And thank you, young people. We'll dismiss the kids 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to go to their class with Mrs. Shore and head to the creche. And the rest of us, please open up our Bibles again to Luke chapter 12. If you need the page number for the church Bible, it's page 1076. All right? Luke chapter 12 and verse 13 is where the text begins this morning. We'll try to get through this full text and see how we do this morning. If you've followed the news at all, you know, first of all, we got a new prime minister. We went to Germany the week that Boris Johnson became the Prime Minister, but as we get back, I've been able to catch up on news a little bit, and the pound is hitting historic lows, and it's because our new Prime Minister is taking a hard-line stance on Brexit, that Brexit's going to happen whether we've got a deal in place or not. He's trying to get Europe back to the negotiating table. And as he's doing that, as the markets are a little bit concerned about the ramifications of a hard Brexit, if you don't have integration agreed, if you don't have financial trade agreements in place, and borders and border checks, and how's that all going to take place is affecting the markets. And I guess it doesn't matter too much to you unless you're traveling abroad. A lot of people are concerned about it because if they're taking a trip, for instance, to the United States, it's going to be more expensive. And we talk to people at times about where they go in the US, and there's basically three places. There is Florida, they go to Disney World, and the cost of your ticket to go to Disney World is very expensive anyway, but it's going to be more expensive because your pound doesn't purchase as much as it used to. New York City is a big tourist place and there you've got the shops and you've got the shows and things. And again, that's expensive stuff anyway. It's going to be that much more. Las Vegas. You shouldn't go to Las Vegas. You're going to lose money anyway, but they're losing money before they even go because the pound has dropped in its value against the dollar. And why do people even care? After all, it's just Money. That's a funny statement. You've heard it, I've heard it. Stop and think about it. It's just money? I mean, money is a big thing. Money is such a big thing that an Ipsos Mori poll about what worries people the most, this is of March 2018, this new global poll found three concerns top the world's worry list. The first is financial or political corruption. That's 35%. The second is unemployment, 34%. And the third, poverty or social inequality. That's 34%. Did you notice anything about those three things? They're all financial. I mean, that is like saying the biggest worry that people have is different aspects of their finances. It's something that consumes a lot of people. They're just saying, It's money makes the world go round. It just means that much of life functions on this commodity. Right now the Fringe Festival and other festivals are taking place in Edinburgh. If you shut down everything that had to do with money today, guess what? Almost everything is going to shut down because money is tied into everything. And so it makes sense, as we come to the Word of God this morning, and we look at Luke chapter 12, which by the way is, if you have a red letter edition of the scriptures, the words of Christ are in red. Most of Luke 12 is red, except for some very short phrases, because it's Jesus speaking. And interestingly, Luke chapter 12 is all about money. The section that we read this morning, you might have noticed that as we're reading it. And we're going to summarize what Jesus is dealing with in this text as the dangers of money. And challenge us this morning, we need to avoid these dangers. As believers or unbelievers, whatever case somebody finds himself in today, and these dangers affect those people groups in different ways. But wherever we find ourselves this morning, we need to avoid the danger of money that Jesus speaks about. We're going to put these under four headings this morning as we look at these four dangers. Okay, let's pray and ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. Thank you that it is quick, it is powerful, it's sharper than a two-edged sword. It pierces even to the dividing center of soul and spirit. It joins tomorrow as a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. And Father, as we've already prayed today, our desire is not to hear from a preacher or to hear from each other. Our desire is to hear from God. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us eyes to see and give us ears to hear. Father, I pray that this truth would not just be a glimpse in the mirror and a continuation on the same path. But I pray, God, I look in the mirror that changes the direction of our life, that we would understand that this danger of money is a very real danger. It's a danger to the unbelievers. It's a danger to believers. And Savior, you dealt with it very specifically in this past. And I pray that the Spirit of God would guide me as I speak. I can't preach or teach the Bible, Lord, without your enablement. And I pray that the Spirit of God would guide me in my thinking, guide my heart, guide my mind. And Lord, all of us, as we come to the Word of God this morning, just focus our minds in upon this precious truth that is given to us to help us in our walk with God. And Lord, we commit this service time to you, praying as well that you bless the crash and help the kids in there to listen and be good and have a good time with Mrs. Shor. She teaches them a little bit about the Bible, even in that class. But Father, our desire is to grow today. So let me say this as well, Father, please, if there's somebody that is not saved, and money is keeping them from getting saved, Father, we pray that they would make that decision to live for what's really valuable, and Lord, that they get saved even today. Thank you, Lord, for your love. Thank you for your help. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Okay, money danger number one. So there's going to be four of these this morning, and danger number one is the danger of discontent. The danger of discontent or covetousness. Some of these will affect believers, some will affect unbelievers. In this case, this danger affects believers and unbelievers. Discontent, it's a covetousness, a feeling that you deserve what others possess. In other words, they've got it, and because they've got it, you think, well, I deserve it, too, because they have it. There's a thing now called the postcode lottery. You might have heard about it. Hopefully, you're not participating in it. But the postcode lottery, and what it is, is it's gambling, but as you gamble, if your postcode is chosen, you win. And actually, I don't know if you know this, but about two years ago, it happened in Lonehead, and I saw in the newspaper that just happened in Musselburgh and that's what had it in my mind. You know what I thought about as I thought about these people winning? Some people participated in the lottery and they shouldn't have and they did and they won. By the way, they won ill-gotten gains. Why? Because lottery steals from people that can't afford But because of their addiction, they're addicted to it. They're paying all this money for a piece of paper. And so everybody that wins reaps the harvest of those that were basically fleeced by the lottery thing. Don't get into that idea that it's charity. It's not charity, it's gambling. And so anyway, but they win. Imagine this. I mean, this person participated. This person didn't participate. This person won big because their postcode is a little bit closer to the exact postcode or however it works. And there's kind of a tier type thing. And now there's a feeling of animosity or maybe covetousness that creeps into that community because they've got it. I deserve it as well as them, et cetera. And that's what we find in our story as the story begins. There's a statement by a man that feels like he deserves something he doesn't possess because his brother possesses it. And so verse 13 says, and one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And so he's thinking, you know, Jesus loves me, and I know Jesus, and I have the opportunity to speak to Jesus about this. And it deals with, apparently, Moses' law, the law that God gave that said the firstborn got a double portion of the inheritance. And so as that inheritance was received, the younger brother looked at it and said, it's not fair. Just because I wasn't born first, my brother got twice as much, that's not fair. Lord, divide the inheritance with me. Let me just stop and say this. How many families have been torn apart because of inheritance? You know, I think today that maybe everybody here could stop and think about families that around that inheritance, there was a division that took place, and it's because of the sin that Jesus is going to deal with. It's a sin of covetousness. I deserve that. And they don't deserve that, and I should have that. But you know, Jesus says this in verse 14. He said unto him, man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he's referring back to a story in the Old Testament where Moses got involved between a squabble between two Israelites. And he said, you guys are brothers, why are you fighting? And they said, who made you a judge and a ruler over us? And that's the same idea. And maybe the idea is this, that if Jesus were to get involved, this guy wouldn't want him to get involved because Jesus isn't going to step across to his side and say, yeah, you deserve that money. Why? Because Christianity is not a tool to satisfy the covetous. Just because God is my God and God cares for me and God meets my needs, it's not an opportunity for me to, like the health and wealth gospel promotes that. God wants you to be rich and God wants you to have big houses and fast cars and things. This guy desired to kind of get in there. I think he's a little bit like a child at a birthday party. He's thrilled with his cake, you know, he's got his cake, he's all excited about eating it, and then he looks across at his neighbor. His neighbor's got a big piece of cake. And all of a sudden, this little piece of cake, it doesn't look as appealing anymore. Why? Because they've got a bigger piece. But if he had just focused on what he had been given, he would have been satisfied. And see, life's like that, isn't it? We start to look around, and Satan says, you don't have as much as somebody else has. But you know, God is a God that is faithful to meet our needs. James chapter 4, verse 3 says, he asked and received not, because he asked amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. And even as believers, we can fall into the sin of thinking, God, why don't you meet my needs? But in reality, it's not really needs, it's lust. It's a desire for something that God, in His wisdom, hasn't seen fit to bestow upon you. Can you today, as you think about this, can you rejoice at the prosperity of others? You know, something nice happens. You get a new car, they're able to buy a house. You know, something good is brought into their life. Are you somebody that can rejoice at that and say, you know, I just praise God. And my heart's been touched by this. There's been some things that happened in my life, and as I share them with people that I know they'd like to see maybe a similar thing, to have them rejoice with me and say, hey, I'm so excited about what God's done there for you. You know, they're still praying about maybe even the same thing. But, you know, we need to be like that, right? We need to be on guard against this danger of covetousness, a feeling like I deserve what others have. Secondly, it's a feeling that you can't live without having what others have. A feeling that you can't live without it. Verse 15, and he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. In other words, a competent person begins to think that my life is dependent upon those things. And if I don't have those things, I just can't be happy with my life. I can't live without it. Wasn't that King Ahab? As he looked at Naboth's vineyard, he looked down on that and he thought, I've got to have that. If I don't have that, I'm not going to eat. I can't live without it. It's like that covetousness creeping in, you've got to have it to live. You know, our family, as we traveled, we enjoyed seeing kind of a show on our way down, was it two weeks ago, I guess it was, as we headed down to Dover. There was apparently a car show that had gotten out, and these classic cars are just coming past. Five at a time. I don't know how many we passed, over a hundred I'm sure, of these classic cars. You look at it and think, that's neat. You might see a sports car. Does it matter that I drive a minibus and not a sports car? You kind of lose your coolness as you grow up in life and you start to add more kids. I pulled up beside the pumps at Asda and there was a guy there in an Audi sports car, bright orange, with orange trim on the leather seats inside. It was beautiful. And I got out of the car and I walked around the front and I said, I'll trade you. And he looked at my car and didn't even say anything. And he just got back in his car. And I just went, oh, I guess not today. Either thing was funny. I thought it was funny. But you know what? Does it matter? that I don't have a sports car. My eight in my family wouldn't fit too well inside a two-seater. It might have been fun on the Audubon as we drove on the Audubon this past, last week, you know. But you know, in the scope of life, what is really more important, what does my life consist of? Even as we're driving, I mentioned last week there were some hardships on our trip and you're trying to be on schedule and get somewhere and you're just not quite on time that you'd want to be getting there. But my wife said to me, you know the important thing is not when we get there. The important thing is that we get there. See, sometimes in life we get consumed with how we want to maybe get there, instead of just saying, I just want to get there. And the important things of life are lost in the glitz and glamour of, I've got to have these things. Are you content today with what God has given to you? We talked about the verse as we dealt with the law this morning in Sunday School, but godliness with contentment is great gain. It's a good thing today if you can come to church with a light heart because your life isn't wrapped up in things and having to have things. You're grateful to God for what God's given to you and trusting in God's provision. And so the first danger is a danger that can affect believers, unbelievers. It's a danger of discontent or covetousness creeping in. and wanting things that God hasn't seen fit to give to us. The second danger is a much greater danger. And the danger of covetousness leads into the second danger for somebody that's an unbeliever. And now we're going to switch just a little bit. Because this deals with somebody that has gone from the danger of discontent to the danger of damnation. The danger of damnation because of their covetousness or their discontent and their desire for things. They let riches keep them from faith in Jesus. Matthew 16, 26 says, but what is man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall man give in exchange for his soul? I mean, somebody can do very well for themselves in life, but to what purpose? To what point? If they have the ability to purchase anything they want in Edinburgh, so what? If they die and spend eternity in hell. Think of what Satan has gained. Satan has gained the damnation of their soul. He traded it with them for the trinkets of life, because they wanted to live their life for things instead of living their life for God. It's sad. Jesus in his temptation, remember one of the three temptations was Satan taking him up onto a very high point and he said, all the kingdoms of the world will I give unto you if you'll bow down and worship me. And so even there in that temptation you see him trying to allure the Lord away from God's will for his life and living his life for God to live his life for what he can see. How many people today are on their way to hell because Satan put it up before and painted such a pretty picture about life and they're living their life for this instead of living their life for what is eternal. The rich young ruler is one of those men in Matthew chapter 19 in verse 16 it says, Behold, one came and said unto Jesus, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? He said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Interestingly, he's going to deal with a man about sin, and as he deals with a man about sin, the guy is going to justify himself. Now he's not a perfect man, but he feels like, I've succeeded in keeping these laws. He saith unto him, Which of the commandments? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept for my youth up, what lack I get? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. Now, I mean, that's interesting. I mean, the Lord's dealing with this man about this idea of salvation, becoming a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and obviously it's pre the cross, okay? It's faith and obedience to God for imputed righteousness. And he says, okay, with regard to the law, I've kept the law. And the Lord just goes, okay. Take everything that you possess, go and sell it, and then come and follow me. Interesting, Jesus is dealing with a root sin in this young man's life, and the root sin is he has a love for things. The Bible says when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. What is that? It's a danger of damnation. Why? Because of things. So there's a lot of people today, and I trust that it's not somebody that's here today, but there's a lot of people today that are facing the wrath of God potentially against them for all eternity, and it's all because they cared more about things than they did about the things of God. And so what can help us today? If somebody found themselves in this condition of having a love for things, what would help them to deal with that sin of covetousness? And so as we look at verses 16 and 17, first of all, do not forget the source of all wealth. Do not forget the source of all wealth. Verse 16 says, and he 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 distill my fruits. And he's had a bumper crop. I mean, things have gone well. It can be this way for farmers. Some years, bad years. Some years, good years. But the ground brought forth an abundance of fruit. You know, ground can do that. My dad grew up out in Durango, Colorado. In Durango, there was a man in the church. His name was Charlie Lemon. And Charlie was one of the last of the cowboys. He was still doing cattle drives when I was in high school. And he'd take his cattle from the lower winter pasture up through a small village up to the higher summer pasture with his cattle. And we actually got to go on that cattle drive. And I went on the cattle drive, not on a horse, but right on the back gate of our station wagon. We'd jump off and chase the cows out of people's gardens and stuff. There's a famous writer, his name's Louis L'Amour, and you might have read some of his books if you've read any Westerns, and he's a fairly good, clean, somewhat, Western writer, okay? And he is very famous, very wealthy, and he offered Charlie several thousand dollars to go on a cattle drive, and Charlie said, no, all right? And he didn't want him on his cattle drive. I'm just emphasizing Charlie was kind of a Western guy. But anyway, The reason was, part of the reason was, Charlie was rich. Charlie had land and his land had oil. And so he had wells on that property that were pumping out a lot of oil. Where did that oil come from? I know, compressed vegetation. It came from God. See, the richness, as he harvested his great harvest, where did it come from? It came from God. Did he stop and say to God, I just want to thank you for blessing me. God, I thank you for your goodness. I was out Thursday night, we were inviting kids to come to the Holly Bible Club, there was a young atheist sitting on the swing set, 13 years old. I'm an atheist. I said, the sad thing about atheism is that God's given you this beautiful weather, God's given you all your food. I don't know if I said this or not, Jesus Christ died for him, and he acts as if it didn't happen. That's sad, isn't it? And so this rich man, it would have helped him if he would have remembered, you know, everything that I have is from God. It would be good for you today, no matter whether you're rich or poor, to just stop and say to God, I thank you that what I have is only because of your goodness to me. Secondly, do not live as if your wealth is your security. This man did. Do not live as if your wealth is your security. Verse 18, 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. He didn't thank God and he didn't trust God. In other words, he didn't see God as the one that had provided it for him. Neither did he see in his future any need to depend upon God. He's got it covered. He's going to build a big barn and he's going to trust in what he could secure for himself rather than trusting in God. You know, it's a very bad decision. to trust in anything man-made. There was a boat that sailed not that long ago. It's a very famous boat. It's the Titanic. An unknown Titanic crew member is reported to have once said to an embarking passenger, Mrs. Sylvia Caldwell, he said this, God himself could not sink this ship. I mean, that's a sad statement. It wasn't a challenging guy. Guy didn't sink that boat because that man said that. But that's an interesting statement. saying, this is so secure that God himself couldn't sink it. That boat sank in 2 hours and 40 minutes after it collided with an iceberg. This man's looking at his barns. He's saying, God himself could not sink it. There's people that look at their accounts. They look at their bank statement. They look at their financial future. And they say, I've got it covered. I've got it covered. Now listen, it might get it through life. It's going to fail in eternity if it gets there. But the thing is, markets crumble. Barns burn. Things that seem so secure in life, God can take those things, as he does in this story, and he can just wipe those things out. So do not live as if your wealth is your security. Listen, Christians, we can do this as well. We can begin to trust in the fact, well, I've got a decent bank account. I've got a good retirement plan. But that's not where we should be. We should be living as if, you know, God, I thank you for that. I want to be a wise and good steward. But God, I am trusting in what you're going to do in my life, not in my things. Do not selfishly indulge your flesh with your wealth. This guy did. Do not selfishly indulge your flesh with your wealth. Verse 19 says, I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. He's just saying, hey, let's live it up. I've got it. I made it. My ship's coming in. And I'm just going to live it up. And I'm going to live the life of the flesh and satisfy every desire I have with things that I can buy. Do you remember when bottled water first came out? I'm going to say it was about 25 years ago, I think I was in high school, when bottled water came out. Do you remember this? Anybody? I remember how funny it was to see bottled water. It was kind of like bottled air. And I remember thinking to myself, this is never going to take off. Never. Obviously it has. I wish I'd invested. It's not going to happen, you know, but our world is all about commodities, right? It's all about purchasing things, and I looked this up. The most expensive bottle of water in the world, you're not going to believe this, I hope, is 50,000 pounds for 750 milliliters. This is not a joke. It's Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani, and I'm glad I slaughtered it. is the most expensive bottled water in all the world. The water comes from the natural spring in Fiji in France and has been bottled in a 24 karat gold bottle. The packaging is one of the most expensive parts of the water product. Yeah, water's inside. Though it's said to have a distinct tantalizing flavor and softness to the palate that will impress even the biggest bottled water connoisseurs. 50,000 pounds. 50,000 pounds for 750 milliliters of water. There's people that buy this. I saw as well that they harvest glaciers and they melt them, and that is like a specialized form of bottled water full of minerals, et cetera. You know, and people spend these outrageous amounts of money. That's just living opulently. That's living wastefully. Think about, I saw as well, there's a purse that retails for 3.2 million pounds. There's a watch that, costs 50 million pounds. I mean, you could just look it up online and you could find all these things and think, why would somebody buy that? My kids sometimes ask me, Dad, why would somebody buy a car like that? Yeah, we like to see it. It's kind of cool, but why would somebody spend that kind of money? Because they're living opulently. You've got people that don't have enough food to put on their table. You've got poverty in our world, and you've got people just wasting what God's given to them. Don't forget, not to selfishly indulge your flesh with your wealth. You know, God's given us what we have for a reason. There's obviously God's provision for our family, but there's also opportunities to be a blessing with the resources that God's entrusted to us. We've got to stop and consider that, you know, even the things that I allow in my life, I need to be wise about what I allow, that I'm not wasting the resource that God's given to me. This man didn't care. Fourth thing that would help this man is do not forget that money can't be taken into eternity. Verse 20 says that 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 laith up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. This guy thought, I've got it all. I'm just going to live it up. And sadly, God says that's it. Enough. You got people today, they're not in church because they're working. That's their life. I talk to them all the time, as I do with the angels. I don't have time. I can't go to church. I can't seek after God. When can I do that? My life's all about just seeking after this. It may not even be a really rich person, but they're living their life for money. But it doesn't matter in eternity. They can't take it with them. A few chapters later, Jesus tells a story, and he asks the question, I guess, this man laid up treasure for himself. He's not rich towards God. In other words, he was living life for things, but he wasn't rich in his relationship to God. He'd never invested anything in God. He invested everything for things, and you wonder what happened to him. This soul, this ninth-high soul shall be required of thee. Where did he go? I believe that we can assume from the text that this man went to hell, just like the man in Luke 16, verse 19. A certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried, and in hell. He lifted up his eyes, being tormented. And Abraham reminds us again, he said, remember, in your lifetime, you received good things. But you don't have those good things now. And that text is not teaching that all rich people go to hell, and all poor people go to heaven. It's teaching that what somebody lives their life for matters. If you got needs in your life today and you're not rich, you ought to stop and praise God and say, God, thank you that I have to depend upon you. I pity a rich person that lives in these big houses. They got everything their heart could possibly desire. They have no need for God. Sad, isn't it? And so what is it? It's a danger of damnation. Then the third thing, so we've looked at two. Danger of discontent, that affects believer and unbeliever. The second one was the danger of damnation. Obviously, that's for an unbeliever that's living their life for things. The third one is now switching to believers. And so believers, the danger is the danger of doubt. The danger of doubt. They shouldn't be as a disciple of Lord Jesus Christ. They're not living their life for things. And so they're living a life that should be a life of faith and depending upon God. And so Jesus turns his focus now to his disciples, those that are like Peter and the others that, they turned their back on the fishing, like Matthew turned his back on his tax collecting, you know? And they stepped out in faith to obey God. They stepped out in faith to please God. What's the danger? The danger is the danger of doubt and not trusting God to supply your needs. And so verse 22, 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 it. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. But don't be anxious or worried about money and worried about where is it going to come from? How is it going to be supplied? And so riches have a danger. I trust in that. And poverty has a danger that I doubt God's ability to provide. It's really what Edgar said in Proverbs 30 verse 8. When he said, remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord, like a rich man? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of God in vain. I don't trust God for my provision. I seek to get it myself. There's a danger there as well. And so danger number three, the danger of doubt. First of all, do not doubt. that God will provide for you. You know, it's a biblical thing for us today to wake up today and say, God, today I'm going to trust you to supply my needs. That's a very biblical thing. It's what Jesus gave in the model prayer in Matthew 6, 11. He said, give us this day our daily bread. And so a godly person gets up and just says, God, I'm just going to trust you to provide my food for today. The Bible says, take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for things of itself, sufficient to today is the evil thereof. And that it's a very good thing if I got up today and say, God, I've got to trust you today. I've got to see you provide today and see you meet my needs today. And so don't doubt God's supply of life. He even feeds the birds. Verse 24, Jesus said, 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 so they heard this story about the man with the big barns, and they're thinking, God, Lord, I don't even have a little barn, let alone a big barn to trust in. And he says to them, look, the birds don't have barns. But God feeds them, and we see this. Our neighbor feeds the birds, alright? And so we got birds all over the place. But God's provided through men, God's provided through nature, insects, and other things that the birds are just taken care of. They're not worried about where the money's gonna come from. When's the last time? that you saw God supply your need and provide for you. That's a precious thing, isn't it? Just to see God supply your need. I called my mom yesterday, I think it was yesterday, or Friday, and I said, Mom, remind me of the pizza store, alright? And she said, well, and I kind of remember this, but I was little when this happened, and my brother was probably five or six, I was four, and we were having missionaries over to our house that night, and my dad was on his way to get the Xerox, or the copies made for the bulletin at a man's business. He's driving along the road, he crosses a bridge, and there on the side of the bridge, there's a pizza box. And I don't know why dad stopped, unless the spirit of God just prompted him, but he stopped, he looks inside, it's got a full pizza in there, except for one piece. And so the theory is that the guy took a piece out, set it on his car, got in his car, drove off, I guess. It's a full pizza. So mom and dad took the pizza home. And true story. And made the kids swear. I'm one of them, but I don't remember. I was too little. But my brother was old enough, Jonathan. And they said, don't say where the pizza came from. And so Jonathan didn't say where it came from. He just kept saying to the other little kids that were our age, he said, I bet you don't know where this pizza came from. So they didn't say anything, but God provided. You might look at that and say, man, that's nasty. Why'd you do that? Why would you supply that? God supplied. And I'm not going to look back and wonder how rich or poor my parents were. I don't think they had a ton back then. God provided. And so that's a wonderful thing. We love reading George Mueller and the things that God did just when those orphans needed it, God provided. Why? Because they trusted God. How many of us really trust God? Seriously. I mean, do we really depend upon God for our finances or are we content to figure it out ourselves and try to work it out ourselves? Don't doubt God's supply. He even feeds the birds. Don't doubt God's supply. Doubt changes nothing but your peace of mind. Verse 25 says that which of you, with taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? If you then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take you thought for the rest? You know, you can't make yourself taller. How many of us would love to do that? Mark Poorman, at camp, he's like 6'5". His wife, Ann, is about 5 feet tall. And he came, he was a youth speaker, and preached to the teens. But his wife said, you know, when we were in junior high, or P6, P7, S1, I was taller than him. Well listen, if he could have added anything to his statute, at that point in his life, when the girls are taller, he's going to have done it, but he can't. And God says that's least. And God says if we can't do that, if we can't make ourselves taller, how can we do the rest? The things that are more difficult. And so when I'm anxious about how is it going to work out, what's it affecting? It just affects my peace of mind. Why? Because I can't solve it and that's okay. Why? Because God meets my needs. God's the one that provides. And so do not doubt God's supply. Secondly, do not doubt that God will clothe you. Verse 27 and 28. Consider the lilies how they grow. They toil not, they spin not. 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, tomorrow's cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of low fame? Nowadays we have microscopes, right? And we can take that lily and we can see the gorgeous clothing that God has given. And God says it's more beautiful than Solomon's, but it's for a lily that just lasts a very short time. And the point is, how much more is God going to provide clothing for me when I need it, or clothing for my kids when my kids need it? And when it comes to money, I can trust God. And I can walk a life of faith, believing that God's going to provide for my kids. And there's conditions to this. But God will meet the needs. So what? Don't doubt. Verse 29. Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of a doubtful mind. So what is that teaching me? God is teaching me I'm not to be consumed with earthly things, even though they're legitimate needs. Right? Because food is legitimate, and clothing is legitimate, but I'm not to be consumed with that. Why? Because God is the one that provides. There's a hymn entitled, Tell it to Jesus. It says, Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious? What shall be tomorrow? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He's a friend that's well known. You've no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. You know, God's going to meet our needs if we walk by faith. I've shared this story before and I won't share the whole story, but my wife and I got married a year before finishing college. She was a senior. I was a second year grad student. I didn't get a lot of money, I got $70 every two weeks, plus my tuition and things, my schooling, I got that for free. And so we worked a little bit on the weekends, and there was a guy that we worked for, he also paid us $10 an hour to do what we did in his garden, gardening, and that was a great blessing, but as we're going through the year, we're just seeing the financial pull, which God had given to us by his grace before he, as we got married, about $8,000 coming into that year, and we're trusting God, we're gonna live by faith, we're not gonna go into debt, okay, we're gonna live debt free, that was our decision when we got married. And so it got to the middle of the year, and things were getting tight. And I said, let's go see about a student loan. And we walked into the office, and I just felt so convicted, and the man wasn't there. And I walked out, and I said to Katie, I said, we're just not trusting God. We just need to trust the Lord. Do you know, God got us through that year debt free. I've told this story before. It came down to a matter of like dollars. I can tell the whole story, I won't right now. But it came down to a very small amount, but God absolutely met our needs. You know, we've been married 19 years, and by the grace of God, we live debt free. I use a credit card, but I use it wisely. It's paid off every month. God's allowed us to do that. Why? Because God's a client. We've got to ask the question, you know, our world, I think I maybe had this in my notes in Sunday School, but I didn't refer to it. The average debt in Britain is something around 20,000 pounds, and it's like credit card debt. Should a Christian be living in debt or not? And I believe the answer is no. Why? Because my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Obviously, and this isn't a full message on our finances, but can we say we're really God, if we're putting ourselves under a huge financial burden, making ourselves servant to the lender instead of servant to God, there's some young people they can't go out and do what God wants them to do. Why? Because they've got enormous debt. They've got to have that good job. They've got to have that pay. They can't step out by faith. Why? Because they have tied themselves up with a financial burden. Now if we find ourselves in that position, we've got to ask God to get me out of this. God give me grace to live within my means and to deal with this as it is. Why? Because God, you're the one that I'm to be trusting to provide for me for my daily bread. And so it's a principle of faith in God. Fourth thing, and this really ties into that idea that as a believer, I ought to be living day to day by faith in God, trusting God. And that is this, money danger number four, the danger of deception. And the danger is this, the danger of living for time instead of for eternity. This is unlike the unbelieving rich man, it's according to believers. See, you can say, well, unbelievers, they're living their life for things. But listen, as believers, we can fall into the same danger where we're living our life for the temporary rather than living our life for eternity. And so the Lord says, don't be deceived. The world is consumed with money. Christians should not be. Verse 30 says, for all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. See, your unsaved neighbor is going to be bothered about Brexit. They're going to be anxious about it, worried. How's that going to affect the markets? How's that going to affect the economy? What's going to happen with jobs? And they're anxious about it. Listen, a Christian should not be. Why? Because is my life today dependent upon my bank account? Is my life today dependent upon what I can see in my financial future? Is my life dependent upon my employment? Or is my life cared for and taken care of by a loving God who provides for me? See, that's it, isn't it? But we can get our wires crossed and think, oh no, I'm anxious. Why am I anxious? Because I'm trusting in that instead of trusting in God. That's deception. Don't be deceived. The world's like that. They're anxious about that. And the second thing is don't be deceived. God will meet your needs if, and I want to emphasize if. It's in capital letters in my notes. If you put him first. Verse 31 says, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God. and all these things shall be added unto you. What's it say? It says, put God first, which by the way, I didn't read the verse, but Philippians 4.19 says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. That's a great verse, and every one of us ought to get on our knees and say, God, you promised to meet my needs. But go to the context, and the context is Paul saying to the church in Philippi, you sent once and again unto my necessity, finances, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. I have all in a bound. I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable while pleasing to God." These people dug deep and they said, hey, we want to meet your needs. Paul! And he says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. What does that mean? It means they were in obedience to God. They're giving to God. And Paul said, I rejoice why it's going to abound to your account both here and in eternity. And God is going to bless you and take care of you. But I've said it before, I'd be scared today to say I'm going to trust God for my finances if I'm not putting God first in my life, let alone my finances. How can I trust God? You know, I desire God to bless me financially, and I'm not living my life for God. If I'm living my life in disobedience to God, what's God going to do? Because He loves me? He's going to chase me. He's going to take me through tough times. Why? So I come to the point where I say, God, you've got it. You're first. I'm putting you first. And so, Jesus just says, hey, and He's talking to disciples, Seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. And so don't be deceived, God will meet your needs if you put him first. Third, don't be deceived, God has already promised to give you his kingdom. Verse 32 says, fear not little flock, for it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Fear not, little flock, it's God's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And I mean, we just had wonderful Seaspirations in Germany. And we've got, when was I going to do a Seaspirations? I'm planning one. Oh, for the pastor's fellowship. If you come to that on the Tuesday. of the meetings with Evangelist Gary Webb for about 40 minutes. We're just gonna sing, you know? But one of the songs we're singing in Germany of this inspiration is, I've got a mansion just over the hilltop in that bright land, you know, where I'll never grow old. That's a wonderful thing to think about. If I die today, what do I have? If I've lived my life for God, I've got eternal inheritance, eternal reward. And listen, there is a sense where it is dependent upon what I've invested in eternity. I could be saved yet so as by fire, or I could be saved with wealth. And I don't understand how that works. We have this idea, I'm going to cast my crowns at the feet of Jesus. Maybe it has to do with what we can give to God. How does this work? I don't know. But I do know this, the Word of God teaches that if you invest now in God's work, that there's physical reward in eternity. And so God says, seek ye first the kingdom of God. God's going to give you the kingdom. What's it matter if I don't have a mansion now? I'll have a mansion in eternity. And then fourth, don't be deceived, invest money in eternity where it cannot waste. Listen to what the Lord says. If you ever think this preacher preaches boldly, and I pray God I say things half as bold as the Lord does. Verse 33, it says, sell ye 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 corrupted. Do you see what the Lord said? Jesus said, if you don't have a disposable income to give to God, take what you possess, sell it, and invest it in God's work. Wow. Pastor, that's some serious ideas there. I don't really know about that. Listen, if we're living opulently, and we've wasted money on things that are of no value, it'd be better to sell those things, and invest in God's work. I was at a church service, and the pastor is a biker, which is kind of unusual. He rides a Harley, if you know what kind of bike that is. And it just happened we were at the church service. They had a building project going on, and the pastor got choked up. He started to cry a little bit. As he said, God spoke to my heart, and I'm going to sell my bike and give it to the building fund. You don't even look at that and go, well, praise God. Kind of felt bad for the guy a little bit. But it's a good thing when we dig deep and we say, God, we've got a building fund back there. We've got a general fund. We've got a missions fund. And that money is being invested in eternity. And as a church, we want to oversee those funds wisely. And as a church, we want to consider God, what he wants to do with those funds even as they accrue by God's grace. The general point isn't going to be to get rich on it, it's to provide for the future, for whatever needs the church has, an acquired building or whatever. Right? Where does that come from? It comes from God working in my heart, God working in your heart, and us saying, you know what? I'm going to invest in eternity. Isn't that what the Lord just said? You want victory over this covetousness? Give to God. Give of the tithe. Give of offering to God. Invest money in eternity where it cannot waste. And it's a good point to end with what our final text is. Don't be deceived. Your treasure reflects your heart. Don't be deceived, your treasure reflects your heart. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. It's kind of like this, if you ever try to pet a cat backwards, rub the fur the wrong way, if preaching about finances as we have just here, as the Lord gave it to us in the Word of God, if that rubs you the wrong way, stop and consider your heart today. Because the Bible says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And if my heart is not into it, I'm not into giving to God, I'm not into investing in eternity, my life is about covetousness and things, and I've wrapped my life up around that, and I really honor that, and I don't honor God, don't be deceived. It doesn't please God to have somebody sit in church today and give lip service to God and not give heart service. And the Bible says, if your heart's not right in this area, it's not right with God. So that's a big admonition that the work ends with, that this covetous thing is a big thing. It has a huge impact in our life. There's a real danger. And so, are you in danger this morning? Are you in danger of discontent? We all are. We've got to guard ourselves against it. Discontent, looking at what others have and saying, I've got to have that, I can't live without that. Looking at things, living life with things, that's a real danger. The second danger, I pray, isn't you today, but it could be somebody here or somebody listening to this message, and that is that their life is about things, and so much so that they don't have time for God, and they reject God's salvation because they're consumed with those things. The third affects us maybe if we have lack, and that's the danger of doubt. Maybe you're anxious today, and if you're honest, you look at this past week, you're anxious about money. And God says, don't be. Why? Because God provides. God supplies. And so, I ought to trust God. And then the fourth thing, the danger of deception. Thinking it's not a big deal if I don't invest in eternity. It's okay. I'm a Christian, but I don't give. But look at this text. I mean, what's the text teach? It teaches that a Christian is somebody that, if their heart's right with God, hey man, I want to use what I've got for God, and I want to honor God with what I have, and it's a stewardship that God's given, that my heart needs to be right in this area of finance. And so, may the Spirit of God just speak to our hearts with this truth, so let's bow our heads and pray. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to the truth, Lord, that you gave. You gave powerful truth. Think about it. With us, Lord, I mean, if somebody wraps their heart about things, they'll die and spend eternity in hell. We look at that as a Christian and say, oh, that's bad. But Father, a believer that wraps his life around things is in danger of sending other people to hell that would have had the gospel, that would have seen the gospel, that would have heard the gospel, if their heart had been right with God. And it's not if their life is wrapped up in things. And Father, we might be struggling to believe you, trust you. That might be why we don't give. Because we think, I've got to have a big barn. If I don't have a big barn, I'm going to be anxious, I'm going to be worried. Because the reality is, I'm not living my life in dependence upon God, I'm living my life in dependence upon things. And so I pray, Holy Spirit, help us not to say, well, this message is for somebody else. Father, I pray that we'd examine our heart, that we'd examine our life, and that we'd see if we're in danger today in any of these regards. And Father, thank you for your help as we've looked at the word of God this morning. It's in Christ and we pray, amen. Amen, we're gonna stand and sing an appropriate hymn, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. 418 in your hymnal, 418, trust and obey.