Now one more time, Luke chapter
12 at verse 13. Luke chapter 12
at verse 13. Now the reason I repeat that
text in the beginning is that we can all find it and get to
it, and then also the folks that listen on Sermon Audio, and there
are many who listen on sermon audio, and so I give that message
when I turn the recorder on, the text, so everybody can find
it. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from what the Lord of Glory declares in verse 21. The title of the message will
be, Are You Rich Toward God? Are You Rich Toward God? So as he that layeth up treasure
for himself is not rich toward God. Now, are you rich toward
God? I want each of us to consider
this personally. Now this is the only important
matter in this life. The only thing that matters.
Are you rich toward God? Everything else is secondary
to this vital subject of being rich in God or enriched by Him
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly and plainly, those who
only live for self, only live for self-promotion, or self-gratification,
or for fame and fortune, and for the glory of their own self-righteousness,
their own self-interest, are not rich toward God. They're not. How then is a guilty
sinner rich toward God? How can this vile sinner, and
I point to myself, how can this vile sinner be rich toward a
thrice holy God? Only by being in Christ. Only by being one with Him. We read in John 17. Don't turn,
let me just read it to you. John 17, when the Lord prays
for His people and declares that union and oneness with Him, He
says in John 17, 23, "...I in them, thou in Me, that they may
be made perfect in one." We're perfect in Him. "...that the
world may know that thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them
as thou hast loved Me." So then how can a guilty sinner be rich
toward God only by being one with Christ
and only by being found in Him. Being found in Him is life and
salvation. Now get this, listen carefully.
True and eternal riches and righteousness are only found in Christ. Everything else is soap bubbles. Now think about it. True eternal
riches and righteousness are only found in Christ. Everything
else is passing away. We should value nothing more
in this life than we will value it in eternity, one with Christ. And the reason being, the fashion
of this world is passing away. It is. Turn and read this with
me. Find 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter
3. We hear a lot said today about
climate change and global warming and all those things. Everybody's
all uptight and concerned about the climate change and the global
warming and everything, but no one seems to be concerned about
this. I'm one person who does not believe in global warming.
I believe in global burning. Look at verse 10, 2 Peter 3. But the day of the Lord will
come, as the thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, The earth also and the works therein shall be
burned up, saying then that all these things should be dissolved.
What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness, looking forward and hastening unto the coming
of the day of God, when the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with the fervent heat? Nevertheless,
we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven, new heavens
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." That's our hope,
is it not? The fashion of this world is
passing away. Oh, that we may win Christ and
be found in Him and count everything else but lost, dung, and ruined,
that we may rest in Christ alone. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now, we get back
to this text. And as we come to verse 13, one
of the companies said to the master, speak to my brother that
he divide the inheritance with me. Now, maybe this was the younger
brother and had an older brother and the older brother was selfish
and the younger brother felt left out. But now, listen to
this. The Lord had just preached a
tremendous and powerful sermon in verse 1 and 2 of Luke 12.
He said, "...beware of hypocrisy, for there is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known."
Beware of hypocrisy. And then the Lord In verse 8
and 9, the Lord tells us the value of confessing and possessing
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8 and 9, also I say unto
you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the
Son of Man also confess before the angels, but he that denies
me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. We
see the importance of confessing the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
the Lord goes on to say in verse 10, He warned of the danger of
committing the unpardonable sin. Whosoever shall speak a word
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but unto him
that blasphemeth, against the Holy God, against the Holy Ghost,
it shall not be forgiven him. And then in verse 11 and 12,
the Lord Jesus tells us, the Holy Spirit will come and bless
us and teach us and will give us what to say in the time of
trial, what you ought to say. All these different things, the
Lord had just preached a tremendous message. Right? A blessed message. Imagine being in that crowd.
Imagine hearing the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, preach
these truths. And then this man comes up and
says, My brother won't give me my part. What? I just preached
to you the gospel? as clearly as I can, as powerfully,
and this man, he did not hear a word the Lord said. Did he?
Read it again. And one of the company said to
him, Master, speak to my brother. He's selfish. He wants the whole
inheritance to himself. He's the older brother. He won't
give the younger brother anything. Look what the Lord says. He rebuked
him so sharply. He said to him, Man, Who made
me a judge or divider between you and your brother? That's
not my business." The Lord said, I didn't come for this business
to help you settle your family disputes. The Lord Jesus Christ
came for a much greater purpose, didn't He? The Lord Jesus Christ
came to seek and to save the lost. The Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. This man didn't hear a word the
Redeemer had said. All that he was concerned about
was his earthly inheritance, his worldly riches, and condemning
his brother, Instead of having the heavenly treasures, eternal
riches, this man was consumed with covetousness and he had
a greedy spirit. His attitude should have been,
after hearing the Lord of glory preach the gospel, his attitude
should have been, let my brother have everything. All I need is
you. All I want is you. Christ is
all and in all. The Lord sharply rebuked him
and said, I'm not sent to straighten out your family affairs. The
Lord says, I came to save sinners. And then in verse 15, The Lord
gives this strong warning about being consumed with lust and
covetousness. And He gives a double warning
here, verse 15. He said unto them, Take heed
and beware. Take heed and beware of covetousness. For man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of things which he possesses." A strong, strong
double rebuke, a double warning. Take heed and beware. Take heed
and beware of a covetous heart, a covetous spirit, instead of
having a generous heart, a giving mind, and a contented spirit.
Now, godliness with contentment is great gain, right? We just
read that a moment ago. Now think about this. One old
writer said this. One old preacher of the past
said this. Covetousness is the mother of all sin. Think about it a while now. Covetousness
is the mother of all sin. Let me give you three or four
examples. Satan coveted to be like God and was cast out. Remember
Isaiah 14? He said, I will ascend. I'll
be like the Most High God. I will do this. I will do that.
He wasn't content serving God. He said, I will arise above God. I'll be like God. God said, no
you won't. God cast him out. Satan coveted
to be like God and was cast out. He wasn't content to serve the
Lord. The angels that sinned and kept not their first estate,
they coveted to exalt themselves. They were not content as God
created him. It says in Jude chapter 1 verse
6 that they were not content with their first estate. Thirdly,
how about Adam and Eve in the garden? Isn't that exactly what
got them in trouble, what got us all in trouble? Coveted, they
coveted to be like God. Adam and Eve in the garden, it
was covetousness that caused them to sin against God, believing
Satan's lie instead of God's truth, not being satisfied with
what God gave them in the garden. Covetousness is the mother of
all sin. A writer that I'm reading in
this study, his name is John Charles Ryle, he's known as J.C. Ryle. an old preacher back in
England, 1700s I believe, and he had this statement about covetousness,
being a covetous spirit. It is a sin which ever since
the fall has been the productive cause of misery and happiness
upon this earth. quarrels, strifes, divisions,
envies, disputes, jealousies, hatred of all sorts, both public
and private, nearly all may be traced to this fountainhead of
Covetousness. Think about it. I believe he's
right. I believe he's right. There is no evil. Now think about
this. There is no evil which our fallen
and sinful heart is more prone to than being covetous. Covetousness. Nothing more wicked. The Apostle Paul said in Colossians
3, 5, He said covetousness is idolatry. It's idolatry. Think about that. And then he
says, the second part of verse 15, before he's setting the table
for this parable, he said, for man's life consisteth not in
the abundance of things which he possesses. Now that is totally
contrary to the philosophy of this world, is it not? This is certainly contrary to
what this world thinks. Another version of this verse
here, Young's literal translation says, Observe and beware of covetousness,
because not in the abundance of your own goods is life. It doesn't matter how much you
have, Are you in Christ? Everything else is soap bubbles.
You see, this world's philosophy is this, buy all you can, can
all you get, and sit on the can. That's this world's philosophy,
is it not? Our Lord said this in 1 John
2, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, You think
of these three things, you've got Adam and Eve in trouble.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life. "...is not of the Father, but
is of the world. The world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but
he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." He that doeth
the will of God abideth forever. What is the will of God? Well,
John 6, 40 declares, This is the will of Him that sent me,
that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may
have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the last day. Let us, as believers, be ever
mindful of this terrible trap of covetousness, and may God
give us His grace to cause us to be content in Christ, Because
in Christ we have all things in Him, everlasting things. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in Him. My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches through the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul declared, In
whatsoever state I am, Let us be content. Let us be content,
whether it's in sickness or in health, in plenty or in poverty. Let us therewith be content. Now, I want you to turn to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13. And then I'm going to reread. You find Hebrews 13. And I want
to re-read what we read earlier in 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy
chapter 6. But godliness with contentment
is great gain. For we brought nothing into this
world, and in certain we can carry nothing out. Having food
and raiment, let us therewith be content. Now, Hebrews 13,
look at verse 5. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For He has said, I will never leave thee, I'll never forsake
thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I
will not fear what man shall do unto me. Be content with such
things as you have. Now, what does a believer have
that we are content with? Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Him, in Him we are blessed with
all spiritual blessings. What are the things that we have
in Christ talking about our spiritual blessings that we enjoy in the
Lord Jesus Christ? God had blessed him And we are
blessed in Him with all spiritual blessings. We have Him. He that
hath the Son hath eternal life. We have in Him eternal life.
We have in Him the forgiveness of sin, don't we? What things
do we have? We have eternal life in Christ.
What things do we have that we're content with? We have the forgiveness
of all our sin, in whom we have redemption from our sin, the
forgiveness of sin according to the redemption, according
to the riches of His grace. We have the forgiveness of sin,
all our sin, the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us
from all our sin. We have the very righteousness
of God imputed unto us in Christ. You remember from our study in
Romans 4? Blessed is he to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without works. He that hath the Son hath life.
We have the forgiveness of all our sin. We have the very righteousness
of God. We have redemption through the
blood atonement of Christ. And we have salvation in Him.
Now how can you not be content with that in Christ? We have
all things in Him. Now, having said that, Look back
at Luke 12 again. Take heed and beware of covetousness,
for man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which
he possesses. Now, the Lord set the table for
this parable, and He spake a parable unto them, saying... Now remember,
a parable is an earthly story that illustrates for us a spiritual
and heavenly truth. Now let's read these verses.
The ground of a certain rich man brought forth He brought
forth the ground, brought forth plentifully. This man was blessed
with a bumper crop. He had a big harvest. Now, why
was he blessed? Who blessed him? Well, the Lord
blessed him. Everything that he had, the Lord
enriched the ground, the Lord sent the rain, the Lord sent
the sunshine, the Lord gave the harvest. Everything this man
is reaping is from the hand of God. He's blessed of God. And
he's ignorant to that fact. And he thought within himself,
he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do? What shall I
do? Because I have no room where
to bestow my goods. And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns. and build greater. And therefore
will I bestow all my fruits, all my goods, my barns, my fruits,
my goods, and I will say to my soul, so thou hast much good
laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be
merry. But God said, You're a fool. You're going to die tonight.
Your soul will be required of thee this night." Will you die
tonight? I don't know. I may die tonight.
You may die tonight. Now, let's look at several things
here. This man was a rich man in this story, and he only had
plenty because the Lord blessed him to have much, didn't He? And then this thought crossed
my mind when I read verse 17. And he thought within himself. You know, all of our thinking,
what we think in ourselves is totally contrary to the Word
of God and the will of God. He thought within himself. It
reminded me of a story of Nahum and the leper when he came to
Elisha, the prophet of God. Remember we studied that in 2
Kings chapter 5. And here he comes in all of his
pomp, here's this big general from Syria, Naaman the captain,
and he rides up to the little hut of Elisha, the prophet of
God, and Elisha sends out one of his lowly servants. And he
tells this great captain from Syria, go down to Jordan, dip
seven times. Do you remember what Naaman said? Oh, I thought, I thought, and
I wrote it down. Naaman was wrath, and went away,
and said, Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me, and
stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike
his hand over the place, and recover the leper. His thoughts
were totally contrary." Now let me show you another man who thought
right, who was also a leper. Turn back to Matthew chapter
8. We've studied this in Luke, but
I want to read Matthew chapter 8. Here's another leper who bowed
to the sovereignty of the Lord, verse 1 of Matthew 8. And when
he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, You can make me clean." And the Lord put forth
His hand and touched him saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleaned. Now you see the difference in
the two? Nehemiah said, oh, I thought. I thought he would do this and
this and this. And the leper came, Lord, if
you will, if you will, you can make me whole. His thoughts were
all about, look back to the text. His thoughts were all about,
and I notice these words, what shall I do? Because I have no
room to bestow all my good. I, I, I, will, will, will, and
my, my, my. All my fruit, my good, my soul. God was not in all his thoughts,
was he? He says, I will say to my soul,
verse 19, soul, thou hast much good laid up for many years,
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. Oh, but God, God
said, God said, thou fool, thou fool, the fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God, thou fool, this night Thy soul will
be required or thy soul will be demanded of thee." Now who's
going to demand his soul? God Almighty. He said it's appointed
unto men once to die and after that the judgment. Our Lord said
this in Matthew 16, For what is a man profited if he gain
the whole world, and lose his soul, his own soul? What shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? What would you give? So he says, verse 21, so he that
layeth up treasure for himself is not rich toward God, is not
rich in God. If you look just across the page
or turn one page in Luke 12, verse 34, for where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. The wise man Solomon put
it this way, "...remove me far from vanity and lies, give me
neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient, lest
I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest
I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain."
Those who live only to self, for self, are not rich toward
God. Are they in God? Now, let me
give you this. Who then is rich toward God? Who then is rich toward God? Every believer resting in Christ. Now let's turn and read this
verse. I quote it all the time, but I hope you have it marked
in your Bible. Find 2 Corinthians 8, 9. Turn
there. 2 Corinthians 8, 9. And here
is how the believer is made rich. For you know, 2 Corinthians 8,
9, you got it? For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is long-suffering. That though He was rich, rich
in holiness, rich in sovereignty, rich in power, yet for your sakes
He became poor. He took upon himself the form
of a servant. God Almighty was manifest in
the flesh. That you through his poverty,
that you through his sacrifice, being made sin for us, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him, that you through
his poverty might be rich. You're looking at the world's
richest man. You know that? I'm the world's
richest man. And that's true of every believer
resting in Christ. Now, I want to show you in Ephesians
chapter 2, turn over there. Ephesians, how we are rich toward
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 2, look at
verse 4. Believers have the riches of
His mercy. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4.
Believers have the riches of His mercy. But God who is rich
in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when
we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. We are rich in His mercy. Secondly, Ephesians 2 verse 7,
Believers have the riches of His grace. All grace now and
glory forever. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 7,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace." Oh, He's rich in grace, isn't He? He's rich in
mercy. It's abundant grace, abundant
mercy, and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of work
that any man should boast. Stay right in the book of Ephesians.
Look at Ephesians chapter 3 verse 16. Let's begin reading at verse
14. Ephesians 3 verse 14. For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would
grant you according to the riches of His glory. to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man." Write up that column. In Ephesians 3, look at verse
7 and 8, "...Wherefore I am made a minister according to the gift
of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual working of
His power, unto me whom less than the least of all the saints
is His grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, one more,
find the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 2, Colossians
chapter 2. The Word of God describes how
we are rich in Christ. Colossians 2, look at verse 1.
For I would that you knew what great conflict, concern I have
for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen
my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being
knit together in love unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of
the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge." We have the riches of the full assurance
of understanding, acknowledging that salvation is of the Lord. Assurance of understanding. We
know who He is. We love Him because He first
loved us. The more we know about the Lord
Jesus Christ, the more assurance we have in Him. The more understanding
that the Lord gives us, the more understanding we have, the more
assurance we have in Him. Listen to this verse, and we
know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we may know Him that is true, we're in Him that is true,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and this
is eternal life. 1 John 5, 21. Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. And then he says, Amen. Now,
the question, are you rich toward God? Having set that as the scriptural
definition of every believer in Christ, are you rich toward
God? You are if you're in Christ and
looking to Him alone for all of salvation. Now, I don't do
this very often, but I'm going to do it today. If you'll get
your bulletin, in the bulletin today there's an article in there
On the inside page, the scripture verse is given, but of him are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. You got it? Now, here's the article
written by our friend Frank Tate, and I thought it was so good,
I'm going to close the message by using that. Christ has not
only provided everything I need, the Lord Jesus Christ is everything
I need. He's everything I need. An ignorant
sinner like me needs wisdom. Christ is my wisdom. We just
read, "...in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
A guilty sinner like me needs righteousness. Well, Christ is
my righteousness. A vile sinner like me needs sanctification. With the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
my sanctification. He is my holiness. I'm holy in
Him. A sinner like me, sold under
sin, needs redemption. Redemption is deliverance by
His power, deliverance by His blood. He needs redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ, He's my
Redeemer. He is my Redeemer. He is my redemption. He is my deliverance. Christ
really is all I need. That's true, isn't it? That sums
it all up. And then He included this chorus
that we often sing. Jesus Christ is made to me. All
I need. All I need. He alone is all my
plea. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness
and power, holiness forevermore, my redemption full and sure.
He is all I need. Are you rich toward God? Every
believer can say, Amen. It's so. Being found in Christ.