I'd like to invite everybody
here down to the house after a while for a steak or burger
or whatever you want to eat. It was my birthday yesterday
and David Braden's the day before, so we'll just go down there and
celebrate our birthday. So I want you all to know that
you're welcome. Please come. If you don't, I'm
going to have to feed my dog all that steak. Our lesson this
morning will be taken from Luke chapter 12. Verses 13 through
21. And the subject of these verses
is heavenly riches and earthly fowl. Earthly fowl. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 12, verse 13. And one of the companies said
unto him, Master, Speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance
with me. And he said unto him, man, who
made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them,
that is the whole multitude, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things he possesseth. And he spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully. He doesn't mention the man's
work on the land. He doesn't mention that after
a lot of effort he caused that. No, he just said the land Yielded
abundantly. Who did that? God did. God did. The ground of a certain
rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do? Because I had no room where to
bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I'll pull down my barns and build
greater, and there will I bestow all my goods, all my fruits,
all my goods. And I'll say to my soul, soul,
Thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. But
God said to him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee. Then whose shall these things
be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself and is not rich toward God. Now back in October, I began
a three-part message on the religion of fools. The religion of fools
promotes the ways of fools. Everything about their religion
is foolish. It's foolish. The religion of
fools walks in their folly. They walk as fools. They live
as fools. And the religion of fools is
a religion of flesh. It's a religion of the world,
of sensuality. It's the religion of fools. It's
a dream world. They walk in the vanity of their
minds and works. And our lesson begins here with
a man who stood before the only door to glory, the only door
to the sheepfold. I am the door, that's what he
told them. I'm not only the shepherd, but
I'm the door. He stood before the one mediator
between God and men, just one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus. He stood before the one who bore
God's name, none other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. He stood before the one sacrifice. Once in the end of the world
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He stood before the only righteous
representative that there is between men and God. The only
fountain open for sin. And this man's request was over
his brother's inheritance. He wanted a few more dollars. This is what the world does when
they hear the gospel. They don't hear it. They don't
see it. They don't realize what it is
they're dealing with and their mind is in this world. And having sharply rebuked this
greedy man, our Lord turns to the people around him and he
said, take heed. Take heed. Don't ignore this.
Don't let this go unchecked. You take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses. And oh, how
little this man knew of the Lord Jesus Christ. and of his reason
for being in this world. Like millions today, he had some
vague ideas about an earthly kingdom. They're always talking
about the end of the world and God's kingdom being established
and Jerusalem being restored and the temple and all this junk. They have no knowledge whatsoever
of what's going on in this world. They just have this little vague
idea about an earthly kingdom, probably believed he'd be an
earthly king, looking at Christ. He recognized the depth of his
teaching, he called him rabbi. And Jesus, no doubt, was a name
that he carried around like a rabbit's foot or a four-leaf clover. Jesus
this, Jesus that, that's what I hear from religious men. And in his ignorance and greed,
he tried to use Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, to cater to his
wealth. Can you imagine? He should have set his heart
on the world to come, but his heart was set on the treasures
of this world. Oh, covetousness. What a terrible
sin. He looked on everything that
he had as his. Do you do that? Do you look at everything around
you? That's mine. That's mine. That's
my tree. I planted that tree. That's my
tree. That's my house. That's my car. Where'd you get
it? God gave it to you, didn't he?
This man looked at everything he had as his And everything
that he could get, he was going to call it his. What will I do
with my fruit? What will I do with my this and
my that? He looked on all he had as his
own and his heart was so consumed by his possessions that it blotted
out the Son of God. Oh God, let me and every other
gospel preacher imitate the Lord's conduct that day. Let us be careful to avoid any
kind of involvement in affairs of state, political affairs,
civil matters, secular things. When the preacher of the gospel
involves himself in such things, It is his gospel that suffers. He blots out Christ just like
that covetousness did for this man. Covetousness takes whatever it
can get and it seals it up inside himself. Gives him rest. Gives him pleasure. gives him
security, security. Boy, I won the lottery. I got $15 million. We'll see whose it is. It won't take
but a few years, just a few years. Nothing is more dangerous than
covetousness. Oh, I hope you hear what I'm
telling you. There's nothing more dangerous than covetousness.
The Lord says it's idolatry. Idolatry. How often the Word
of God warns us about covetousness. He said, set your affection on
things above, not on things of the earth, for you're dead. You're dead to this world. You're
dead and your life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ
who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with
him in glory. Mortify, listen to this, mortify
therefore your members which are on the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, now listen,
and covetousness, which is idolatry. Listen, this is Ephesians 5,
5. For this you know, that no whoremonger, no unclean person,
no covetous man who is an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of God. 1 Timothy 16 For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, They have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
arrows. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things. Run. Run. Flee these things and
follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. Fight the good fight of faith.
Lay hold on eternal life. whereunto thou also were called,
and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." Beware
of covetousness. That's not my words, that's Christ's
words. Beware of it. Beware of it. What is covetousness? Covetousness
is a greedy desire for the things of this world. It's an ungodly
ambition. and it seeks the praise of this
world. It's a sinful attachment for
the riches, pleasures, and comforts of this world. Some covet its
money, some its applause, some covet its fame, and others its
comfort and security, and some its pleasures. Brother Don said one time, it's
all a hole in the ground. That's all it is, just a hole
in the ground. It's a mirage, it's an empty
dream. And one writer said, to hold
to this world is like trying to grip a handful of sand. The
tighter you squeeze it, the faster it runs out. And it's never a waste of time
for me to warn men and women of the dangers of worldliness. It's out there. Proverbs said,
she stands on every corner. Every corner. You're not going
to escape seeing her. She's out there. She's out there. Listen to this. Paul was not
a novice. He's an apostle. He was taught
by Christ himself. This man knew men. And he had
a friend. He called Demas his fellow laborer. He allowed Demas to preach to
congregations. He allowed Demas to be with him.
He ate in fellowship with Demas. Demas, my fellow laborer, listen,
Demas hath forsaken me. What? Why would anybody with
that kind of knowledge and that kind of, why would he forsake
Paul, having loved this present world? Oh my son, covetousness. You cannot love this world and
serve Christ. Our Lord said, no man can serve
two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other.
or else he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon." And then he pointed up, and he said, behold
the fowls of the air. For they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than
sparrows? And then he says, therefore,
based on this, I say unto you, take no thought for your life.
What you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your
body what you shall put on it. Is not the life more than meat
and the body more than raiment? Is he saying here I shouldn't
make provision for clothes and make provision for... No. No,
that's not what he's saying. He's talking about covetousness. He's talking about laying up
treasures in this world. And he don't want you to take
anxious thoughts for these things. Lay up a whole lot of money. I know I ain't gonna go hungry
now. I.R.S. will send you a letter and take
it off." He said, don't lay treasures
up on the earth because moth and rust will destroy them. Lay your treasures up in heaven.
In heaven. In James 4.4 he said, you adulterers
and adulteresses What's he talking about? Is he talking about whores
and that? No, he's talking about spiritual adulterers and adulteresses. Know you not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Don't you know that? Whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world, now listen, is an
enemy of God. Love not the world. Neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. And nothing is more likely to
ruin our souls than covetousness. Nothing will serve to keep a
soul from faith in Christ more than covetousness. And nothing
is more likely to turn our hearts from Christ than covetousness. Our Lord tells us in the parable
of the sower that the seed that fell among the thorns is a man
who receives gladly the seed of the sower. He hears it. I've seen it in this very church
many times. They receive it gladly. They
come up and shake my hand and say, oh, pastor, that message
was so good, so good. They receive the seed gladly. Oh, my soul. But the cares of this
world, the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches choke
the word and they become unfruitful. Unfruitful. Oh, what can we do
to avoid this great sin, this covetousness? Set your affection
on things above. Set your affection. When do I
do that? You better do it often. You better
let it become an attitude, not just a single deed. Do it often. Do it often. Seek his grace and knowledge
to use such things as I have for the thoughtful care of those
who are needy. That's what he says, isn't it?
Work that those who have not might have. Generosity is a gracious
attitude of the heart and a gift to be desired from God. Oh God,
give me a gracious attitude. Make me generous. Make me generous. True happiness comes not from
wealth or fame or position or pleasure. Real contentment comes
from Christ. And in this parable, our Lord
sets before us the folly of worldliness, the rich man. He was already
rich. With the average crop, he was
already rich. But now it produces abundantly,
and he begins to worship what he has. This rich man panted
after more. If I could just get that new
boat, huh? It's coming home now, ain't it?
if I could just get that new boat, that new truck, that new
house, if I could just get that promotion, that office, that
job, if I could just put so much away, if my investments should pay
off, then I'm going to tell myself,
soul, take thine ease. I'm going to tell you something.
The last thing in the world you want to do is have a soul at
ease. Thank God he troubles our souls. And God's going to say to you,
you fool. You fool. This night thy soul
shall be required of thee. And then who shall those things
be which you provided? We suffer whatever, whether it
be to do without just a few things. Sometimes that's how it is. We
just do without a few things. And we can do without a few things,
can't we? Or give ourselves to the spite
and contempt of this world. Oh, how that rips your heart
out when a son or daughter looks at you in wrath. quietness stays away, pulls the
shoulders, how the prophets describe it, pulls the shoulder from you
because of what you testified to and what you said to them. We suffer whatever, whether it
be little or big, and then we suffer the contempt
of this world. But Paul said it's just for a
moment. Boy, how well I'm beginning to learn how quick life moves. It's over. It's over. I'm telling you, I don't know
how long the Lord's gonna allow me to live. I hope I'm able to
stay here and minister to you for years to come, but I don't
know that. Paul said it's just a moment
in the light of eternity. And it works for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at
the things which are seen. Faith don't look at things that
are seen. Faith looks up. It looks to Christ
always, continually, eternally. We look to Christ. That's my
life. That's my hope. That's my heart. We look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. They're eternal. And poverty
has many disadvantages, but riches are dangerous and deadly. It's
deadly. Now here's the question. Are
we rich toward God? I'm a billionaire. I'm a billionaire. You couldn't
estimate my treasure. I've been looking at these things
all my life, and I'm yet to come up with even a small estimate
of the wealth that I have as a joint heir with Christ. And I preach to you, I preach
to you the unsearchable what? riches of Christ. In him are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And there's nothing
in this present evil world which has, it's not of any eternal
value to you whatsoever. Abraham had to have a tent, but
he never started the foundation of the house. And we have this treasure, this
priceless pearl, this rich vein of heavenly ore in earthen vessels. Why would God put his treasure
in a clay pot? Why would he do that? Why would
he put his treasure in this worthless man? Why would he do that? That
the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us. That's why he did it. That's
why he did it. And he gets all the glory for
it. And when this divine treasure is all dispensed, when the last
message comes out of my lips, when you've heard me for the
last time, this old clay pot going back
to the dust from whence it was taken, our treasure is in the
ascending Christ, is it not? It's all in him. the victorious
Christ, the reigning Christ, the head of the body, the church,
and this grand and glorious inheritance, this incorruptible undefiled
inheritance will never fade away because in the person of Christ
it's reserved in heaven, it's seated at the right hand of God,
and he is going to keep us by the power of God through faith
until that day when you can see it with your own eyes. Everything else is temporary. Well, preacher, is it wrong to
have a nice house? No. Is it wrong to have a new
truck? No. No. If it doesn't become your first
priority, is that new truck worth more
than hearing the gospel? I'd sell it if it is. I'd get
rid of it quick. As long as it doesn't become
your first priority, as long as you're willing to part with
it, are you willing to part with it? There's nothing wrong with any
of the comforts of this world as long as we don't get too attached
to them, and as long as they don't become a treasure in my
heart. Years ago, I don't even know how long. I
can't tell you how long ago this was. But I used to play my guitar
and sing in Armenian churches. And we used to sing this hymn,
This World Is Not My Home. You've heard it, haven't you?
I love the title. I hate the words. So I sat down
yesterday and rewrote the song. I'll sing you just a couple verses.
This world is not my home. I'm only passing through. My
treasure's all laid up in him beyond the blue. God's spirit
beckons me from heaven's open door. Huh? What's next? And I can't feel
at home. in this world anymore. Oh Lord, you know, I have no
one but you. If heaven's not my home, then
Lord, what will I do? Your voice beckons me from heaven's
open door. And I can't feel at home in this
world anymore. With eyes of faith I look and
see my Lord with me. The saints all gathered round
and shouting victory. Their songs of sweetest praise
drift back from heaven's shore. And I can't feel at home in this
world anymore. Oh, Lord, you know. I have no
one but you. If heaven's not my home, oh Lord,
what will I do? Your voice beckons me from heaven's
open door. And I can't feel at home in this
world anymore. Oh, thank God. Thank you, sir.