In the message that we have before
us this morning, we first see a stern warning from our Lord
Jesus Christ. But the subject of the utmost
importance found in this passage that we'll be looking at, the
one that is absolutely vital to a sinner's salvation, has
everything to do with your treasure, your treasure. What is your treasure? Well, Webster defines treasure
as something of great worth, something of great value, or
a person esteemed as rare and precious. And if you'll turn with me to
the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, we'll look at this together. And I ask now our great God that
he would give me the words and the liberty that I may glorify
and honor his son this morning in this message. If I told you Luke 15, I was
wrong. It's Luke 12, beginning in verse
15. Luke chapter 12. Here is our stern warning. Verse 15, he says, take heed. When the Lord Jesus Christ says
take heed, we should take heed. And beware of covetousness. Then he makes this statement,
and I believe this statement is something that we should endeavor
to get deep down into our hearts. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Now the
world considers men and women's life to be good or bad or successful
or unsuccessful according to their possessions. If a man has
plenty, he's said, oh, he has a good life. If a man has little,
he's said to have not such a good life, a bad life. But that's
not what the possessor of all things says. He said plainly and simply that
a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which
he has, owns, possesses. In Matthew 16, our Lord said,
Well, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? I immediately think about that
rich man, the story that the Lord told of Lazarus the beggar.
Each day he came in and out, never noticed Lazarus and his
needs, never provided any help for him. And he wound up in hell. And he said, Lord, just send
Lazarus over to dip his finger in water and touch the tip of
my tongue. What good did it do for this
man to gain all that he gained and lose his own soul? What would
he give at that point in exchange for his soul? I guarantee you
he would have given all that he had. All that he had. Christ said in chapter 9 of this
great book, for what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole
world and lose himself or be cast away? You see friends, this
is an urgent issue that our Lord says to take heed. Take heed. Beware of covetousness. Our Lord
says in Matthew chapter 6, He said, no man can serve two masters. For either he'll 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. Now that word mammon means confidence
and wealth. The love of money and riches
and abundance. And let me remind you right off
the bat, that money is not the root of all evil. It's the love
of money. The love of money, Paul wrote
to Timothy, is the root of all evil, which while some coveted
after, they've erred from the faith. This love of money can
cause men to err from the faith and pierce themselves through
with many sorrows. The extreme love for something
material can cause a man to covet it. And the love of man enriches
wealth, causes men to covet and err from faith in Christ. You can't serve two masters.
You'll cling to one and despise the other. This is what Christ Himself warns
each and every one of us in His precious Word. And I might add
that a man cannot be wealthy. Maybe he's not wealthy. Maybe
he doesn't have an abundance of things. But if the bent of
his life is to obtain those things, same result. He's serving mammon
and not God. True life, true happiness, true
joy does not consist in the abundance of things. I'm reminded of this often when
you see men and women who have unimaginable wealth, have unimaginable material things,
and they seem to be the most miserable of all God's creatures. I've never been a rich man, and
really I'm grateful that I haven't. The quality of life, dear brothers
and sisters, is not in things. That's the point I want to make.
The quality of life is in Christ. The peace and joy men truly have
is not in possessions. but in the one who possesses
all things." What a great revelation it was to Job when he said, naked
came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return. And
then he made this comment. He said, the Lord gave and the
Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. God's pleased to give and God's
pleased to take away. Either way, regardless, blessed
be the name of the Lord. Eternal life in the Lord Jesus
Christ has nothing to do with how much a man possesses. But
it has everything to do in who possesses them. Who owns the
cattle on a thousand hills. Matthew Henry wrote, the less
a man has of worldly wealth, the less hindrance they have
in the way to heaven. This is what our Lord is teaching
us here. And this subject providentially
came up because of verse 13. Look at it with me in chapter
12. And one of the companies said unto him, he said, Master,
speak to my brother. I can see him sitting there probably
arguing as the Lord came up. And he said, speak to my brother
that he divide the inheritance with me. There's an inheritance here and
he's keeping it all and he's not dividing it with me. He's
not giving me my just due. And look what the Lord said to
him in verse 14. He said, man, who made me a judge
or a divider over you? Christ was about His Father's
business. He wasn't about to be entangled
in the things of this world. He came to save those that were
lost. He, as the Good Shepherd, came
to save the sheep. He, as the Good Physician, came
to take care of those who had need, those that weren't whole. Oh, dear friends. Verse 16, and
he spake a parable unto them. And here was the parable. He
says, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plenty.
Now notice the wording of this very closely. It doesn't say
that a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, does it? It
says the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. Who does the ground belong to?
It belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. It belongs to our Master.
Colossians 1.16 says, "...all things were created by Him and
for Him." Friends, all things are Christ's. And both naturally and spiritually
speaking, the order of all things are the same. Whether it be your
salvation or the farmer's Crops. It's the same principle, is it
not? Paul said in 1 Corinthians, he said, I've planted. Apollos
has watered. But God gave the increase. And he went on to say, so then
he that planteth. It's not anything. He's nothing. Neither he that watereth. Nothing. But God, everything, which giveth
increase. One plants, one waters, but God
alone, only God can give the increase. He that plants is nothing,
he that waters is nothing, but the God that gives the increase
is everything. This man was blessed because
God gave him an increase. It wasn't anything he did. In
verse 17, notice what he says, and he thought within himself,
saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits. Now this is where men and women
usually err. This is where we get in trouble.
We think and reason within ourselves. And that's what it says. He thought
within Himself. Instead of thinking what would
have been the right thing to do, what do the Scriptures say? What does God say? He reasoned
within Himself. And friends, when we think within
ourselves, remember, we think with a reason, with a desperately
wicked and deceitful heart. One time in Matthew chapter 9,
they brought to him a man sick of a palsy. Bad shape. He was laying on a bed. Couldn't
get up. These men went as far as to climb
up on the rooftop, took a part of the roof away and dropped
this man down before the Lord Jesus. And the Scriptures say,
Jesus seeing their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy,
Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. Oh, what a
time of rejoicing it must have been for this man and those four
men that dropped him from the ceiling. But it says immediately
in the next verse, And behold, certain of the scribes said within
themselves, They said within themselves,
this man blasphemeth. Only God can forgive sin. Well,
they were right about that. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts,
He said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? Well, we think
within ourselves, friends, remember that we're influenced way too
much by our hearts, which the Scriptures say are deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked." Oh, there was many, many times
that the Scripture says they reasoned within themselves, they
thought within themselves. You remember when Christ was
in the house of Simon the Pharisee and the woman came and began
to weep and washed the Savior's feet and dried it with hair and
she took that expensive ointment and anointed him. She'd break
that box and poured it on his head and it says in that passage,
and there were some that had indignation within themselves. They were mad within themselves. I said, what a waste this was. That ointment could have been
sold for more than 300 pence and could have been given to
the poor. And it says, and they murmured against her. It'd be a good thing for us to
reason and think outside of ourselves, wouldn't it? And not within. And this man in our parable could
have given his extra to the poor. He could have, like the Old Testament,
like we've seen in our recent study of Ruth, how Boaz allowed
gleaners to glean in the field. God had made a provision for
these poor, where they could come into a field and glean the
surplus. But this man reasoned within
himself. No consideration for the things
of God. Or even morally of helping someone
in need. He said within Himself and for
Himself only. And when we do, why are we surprised
when the Lord says, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
Out of the heart proceed what? Evil thoughts. Murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things
that defile a man. Not what goes into his mouth,
what comes out. And look at verse 18. And he
said, This will I do. He reasoned, he thought within
himself, and he came up with this conclusion. He said, This
will I do. I'll pull down my barns and I'll
build greater ones. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and all my goods. Again, we see something of the
will of man, don't we? Man's free will is to always
do for himself, just the way it is. This will I do. I'll pull down my barns. I'll
build greater ones. I will, I will, I will. Reminds me of that passage in
Isaiah 14. It says how art thou fallen from
heaven O Lucifer son of the morning? How art thou cast down to the
ground which did weaken the nations for thou has said where in thine
heart I? Will ascend into heaven I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like
the Most High. I will. I will. And God says, Yet thou shalt
be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. Now in complete Opposite of that, how did our
Lord pray? He said, Lord, not my will, but
Thine will be done. And that's how God teaches true
believers to pray. Lord, not my will, but Thine
will be done. Now, what you praying, Bill?
Lord, not my will, not my will, but Thine will be done. In verse
19, he said, I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods
laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. Notice first here that the man
speaks of himself and his sensual appetite, which he sought to
gratify himself only. These are the words of a carnal
man. But he says, look what I got. And you know most men who have
a lot of earthly riches, they like to talk and brag about their
riches. You ever notice that? And he goes, speaking to himself,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. He foolishly
promises and thinks himself a long life. Well, I'm in good shape
for many, many years. You see, none of us, now listen,
none of us, No man can boast of tomorrow. No man knows what
yet today will bring. We don't. No man can insure himself that
he'll live a day, an hour, or a moment longer. This man took safety in the goods
he had laid up. He spoke to his own soul as to
convince himself. And the truth of the matter is,
he doesn't know whose these things will be if the Lord requires
his soul. And that's exactly what happens. Even if a man gained the whole
world, how would it be any profit to him if the Lord requires his
own soul? So friends, here's the question
of the hour. I've said all this to say this. Where is your treasure? I ask myself that question every
day. Where is your treasure, David? Well, to be honest with you,
most of the time I act like it's in possessions and things. I
worry, I fret. How am I going to do this? How
am I going to do that? Well, where your treasure is,
there's your heart also. Where's your treasure? Is it
an earthly treasure? Or is it a heavenly treasure? Is it in possessions? Or is it
in Christ? Is it one that you've laid up
for yourself? Or is it one that God has laid
up for you? Our Lord shines light on this
truth in verse 21. He says, So is he that layeth
up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. A man
that does not seek first the kingdom of God is what God calls
him a fool. That's right. God calls him a
fool. A person who employs all their
thoughts, spends all their time working, building for themselves
worldly riches and wealth may be rich to himself, but I'm going
to tell you something, he's not rich toward God. John Gill wrote, men who have
a lot and do not use their earthly substance to the good of others
show no concern for spiritual and eternal riches, but place
all their hope, trust, and confidence in uncertain riches and knows
nothing of the riches of God. A man that is rich toward God
is a man who sees the one thing he needs most, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. The believer who is rich toward
God, he gives up all to the hand of God. He places himself, he
says, I surrender, Lord. You're the God of heaven and
earth. And it's God that causes him
to surrender. He depends upon God's providence
for the increase in his life. He depends upon God for the security
and he uses all that he has to the glory of God and the furtherance
of the gospel. His interest and concern is for
the grace and the glory of God. This man places all his riches
in Christ and such a man is a wise man. Now I can tell you from
experience that every man that I've known who knew Christ and
had some earthly substance. Now, I'm not saying they were
extremely wealthy like Bill Gates or anything like that, but any
man that I have seen that knows, truly knows Christ, that's had
any substance whatsoever, they're the absolute most generous man
I've ever met. Just are. God's done something
for them. Their possessions don't mean
they're not. Their possession is not their
master. The Lord's their master. If there's a need for the church,
they do all they can to provide it. If there's a need for the
pastor or for a brother and sister and they find out about it, that
need will be taken care of. Our Lord ends this parable and
He speaks to those that follow Him. It's just to His disciples.
And I take these same words this morning to endeavor to encourage
you and myself the same way that our Lord Jesus comforts us. Now,
we're going to look at a few passages of Scripture, but I'm
almost done. First, God takes care of His
people. Look at verse 22. And He said
unto His disciples, Therefore say I unto you, take no thought
for your life. Take no thought for what you
shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall put on, what you're
going to wear. The life is more than meat, and
the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens, for they
neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, but
God feedeth them. How much more are you better
than the fowls? Not long ago, and I think Pat
had a similar thing happen behind our house, but they came out
here and cleaned these ditches around the church out and brought
them back down to the dirt. It didn't take long. Boy, them
crawdads. Started coming up and here come
biggest beautiful blue herring I'd ever seen and he walked up
and down that ditch and he ate He ate good Well, most of y'all
like crawfish you can't blame him for that, right? Who provided
for that blue herring? God did God did And since God, my second thing,
since God takes care of His people, take no thought or worry for
the things that you need. Look at verse 25, and which of
you with taking thought, worry, concern, can add to His stature,
one cubit? If He then be not able to do
that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" Now,
able to do that which is least means this. Can any of us add
anything to our stature? Can any of us add one more moment
to our days that God hadn't preordained for us to have? says he knows,
he knows, he ordains. Our days are numbered, aren't
they? Can any, can we do anything to add one moment to our days? Verse 27, consider the lilies,
how they grow. They toil not, they spend not,
and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. The richest man that had probably
ever lived, he was not arrayed any more beautiful than the lilies
that God Himself took care of. And he says in verse 28, if then
God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field, tomorrow's
cash in the oven. How much more will He call to
you? Oh, ye of little faith." You
know, when I read that, you know who I think of? Me. I'm the first
person I think, I'm little faith, man. One day I'm on the mountaintop
and the next day I'm in the valley worrying and fretting and thinking,
oh, my, what am I going to do? O ye of little faith. Third thing,
don't spend your time seeking the things that God will provide. Verse 29, And seek not ye what
ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful
mind. For all these things do the nations
of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that
ye have need of these things. God knows it. And fourthly, see that you seek
that one thing that is truly needful. Just one thing. When you seek that one thing,
all the others are added. But rather, verse 31, seek ye
the kingdom of God, And all these things shall be added unto you.
Now I like this same account in Matthew 6.33 which says, But
seek ye the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Where is God's
righteousness found? In the Lord Jesus Christ. But
seek ye first Christ. He is God's righteousness. He
is the kingdom of God. If you seek Him first, all these
other things are going to be added unto you. All these things. All these other
things added. King David, the psalmist, the
one who was the apple of God's eye. You know what he said in
Psalm 37? He said, I've been young, and now I'm old, yet have
I not seen the righteous forsaken. Not once. I have never seen," he said,
never seen, his seed, his people, begging bread. God takes care
of his people. God help me to believe that more. Christ would take care of his
sheep as the good shepherd. Christ would take care of those
that are sick. He's the great physician. And
look at verse 32. Fear not, little flock. for it's your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. You know what? If you do, you'll find it. You
know why? Because it's God's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom, to give you His Son. Oh, we as God's flocks should
never fear, for the sovereign Father's good pleasure is to
give you, His sheep, God not only gives us the gospel,
He gives us the knowledge of the mysteries of it. God not
only gives us a kingdom of grace, which cannot be moved, but He
gives us the kingdom of glory, which is ours to possess as a
free gift from Him. And as we've seen most every
study we've had during the Sunday school service, if this gift
is not obtained by any deserving works that we've done, it's our
Father's gift and good pleasure by adopting grace through Jesus
Christ our Lord to give us all that we need. He gives it according to His
sovereign will and His good pleasure. Our Lord delights in us. He rejoices over us, both now
and forever. Oh, may God show us that we may
depend upon every good thing needful for us both in this world
and the world to come. Now let me tell you where our
blessing lies. If you're a child of God, you're
one of His. Christ, turn with me to John 17 and I'll let you
go. I want to look at just three
passages here, all in chapter 17. And I hope that you see these
words like you never saw them before. Verse 9, Christ said, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. Look down at verse 11. And now
I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee, Holy Father. Keep through thine own name what
those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. Look down at verse 24. Father,
I will that they also Who are you talking about? Whom thou
hast given me. Be with me where I am. That they
may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest
me before the foundation of the world. Oh, do you see this morning,
has God shown you that you belong to Him? Those of you that trust
Christ, love Him. Those of you who own Him as your
treasure, your only treasure, He gave us to Christ. We were
His to give. Our treasure is none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said in Matthew chapter
13, He said, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure
hid in a field. The witch, when a man hath found,
and he finds that treasure, what does he do? He hideth, and for
joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has. And he buys
that field. Oh, I tell you, friends, in the
field of this world, if you find Christ the true treasure, This
don't mean go out and sell your TV and all that you own. I'm
not telling you that. It just means you'd be willing
to. You'd be willing to give it all up, and you do in your
heart. You give up all things for that
treasure, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 34, I've already
closed my Bible, but it says, For where your treasure is, there
will be your heart also. Is your treasure in earthly possessions
or is it in Christ? Well, let me tell you, by the
grace of God Almighty, Christ is my treasure because He's my
God and He's my Savior. Christ is my treasure because
He paid the debt of sin for me. He paid it in full. Christ is
my treasure because He is my salvation. Christ is my treasure
because He's all my righteousness. I have none. He's all my righteousness. Oh, what a treasure He is. Christ
is my treasure because He is the way, the truth, and the life,
and no man cometh to the Father but by Him. He's my treasure. Christ is my treasure because
He's my substitute. He did for me what I couldn't
do for myself. He was made to be the sin that
I am and that you are, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Oh, what a treasure. What a treasure. Christ is my treasure because
he's my great physician and I'm sick. I'm sick from the top of
my head to the bottom of my feet without him. I need a good physician
and he, oh my, he's a great physician. He's not only good, he's great. Christ is my treasure because
he's my good shepherd. I'm a lost sheep. I was a lost
sheep. And he left in 99 and he came
and found me and he put me on his shoulder and he carried me
back to the fold. Christ is my treasure, Tyler,
because he's my good shepherd. Christ is my treasure because
he's my all in all. Christ is my treasure because
he's all I need. And He's all that God requires. Is He your treasure? I know that
He is. I hope that He is. I pray that
if He's not, that today He will be your treasure. Oh, friends, my heart's with
Him. My treasure, because He gave me a new heart of flesh
that belongs to Him. Where my treasure is, there's
where my heart is. And the Lord said in Matthew
12, a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth
forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil
treasure bringeth forth evil things. Oh may God give us that
heart of flesh that beats and panteth after Him. And that He
might be our only true treasure. Amen.