Luke chapter 12 and verse 13. And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. He said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? He said unto him, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. He thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. 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. But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap. which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them? How much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God. And all these things shall be added unto you. I'm gonna preach this morning on priorities. Priorities, let's pray. Lord, as we come down to the last Sunday of 2018, we thank you for the way you've blessed this year. We thank you for the opportunities that you've given us this year. We thank you for this opportunity, another chance to gather in your house and hear your word. Lord, I pray that the time would not be wasted, that you would use it. Work in our hearts, pray that you'd help us to pay attention. Lord, clear from our minds those distracting thoughts. I pray that you'd speak to our hearts this morning. I pray that you would meet needs. For those that have come this morning that have never been born again the Bible way, Lord, I pray you'd convict them, draw them to yourself. Speak to all of us, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. We do the things that we do because they are important to us. Every one of us has a value system that determines how we spend our time and our resources. Our worldview informs us and shapes us and dictates how we live our lives. If your priorities are right, then your life will go in the right direction. If your priorities are wrong, then your life will be messed up. It's as sure as the law of gravity. In Proverbs chapter one, wisdom is personified and speaking as she refers to those who reject wisdom. In chapter one, verse 22, she says, how long ye simple ones will ye love simplicity? A simple one, someone that does not gravitate to wisdom and knowledge. Somebody who would rather be foolish. How long you simple ones, how long will you stay that way? How long you simple ones will you love simplicity and the scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. You have said it not, all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. And then wisdom says, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. Wisdom is saying, you've rejected me. You'll pay the price, and when the price is to be paid, I'll mock you because you did not accept wisdom. Goes on to say in verse 28, then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. Again, verse 30, they would not of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices. So wisdom says, you've rejected me, you've gone in the way you wanna go, and because of that, you're gonna be filled with your own way. You're gonna reap the harvest of what you have sown. Their priorities, their value system, determined their fate. as predictably as day follows night. As we come down to the end of another year, I think it's a good time to think about our priorities. And while there's not a lot you can do about 2018, 2019 is a clean slate. 2018 is almost gone. You have only today and tomorrow left to salvage. But 2019 is untouched. unspoiled, a fresh canvas, if you will, an entirely new chapter that remains to be written. And if you were not happy with how you spent 2018, what are you going to do differently to change the outcome of 2019? so that you can come down to the end of the year if the Lord carries His coming and say, I'm happy with how I spent the year. I'm glad with how I invested my time and my resources. We have a great propensity for living for the moment and not for the long term. Instant gratification is the strongest motivation for a sizable contingent of our society. And if that's what forms your value system, you'll never come down to the end of a year and look back with satisfaction on how you spent the year. If you're honest, you'll have to acknowledge that you frittered away another year, you've wasted many more opportunities, you've traded away long-term satisfaction and fulfillment for instant gratification. In our text, an unnamed man comes to Jesus hoping to enlist his help in a dispute with his brother. Verse 13, one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto him, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. This was not the response that the man was hoping for. One has to wonder if the important life lesson that Jesus gave at this time even registered with this distraught man. Take heed and beware of covetousness. Jesus would use this as a teaching opportunity. Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. If you learn that lesson, you're ahead of 99% of your fellow Americans if you get a hold of that truth. That's a valuable, important truth. And then Jesus uses that truth as a springboard to teach them a parable. Verse 16, He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully He thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? Because 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. That, in a nutshell, is what's been called the American dream. Our society today extols what this man is doing. Our society today praises people like this. Multitudes of people envy a person like this. Here's a man whose value system, however, was all messed up. And Jesus cites this man in the parable to drive home his point. This man focused on all the wrong things. He focused on the gifts and not the giver. He focused on self and not others. He focused on flesh and not spirit. He focused on today and not tomorrow. He focused on time and not eternity. And in doing so, He's not unlike most people. Which is why Jesus told the story. After all, this is what most people's focus is. The gifts, and not the giver. Most people focus on the gifts, not the giver of the gifts. The Bible says every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father. yet most people live their lives focusing on the gifts and what they can get and what they can achieve and what they can accomplish and what they can accumulate and that is their focus and if they can get more things and there are people that honestly believe that he who dies with the most toys wins and their focus is on the gifts and you might say today well I haven't been given very much but if you have your eyesight that's a gift You can hear today the preaching of this message. You can hear, that's a gift. You can speak, that's a gift. You have a mind that can still reason and think, that's a gift. You ate food this morning if you chose to. Some people choose to go without breakfast, but you probably did not forego breakfast because there was absolutely no food in the house. You have clothes to wear. Most of us have plenty of clothes, plenty of food. We'll eat meals on a regular basis that some other people in the rest of the world will live their entire lives, live and die, and never eat a meal that fine. We have many gifts. We've been given many gifts, but our focus often is on the gifts and not the giver. Our focus is on self and not others. and how easy it is to become all wrapped up in ourselves. And someone has said, he who is wrapped up in himself makes a very small package. And yet how easily we can focus inwardly and everything is us and the universe revolves around us. He focused on the flesh and not the spirit. And Jesus' entire ministry was trying to get people to take their eyes off the flesh and put them on the spirit and take their eyes off this world and put them on the world to come. He focused on today. Not tomorrow. Oh, he thought he was well-situated. Oh, and I'll do this. And Jesus said, but tonight, my soul, to be required. He was focused on time and not eternity. Boy, he had his plans all laid out. Most people would say, hey, there's a sharp young man. He's going places, and he's got it all together. And Jesus said, no. You're not prepared to live until you're prepared to die. Verse 16, spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. I need bigger warehouses. I need bigger storerooms. He said, this will I do. I'll 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, and take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. This is the American dream. But it became a bad dream, a nightmare. He thought he was well prepared. Many years ago, just right before it was pretty evident America was probably going to be drawn into World War II as the storms of war were blowing and various nations were already involved. As is customary, the city of Pasadena was hosting the Rose Parade. And probably because of the gathering storms of war, their theme that year went along with the idea of being ready no matter what came. And so they had their Rose Parade right in the middle of the parade. To the embarrassment of this one company, their parade ran out of gas. right in the middle of the parade and blocked the parade route so no other floats could go around and only marching bands could go around or people on horseback or those individuals that are in the parade, but they blocked all the floats behind them from being able to get around. What was even more embarrassing for the company that sponsored the float was the theme that year was, Be Prepared. And what was even more embarrassing was the float that ran out of gas was sponsored by the Standard Oil Company, a gas company. And so they epitomized not being prepared. And here in verse 19, people would say, well, this man's prepared. I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Is that not preparation? Eat, drink, and be merry, take thine ease. Verse 20, but, but God, but God. And may I say that God can interject himself into our lives at any point, any time, anywhere. But God said unto him, thou fool. Oh, we, the average American would not say this man's a fool. They'd say this man's wise. But it doesn't matter what the average American thinks. But God, said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. And then he asked this question, And who shall those things be which thou hast provided? He said, Oh, my financial portfolio is in great shape. It's diversified and I'm invested in investments that are returning great returns. But my friend, one day you have to die. Then what? And then Jesus gives the moral of the story, the application of the parable, verse 21, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And then he turns to his disciples to teach further on the subject, verse 22, and he said unto his disciples, therefore, or in light of what we've just talked about, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on. Now that phrase, take no thought, in the Greek the word thought, it means to don't be worried about it. In the Greek it means literally to be anxious about. So he's saying do not be anxious about. In verse 17 you see the word thought where it says any thought within himself. That's an entirely different Greek word that means to reckon thoroughly or to consider or to deliberate about, to give great thought to. The first time it's used, verse 17, it's talking about how we would think of thought. This time, it's referring to being anxious, being worried, being concerned about, and Jesus is saying, don't be concerned about those things. Verse 23, the life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment. He's saying there's things that are a whole lot more important than the things we place great stress upon. There's some things that are more important than food and clothes. In verse 24, consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are you better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to a stature one cubit? If you then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow, they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things." And so Jesus is saying to His disciples, look, don't go this way, don't be this way. This is how unbelievers live their lives. Unbelievers live their lives focused on the things of this world, the things that they wear, the things that they eat, the car they drive, the house they live in, the job they have. That's all they have to focus on. They don't focus on eternity. If they focused on eternity, they would get their lives right with God. They'd repent and get saved, but they live for this world. So he's saying don't be so focused on the things of this life. Don't live for those things. He's not saying don't have any thought for your clothing or your food. He's saying don't be worried and anxious about those things. He's saying God's gonna meet your needs. Most of our clothing issues aren't needs, they're wants. The same lady that says she doesn't have anything to wear complains she doesn't have room in her closet. Those two don't go together. We have more than enough clothes and more than enough shoes and more than enough food. In fact, even on a worldwide, they tell us now that the greatest concern worldwide literally is not famine, it's gluttony. We've made great strides in solving the world famine. Now, there are places that still suffer famine, but they say there's far more of a universal worldwide problem with gluttony and obesity than there is with famine. And he said, don't be anxious about these things. The world lives with anxiety about these things. In verse 31 he says, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Now remember the application of the parable that Jesus told back up to verse 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And then the conclusion again, verse 31, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Now let me ask you, was Jesus right? Did Jesus have any idea what he was talking about here? And if you say, yes, Jesus was right, or of course Jesus was right, I would ask you, does your life reflect, the way you live your life, does it reflect that you believe that Jesus was right? We said at the outset of this message that we do whatever is important to us. If everything in your life is all about you, then you are going to obsess about yourself. You're not seeking first the kingdom of God, you are preoccupied with the kingdom of you. A few chapters earlier in Luke, in Luke chapter 9, Jesus put it this way, verse 23, and He said to them all, "'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.'" What did He mean? Whosoever will seek to save his life will lose it. The person who is completely obsessed with themselves, and everything is about me, me, me, and focused on themselves, and they're not just going through life taking selfies of themselves every time they turn around, but they're thinking about themselves every time they turn around, and everything is about them. He's saying, you're never gonna really experience life in its fullest. You're never really gonna experience what God intended for you. Your life is going to be shallow, it's going to be empty, it's going to be barren. He says, but those that will lose their lives, in other words, they're not focused on themselves, they're focused first upon God, and then they're focused on the world around them, they'll understand the fullness of life, they'll understand the riches of life, the richness of life that God intended for us to live. And so we make that choice, we make that decision. We're to focus on the spiritual first, not the physical. The physical, verse 30, all these things do the nations of the world seek after. That's their priority. Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God. And all these things shall be added unto you. This is the last Sunday of 2018. You're ending the year well. You're in church. That's a good place to be on Sunday. But where will next Sunday find you? And the next, and the next, and the next. We do what's important to us. We do. We do what we want to do. You say, well, I go to work, and I don't want to do that. But you do, because you want the paycheck that they're going to give you on Friday. So wanting that paycheck badly enough makes you want to go to work. We do what we do because it's important to us. For instance, if you pass out tracts, it's because it's important to you. You want to do it, and so you do it. If you don't do it, it's because it's not important to you, so you don't want to do it. Oh, no, I want to, but it's because I'm shy, I don't do it. No, the truth is, if you don't do it, it's because it's not important enough to you. That's why. Let me illustrate. If we were standing on the sidewalk here in the city, and down the street, there was a man sitting on a bus bench, waiting for the bus, and I said to you, you know, if you'll go give that man a track, I'll give you $1,000, 10 $100 bills. I'm guessing you'd do it. It'd be the easiest $1,000 you've ever made. Other than when your Aunt Matilda died and you got all that for nothing. But you would overcome your shyness and you would go give the man a track. Why? Because $1,000 is pretty important to you. And we do what's important to us. We do what we want to do. Take that thought back into our text, verse 30, for all these things do the nations of the world seek after. Your Father knoweth that you have need of these things. That thousand dollars is important. Why? Because with it you can buy a lot of food and clothes. Verses 22 and 23. You can buy a lot of drink, verse 29. You can buy the things that your flesh wants. But Jesus is trying to get us to change our priorities from the physical to the spiritual, from the temporal to the eternal, verse 31. But rather, seek ye the kingdom of God. Overcome your shyness and give the man a track, not for $1,000, but more importantly, because you might change his eternal destiny. The thousand dollars gets our attention, but Jesus cautions us to take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisted not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. This whole passage is about that. This whole passage is about reordering our priorities and changing our perspective. If you're here this morning, you've never trusted Christ, let me say this, it all starts with you being born again the Bible way. but it doesn't end there. Once a person gets saved, the Lord wants to go on changing their priorities. In fact, Paul is writing to the Christians in Romans 12, he says, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. He says, give your life to God. Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. He's writing to believers there. If you've never been born again, that should be not just your main focus this morning, right now, but it should be your only focus. You're not thinking of eternity at all if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior. You're like the rich man in our story, and maybe you've got your plans laid out, and maybe your career path is laid out, and maybe your financial portfolio is strong, and you say, boy, everything's going well, but I would tell you that at any point God could step into your life and say, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? At any moment, God could say, that's it. You say, well, I'm in good health, and I exercise, and I eat right, and I just saw the doctor on Friday. He said, I'm good to go. Hey, you're just one heartbeat from eternity. You're just one aneurysm, one blood clot from eternity. We can think we're fit and healthy, and a little mosquito can bring us down. Think about it. We're not so strong. A little microorganism, just a little tiny microscopic speck of disease can bring any one of us down. And God would say to this man, thou fool, you haven't ever prepared to die. You think you're prepared to live, but you're going to die. And so as we come down to the end of 2018, God in his mercy, God in his grace has allowed us to live yet another year. But if you're not saved, how many times have you said no to God? How many times have you turned and walked away from the gospel, so I'm still pretty young, or I'll do that later, or I've got some things I wanna do first, I've got a career, I've got a life, or maybe I wanna sow some wild oats, and do you think God's gonna still keep giving you opportunities? Maybe. But what if not? What if not? What if today is your day? There'll be plenty of people all across this country that this is their day. God says, that's it. You're done. It's appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. In God's appointment book, your name is beside some date somewhere. And we've said before, it's not like a doctor's appointment where you can call up and say, I want to cancel that, or I want to put that off. No, you're going to meet your appointment with God. Are you ready? Are you ready? If you're not, you're just like the man in our story, living for all the wrong things, not ready to face God. And if you have been born again the Bible way, you say, I know I've trusted Christ as my Savior, my eternity's secure, that's great, that's the most important decision a person can ever make. But let me ask you this in all honesty before we close the service this morning. Are you more concerned with laying up treasure for yourself or being rich toward God? Which is more concerning to you? which energizes you more. You say, I'm already saved. That's great. But now how are you living? What's your focus? What are your priorities? What is your value system? We all live according to a value system. We do what's important to us. We do what we want to do. Are you laying up treasure for yourself? Is that your emphasis? Or are you rich toward God? Priority.