So, we'll just review a little bit on where we've been in this topic. We talked a little bit about what is a steward. It's a role that we all have as caretakers of what God's given us and acting on His behalf in its disposition. And, we talked a little bit last week about how stewards are actually servants. That's really our role, is to serve God with the things He has entrusted us with. And, yes, we know God knows we have a need for things for ourselves, but the primary purpose of God actually giving to us is to actually execute our role as a servant steward. The primary reason, he knows we have needs of sustenance, but the primary purpose, and we went through a couple of passages last time on this. We talked a little bit about this role is really temporary in the light of eternity. It helps us put in perspective the decisions we make. This passage here in Ecclesiastes ties very well with what we're going to go through today in terms of how we steward or where we steward. So, in the light of eternity, we should see that we have a limited time to actually get our job done and we're not going to have that job when we get to heaven. As we try to prioritize how we do our job, how we do the work, really what we do for ourselves and what we need to do for the Lord, I think that balance starts to become easier to understand when we see it in the light of eternity. There's not a lot of time. There's not a lot of time for us to do what we need to do. We talked a little bit about how we are stewards, both of a physical trust and a spiritual trust. And really, this topic that we're on, this area of possessions, though quite deeply coupled with our spiritual responsibilities, is really the simpler from the scriptures and minor part of our responsibilities. Simpler and minor. We should have already been trained in these easier things so that we can deal with much weightier matters. And so, this is another help, I think, to us in putting things in perspective of how much time and energy should we really be putting into this? Where is the higher priority? Very often, these items take on a bigger priority either because they're easier or because they're visible. and they're in front of us, or they're immediate, or it's worldliness. We just are imbibed with this world, and so we don't see through the stewardship that God's given us onto the things that are spiritual. In fact, the subtitle of this series is really, Seeing the Physical Through Spiritual Eyes. Seeing the physical with spiritual eyes. It's really this Christian in possessions, I've come to the conclusion, that's really my issue here, is seeing the things that are around us that God's given us in a spiritual context, in eternity, with spiritual eyes. We talked a little bit about Stuart's having a character requirement of being faithful. That's the key requirement, is being faithful. Being honest and faithful, diligent and consistent in our role. It's not something we can just take up and leave off whenever we want to. We saw that that was actually an expectation of the One who gives us the stewardship, that once He gives it to us, we're not just going to act on it when we have time, or when we want to, or when we think it's convenient, but that we are actually going to always be putting this as our priority. And so when it comes to our stewardship, all of a sudden now we're thrust upon responsibility. And we talked a little bit about, as the Lord gives, He puts upon us blessing, and with it, responsibility. Blessing and responsibility, and these were never intended also to be decoupled. I think one of the areas we're very good at is being able to separate things out. Separate man from God, separate his goodness from our enjoyment, and really separate responsibility and the actual blessing within the actual gifts and stewardship that God entrusts us with. And then we're getting into these passages, both in Matthew 6 and in Luke 12, 16, 14, we're going to get into a couple of those passages today, where we are now, now that we've somehow acknowledged our responsibility as a steward, we now have to ask the question, well, how do I do this? Now that I have to do something, And it's not optional, and I am a servant of the Lord. In this matter, what do I do? How do I do it? How does Christ really instruct us to? And so that's where we take up today. And a lot of passages, and I don't know if we'll get through them all today, but that's what we're going to get into today. We'll start with A quick review, Matthew 6, 19 through 24. That's the passage right before this one. So we're going to need to compare this passage very much with the passage in Luke 12. So let's turn to Matthew, chapter six, verses 19 through 24. And I know this is going to be a little bit challenging today because, you know, If you were able to put them both side by side, it would be easier. But we're just going to have to work as hard as we can in our memory. Read through this passage, pick up what we can, and then go on to the Luke passage. Matthew 6, 19-24. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. As you know, this is carved out, this section out of the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord speaking to his disciples and a big crowd there at the same time. And we noticed last week that this is really introducing that idea about treasure. Treasure. Treasure being something that is precious, valuable, or that we put our trust and security in. Treasure. Something that is highly desired by us, and that we, somehow, have taken an attachment to it. So, we actually don't just pursue it, but at the same time, it's something that we feel we have, quote, apprehended. So, we think it's ours. We look at it as ours, or we look at it as we are entitled to it. So, treasure is not just something out there, but treasure is something that we have a priority in our mind, of highest priority, that we feel we have some right to. And we all have treasure. We all have treasure. What Christ is telling us is, where is your treasure? And where that treasure is, is really where your heart is, where your priorities are. Where your soul priorities are is really where your treasure is. It's easy to find out where someone's heart is. Just look for their treasure. You know, it follows directly. It's not optional. It's not like in 90% of the people, that's true. It's in all of us, it's true. According to the Scriptures, none of us act any differently than what this axiom calls for us. Where your heart is, there your treasure is. Matthew Henry had a very good quote, and I'll read it for you. uses some tough words, but bear with him, and I think you'll find it insightful on this passage. Let us consider we are laying up, not for our posterity, or those who come after us, like our kids, in this world, but for ourselves in the other world. We are put to our choice and made in a manner our own carvers. He's basically saying, now we get to decide what the outcome is going to be with our own hands like a carver does on a piece of wood. That is, ours which we lay up for ourselves. It concerns thee to choose wisely, for thou art choosing for thyself and shalt have as thou choosest. He's saying, there is some disposition for us that we decide what it is we're going to end up with. If we know and consider ourselves what we are and what we are made for, how large our capacities are and how long our continuance, that our souls are ourselves, we shall see it is foolish thing to lay up our treasure on earth." And I think he grabbed a lot of the concepts we've been going through all very well in a very good summary. Understanding eternity, ourselves, our role, and what we were really created for by God, and what we were redeemed for, for Kingdom work, helps us put our stewardship well in perspective. There's another item I wanted to touch on. These verses 22 and 23. This has often confused me, and the best I think I can put on it, and why Christ included in here, I think the eye represents, or this is what I understand from it, really a perspective. Our perspective, our worldview, the eye being the picture of how we look at things. And if it's dark or light, is going to depend on what our view is on spiritual and physical matters. And if that perspective is dark, then that's going to drive all our decisions and actually will affect all our being. As it says, the whole body shall be full of light or the the whole body of darkness and how great is that darkness. So, it's basically determinant. Either if your perspective is a certain way, you will act accordingly in your whole life according to that. And so, I think you can see very clearly the analogy of having the perspective of heaven and earth correct is really in the same theme in these six verses, where it's two places, for two kinds of treasure, with two perspectives, and you're having two masters. You know, it's all two, and two, and two, and two, and, this shouldn't surprise us, As Christians or unbelievers, we are often faced with a decision, and there's only two real options. It's not a fast food restaurant. There are the narrow way and the broad way. And so, Christ is giving us here, really, we are making one of two choices. We are making them. We don't get to choose the neutral path or the middle way. There is no middle way. These are the two paths. Let's turn to Luke chapter 12. And we're going to look at a similar passage, but we'll see that it really is not just a reaccounting by Luke what Matthew saw. There are some differences. And now that we get to this point of, OK, I know I'm a steward. I know I must make a choice. I know it's a primary role for me as a servant of God. How do I do this? How do we lay up treasure in heaven? I can't do a bank transfer to heaven. I don't even know where to start. What does God want me to do? And so let's open up with Luke's help and some other passages to start to understand, not definitively, obviously, we're not going to have rules But we're going to start to get the principles here of what does it mean for us to be actively laying up treasure in heaven? I mean, that's what we're told to do. It sounds, obviously it's an analogy, but what is this analogy telling us concretely that we have to do? Luke chapter 12, we'll read 29 through verse 34. 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. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms, Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. Where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupteth, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Now, a lot of the same phrases are used. A lot of the same words are used. Some new ideas are added. But I think we can all come to the conclusion Christ is not directing us just about tithing. This is not just about tithing. This is about doing something with our earthly possessions or stewardship that's going to have a heavenly impact. This is really quite interesting to me because We have a lot of experience in the earthly affecting the earthly. Right. We get a hammer out. We put a hammer in a piece of wood and now that's fixed. The earthly affecting the earthly. And we have experiences as Christians by the Holy Spirit when we're saved. When we ask for forgiveness, when we repent, when we pray and God answers our prayers, we have experiences of the spiritual in the spiritual. But now we're actually seeing another way, besides prayer, where we act with earthly something or other, and it has a spiritual invisible impact. See, we always want to try to decouple what we're doing, you know, well, you know, I give some money to the church and they decide to get a new carpet in the foyer. I was a part of that. But, this idea of what the Lord gave us to steward and we actually investing it for heaven and not being able to see the benefit visibly, tangibly, It's something that's a little bit tough for us. It's tough for me. We somehow now have to trust the Lord that He's going to keep an account. And we are not going to be able to verify it. He's going to know. Other people might not know, but He knows. So this is the first part as a steward is doing the job and not really believing you're going to get the recognition here. And that came up Not in the verses we read in, but in the passage through also Luke 12 and through Matthew 6. Fear of the future is what I believe he's also addressing here that prevents us often from investing in eternity. Fear of our future here on earth. You see here, Christ precedes this idea of sell that you have, in verse 33, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heaven of the film not. He precedes that with eating and drinking and having a doubtful mind. Not knowing where I'm going to get my food, what is the future going to bring for us, the economy, my income, my health. What do I have to prepare for? It's this fear of the unknown on our short lifespan versus us deciding to invest for eternity. Christ knows us. So I don't think this is an accident that he brings these two ideas together that, you know, you have a concern. You have a concern. But he's basically telling us, don't make that your highest concern. Rather, seek ye the kingdom of God. He's basically saying, all these things the nations of the world seek, those who are worldly seek that. And that's their highest priority. And the second point is, in verse 30, the Lord knows you have a need. The Lord isn't ignorant. He looks down on you. So there's two things. He's saying, don't be like the world, number one, and number two, The Lord knows. The Lord already knows. You, as His steward, need sustenance. As a human steward, you're not an angel, you're not a robot. You need certain things. You have certain responsibilities. You can't actually do your job without them. So, He knows you have a need. So the Lord knows, the Lord knows. So don't let your concern about what the Lord's going to take care of prevent you from doing your job as a steward. Get on with the job, I'll take care of you. You do the job, I'll take care of you. The world, they're just worried about themselves. They're not doing anything for me. And he said, fear not, little flock, fear not. It's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So it's not just he's going to take care of us here. It's his desire to give us eternity. So when we look at that, then I started feeling a little foolish, you know, thinking to myself, we worry so much about this stuff, but the Lord actually wants to give us whatever we need here and eternity and eternity. You know, this is a very small thing in the picture of the eternal treasure that we're going to receive from the Lord. We act like this is a zero-sum game and there's not enough to go around and that if we run out, who's going to take care of us? I'm going to make this my first priority. Bills come in and I don't know what to do, and what if I got sick, or what if I broke my leg, or what if I lost my job, or, you know. We have to plan for the future. And I think Christ is saying, absolutely. But, the future I'm talking about is eternity. Is eternity. Not this small future you have for the next 50, 60, 70, 80 years. Which, that I'll take care of. So I found that now is required in stewards that we actually have faith, that we not just be faithful, but we actually believe God at what He says. I think this is a requirement for us to actually be able to execute our jobs. It's to actually believe God that He's going to take care of us, so that we can get on with the work. Because if we're worrying about what He's already said He's going to take care of, we're not going to really have the time, energy, or really the ability to make the kind of decisions we need to make. Let's look at the differences between the Matthew 6 passage and the Luke 12 passage. There, again, is an interrelationship of the spiritual and the physical, and the temporal and the eternal. It's our decision. Very much like Matthew Henry, I agree with him completely. It's our decision as to who is going to be our master. What will be our treasure? We decide that. Where we lay it up. And of course, the treasure is defined by where it's laid up. The kind of treasure is where it's laid up. And unfortunately, by de facto, once we've made those decisions, where our heart is, a fait accompli, it's accomplished, it's happened, that's what's going to happen. So now we have a significant, now not just responsibility, but now we are just determining where our heart will be while we live on this earth. The one interesting difference I noticed here in this passage is this little phrase, cell that you have, in verse 33, Give alms, provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in heaven that faileth not." And then of course this is similar, no thief approaches, neither moth corrupteth. So this idea of take action on what you're storing, take action on what you're storing, and in that So in the actual action of taking something that you have and investing in the kingdom, take something you have, you sell it, invest it in the kingdom. In that action, what occurs in heaven? What occurs in heaven? You end up creating for yourself in heaven, in this picture that Christ gives us, a bag or a money belt or a money pouch that doesn't ever wear out. In heaven. and a treasure in heaven that doesn't fail or, in some interpretations, doesn't run out. Inexhaustible treasure. Now, this idea came to me, I just thought, a bag that doesn't wear out with inexhaustible treasure. I thought, well, this has got to be hyperbole, right? I mean, this is just encouragement to do the right thing, but it's really an exaggeration. And it's not. I'm convinced it's not. I'm convinced the Lord is speaking accurately. The God who actually can fathom eternity, exist in eternity, manage eternity, He can actually provide us something that's eternal and inexhaustible. Let's turn to Luke 14. We'll read 12 through 14. So how do we how do we lay a treasure? Here's a few passages, some ideas. How do we lay a treasure? How do we do it? Laying a treasure in heaven, Luke 14 versus 12 to 14, then said he also to him that paid him. Now, Christ, I should have been in the background, but we don't have enough time. Christ, is that a feast? Is that a feast? and he was invited by a Pharisee, and so here he is at the feast, and Christ is speaking now to the guy who invited him. Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." And to me, you see, the word treasure is not in here, but the idea is still very similar, is that you do something here, and at the resurrection of the just, this is obviously a time when eternity has begun, there will be your reward. There is a real active idea here. The Lord is teaching us by reward. He doesn't just want us to do it because it's the right thing to do. He wants us to do it knowing that we have a consequence on what we do upon ourselves. There is a reward for us. This is a hard thing for me to struggle with. The Lord is incentivizing us with carrot and stick. And I have to tell you, I don't completely understand it, really, I don't. But it's there in the Scriptures, time and time and time again, on this topic. So, the concept being is, you do something for people who cannot benefit you, and the Lord will keep track of what you do. Of what you do for eternity, for His Kingdom, for the benefit of Christ's kingdom, and at the time of resurrection, it will all be accounted. And you think, wow, I wonder if this idea of accounting is real. Well, we're going to see it more and more. 1 Timothy 6, verse 17 through 19. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may hold on eternal life. This last verse is really the key here, I think, is that he's telling them to be rich in good works, even though he's addressing the people that actually have a lot of the physical stuff of this world. And he's basically instructing them, do this and you will be laying up in store, even as you spend it, as you give it away. You're going to be laying up, storing in heaven. It's a foundation against time to come. You're actually sending it ahead. Even though you think it's just disappearing here on earth, it's actually not disappearing. It's actually being stored in heaven. You're actually laying it up in heaven. This is a kind of economics that I think accurately, appropriately thought of as heavenly economics. A heavenly handling of the physical possessions here on earth. Very often we think, okay, well, I've contributed to this or I've benefited from that, but I didn't see anything happen. Was that wasted? You know, the church closed. We invested and they closed. And then we never heard from that guy again. What happened? You know, the money's gone. We don't have any more. The stuff is gone. We don't have any more. The food's eaten. We cooked it. They ate it. It's gone? Is God keeping an account? And I think the scriptures are telling us, yes, He's keeping an account. Even stuff that we forgot. He is not going to let us do our job and steward it well without keeping His commitment here that we are actually laying up treasure in heaven. It's an amazing thought, really, to me. As you meditate on more and more, I hope you get excited like I do, seeing that, you know, the Lord really, really gave us quite a privilege, and He is a very, very kind Master to us. A kind Master to us. He's given us all that we need to do, and He's going to take care of us. And so fear, or greed, or covetousness, can be combated with these truths. They really can. They can be combated. So the question we end up with is, do we really believe the Lord has an account and keeps track of us doing our job as a steward? Do we really believe that God looks down upon us, watching us and saying, You're laying a treasure in heaven there. Yes. You're laying a treasure in heaven there. Yes. Your account. You. You individually. I'm watching how you steward. And all these parables about the Master coming back and having an account with every one of the guys, you know. You. I gave you ten. What'd you do? You. I gave you five. What'd you do? You. I gave you one. What'd you do? The question being now is like, do we really believe that's an analogy of us? And we should. We should, yes. And then what happens to those guys? Alright, very good. Here. Here's ten more for you. Well done. You? What? You didn't do anything? You kept it for yourself? You put it in a hole in the ground? So hopefully this helps unlock our fear, greed, consciousness, our Basically saying, the Lord's saying is, making an investment here in yourself, on earth, is a bad investment. I've given you a much better avenue, a much better avenue, an eternal avenue, where the accounting will be right, it'll be inexhaustible, the account's not going to wear out, nobody's going to forget it, it's actually what I've saved you to do. Investing and doing in the Kingdom work here on earth with what you have been stewarded with. Alright, well, this is where we're going to have to stop. Obviously, we've got a lot more to go. Maybe we'll follow up on that in the next time. Let's pray. Our Lord and Father, We thank you for how good you are to us. We see, Lord, that you love us, you care for our minute needs, and you want us to be useful for you. Lord, we pray that you would help us not to be afraid, to take you at your word, to believe what you say, and to act upon it in our own lives. Give us wisdom, Lord, Help us all to know how to be good stewards. Help every one of us, Lord, to encourage the other in this church that we, Lord, as a body, may work for the growth of your kingdom and your honor and your glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.