The talent and the gifts that
God's given this place is unbelievable. Unbelievable. But believe it. Believe it. And don't not believe
it. Don't act like we don't have
it, because we do. We deny God his glory. Turn to
Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. I'm going to start reading in
verse 13 down through verse 21. I'm going to deal with verse
16 through 21. The message is count your blessings.
Count your blessings or reach toward God. rich toward God. And one of the company, in verse
13, and one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my
brother that he divide the inheritance with me. That's usually a problem
with a lot of families when parents die. This man, he couldn't get
his brother to divide the inheritance. And the Lord said unto him, Man,
who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them,
Take heed now, beware of this, and beware of covetousness. For
a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which
he 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? And I went down through here
today and marked and underlined all the I's and my. Underline
them. See how many times this man speaks
of himself. ownership, this is mine. What
is yours? What is it really? 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. 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," he's
talking to the wrong person, isn't he? He's addressing the
wrong person. He needs to put another address on that one.
I will say to my soul, soul, capital, that should be capital
L-O-R-D. Not S-O-U-L. So thou hast much
goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink,
and be merry. Have a good time. Travel the
world. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night. That word just stuck out to me.
Night. Darkness. That man was in darkness.
It's befitting that the Lord called him out at night. He lived
in darkness and he died in darkness. 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." I read this today. Someone wrote
this. A single thought of real thanksgiving
to God is the most perfect prayer. Just a single thought. of real
heartfelt thanksgiving to God is the most perfect prayer. Most
of the time, prayers consist of asking for something, and
I know the Lord said, cast all your cares, the scripture tells
us, cast all our cares upon him for he cares for us. It's his
ask, I know that. But our asking should not outweigh
our blessing God. Our asking should not outweigh
our thanking him. It shouldn't do it. The balance
should go toward the thankful side. But most of the time, prayers
consist of asking instead of thanking God for something he's
already given us. He's already done things he's
already done for us. Now, I'm not picking on the rich
and looking at this, because I know that last Sunday we had
that rich man lifting up his eyes and hip. And as I looked
at this, I thought, I want people to understand I'm not picking
on rich people. The Scripture teaches us this.
God makes rich and God makes poor. I lift up. I bring down. I, the Lord, do
all these things. I'm the one who does it. So if
a man is rich, God made him that way. God made him that way. He lifts
up and He brings down. He said He makes rich and He
makes poor. You can read that in 1 Samuel 2, 7, whenever you
get time. Now you would think that of all
people, this man and those like him would be the most thankful
to God, wouldn't you? You think they'd be the most
thankful? But there's not even a hint. There is not even a mention
of God and His blessing in those verses. Not even a hint. Now, what we have here, we have
a successful farmer. He says here, the ground of a
certain rich man. We have a successful farmer whose
ground brought forth plenty." Plenty. Great crops. Why does the Lord, and I thought
about this as I read this, why does our Lord use this rich farmer
as an example? I believe it's this. Because
of all people who depend on God's blessing, it has to be a farmer. It has to be the one who has
no control over the rain, It has to be the one who has no
control over the sunshine. It has to be the one who has
no control over the growth of that crop. Isn't that right? Paul said this. He was using
the farmer as an illustration, but he said one waters and another
plants. But who gives the increase? God. God, and he's shown that this
farmer who was very rich because his crops grew, gave God no thanks
whatsoever. Not at all. Instead of being
thankful to the giver, he was taken up with the gifts.
He was taken up with the blessings. And not one time does he mention
God's name in reference to what he has. Not one time. Why is that? Why is that? Why did he not do that? Look
in verse 20. Here's why. God said to him,
Thou fool. Thou fool. I've got it written
down here where that's written at over in a song. Let me see
if I can find it. Look in Psalm 14. Psalm 14. A little ahead of myself, but
it fits here. Here's why this man did not give
God thanks. Why he didn't recognize God.
The fool. God said, thou fool. The fool. has said in his heart,
there is no God. Another rendering of that is
this. The fool has said in his heart, no God for me. No God for me. I'm all right.
I'm okay. I don't need him. No God for
me. He speaks of what he has as though
he as though he came up with it, as though he blessed it,
as though he made it grow. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians
3, verse 7, what do you have that you didn't receive? And
if you received it, why do you boast about it as though you
didn't receive it, as though you came up with it? What do
you have, what do I have that I have not received? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. God has given
me everything I have. Well, that was in 1 Corinthians
4, 7. God who gives the increase in 1 Corinthians 3, 7. Let me
correct myself. That will bother me all night
long if I get home and remember that. Drive me nuts like I did
the last time. We should always, and I asked
Mike to sing this song today, we should always count our blessings. Name them. Can you name one today? Can you? Did you? Did I? In prayer, did I name the blessings
that God gave me today? Name them one by one. That's why I asked Wayne to read
Psalm 103 daily. Daily. He loaded us with benefits. I've employed people over the
years, and one of the first things they want to know, what's your
benefits? What are your benefits? Do you
have any benefits? Do we have any benefits? Are
you serious? All things are yours in Christ. Now, is that a benefit or what?
Eternal life. Is that a benefit? Forgiveness. Redemption. I'm getting ahead
of myself. I'm going to end the message
here in a minute. Are they not benefits? Benefits
is not something you come up with. It's something the company
comes up with. Daily he loads us with benefits.
Not something we bring, but something he gives. Count your blessings. Learn,
let us learn to do this. Name them one by one. You'd be surprised how to lift
your spirits. You'd be surprised how to lift you up. Verse 17. And he thought within
himself. Now, here's something that just
really jumped out at me today. This is not something this man
is speaking out loud to a friend or to his wife or to the family. I picture this man sitting by
the fire, thinking about all that he has. It may be that he's
lying in bed. thinking about business and what's
going on and all that he has. But there's one listening in.
There's one who knows our thoughts, our hearts. There's one who knows
them. And he thought within himself,
God knows the heart. God knows this man's heart. He
knows my heart. What shall I do? It would have
been, I tell you what, this whole thing would have been changed
if he had said, Lord, what shall I do? There's nothing wrong with
growing a business. There's absolutely nothing wrong
with riches. It's what shall I do, Lord? Or it's what shall
I do? What am I going to do with what
I've got, Lord? What would you have me to do with what you've
given me? Big difference. Big difference. He thought within
himself, he counseled with himself. Boy, that's a mess. He counseled
with, you know, I've learned this in business. It's wise to talk to people that's
been, that's older than you, that's been around, that's been
successful. I mean, maybe they don't have
to be successful. You can learn from a failure.
Believe me, you can learn from somebody and say, don't do that.
I did that. It don't work. But if the only person you're
going to counsel with is yourself, you're in trouble. He counseled
with himself. And we know how that's going
to turn out. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. This man was covetous. It was. It had nothing to do
with the Lord. It had nothing to do with helping his neighbor. The poor.
It had nothing to do with the gospel. It had everything to
do with bodily enjoyment. He speaks of his soul, but really
he's not talking about his soul. If he was concerned about his
soul, he'd be thanking upon the Lord. Because he thought that was eat,
drink, and be merry, and take it easy. That's all bodily things.
That's all this flesh. That's flesh. He should have thanked God Helped
his neighbor. That's what he should have done. But he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits. Oh, he just said, I have no room
where to bestow the blessings of the Lord. Lord, what would
you have me to do? You've blessed me so much. Direct
my steps, direct my thoughts, direct my heart. He didn't do that. The things he blessed, he says
here, and he said, this will I do. Didn't James tell us not
to say that? James said, don't say you're
going to go into a certain city, a certain place, a certain time.
You say it's the Lord's will. If the Lord's will. This will. Now, we've got the wrong will
going on here. We've got a will problem going
on here. We've got a clash of wills going on here. It's either God's will or my
will. This will I do. I will pull down my barns and
build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. I'll tell them, Jeremy, I was
shocked not too long ago. I said, this is the Lord's What
we do with this is accountable. We are accountable with everything
we do with it. It's not ours. It's not mine. You know, it took me a while
to learn that I'm not in business for myself. If I am in business, it's the
Lord's. Whatever I have, it's the Lord's. Is it? It's His. It's His. He said, this is what I do. I'm
going to pull down my barns, I'm going to build greater barns,
bigger barns, and I'm going to, that's when I'm going to put
all my money, put all my investments, and all my goods, and I'm going
to say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many
years. You know, this man's concern
was, I wish he was concerned about his soul. I pray to God
we're all concerned about the eternal destiny, the eternal
welfare, well-being of our soul. God's going to lay this body
in the ground. It doesn't matter if I eat, drink, or what's that
got to do with it? This body's going to the ground,
but not my soul. My soul is who I am. It's who you are. And that's forever. I'm telling
you, that's forever. That's what you need to be concerned
with. That's what we need to be concerned with. Not eat, drink,
and take it easy. Not try to lay up so I have a
great retirement. I've seen people. There's a man
who lived over close to my parents. The day he retired, he died.
Died the day he retired. Went off. And I'll say to my soul, thou
hast much good laid up for many years. Who said you had many
years? I don't believe anybody here
believes we're going to die tonight. Especially the younger ones.
We're going to live a while, aren't we? Many years! I don't know about that or not. I don't know many days. Who said you had many years? You ever walk through a graveyard?
Everybody here has. All you old ones, you walk through
them. There are graves this long. There are graves six foot long. All in between. All in between. Here's the verdict. Now the verdict
comes down. Now that he has talked to himself,
he's counseled with himself, he has blessed himself, he's
got to break his arm patting himself on the back. He talks
to his soul and he says, you have much goods laid up for many
years, take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. Yearned it. I earned a good easy life, I've
put on all the years. But God said to him here, the
verdict now comes down. God said to him, thou fool, this
night, this man lived in darkness, he died in darkness. And I want
you to know what God requires of him. Thy soul shall be required of
thee." A man is a fool who does not
recognize God's hand of blessing in all that he has. He's a fool. A man is a fool who does not
seek his counsel from the Lord. He's a fool. A man is a fool
who blesses himself instead of giving thanks to God. A man is a fool who lays up and
works and does all that he does for time and not eternity. He's a fool. God said he's a
fool. The Lord said he's a fool. That's
how I know he's a fool. The Lord said it. And if the
Lord says he's a fool, he's a fool. You can count on that. And God required of him his soul. His soul. You know that the believer, the
believer's soul is never required of him. Do you believe the gospel? Do you believe the gospel? Your
soul will never be required. That was taken care of at Calvary.
That was taken care of at Calvary. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, our life, shall
appear. But those who believe not, their
soul shall be required. This man was summoned that night. That night as he sat there, he
didn't think about dying. Not a word, there's not a word
mentioned in there about this man thinking about he's going
to die. He's sitting there by the fire and he's saying, my
soul, I've got so much, I've done so much, I'm so successful,
I can't believe it. He just thinks he's just so great. Like Nebuchadnezzar. Remember
when Nebuchadnezzar walked out on that? He said, whoa, look
what I've done. Man, look what I have done. And God put him out to pasture
for seven years. But God didn't do that to this
man. He required his soul that night. That man had no idea that
God was going to call him out. That man had no idea that God
was listening in to his thoughts. And God said, no, you're not.
No, you're not. You come here. You come here
right now. Fell over dead. Wife walked in
the room and said, what happened? What happened? God required His soul. Here's a good question. Then
who shall those things be? You know, Solomon said this. It troubled Solomon. Solomon
was so troubled about this. He said, I've gotten all this,
done all this, and when I die, who knows, a fool may end up
with it and spend it all. Sooner or later, a fool will
end up with it if it keeps going. I can assure you, sooner or later,
if that inheritance keeps traveling, a fool's going to end up with
it. And that fool's going to spend it on himself. Then who shall those things be?
When God calls, who's going to end up with what you have? You're
not. You're not. I didn't know you all were going
with you to the grave. You're not taking it. Now let's talk about your plans.
Now talk about your plans. If the Lord will. Now that's
okay. But not, I will. That's not okay. But here's the parable. Verse
21. A man is a fool who spends his
life laying up for himself and is not rich toward God. Forgets
God. Now I want to close with this.
What do we have to be thankful for? We know we have home and family,
the breath, the air we breathe, the food we ate today, the clothes
we wear. God gave these to us. But let's
go on a higher level. Let's just take care of this
body. Let's go on a higher level. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter
1. You know you have to go there. Unless you're an Arminian. But
you know, if you believe God, if you believe the Gospels, you've
got to go here. In Ephesians chapter 1. Blessed, verse 3, blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places in Christ. All that I need, God has given
me in Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him. I thank God He chose me. I thank God He did not pass me
by. I love the doctrine of election. That assures us that there's
going to be a multitude of sinners and it's going to be in glory. I love it. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for choosing me. Thank
you for calling me. I thank God for His mercy and His grace. Look in verse
4 of chapter 2. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us. Even when we were
dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ? By grace
ye are saved. He has raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come ye might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For
by grace are ye saved through faith, and that faith is not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God. I thank him for choosing
us. We're having mercy on us. We're
being gracious to us. I thank Him for forgiveness.
Forgiveness doesn't mean a flip until you're guilty. Until you're guilty. Pardon doesn't
mean anything to a person that's not locked up. I thank Him for wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. I thank Him for it. I thank Him
for a new birth. Oh, I thank Him for that new
creation. I thank Him for that heart that loves God. I thank
Him for that heart that desires to be here. Because one time
I didn't have it. I thank Him for all the heavenly
blessings. that he's blessed me with and you with in Christ. I read this today. It was said
by a wealthy businessman one time. He said this, I believe
there will be two questions facing every wealthy man at judgment. How did you earn your money and
were you as generous toward others as God has been toward you." I read that today from my pastor. Have you been as generous toward
others as God has been toward you? To be rich toward God is to bathe in His mercy, His
grace, His love, and someday His glory, to be
just like Him. To be rich toward God is to be blessed of God, with everything you do to stand
in his presence, to have a mind, to have a heart
that thinks upon him. Now let me read the rest of this
chapter. In verse 22, and he said unto his disciples
after he gave this parable, He said unto his disciples, therefore
I say unto you, take no thought there in Luke 12, verse 22, and
this is our Lord giving this. This is not some Chinese guru.
This is our Lord doing this, giving it to his disciples. Are you his disciples? It's for
you. It's for me. Therefore I say unto you, Take
no thought, anxious, worrisome thought for your life. What you
shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life! Let's get past our bodies. Let's get past this flesh. Let's
get past these physical needs. The life that God's given you,
what a gift! What a gift! The life is more
than meat and the body is more than clothing. Now look at the
ravens, he says. Consider the ravens. They neither
sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God
feeds them. How much more are you better
than the fowls to God? And which of you with taking
thought, the anxious thought, worrisome thought, can add to
his stature one cubit? Nobody. You can't add anything
to your stature by taking a thought. 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 spend
not. Yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all his glory was not raised like one of these. But I have
to say this. You've got to have different
eyes to see this. Because the world looks at that and says,
no, that's Solomon, man. I'd rather have what he has. They see Solomon
in all his riches and glory. They say, I want that. Oh, he
painted that lily. Boy, when God gives you eyes
to see, you see the real beauty of God in a lily. In a lily. In a rose. Out there where, listen, out
there where no man cultivates, When no man plows, when no man
fertilizes. Look at the beauty of that lily. If then God so clothed the grass
which is today in the field and tomorrow is passing through the
oven, how much more will He clothe you? Oh, ye of little faith! And seek
not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye
of doubtful mind. Is the Lord going to provide?
He said in one place, why are you so fearful? Don't be of a doubtful mind.
Live not in careful suspense. You watch the news and you think,
my gosh, we're not going to make it. The economy is going to crash. It will probably do a lot of
people to crash. You finally say, Lord, give us
our daily bread for the first time in your life. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after, and your Father, your Heavenly Father,
we think too little of Him, don't we? We think too little of Him. He knoweth that you have needed
these things, but rather seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all
these things shall be added to you. Fear not, little flock. Little flock. I look at this
group right here. Fear not, little flock. My soul,
this is for us. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. This
is how we ought to preach all the time. Just read it. Just
read it. Make a few comments. And look
what he tells them. Sell that you have. He's telling
his disciples. Those are the ones that are following
him. Sell that you have. Now, he's not saying for all
of us to go home and sell everything we've got, but I tell you this,
if it's hindering you and your relationship to Christ, sell
it. Sell it. Sell that you have and give alms.
And don't hoard it up and say, well, if I give this, I don't
have anything left. No. Provide yourself bags which
wax not old, a treasure. In heaven, that fails not. When
no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. No thieves are still this. There
was one trying to rob Vicki the other night at Walmart. Reached
over and got her pocketbook. She went screaming like a mad
woman. Scared him off. The police took
after him. That will never happen there. That will never happen
in glory. No thief can steal what God's
given you in Christ. Now, put your interest there.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. What's
your heart on? That's what your treasure is. Let your lawns be girded about,
and your lights burning, and ye yourselves liken to men that
wait for their Lord when He will return from the wedding, that
when He cometh and maketh, they may open unto Him immediately.
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall
find watching. Verily I say unto you, that He
shall gird Himself with my soul, listen to this, and make them
to sit down to me, and will come forth and serve." He said, I'll
come forth and serve them, the Lord of service. That's amazing. And He shall come in the second
watch or come in the third watch and find them so blessed are
those servants. And this know, that if the good
man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he
would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh
at an hour when you think not. Peter said to him, Lord, who
are you talking to? Look at that verse, verse 41. He said, no,
he's scratching his head. He said, is this for us? Peter
said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable to us or to
everybody? Or are you just talking to me? Have you ever sat in a
service and said, how do you know that? Who told him that? I can't tell you the answers I've
received just sitting there listening to the gospel. You know, God
counsels us every time His man stands in a pulpit. You don't
need to go pay a counselor. You just need to listen to the
one that speaks from heaven. Well, the Lord said He's speaking
to the faithful and wise steward. That's who He's speaking to.
He's speaking to His disciples, yes. He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear.