Heavenly Father, we love you and we need you.
We treasure you and we adore you.
This morning, Father, we've come to bring you true and honest worship,
to declare that you, God, are the one true God.
There's no one that compares with you.
You are the one cornerstone upon which we can build and bank our lives.
God, this morning, we don't just worship you because you do us good.
We worship you because you're true, because you're real, because you're glorious.
You're worthy of our worship, God.
And we find our fullest and our truest identity when we worship you.
God, you're glorious and you're good.
You are majestic and you are merciful, God.
And for that, we love and we surrender to you.
Christ, this morning, come and have your way in our hearts.
Come and be first and preeminent in our lives.
Father, why don't you come and give us faith and help us to surrender to you freshly this morning, we pray.
Father, we want to bring before you those in our midst that are going to be traveling to Turkey this week.
Chris and Fiona, Charlotte, Echo and her mom, Florence and Cynthia, Tiffany, Alex, Phoebe and Yidi.
And God, we do pray that you will firstly protect them and keep them safe, God.
We pray for the logistics of their travels, God.
That they won't miss flights, miss buses.
That, God, all the logistics will work out.
There will be no accidents.
Everyone will be kept healthy and safe, Lord.
Look after them, we pray, God.
Father, more than that, we pray that as they study your word and as they visit the historical sites of the New Testament,
God, we pray that your word will come alive.
We pray, God, you'll speak them powerfully.
We pray for each one going on the trip.
That your word, God, will go deep in their hearts.
And the wonder of who you are, God, will be made freshly known to them, Lord.
God, open the eyes of their heart as they travel around Turkey, God, and explore these sites.
God, may your word come alive, we pray.
God, be with Chris and Fiona as they lead this team.
And will you meet each person, we pray, Father.
Lord, this morning we also want to pray for sons and daughters, for Julie and the team there.
And thank you for the amazing work that they do.
Thank you for their courage.
Thank you for their perseverance, God.
Thank you for their steadfastness.
Lord, we do pray that you will continue to lead them and guide them, God.
And fill them with your Holy Spirit and strengthen them.
And, God, when they feel overwhelmed, when they feel exhausted, God, won't you lift their sights to you, God.
And remind them that you are with them, Lord.
We pray for each one of these ladies, God.
Those that have gone back to Uganda and those that are here in Hong Kong.
God, won't you draw near, Lord.
We pray again that your word will come alive, that you'll be speaking to them.
Oh, Jesus, come and have your way, we pray, Lord.
Won't you come and set these ladies free, Father God, from the exploitation, God.
Thank you for the people, sons and daughters, that are loving them and being so good, Lord God.
We do pray for you to continue to resource them, strengthen them.
Pray for Julie and her colleagues, God.
Pour your love into their hearts as they love these ladies, we pray, Father.
Father.
And then, Father, finally, we pray for this morning at Emmanuel Church, where Chris is preaching.
Father, won't you bless him abundantly?
Won't you bless Evangel as he pastors and leads that church?
Give him wisdom and insight.
And, God, we pray that he'll know your presence.
He'll know your spirit, Lord.
We pray, God, that more than just a pastor and a leader, that your word will speak to him personally, God.
That you will be his cornerstone.
And that he'll minister out of a place of sweet intimacy with you, God.
God, we pray for those that are members and not yet encountered you.
We pray that you'll cause them to have a life-changing encounter with the living God.
Pray the gospel will get deep into that church, Lord.
And we pray that each person will come to see and understand and believe and receive the gospel.
And that'll change their whole lives.
We pray for their witness in that area, God, to be clear and powerful.
Pray for their relationships to be shaped by the gospel.
Father, we pray all these things in your wonderful and your mighty name.
Amen. Amen.
Wonderful.
Guys, for those of you going to Turkey, have a wonderful trip.
And we look forward to hearing about it afterwards.
Gary, will you come and bring God's word to us this morning?
The scripture reading comes from Matthew, chapter 6.
Please follow along in your bulletins or on the screen.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body.
So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.
No one can serve two masters.
For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,
nor about your body, what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds in the air.
They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not more value than they?
And which of you, being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life?
And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They neither toil nor spin.
Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
will he not much more clothe you?
O you of little faith,
Therefore do not be anxious, saying,
What shall we eat?
Or what shall we drink?
Or what shall we wear?
For the Gentiles seek all of these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
This is the word of God and his promises to us.
Gary, is this on?
Okay.
So just to let you know where we are at with our preaching,
in December last year we started preaching through Matthew's Gospel,
and we did Advent, and then we got to John the Baptist,
and then we got to the Sermon on the Mount,
and we've been working through the Sermon on the Mount,
and at various points when Jesus picks up on a theme,
which is really pertinent to us,
we've just paused on that theme.
And so about two months ago,
Jesus spoke about salt and light,
and we decided to pause there for a couple of weeks
and explore what does it mean to be missionaries into our city,
for Christ to send us out.
And then we went back to the Sermon on the Mount,
and we continued,
and then Jesus starts to speak about prayer,
and so we decided to pause for a couple of weeks
and consider prayer.
Why is it imperative that we must be a praying church?
Now we go back to the Sermon on the Mount,
and today we get to chapter 6,
and Jesus, in this very famous passage,
talks about money.
And seeing that money is such an important part
of so many of our lives,
and in the city of Hong Kong,
we're going to pause here again for a couple of weeks,
and just consider how Jesus' upside-down kingdom
speaks to this really important area of our lives.
And so for the next four or five weeks,
we're going to look at what Jesus has to say
about our financial lives.
And so let's dive straight into this scripture,
and work our way through it,
and see what Christ says to us this morning.
And so look at verse 19 and 20 with me.
Jesus says this.
He says,
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy,
where thieves break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves rather treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroy,
where thieves do not break in and steal.
Now, if you step back a little bit
and remove some of the kind of religious language,
what Jesus is saying here
is not very intellectual or philosophically deep.
It's pretty straightforward and sound financial advice, right?
Jesus is saying to them
that you've got these two investment vehicles.
One of them is high risk, very high risk,
and the returns on investment is pretty average.
The other one is very low risk
with great returns on investment, okay?
And so he says to us,
Which one do you want?
Now, just to understand,
when Jesus talks about heaven and earth here,
he's not talking about geographical spheres,
as if the material world is kind of bad
and the invisible city in the sky is somehow good.
When he talks about heaven,
he's talking about the place
where God's rule and reign is,
where Christ is king.
And he's talking about earth
is the place where God is absent.
And so Jesus is saying,
you've got these two kind of investment vehicles,
in a sense.
How are you going to invest your life,
your one and only life?
How are you going to invest your financial life?
On the one hand,
you've got this one vehicle,
and it comes with high risk.
There's every possibility that you could lose it all.
And you could lose it through natural things,
like floods and freak accidents
and misfortune and disease,
or maybe even like stock market meltdowns
or sentiment, that kind of thing.
Or you can lose it through wickedness and evil, greed,
someone stealing it from you.
But either way, it's very risky.
And even if you do survive the risk,
the return is pretty short-lived.
The maximum return that you're going to get
on this investment is your lifetime.
There comes a day when that return
is going to be exhausted,
and it comes to the end.
Now, of course,
the upside of this short-term investment
is that the returns are immediate.
They are tangible.
There's a sense that you can see them
right here and now, right?
You can check on your phone the stock price
or your share portfolio or that car.
You can actually feel it.
So in a sense,
the upside is that the return is tangible
and right in front of you.
Contrast that, says Jesus,
with this other kind of investment vehicle,
if you were.
And it's admittedly harder to see.
It takes longer to see the fruit of it.
It requires more patience, more trust.
But it has almost zero risk.
And the return,
while it might take longer,
is never-ending.
You're never, ever going to get
to the end of it.
And so imagine this.
Imagine you have,
maybe before I go there,
these two investment vehicles,
I remember in South Africa a few years ago,
I think four or five years ago,
we had a president that was corrupt,
very corrupt to say the least.
And he had orchestrated that all his players
were in the key kind of positions of government.
And he was organizing all these deals on the side
to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.
But there was one person
that wouldn't do his bidding,
and that was the finance minister.
And so, you know,
he had deals with the airlines
and the freight agency
and the coal miners and everyone,
but the finance minister
wouldn't do what he wanted.
And he was holding up all these deals
that this president had cut.
And so one Friday afternoon,
the president fires the finance minister
and appoints some backbencher
that kind of nobody's heard of.
The guy doesn't even have an economics degree.
He's just a pawn to do his bidding, right?
And over that weekend,
the stock market just fell into freefall,
and people lost up to 30%
of their entire wealth in one weekend.
15 years of savings in one weekend
was just evaporated and wiped off
people's balance sheets.
And that's what Jesus is saying.
You can go there,
but there's extremely high risk.
It's extremely volatile.
And so he says you've got these two options.
Now, imagine you inherit $100 million.
You've got a wealthy uncle,
and he leaves $100 million to you,
and you go to your financial advisor,
and you say,
what should I do?
And your financial advisor says to you,
she says,
well, I've got these two options for you.
One is very high risk
and average returns,
but it is immediate.
The other one is extremely low risk
and very long-term returns.
Which one should I choose?
Well, you don't need a PhD in finance
to know which is the good choice, right?
It's pretty straightforward.
And that's what Jesus is saying here.
All of us are economic beings.
We live in an economic world,
and Hong Kong in particular
is a highly charged economic city.
And Jesus is inviting us
to be wise stewards of our lives
and also our economic lives,
our financial lives.
Now, that's all very straightforward,
but here's the tricky part.
The tricky thing is,
why don't we do that?
In other words,
if you look at it black and white on paper,
one looks far more logical
and rational than the other,
and yet most of us,
and myself included,
find ourselves being drawn
towards this one,
the immediate return,
even though it's far more risky and volatile.
Why is that?
That doesn't make rational sense.
And the reason is,
because as Jesus will tell us
again and again and again,
that actually our lives
are far more controlled,
not so much by the rationality
of our minds or logic,
but actually by the condition of our hearts.
Remember Jesus constantly speaking about,
what's the condition of your heart?
Because the condition of your heart
determines your behavior,
your decisions,
your outflow.
The Bible again and again is saying,
watch how your heart is,
because out of the outflow of your heart,
everything flows.
That's why Proverbs says,
above all else,
above everything else,
guard your heart,
because your heart controls your decisions
and your behavior
and the way that you go about your life.
And so look at what Jesus says here
in verse 21.
He says,
where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
And that's the challenge, right?
Put it in black and white in front of us,
it's easy to make the choice.
But in the day-to-day decisions
and the trenches of life,
we're often guided far more
by what our hearts desire,
by what our hearts want to believe is true,
by what our hearts treasure,
than by mere logic and rationality.
And in many ways,
that's the key word.
The key word is treasure.
What is it that's caught
the imaginations of our hearts?
What is it that our hearts long after
or treasure?
Chris was telling me this week,
I haven't seen the movie,
but he just told me the scene
and it painted such a vivid picture
that I could immediately see
what he was talking about.
But apparently in the movie The Hobbit,
in one of the movies,
there's this guy that stumbles across
lots of gold and treasure.
All the students are laughing.
You guys like The Hobbit, evidently.
Anyway, so some guy stumbles across
all this treasure
and he falls in love with this treasure.
He must have this treasure.
And so he pulls it all up
and he gets it into a treasure box
and he's hoarding his treasure.
But the city in which he lives
is about to get destroyed.
And so there's a ship that's leaving
and he's got to get onto the ship.
And he's got his treasure box
and he's making his way
through the crowds towards the ship.
And while he's doing that,
they're starting to untie the ropes on the ship
and to pull up the gangplank.
And so while he's making his way
towards the ship,
one or two gold coins fall along the way
and he kind of stops
and he picks up his gold coin
and he carries on
and then another one drops
and he stops to pick it up
and he puts down the treasure
and he picks up
and he's going.
And as he's going,
you know what's happening.
The ship is starting to
more and more,
you know,
get ready to leave.
And he can see it happening
and everything logical says,
just leave the two gold coins.
You've got a whole box
full of treasure, right?
Just get on the ship.
But there's something alluring
about that treasure.
He can't leave even two coins behind.
And so eventually the ship sails off
and he's standing at the end of the,
you know,
wherever ships sail from
with this treasure box,
but it's all in vain
because the ship has gone without him.
And in many ways,
that's what it's like.
Money has this way of,
this allure that draws us in
that helps us
or stops us making rational decisions
because our hearts get enamored
with the treasure
of what it promises.
In some ways,
it's like those of us
that struggle with an addiction.
If you speak to someone
who struggles with an addiction
when they sober
or they're not in the grips
of the addiction,
the rational logics
make complete sense.
They'll agree with you.
Yeah, you're right.
This thing is dangerous.
It's killing me.
It's destroying my relationships.
But in the midst of that addiction,
it's not rationality and logic
there's some other power
that's at work
pulling them towards
that hold in their life.
And that's what Jesus is saying here.
He's showing us
that there's two different ways
to approach our money.
But then he's saying
that what determines
whether we are financially wise
or financially foolish
is actually not based
on our level of education
or our expertise.
It's not how good you are at budgeting
or how good you are at investing.
Actually, what determines
whether we are financially wise
or financially foolish
is the condition of our hearts.
The condition of our hearts.
And so the question is
how do you know
where your heart is?
How do you know
what your heart treasures?
Well, I guess one way to know
is to ask ourselves
what have we spent money on recently?
What's taken a large share
of our financial decisions?
But another way Jesus tells us
to know where our hearts are
is to look at our eyes.
To look at our eyes.
Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, look at verse 22 with me.
Jesus says,
The eye is the lamp of the body.
So if your eye is healthy,
your whole body will be full of light.
If your eye is bad or unhealthy,
your whole body will be full of darkness.
If then the light within you is darkness,
how great is your darkness?
Now, what's Jesus talking about?
This eye lamp kind of business.
What's he going on about?
Well, Jesus is saying
that the eyes of our hearts
are like windows
that let the light in
and shape the condition
of our hearts and our souls.
So maybe picture this.
Picture an olden day lamp, right?
You've got this,
you light a candle,
you put it in this old lamp
and then you've got the glass around it
that stops the wind from blowing it out.
And you're walking through the streets.
And the condition of that glass,
that lamp,
is going to shape
how powerful or strong that light is.
If the glass is clean and clear,
the light is going to shine
and you're going to see the room where you are
or as you walk the streets,
you're going to know which way to go.
The light is going to stop you
falling into a ditch
or losing your way
or getting lost.
But if the glass is covered
or it's muddy
or it's dirty
or it's not clear
or it's discolored,
the light can't get out
and you're going to hold that lamp
in front of you
but you might stumble and fall
or lose your way.
And Jesus is saying,
in many ways,
so does with the eyes of our hearts.
If the things we treasure,
if the things that have captured
our imagination,
if the things that the eyes of our hearts
look to with longing
and with inordinate desire,
those things that we look at
and say,
that will make me safe,
that will keep me secure,
that will make me happy
or fulfilled,
those things actually shape
how much almost light
our souls get to experience.
They get to shape our hearts.
And so how do we know
whether our hearts
are going to be healthy or not?
Well, what's captured the eyes
of our hearts' imagination?
What are the things we look to
for longing
or with desire?
What's captured our imaginations?
And Jesus says,
if the light,
if your eyes are healthy
and the word healthy there,
it's actually got to play in words.
In some contexts,
it means generous.
In other words,
if the eyes of your heart
are outward looking,
not inward looking,
not hoarding,
not how much can I have,
if the eyes of your heart
are generous,
actually that's going to make
your heart light.
It's going to,
the light of God
is going to shine in your soul.
But the word healthy there
can also mean single-minded,
complete,
as opposed to divided
or double-minded.
And so Jesus is saying,
if the eyes of your heart
are not focused
on two different goals,
but they're single-minded
in their devotion,
there's one thing
that has captured them
above all else,
actually you're going
to be a wise person.
It's like your heart
is going to have
the light shining on them.
You're going to know
which way to walk.
You're going to make
wise decisions,
as opposed to being
double-minded,
trying to focus on
serving God in one sense,
but then there's
this other pull on you,
which is also you're
trying to serve that God
at the same time.
Jesus says,
if the eye is healthy,
if it's single-minded,
it'll be like the light
inside of you
is shining brightly.
And so look at
what Jesus says
in verse 24.
He says,
going on about this,
he says,
therefore,
no one can serve
two masters.
Either he'll hate the one
and love the other,
or he'll be devoted
to this one
and despise that one.
You cannot serve
both God and money.
And Jesus is saying
that in the end,
if we're double-minded,
one of them
is going to have to win.
One of them
is going to have to
give way to the other one.
Now the question is,
which one is going to win?
And the answer is,
which one our heart treasures?
Which one our heart treasures?
Friends,
maybe I can ask us
this question,
or I think Jesus
would ask us this question.
What is our heart
treasuring?
What's captured
the imagination
of our hearts?
What do our hearts
look at and think,
if I only had that thing,
it would make me safe,
secure,
fulfilled,
happy.
It would give me meaning
and purpose in life.
And so,
look at what Jesus says here.
He says,
the thing that we look at
with longing
or inordinate desire,
it's not just your treasure,
it actually becomes
your master.
And what he means by that
is it starts to call
the shots in your life.
It actually starts
to dictate
which way you go.
It starts to shape
your decisions.
In a way,
we think we're making
the decisions,
but there's this master
that's pulling the strings
that's actually shaping
the decisions
that we make in our life.
How wise we are
or how foolish we are,
what voice we listen to,
and ultimately,
the way that we actually
spend our lives.
And that's why,
friends,
Jesus is so radical
when it comes to money.
You know,
Jesus makes some radical claims
when he talks about money.
He says,
in Luke chapter 12,
I think Oscar's speaking
on this next week,
he says,
watch out,
be on your guard.
Watch out for what money
will do to you.
Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed.
Now it's amazing,
Jesus never says that
about other kind of sins.
He never says,
you know,
watch out in case
you find yourself
in adultery.
Why?
He doesn't have to,
right?
If you find yourself
in adultery,
you generally know
that you're in adultery.
Nobody wakes up
and says,
hang on,
I think this is adultery.
Not sure,
but I think so.
But money has another power over us.
Greed has a way
of getting into our hearts
and blinding us
to the reality.
And so Jesus says,
watch out,
be careful.
Jesus is radical
when he talks about it.
And the reason is
because money is a way
of blinding us,
of helping us
not even see
what a grip it's got
on our lives.
You know,
a few years ago,
The Economist
ran a poll.
And in this poll,
they asked the question,
what is the most grievous sin
that our culture
is guilty of?
Of the seven deadly sins,
what is the most deadly
of the seven deadly sins?
And all the respondents
came back,
and the number one
most deadly sin
was greed.
In the Western world,
Western culture,
everyone said greed
is the thing
that we are most susceptible to.
And there was another
poll at the same time
pretty much agreeing,
saying the same thing,
that the biggest problem
in our culture
is materialism and greed.
Well,
a few months later,
the BBC in England
ran a poll
on the seven deadly sins.
And one of the questions
they asked is,
which of these sins
are you least guilty of?
And you can imagine
how it goes.
The one sin
that everybody agreed
they are least guilty of
is greed.
In other words,
it's the biggest problem
that everybody out there
is struggling with.
They need to sort out greed,
but I'm fine.
I'm fine.
You see,
money is a way
of blinding us.
It gets inside
of our hearts,
but it also blinds us
to the reality of that.
Friends,
that's the danger.
What your heart treasures
will own you.
It will master you.
It will promise you
the world.
It will end up
making demands of you.
And in the end,
it will become
a slave driver
that you can never satisfy.
And that's why
a Christian,
someone who comes to know
and understand the gospel,
someone who's applied
the gospel to their lives
is constantly preaching
the gospel to themselves.
Saying,
oh my soul,
do not hope
in the materialism around me.
Trust in God.
There's an amazing prayer
that a man from
a couple of hundred years ago
wrote,
and I've been praying
this prayer
over my own heart
the last few months,
and this is how it goes.
He says this,
Now,
in the final section
of our passage today,
Jesus speaks
to the most alluring
and the most appealing thing
about that money promises.
It's the thing
which most often
captures the eyes
of our hearts
and the reason
why money
has such a powerful
pull on us.
And to be honest,
I feel this pull
all the time.
And so let's look
at what Jesus says
in verse 25.
He says this,
Therefore I tell you,
do not be anxious
about your life,
what you will eat,
what you will drink,
or about your body,
what clothes you will put on.
Isn't life more than food
and the body
is more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air.
They don't sow
or reap
or trade on the stock market.
They don't gather
into barns
and yet your father,
he feeds them.
Are you not more valuable
than they are?
For which of you
being anxious
can add a single hour
to his life?
Verse 31,
Therefore I tell you,
don't be anxious.
Don't wonder,
what shall we eat?
How shall we drink?
What clothes shall we wear?
For even the Gentiles
seek after these things
and your father knows
that you need them.
Seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness
and all these things,
he'll take care of you.
Therefore,
do not be anxious
about tomorrow.
Now,
in this final section,
Jesus speaks
to the most alluring
and appealing thing
about money.
It's the thing
that money promises us
and that is that
the more money we have,
the more safe
and secure
our lives will be.
But it's a promise
that money promises
to keep us safe
from our fears
and secure
from our worries
and our anxieties.
And yet,
is that really the case?
Can it really deliver
what it promises?
I remember about 12 years ago,
I was living,
no,
even more,
15 years ago,
I was living in Johannesburg
and a bunch of us
were driving
from Johannesburg,
South Africa,
up to Malawi.
And you have to drive
through Zimbabwe,
through Mozambique,
into Malawi.
It's a two-day trip
and we were doing
an outreach there.
And so we get to Zimbabwe
and at the border
we change money
and it's about 25 Zimbabwean dollars
to one South African rand.
And we travel through
and get into Mozambique,
into Malawi.
We spend 10 days in Malawi
and then we drive back down.
And on the way back,
we get to the border
and it's now 100 Zimbabwe dollars
to the South African rand.
In 10 days,
from 25 dollars to the rand
to 100.
Lost 75% of its value.
A few years later,
Zimbabwe went through hyperinflation
and at its highest,
listen to this,
Zimbabwe's inflation
was 180 billion percent per annum.
180 billion percent.
Every day,
your money was becoming
more and more worthless.
Entire life savings
was becoming worthless
by the hour.
Money makes a promise
that will keep you safe
and secure
or provide for your needs.
But can it?
Can it really deliver?
A number of years ago,
there was a study published
in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
And in the study,
they asked people
that had inherited
millions and millions of dollars,
how much money
do you need
to feel safe?
people that inherited
from 10 millions
up to hundreds of millions
of dollars.
How much money
would you need
to feel safe and secure?
And the answer
across the board,
almost no matter
how much they'd inherited,
was roughly in the region
of double whatever I inherited.
I inherited 100 million,
200 million,
and I'll feel safe.
I'll feel secure.
And Abigail Disney,
the granddaughter
of Roy Disney,
who co-founded
the Disney company,
she inherited more money
than she'd ever be able
to spend.
Commenting on this,
she says this,
if how much money you have
is your primary measure
of success,
value,
and security in life,
then good luck with that
because you'll never feel
like you have enough.
And that's what Jesus
is saying here.
He's saying money
makes us fools
because it promises
us security.
It promises us freedom
from worry and anxiety,
but it actually
cannot deliver.
And just like the deer
that walks into
the hunter's trap
thinking that all is safe,
it catches us.
And money is a way
of luring us in
with this never-ending
promise of peace,
but it actually
never comes.
And the irony is
that the more
we think about it
and the more we plan
for it and the more
we worry and the more
we strategize,
actually the more
insecure and unsafe
we feel.
The more we plan
about it,
the more we worry
about it,
and we feel less secure
and more anxious.
And so Jesus tells us
that if you want
to be free
from the worry of money,
one of the worst
things you can do
is strategize
how to hoard
and get more.
The more you plan
to save and invest
and grow your share,
the more you're going
to worry about it.
Actually,
one of the best things
you can do
if you worry about money
is give it away
because suddenly
you'll realize
just how powerless
it is to really satisfy.
John Wesley famously
said this,
money never stays
with me.
It would burn me
if it did.
I throw it out
of my hands
as quickly as possible
lest it should find
a way from my pocket
into my heart.
And friends,
Jesus tells us
the answer
to our financial fears
and anxieties
and our concerns
about the future
is not found
in an amount of money.
It's found
in a person.
It's found
in a person.
And so look
at what Jesus says.
He tells us
to do two things.
First thing,
he says,
do not worry.
Do not worry.
And the second thing
he tells us to do
is to lift our eyes
heavenward
and to fix our eyes
on the one
who's seated
on the throne
in heaven.
He says,
cast your eyes,
bring your fears,
bring your worries,
bring your hopes,
bring your needs
to your heavenly father.
Financial peace
is not found
in an amount.
It's found
in a person.
And so he tells us
to do two things.
He says,
look to the God
who is good
and glorious.
He says,
this God,
your heavenly father
is great.
He is sovereign.
He is glorious
and majestic.
There is not
a single minute detail
of all of life
that is beyond
his rule
and his reign
and his realm
and his control.
There is not
a single thing
that is beyond him.
There is not our lives,
not our children's lives,
not our kids' education,
how are we going
to pay next month's rent,
how are we going
to get food
on the table,
where are we going
to find work?
There is not
a single detail
of life
that is beyond
the hands
and the grasp
and the control
of the sovereign God
in heaven.
He is in control
of all of it.
And though we may not
always understand
his ways
and though he does
things that we don't
always fully appreciate
and though he does
things that we might
think aren't the wisest,
he is great
and he is majestic
and he is in control.
Look at what Jesus says.
Don't you know
the birds of the air,
the lilies of the field,
they're all his.
They're all under my control
and so are your lives
and mine.
And friends,
this may be a scary thought
but you know
that you and I,
we don't have
one single dollar
in our accounts
more or less
than what the sovereign God
would want us
to have right now.
You know,
sometimes we think
like we come to God
and he says,
yes,
I see your situation.
I really wish
I could help out
but I'm just fresh
out of cash
at the moment.
Maybe next month
will be better.
God,
the sovereign God
knows every detail
of our lives
and there's not
one single dollar
more or less
that we have
than what he wants
us to have.
He is aware
of it all.
Friends,
if you're a Christian,
you have a father
in heaven
and he's sovereign.
Look upon that
and be comforted
by his greatness.
But then not only that,
look to God
because he's good.
He's not only great,
he's good.
Jesus says,
if God takes care
of the birds
and the flowers,
don't you think
he'll take care of you?
If he cares for the animals
who don't bear his image,
who don't have the spirit
of Jesus living inside of him,
who aren't the pinnacle
of his creation,
do you not think
he'll take good care
of us as well?
And friends,
as we said,
we may go through
tough times,
we may go through
difficulties,
there'll be times
when things happen
that we wouldn't want
to happen
or choose to happen,
but none of us
at the end of our lives
will be able to stand
before God
and say,
you were not good.
Every one of us
will stand before
the throne of heaven
and say,
oh God,
you were so good,
so extravagantly good.
And later on,
Jesus says in chapter 7,
yeah,
he says,
which one of you,
if your son asks for bread
or give him stone,
which one of you,
if your daughter asks
for dumplings,
is going to give them
a scorpion?
Please mom,
can I have some
shi long bao
and here's a scorpion instead?
No,
of course not.
If you,
a parent,
know how to take
good care of your kids,
if you love them
and you go out of your way
to look after them
and you think about
what they need
and what's going to serve them,
don't you think
your Father in heaven
will do the same?
In Romans,
Paul writes,
he says,
if God did not spare
his son,
if,
friends,
when we were enemies
of God
and we were lost
and we couldn't find
our way towards God
and we were dead
in our sins
and we had no way
of saving ourselves,
if we were dead
in our sins
and God didn't spare
his son,
not because he had to,
not because he owed us,
but just out of his
extravagant love
said,
here,
I send you my son
to die on the cross.
If God did not spare
his son,
how will he not
also with him
graciously give us
everything we need?
Friends,
while we don't understand
why everything goes
the way it does,
we may not understand
why God allows
and orchestrates
certain things,
surely the cross
proves that God
is not out to punish us.
Surely the cross
proves that God
is looking out
for our good.
He loves us
extravagantly
and therefore
we can trust him.
Tim Keller
says this,
he says,
if you come to see
and know Christ,
you don't have to worry
about money.
The cross proves
God's care for you
and gives you security.
Now you don't need
to have to envy
anyone else's money.
Jesus' love
and salvation
confers on you
a remarkable status,
one that money
cannot give you.
Money cannot save you
from tragedy
or give you control
in a chaotic world.
Only God can do that.
What breaks the power
of money over us
is not just
a redoubled effort
to follow the example
of Jesus
or to try and be
more generous.
Rather,
it's a deepening
of our understanding
of the wonder
of Christ's salvation,
what you have in him,
what he's done for you
and then living out
the changes
that that gospel
makes in your hearts.
And friends,
the great irony
and the great tragedy,
as we said earlier,
is that when we look
to money and wealth
as our treasure,
while we look to it
for safety and security,
the more we look to it
to give us peace,
actually the more worried
and anxious we become,
the less safe
and secure we feel.
But friends,
if the gospel
gets deep in our hearts,
if the penny drops
from our head
to our hearts,
when you realize
that God is good
and gracious
and he's glorious
and he's in control,
you know what will happen?
This is the irony.
You won't be able
to give your money
away fast enough.
You won't be able
to find enough causes
and people
to give it away.
When the penny drops
from our heads
to our hearts,
money will become
so fleeting,
it'll be such a joy
to give it away,
we won't even have
enough people
and organizations
and charities
to give it to.
Friends,
don't you see
the one who,
though he had everything
and owned everything,
he didn't stay in heaven.
He gave up
all of that for us.
He left the comforts
of heaven
to give us himself,
to give us
what we desperately needed,
to give us,
you and I,
the one security
that really does work,
that we really
can bank our lives on,
that we really
can trust,
not just in this life,
but in the life
to come.
Friends,
let's bank our life
on him.
In the words
of that great
ancient hymn,
it goes like this,
riches I heed not,
nor man's empty praise.
Thou,
my inheritance,
now and always,
thou and thou only,
the first in my heart,
high king of heaven,
my treasure,
thou art.
Let's pray together.
I want to invite you
to stand with me
as we pray,
and I want us to,
I want to lead us
in a different kind
of prayer.
You can,
yeah,
let's,
you know,
over this last few weeks
as we've been
talking about prayer,
when we looked at
Nehemiah's prayer,
Nehemiah chapter one,
and Daniel's prayer
in Daniel chapter nine,
both of them
come to God
in prayer,
and they both
confess their sin
on behalf
of the people.
It's an amazing line,
they don't say,
God,
I've sinned,
they say,
God,
we've sinned against you,
and there's great power
in this kind of corporate
acknowledgement and owning.
I want to ask you,
I know this is a brave
thing to do,
but I want to ask us
if we can come before God
and pray a prayer
of confession,
and admit that God,
so often we've looked
to financial resources
and wealth
to do what only you can do.
We've often trusted
in that above you,
and there's a prayer
on the screen
that I want to encourage us
to,
maybe I can read it for us,
and if you want,
you can read it as well,
you can read it out loud,
or you can read it quietly,
but I want to encourage us
to pray this prayer.
You don't have to,
and there's no condemnation,
this isn't to make you
feel guilty,
but I've found in my life
as I've had to deal
with God
and repent
and confess this week,
there's been an incredibly
liberating feeling.
God's liberated me
in such an amazing way.
I felt the freedom,
and so I want to encourage us
to do likewise,
and so as we do this,
let's ask God
to break the hold
that money has over us,
to find our hope
and our security
and our peace
and our peace in Him.
And so as I pray this,
won't you join me
and let's pray together.
Heavenly Father,
thank you that you are
a great
and glorious Father,
and yet you are
also exceedingly good.
Thank you that you are
magnificent
and majestic,
and yet also
merciful and kind.
Father,
we confess
that we have so often
looked to money
and wealth
to do what only
you can truly do,
to take care of our needs,
to provide for our families,
to satisfy our longings,
and to give our hearts
true rest.
Father,
we confess
that in our hearts
we have treasured
financial resources
before you.
Forgive us,
Father.
Forgive us,
we pray.
Thank you
for your amazing grace,
your welcoming arms,
help us to love you
supremely,
to trust you
absolutely,
and to find our
deepest delight
and our highest joy
in you.
In your son's good
and gracious name
we pray.
Amen.
Father,
we really do ask that,
God,
we pray that
by your power
you will break
the hold
that money has
over us,
God.
We pray,
God,
that you'll set us
free,
God,
from worry and anxiety.
We pray,
Lord,
that as we take
our comfort
and security
in you,
Jesus,
that the allure
and the appeal
of financial wealth
will lose its grip
on us.
God,
set us free,
we pray,
God.
God,
we want to trust you
and love you
supremely.
Come and have your way
in our hearts,
we pray.
In your wonderful
and powerful name,
Amen.