage, but it just kind of reminds you Jesus had come from dealing with the Pharisees, the hypocrisy. We get into another story. A man walks up to Jesus and you feel like, man, you have one question. What are you going to ask Jesus? This is what this man says. Hey, will you tell me, will you tell my brother to give me some money? All right. Sounds like my little brother, what he might do here. All right. He says, Jesus, tell my brother to give me some money. And then the answer is, I find funny. And Jesus answer here is, man, who made you, who made me a judge or divider over you? I found this answer kind of peculiar for me. And to be completely honest, sometimes when I have a problem in a text, I am tempted just to skip over it because I know you can't raise, you're not going to raise your hand and ask any questions in here. All right. And so I just read it and I'll say, okay, we all understand what that means, but I'm not really sure. And so I just want to kind of skip over it. So I stopped here for a second. I'm thinking this seems to be an odd answer by Jesus. I mean, yeah, sure. Yes, I do. Jesus, Jesus. I do think that you could have, you could tell my brother to give me some of his money. You are the creator of the universe.
[9:04] You are the Messiah. So it seems like that would be something that you would, could be involved in. We first off see what this man's heart was preoccupied with, what's revealing of his treasure.
[9:16] What do you think about when you're not thinking about anything else? This man was thinking of an inheritance. What do you think about when you're thinking about nothing else? I know comedians say that women think about 18 different things at any given time. And us men, when you ask us, what are you thinking about? Like nothing? They're like, that's not possible. Oh yes, it is. All right. We're just in a blank box right now doing absolutely nothing. That's almost true, ladies. It really is. Okay.
[9:47] But it's not completely true. There's usually something. Our thoughts may not be as complex. They may not be as many layers to them, but you're always thinking about something. So what do you, what does your mind gravitate to when you have nothing to think about? This man's thinking about what he could receive from his brother. It wasn't even uncommon for a Jewish person to go to a rabbi and ask him to settle a family dispute. They had a lot of that. In the Bible, you hear about the older brother getting the inheritance. It wasn't that he was just the blessed one and the others didn't get anything. It's that the older brother then took the responsibility of the family. He was the head of that family, that group. And so he had responsibilities. So there's a lot of conversations that would have taken place about that. And then in John 5, 22, we know this said about Jesus, for the father judges, no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son, all judgment unto the son. So knowing that rabbi settled disputes, knowing that Jesus is the judge of all things, it seems to make sense that this man would ask the question. So why does Jesus respond with man?
[10:55] You know, why are you asking me this question? I don't know what it is about me, but my whole life, since I've been in my late teens till now, anytime I'm at a retail store, people think I work there.
[11:06] There's just something about that. And people just really think that everywhere I go, when I was younger and I was not as nice, maybe I would, I would just tell people answers, you know, like where so and so just go down to aisle 27 and take a left. It's going to be there on the bottom, you know, and just make up something. Now that I get a little bit older, I started to try to give the right answer.
[11:27] And now when I'm just like, Hey, I don't work here. Would you, I don't want to be here either. Let's just leave me alone. All right. You know, like, I don't want to stay in this store longer than I have to. I just going to let you know, I don't work here. All right. Maybe I shouldn't be wearing blue shirts, the best buy or red shirts target. I don't know what it is I'm doing, but I've answered many times, man, that is not my problem. All right. I got something bigger going on right now than what you're asking me about. I don't know where the fruit loops are. Right.
[11:53] And I can't find anything at the store. Any of you, any of you men have this problem? And also the grocery list. You wives just want us to like ping pong all over the place. Okay. Why can't we have all the fruits in one order? All right. And all in on another, I've always thought an app that would take the list and put it in a logical order would be greatly appreciated.
[12:12] I can't find anything for myself. I can't help you. All right. Well, Jesus was definitely not saying I, man, that's bigger than that's above my pay grade, you know, or he wasn't saying, I don't work here. What he was telling them is I'm about another kingdom. I'm about the weightier matters that I'm sure. I could settle this for you. And I could be like Solomon who had great wisdom.
[12:33] I could settle this, but I'm here for something so much greater, the weightier, the spiritual matters. And it gets said in verse 15, and he said, and he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consists of not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. So he is saying, beware of covetousness because your life doesn't consist in these things that you own. And I will say own instead of possesseth this because I can't say that word. And on a, on a, on a good day, I'm not sure that I can say that, but today there's so many S's in that word. It is quite scary. All right. And so if you don't mind, I'm going to say the word own, but you know, I'm in the same passage as you are and your life is, that isn't what makes it up. And so that's what Jesus would want to get to with that man is that, Hey, let me help you with what it really is. When the world asks you, what do you have? What do you have? It's not your brother's money. What do you have? What do you have is there's a way to live an abundant life. And that's what I want to talk about. So then he goes on to give a parable and I call this the parable of the great problem in quotation marks, because this is a great problem to have this. Most of us would love to have this problem. And he spake a parable. That's
[13:45] Jesus under them saying the ground of a certain man brought forth plentifully. And he thought with himself, what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. What shall I do? That's the great problem, right? I have such a great harvest. What am I ever going to do with all that I have?
[14:04] Read a story this week of a lady, an heiress to the William Clark Foundation. Her name was Hugh Get Clark. She died in 2011, I believe. Before she did, she had built a $7 million mansion.
[14:17] Well, her dad had built a $7 million mansion on Madison Avenue in New York in 1920. At the time, it cost more than the Yankee Stadium. And that's where she had grown up there, Madison Avenue.
[14:30] But she had a home in California that was worth $100 million. And she hadn't set foot in it in over 50 years. Another home in Connecticut. And then she had a 42-room apartment that overlooked Central Park.
[14:47] It's like eight stories. And she hadn't been in it in the last 20 years of her life. And she would write handwritten letters to people telling them how to take care of these homes that she would never even go to or she wouldn't see. The question you ask yourself when you read a story or just naturally your imagination goes to is, what would I have done without wealth? So many good ideas and so many good opinions on the matter. I'm sure all of you in here have spent tens of millions of dollars in your life, if not in real life, at least in your imagination, right? As you're thinking about, man, I would have sold that place in Central Park and I would have bought a real park, you know? I would have bought whatever I wanted. And so, what should she have done? And we'd have different opinions in here on what she should have done. But we have a definitive answer in a principle in Luke 12, 20 and 21. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then those who shall those things be, which thou hast provided, so is he that laith up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
[15:59] She should have not laid up treasures for herself, but she should have lived in a way that would have been rich towards God. You know, God is not opposed to the wealthy, Abraham, Solomon, the homes that most of the churches are started in in the books of Acts. They must have been people of means. And at no point does God tell them that we see in the scripture that they're not to have those. But there must be something in this emphasis of the laying up of treasures for ourselves that must be a synonym with covetousness. It must be the ourselves part. It must be the direction, the contrast between laying up treasures for ourselves and then being rich toward God. It's really the direction in which things are being invested, either towards oneself or towards being rich towards God. It's reasonable that we would want to have an abundant life. John 10, 10, the thief cometh not but to steal, for to steal and to kill and destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they may have it more abundantly. If you want to have an abundant life, that's, it's very reasonable. You were made in such a way that you would desire to have an abundant life. But what is an abundant life? What is the true definition of it? What is it when you ask, hey, give me some of my brother's money that Jesus says, man, I'm here for something of weightier significance? And it says it's a great harvest. A certain rich man he brought forth plentifully.
[17:28] This word is a word that we now use in music of euphoric, meaning this just great joy that is brought. This is quite the harvest that he has. And it makes no reason not to believe that this isn't just the result of honest work, that God gives people a great harvest as a result of hard, honest work.
[17:49] There's no mention of dishonesty, ill gotten gain, no mention of extortion, no mention of evil, no mention of immorality, no mention of an illegal crop. There's no reason to think this guy was growing something he wasn't supposed to be growing. And that's why he has so much money today. He just did his job and he did it well. And then God brought a blessing upon his life. And now he has great gain.
[18:11] But his answer to what he'll do with the great gain is very telling about his life. This man is very singular in his thinking. Verse number 17. Why don't you look down with me? I really want you to take note of this. And I want to emphasize, look at how singular this man is in his thoughts. And he thought within himself. Who does he want to talk to about this? I'm going to talk to the smartest guy I know. I'm going to talk to myself about this. Can't trust anybody else.
[18:39] Don't have anybody else's opinion I care about. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
[19:09] Reasoning to himself, deciding what he should do. Possessions clearly seen as solely his and nobody else's. A conversation with his soul to help enjoy what he has. That was his plan. Speaking to Whithomes the other night, one of my son's most common prayer is every time we pray is that, God, I pray that we have a great day. All right? It's not a bad prayer. All right? It's something to say, but it's always that, God, I want to have a great day. Well, this man, he did not say that we would have a great day. Even as a family, he just said, I want to have ease. That's the only purpose that I see in this great gain is for a personal ease. Why not just sell more, buy more land, buy more equipment? That would solve the problem, right? You have great gain, sell it, buy more land. You have more land, you have more barns and all that. But that is not what he wants. He wants great ease just for himself. When I was younger, my stepdad, before he passed away, had this idea. So I told you before, my family ran a flea market, which is the target version of a yard sale, right? It's kind of a step up from a yard sale. But we were serious about this thing. And we had a 5,000 square foot warehouse. And my stepdad had this crazy idea. And I remember him telling and me laughing at this crazy idea. He said, we're going to take this warehouse and we're going to divide it into a bunch of little rooms like closets. And that people would pay us money to keep their junk in our warehouse kind of like storage. And I remember thinking, that's the craziest idea. Nobody's going to pay us money to keep their junk in one of our buildings. Nobody does that, all right? And then as you know, that was a great idea, all right? That would have been a great idea. And I wish he, for my mom's sake, he would have done that. And so the storage, and there's all kinds of storage units around.
[21:06] And I'm not saying there isn't a time in our lives where we need it. It's much rather to keep it junk in another place than fill up your garage with it. But that's where the situation that this man has found himself in, is that I have more than I can handle. What am I going to do with it?
[21:22] And that was it. What am I going to do with this great game I've been given? And then he turns to himself, I, I, I, my, my, my, my. Why didn't he say something more like this? You know, God, you're the one that makes the rainfall. You're the one that makes the earth warm. You're the one that makes the seed to grow. I need to take some of this that you have given me and give it back to you because I know I'm to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I cannot be restrained in my giving to you because my love commands me to be generous with you. Love gives. It can't not give. And then I know the second law is to love your neighbor as yourself. And because your love abides in me, I love these people and I want to share this with others. This man couldn't have done that because that was not in this man's heart. For where your treasure is, is where your heart will be.
[22:18] Also, the man invested where his heart was. Could he invest it in his family? That wasn't in his heart. Could he invest it in others? That wasn't in his heart. Could he have invested in internal things and laid up treasures on earth where moth and wrath does corrupt and where thieves break in and still but lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor wrath does corrupt, where thieves do not break through or steal? He could have, but he didn't because it wasn't in his heart. And what was in the place of a love for God was a love for self. What was in the place of a love for God? It was idolatry.
[22:55] It was love for self. Covetousness comes in and chokes out what should be in the heart, which is a love for God, which can be demonstrated, and a love for one another. So, with great game comes a great potential for foolishness. But I said unto him, thou fool, verse 20, this night thy show shall be acquired of thee. Gain has caused him to forget some of the most important and vital things about life.
[23:23] He says, you fool, you have forgotten this. These things that you have are now going to be given to somebody else. And so, he forgot three things here that I want all of you to remember in here.
[23:34] With his great game, he forgot his God, others, and his own mortality. With great game, he forgot about his God, about other people, and mortality. Verse in James 4, 13 through 15, you know this, but this is a description of a person that can get in the life and forget about it. Like, how do I forget about God? What would that look like? What would it look like if I lived a life where I had great game and it caused me to forget about God? Go to now, and ye that say, today or tomorrow will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get game. Whereas you know that you shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time that vanisheth away. For you ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.
[24:24] So, that's how you start beginning a life with great game that causes you to forget about your God. It seems to me that if you were to be a person that was productive in your business, that you're a person that's dealing with game, that that actually ought to draw you closer to the Lord and not farther away, because you have so many opportunities in your day to say, God, do I do this or do I not? God, if it's your will, I will do this and I'm not. That there should be, not only is it possible, but it should happen that God could grow you in your business or in your work or your vocation and also grow you in your walk with the Lord. It happens if you don't forget him and you turn to him and say, God, I need your wisdom to do what I'm doing. This man should have read Ecclesiastes. It was available to him for Ecclesiastes 2, 18 and 19. Yea, I've hated all my labor which I've taken under the sun because I should leave it unto a man that shall be after me and who knoweth whether he shall be wise man or a fool. Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. It's the materialist worst nightmare is that someone else is going to get all their toys. This man is worried, how do I keep this for myself? What am I going to do with it? I don't want to lose any of it. I got to build more barns, but he's not even going to be the one that deals with it. His problem, his opportunity, his great gain will become somebody else's. Will that person be wise with it or will they be foolish with it? He doesn't know. I'm pretty sure Stephanie's home with the kid sick so I can say this, all right? I'm pretty sure that's why Stephanie always leaves her gas tank on empty, all right? It's even more important right now with gas being what it is. In case of a rapture, we have no idea who's going to be driving her van and we are not going to give resources to somebody. We don't know if they're wise or if they are foolish. So we're just going to put in what we need to make it through the day and we will see if the Lord wills that we make it to the next gas station. And so this, even as crazy as that is, and I won't ask you to raise your hand because some of you have your wives by you in here. Some of you guys may have to do the same thing in here.
[26:42] He's just saying, you know that this is going to be given to somebody else. First time I bought a car in 1983 Plymouth Relief, the guy took the battery out of it and all the gas and left it in my driveway because I paid him $100 for it. He wasn't going to give me anything, all right?
[26:57] He said this belongs to him. How many things in life do we have that will be spent by somebody else and you need to consider? And that would have been that man's worst nightmare, but he had just forgotten about God completely in here. And then covetousness, it can lead to false and hurtful teaching. That forgetting God will lead you to false and hurtful teaching. 1 Timothy 6.10, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. This desire to have and the reach and to always desire to be rich, this root of evil, that's this love of money, it causes you to gravitate towards false doctrine, which obviously is the only thing that's available when you're not committed to God, right? If you're going to forget God, if you're going to say, I'm going to take a step back and I'm going to begin to forget God, but I still want the appearance of being religious. I want to forget God and not him be central in my life, but I want covetousness to have more of a role.
[28:05] There are plenty of things that can come between you two that appear to be religious and appear to be spiritual, and that's where people would err from the faith and the right teaching and this false teaching that would come in. And it is sold on every corner in America today. Some type of false teaching that would tell you that you can pursue a life that is only for yourself and that is not living for the riches of God. And so, they lead towards false teaching. And then, great gain causes you to forget about other people. He laid up treasures for himself and is not rich towards God.
[28:42] What good is gain for the sake of just gain? Ecclesiastes 5.11, when goods increase, they are increased that eat them. And what good is there to the owners thereof, saving to the beholding of them with their eyes? Picture a guy with a large table getting more stuff, and the more stuff he gets on the table, the more workers he has eating them, and the more people coming. And like, it seems like no matter how much he gets, he never has enough because with the stuff comes the maintenance of that stuff. And Solomon is making a compelling case in verse 10. He tells you there's no reason a person should derive enjoyment. A covetous person can never get enjoyment from their wealth.
[29:18] He that loveth silver should never be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance will increase. This is also vanity, that that thing you're reaching for in covetousness you'll never get. And in verse 12, it says, not only will you not get it, you'll not get the joy that covetousness, but you're going to get something else. Verse 12, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him the sleep. That will be rich man, that covetous man, he doesn't have that. So, instead of getting joy, he gets anxiety. And remember this, you all know this from God's word, but you also know this from personal experience in your own life and those around you. Anxious people are not attentive people.
[30:04] Anxious people are not attentive people. Covetousness leads to an anxious life. An anxious life is going to be one where you don't pay attention to anybody else around you. This is kind of the life that you're going to live if you're going to be covetousness. James 4, 2, you lust and have not, you kill and desire to have, you cannot obtain, you fight and you war that you have not because you ask not. It is just a life that is constantly having to worry and be anxious and take care of gaining and gaining and gaining, and you're never going to be attentive to the needs of other people.
[30:36] I could tell hundreds of stories. I could tell hundreds of stories of people in this room of those that had great game, but they weren't covetousness and they weren't anxious. And because of that, they were attentive to other people and God allowed them to use the great game. But there's one, there's two people I want you to know about. You know, if you're going to hear me every Sunday morning, you're going to end up knowing all my people in my life. All right. Well, I want you guys to know about, and I want you to thank God for Doc and Phyllis West. He was the dentist in my town. He was my best friend's dad. I would hear him on the phone. Sometimes people would be bartering with him for eggs or something for, Hey, if you'll give me a root canal, I'll give you, I'll give you half a cow or something like that. And he was always, people were always bargaining with him and he did a good job. He did honest work. Well, this time at six, when his son was 16 years of age, he knew that his son had gone on a missions trip and he had never been. And he was going to take his son on a missions trip, but because God had blessed him and he had great gain, he said, why don't we take that knuckleheaded friend of yours, Trent? I was 18 at the time. And he said, why don't we bring Trent along with us as well. And Trent, me, I'm a politician. I won't speak in third person. Got confused there for a second. All right. And I'm 18 years old and I just lost my dad. And then a few months later, this mission trip's happening. And I cannot tell you how their great gain and how God used their great gain in my life to absolutely change everything that
[32:04] I thought that I understood about this world and what an abundant life would be on that. They had a great gain, but they weren't anxious about it. They were generous with it. And I'm forever grateful for Doc and Phyllis West because they were able to take great gain and it wasn't a great problem for them, but it was a great opportunity. And so the last thing that he forgets very seriously in here is that with the great gain, he forgot about his mortality. We don't see him make any preparations for death when his great gain comes. He doesn't call anybody in our church here that's in an insurance. He doesn't amend his will. He makes no consideration because he just isn't thinking about that. I'm not thinking about my death. This is just a great day of great game. And that was foolishness. And covetousness will always let you down when you need it the most. Verse 9 of 1 Timothy 6, It's nothing to play around with. It drowns men in destruction and perdition. This verse isn't saying that greed can mess up your marriage or your business, and it certainly can. But it's saying that covetousness can destroy your soul. It can. That it can keep you from ever knowing the God of the universe. That if you live the life and you just follow and you look to your right and your left and you live like everybody else and you never give thought of your own mortality of God and you never consider what is an abundant life. If you never answer the question properly, what do you have?
[33:39] What do you have? It could cost you everything. In a world of seeming uncertainty, we best consider the things that we know to be certain. 1 Timothy 6, 7, For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Cameron Richardson, when she was born, her sister Eleni came out and said, The baby's naked. She doesn't even have on a diaper. All right? And kids are amazed. That's how you came into this world without even a diaper. And so you brought nothing in this world, and it's certain that you will carry nothing out. There's a lot of things in this world that you can't be certain about. You can be certain of that. All right? At no point would I ever want to be your life coach, and would I want to be your financial advisor, but I can give you one principle that I'm certain about when it comes to all these things. You brought nothing with you, and you're taking nothing with you from this world. But thankfully, of this world isn't all there is. There's something that is far greater there. 1 Timothy 6, 11, But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. O thou, man, woman of God, flee these things. Flee covetousness, beware of it. Follow after righteousness. Follow after godliness, and faith, love, patience, and meekness. And where do you run? How do you flee from this? And where do you go?
[35:03] Psalm 119, 36, Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Go to the Lord in prayer. When your mind wonders, direct your thoughts upward, not towards the direction of your covetousness. Don't obsess about that thing. Don't look about that thing, but look to God and say, God, incline my heart to think about your testimonies. Let me remember how wonderful you are.
[35:30] Help me remember all you have done in my life, and in doing so, then I will not be given over the covetousness. Flee covetousness, run to God. Renew your mind. 1 Timothy 6, 6, But godliness with contentment is great gain. That's the verse before you brought nothing in this world and you're going to take nothing out, is that godliness with contentment is great gain. Let it renew your mind.
[35:55] As you're feeling like you're lacking, I have to have this to be happy. I have to have this with contentment. Nope. I know what the recipe is for contentment. Godliness is with contentment is great gain. I want an abundant life. I want great gain. How do I get that? It's not going to be made through a purchase. It's not going to be made through any earthly investment. It's going to happen with godliness and contentment. And then rejoice in what you have in God that will never leave nor forsake thee.
[36:22] Hebrews 13, 5 and 6, Let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. The Lord being our helper means that we do not have to be a victim of this thing that is called covetousness. As the Lord is our helper, you know what you can do to this thing that is so common, that is so subtle, that is so destructive? Colossians 3, 5, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanliness, inordinate affection, evil concubusance, covetousness, which is idolatry.
[37:07] There is victory in every one of those things, and it is found because the Lord is our helper. We live in a day where people just say, That's just the way it is. Fornication, uncleanliness, all these things, that's just how it is. That's just the nature of man. I don't have a choice. I'm just going to be a victim. You're not a victim when Jesus Christ, our Lord, is our helper.
[37:30] You see in the man in the parable, he had a great problem of great game, but that is all that he had, and that is all that he could ever have if he wasn't going to remember God in all of this. He had great gain, but no great contentment in God. He had great gain, but no great purpose in helping others.
[37:51] He had a great short-term plan for life, but he had no plans for eternity. And so, it seems to me that this wasn't, after all, a great problem to have at all. It's the parable of a great problem. It's not a great problem to have unless you're going to turn to the Lord, your helper, and say, God, this is what I want for my life. I want the abundant life that you have offered to me. And so, when God gives us great gain, don't forget him. Don't forget others, and don't forget your mortality. Those are things that you have while you're here on earth, but that is fleeting, and that we're only here for a moment.
[38:28] So, we turn to God and say, God, keep me from covetousness and to keep my heart. And so, the day as Kristen or Charlotte will come to the piano and play, I just really want you to ask yourself some of those questions, just kind of as a review. I said, covetousness, when you think about breaking one of the Ten Commandments, you say, no, that's not me. But then I said, is there this thing that's keeping you from being content that you can't be happy about? Are you unable to be happy for other people? That's recognizing that covetousness is something that has taken hold in your life, and you need to be aware of it. The great gain in your life, in gaining that, what have you lost?
[39:06] Have you gained like this man, but have you lost the things that really matter and the things that are most certain for us?