Part 2 , 19-31

and as they are heading out let's remember that we are a Christian Community within Indianapolis that Treasures Jesus and helps others follow him and we do that through intentional discipleship that increases evangelism and one of the reasons why our mission Vision includes that word treasure is because what the Bible tells us where your treasure is there your heart will be also um in today's message our passage it couldn't be more true in putting an exclamation on that statement that where your treasure is there your heart will be also and so we're going to be diving in deeper into that idea of treasure where what do

we do with treasure whe whether it's treasuring Christ or if it's treasuring the things of this world and so if you liked last week's sermon um then good you're going to get part two of it and if you missed last week's sermon then good you're going to get caught up because we're going to be basically looking at the same idea but but Jesus is going to dive a little bit deeper into it and so as we saw at the end of last week's sermon in Luke 16 verse 13 which you can turn to Luke 16 if you don't know where we are uh Luke 16:13

Jesus says no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and money in other words you cannot love God with your whole heart your whole mind your whole soul your whole spirit and also love money with your whole heart your whole mind your whole Soul and Spirit you cannot worship God while also worshiping money you cannot devote yourself to God while also devoting yourself to money and what comes with money and so as our again mission statement says you cannot treasure Jesus

while also treasuring money or materials or worldly possessions and so Jesus gave a parable to his disciples that makes the point um by talking about the dishonest manager and so that's the parable that we looked at last week was the idea of who the dishonest manager was and what he did and how that dishonest manager handled the wealth of his master that he was employed to and I'm not going toeach it but I do want to reread it because again today's message is essentially part two of last week's message so I'm going to read the parable of the dishonest manager to give you the context

of the response that we see and then where Jesus goes with the next Parable that is again taking it a step further and so Luke 16 veres 1-13 this is what we preached last week but I'm going to read it for you again he also said to the disciples there was a rich man who had a manager and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions and he called him and he said to him what is this that I hear about you turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager and the manager said to himself

what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg I've decided what to do so that when I am removed from management people may receive me into their houses so summoning his master's debtors one by one he said to the first how much money do you owe my master he said 100 measures of oil and he said to him take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50 then he said to another how much do you owe and he said 100 measures of wheat he said to him

take your bill and write 80 the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of Light and I tell you make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails they may receive you into the Eternal dwellings one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth who will entrust you to the true riches and if you

have not been faithful in that which is another's who will give you that which is your own no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God in money so that was last week and what Jesus did was he commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness which is another way of saying he was clever in his dealings he was crafty in his deal in his dealings now Jesus was not saying that what he did was right all right that that's very important because

he was he was robbing from his master and he was deceiving the debtors of the master as well so everything he was doing was sinful and what we also discovered was that he was doing it for his own gain not for the interest of others and so at the end of the day he wanted to be able to to to deceive and be crafty in such a way that the people would think he was doing them a favor so that when he was without a job he had a place to stay that they would welcome him into their homes again for his own personal game

but also for temporary housing basically he he was only looking at his temporary need his Earthly need and trying to secure for himself um security here and now there was no Eternal thought at play there was no righteousness in mind there was nothing along those lines but Jesus basically commended this dishonest manager and said hey if you're going to be shrewd if you're going to be clever if you're going to be wise in trying to secure your own Earthly wealth or your own Earthly status the way you did this was was clever like you you fooled people you fooled the the manager you fooled the

people you deceived them and so well done in how you sinned like you did it in a clever way so much to say that he goes on to say that that in the way that he was clever in sinning was more clever in how Christians the sons of Light are actually stewarding God's um material possessions here in other words he's trying to say Christians take note of how shrewd this man is being in unrighteousness you ought to be shrewd in how you deal with righteousness you ought to be clever in how you deal with personal wealth personal possession personal materials you are to be clever

in what you do in order to not establish for yourself temporary dwellings or temporary pleasure or temporary security but in what you do that determines eternal security and eternal dwellings be wise with money that reveals ultimately what you treasure do you treasure pleasures and comfort here and now well then do what the dishonest manager did but if you rather because you treasure Christ and know what you're going to be receiving in heaven then be wise with what you have now for the benefit of others so that they also get to be received into Eternal dwellings and know that there is where you're storing up Treasures

not here be more wise with how you do that in your day-today life than what you are currently doing and so he's saying be less like the manager in storing up for yourself Treasures on Earth but be like the manager that you are being clever with storing up Treasures in Heaven that was last week now as Jesus was explaining this to his disciples nearby there are some Pharisees that hear what Jesus is teaching and they have something to say about it of course they would it's the Pharisees after all and so that's where we're going to pick it up in verse 14 the Pharisees who

were lovers of money heard all these things and they ridiculed him now why would they do that why would they ridicule Jesus well because Jesus just revealed their heart he revealed where their treasure was where their heart was they were lovers of money and not lovers of God they loved storing up for themselves Treasures on Earth they loved the best seats in the synagogues as we saw a couple of months ago they love they had they loved the nicest houses the finest restaurants the nicest chariots they love the best clothes as you'll see in the next parable that we'll look at they love stuff more

than they loved God but what's interesting is what Jesus says next not only is it interesting but it's also dangerous and he said to them in verse 15 you are those who justify yourselves before men but God knows your hearts for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God what he's telling them in that is that you are seeking to justify yourself by means of men by means of worldly status so because you have the nicest clothes and the nicest chariots and the nicest houses and the nicest seats and all the nicest things then what you are posturing yourself is

is that everyone else is going to think that you are favored by God or blessed by God because of the stuff that you have so you are justifying Yourself by means of your wealth rather than by means of God by means of of actual true justification in what Jesus has actually offered for us and so he tells them this if you seek to justify yourselves that way if you seek to believe that God gives you favor because of what you've earned or what you have that's actually an abomination in the sight of God it's an abomination in the sight of God which means it's um

God can't hate it more like that's what he thinks about it he can't hate it it more than this this idea of I'm going to use God's creation as a means to tell God that you should favor me or that you should bless me or that you should allow me into heaven because of what I have amassed here in my status and my wealth and my my my pleasures and comforts and and all the things that this life can technically offer you that's an abomination in the sight of God which is a good warning for us because how tempting is it to live a life

that seeks worldly pleasures and Comforts and wealth I mean literally our country is founded I mean again even though it is founded predominantly by um men who who believed in Christianity and believed from that kind of foundation at the same time what's mixed into it kind of this idea of syncretism is the pursuit of happiness that comes from this idea of American dream that is having the the family with two and a half kids and a dog and the white picket fence and the two stories and like it's having all of the things that say I have succeeded I have amassed um success and wealth

and everyone else can look at me and I can be an influencer in that regard like it's keeping up with the Joneses it's it's this idea that I have made it and because I've made it therefore I must be favored by God I must be blessed by him and that was their mindset of the Pharisees was look at all that we have done and it must be because God thinks we're better than everyone else it must be well that was to their fault the Pharisees were using unrighteous wealth or money and things and materials and possessions as a means to prove that they love God

and that God loves them but it's just not true they believed at the end of the day that God was favoring them or blessing them and honestly they don't believe that they need a savior what they were willing to accept is that they'll take a king and so they'll take a king over their people because God had set it up that way and so what they were looking for was a king like them one who's in the purple robes and one who's coming on the nicest Chariot one who's who's coming with all of the the wealth of Solomon and all of The Prestige and wisdom

of Solomon and basically if we can get another Solomon that's better than Solomon that that's who we'll put on the throne and he can rule and reign us because he's like us and that's why Jesus coming as the I am was not enough for them because they didn't want one coming from Nazareth they didn't want one coming from a Manger they didn't want one coming from the family of a carpenter they didn't want one coming from something that they viewed as lesser than them because it wasn't good enough well again that type of self-exaltation God says is an Abomination and then he says something in

verses 16 and 17 that's interesting the law and the prophets were until John since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it but it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void so you might be thinking here okay he's taking a turn he's leading down another path he's maybe starting a different train Chain of Thought like this isn't connected to these things so what I want you to do is I want you to take those two verses and I want you to hold off on

them until we get to the end of the message because they do tie in to everything that we're talking about so it ties in now I am going to skip Verse 18 not because I skip difficult verses um we preach difficult verses and we will preach Through the Bible um I don't know why Luke put Verse 18 in the category of where he put it um but it it doesn't necessarily exactly fit with in the context of these two Parables now it wasn't by mistake that it was grouped this way um we are going to preach Verse 18 but I will preach it in two

weeks when we start chapter 17 and talks about the temptation of sin and so we will deal with the marriage and the divorce piece in two weeks um when we look at that but again don't be like like ah he's supposed to be expository but he's skipping a verse here I'm skipping it for two weeks next week as a gift we'll have Chris gainer in town he'll be preaching to us and so um make sure that you're here for that if you haven't had a chance to be here when Chris is here um it is it is a joy and you you don't want to

miss it it's good look at verse 19 now we enter into the second Parable that l these two together because now remember the first one he starts off talking to the disciples the Pharisees overhear it ridicule him now he leads into a parable that's going to address the response to the Pharisees on the same topic there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day and at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table moreover even the dogs came and

licked his sores so you have two men with completely different circumstances and experiences they're on the ends of two different spectrums ultimately of society one has everything and one has nothing one has lived a life of pleasurable Comfort while the other has lived a life of just agonizing discomfort and they know each other because one is at the Gate of the other so any anytime the rich man leaves and enters his house he is seeing this man all right now he's probably not interacting with him probably not looking at him probably just going about his way doing his own thing because why he cares about

his own self he cares about his own wealth his own possessions his own materials his own comfort and he's not considering the interests of others the poor man sees the wealthy man at all times and saying I I'm not I'm not asking for a job I'm not asking for I'm just asking for the leftovers like just the leftovers like will you just see my state I mean this man is humbled but even in that he's humbling himself in what he's asking for I'm not asking for your first I'm asking for your last I'm asking for what you have ultimately left over so every day as

the rich man enters his Mansion he would pass by the poor man Lazarus and I also think it's interesting that they named the poor man but not the rich man maybe we get to that here in a moment the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side for those who don't know Abraham's side or Abraham's bosom as a reference to heaven and being a part of the Eternal U chosen people of God I'd love to say more about that but it's primarily referencing Heaven the rich man also died and was buried and in Hades which is a reference for hell he

is being in torment he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side and so what we have here What's the phrase uh you get a taste of your own medicine that's that's exactly what's happening in this situation this rich man who's lived in comfort and pleasure his entire life has perceived of a man who is in agonizing pain and discomfort who's gazing upon him on the inside of this Mansion at all times begging for something they've essentially now both died and have swapped rolls in eternity every day in this Agony Agony and torment where dogs would come and

lick the sores which if you're a dog person you're like oh that's so sweet it's not in this scenario this is more like having ravaging dogs coming to like Feast on a carcass I mean it was not a pleasurable experience for this poor man outside of the gate and he would gaze into the house of this rich man just hoping for some crumbs well now the rich man being in torment and Agony is gazing upon the poor man Lazareth who is in splendor and in heaven at the side of Abraham now why mention Abraham and why mention him being at the side of Abraham where

after all like when we get to heaven are we not at the side of Jesus are we not like Jesus is the one that's at the right hand of the Throne of God and we are coair with him and so we get to be with him at his side ruling and reigning alongside of him and and enjoying the pleasures of him forever more why mention Abraham we remember who Jesus is responding to here Pharisees Pharisees in the crowd that heard Jesus teach there are Pharisees who believe they are justified in their jewishness all right so they believe the reason why they are uh in the

position they're in and then the posture they're in and all the wealth that they're in is that God favors them because they are Of The Bloodline of Abraham so because they are Jew they believe they will have eternity in heaven forever more let me show you something about that verse 24 so the man in Hades in Hell the rich man called out Father Abraham had many sons does anyone remember that song uh Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am anguish in this flame you can see that this

rich man identifying himself as a son of Abraham a Jew believes that because he is a Jew Abraham should come to his Aid and relieve him of his anguish like he still is beli belie in that that's what he ultimately deserves again this is going to be a hard Truth for the Pharisees because they believe the same thing Jesus is giving them this story as an Evangelistic tool to tell them that what you are believing in and what you're striving in and what you're finding yourself in position of is not going to do anything for you it's not going to help you ultimately get into

heaven he's trying to drive that point home for them and John 8 the Pharisees even declare that they don't need Jesus because they are children of Abraham like that's where they stand and that's even where they continue to stand today in our current culture so according to them everything hinges on the fact that they are the bloodline of Abraham and Jesus here is showing the Pharisees that this doesn't hold up when it comes to Eternal significance it had a purpose but it's but but its only purpose was for God to ultimately bring about a savior Jesus not that their bloodline would automatically put them into

heaven so it's not only purpose for God's favor and salvific activity so Jesus in the parable uses the Father Abraham to give the crushing blow and bad news that their jewishness isn't enough like if you're going to go after the Jews and tell them or have someone tell them that hey you need to think differently well then you go where it begins you go to Abraham and so now he kind of personifies Abraham in the parable and has Abraham preach to the Pharisees verse 25 but Abraham said child remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner received bad

things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish in other words as John Piper once said if you are a lover of money then your time on Earth is as close to Heaven as you will ever experience if you are a lover of Jesus then your time on Earth is as close to hell as you will ever get what's father Abraham's next word of advice to the sons of Abraham verse 26 and besides all this between us and you a great Chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may

cross from there to us in other words there is no Purgatory there is no in between there is no second chance there is no earn your way from one to the other there is no way to try to solve it on the back end oh I just I just miss Jesus and so now that I'm now that I've died well like help me continue to earn it for myself and even if you're not trying to earn it for yourself there are other theological camps that say well maybe your loved ones could earn it for you on your behalf maybe they can offer Penance and offer

prayer and offer um deeds and and sacrifices in order to try to get you maybe they can be baptized on your behalf well according to the scriptures no it just can't what happens here lasts for eternity again as we talked a couple of weeks ago mightbe a month ago the door closes and the opportunity is gone the door closes and here Abraham is telling the rich man I'm sorry but this is your l you put all your eggs in the basket of material wealth and possessions and you lived the life of comfort and ease and that's the best you're going to get because you treasured

that more than you treasured Christ more than you treasured God you loved his stuff more than you loved him again I kind of used that analogy last week it'd be like um pushing Leonardo da Vinci out of the way to get to the Mona Lisa and be in awe of it like that's what they did that's what the Pharisees were doing and here he's having Abraham try and tell them trying to um reach them by saying you got to change you got to stop doing this look at what he says next now this is the response of the rich man in hell he said then

I beg you father to send him to my father's house to send Lazarus the the the poor man send him to my father's house for I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of Torment so this rich man now is concerned for his family for his five brothers who apparently are living the exact same way is him they don't know what they're doing they don't realize what they're doing they don't like they're they're they're still living in their wealth and their possessions and their comfort and that's where they're putting all their trust and treasure in and

he's saying let them know go warn them but Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them and he said no Father Abraham but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent catch the name Lazarus here for a minute who came back to life Lazarus did who interacted with Pharisees after he came back to life Lazarus did who continued to get rebuked after he came back to life Lazarus did Lazarus at that Point's probably thinking hey Jesus Why'd You raise me I had a good thing going in heaven you

brought me back to this again to go through it again what Jesus is revealing to them in this moment is if you don't believe the word of God you're not going to believe it based on seeing some miraculous Miracle you're not going to believe it by seeing a resurrection of the Dead if you don't believe the word of God the word of God is what holds and possesses the authority to change your situation not just viewing the power of God in a miracle like a resurrection what he's saying here is you already have everything that you need to believe what Jesus Christ has done for

you you don't need more you don't need to be wow you don't need to be seeing something in all like I mean how many times have maybe you've had a friend or um a family member or someone in college or whatever who was like I would believe in your God if they would just show up and give me a miracle I mean King Herod with Jesus what did he say hey like he saw Jesus as if he was like David Blaine or something send David Blaine over maybe he'll do some tricks and I'll see what he's about I'm interested but he just thought he was

just a magician like just doing the Miracles alone is not going to work Jesus did miracles in his hometown and they said yeah you're still a carpenter it's not going to work here they weren't willing to see the truth of the scriptures of what God has been orchestrating throughout all of human history from literally our first parents and the first Proto evangelon the First Gospel that was preached to the serpent that there will come one of The Offspring of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent and in so doing he will bruise his heel like that's talking about the death of sin

at the the death of Jesus on the cross it's that word that is Flowing throughout all of human history throughout Abraham Isaac and Jacob throughout the 12 tribes throughout Israel throughout the prophets in the major and the minor like throughout all the wisdom literatures all of it is weaving the story of what God is doing in sending a savior to ultimately save his people not because of Any type of bloodline or status that they have but because they are Beggars at the gate longing and asking for someone to come and fix their situation so if they would just be willing in this moment to be

able to see a savior and say may I have some of your bread crumbs they might be saved but instead we say now we're we're pretty good on our own we don't need you we just we're willing to maybe have a king come in and enjoy what we have provided for him it's not going to work they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them no Father Abraham but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent verse 31 he said to him if they do if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced if someone should

rise from the dead it brings us back to that verse 14 uh or verse 16 and 17 the law and the prophets were until John and it's referencing John the Baptist there who was the Forerunner of Jesus since John then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached so he's saying those two things are not in contradictory to one another they support one another one fulfills the promises of the other you need both of them in order to understand the full message of the gospel because what one does is one teaches you what the standard of righteousness is so that you're able to

see and Paul talks about this all throughout Romans all throughout Galatians he talks about what the purpose of the law was how would I know what coveting is if I didn't know do not covet how would I know what adultery is if it says do not commit adultery how would I know what murdering or hating my brother is if someone doesn't tell me that I should not be a murderer or hate or hate one another how would I know those things well that's what the law of God and the prophets did for us is it was God telling us this is what my standard of

Holiness is this is what you are to do if you are to be righteous and it reveals to us oh we don't measure up to that well we're we're not good enough then like we actually don't have the favor of God because if we measure ourselves next to that we fall short which is why Romans 3 tells us what it says for all have fallen short of the glory of God what's the glory of God the standard of righteousness is the glory of God the Holiness of Christ who was the only person who came and lived a life that abided by and obeyed the entire

law and Prophets of God never sinned was without sin was without fault or blame he lived perfectly for us and that was the good news that then comes in to preach is that he was earning that on your behalf so not only does he take what you earned which was your sin and your death that you deserve because of that that's what we earned in our not measuring up he takes that from us but another thing that he also does is is called double imputation in uh reformed theology he imputes to himself your sin and then he imputes to us the righteousness that he earned

in his life every perfect thought that he had he applies it to your account every perfect deed that he did he applies it to your account every perfect prayer he applies it to your account everything that makes Christ perfect and holy and righteous as an identity when we believe and trust in him for the gospel he then takes that identity and he covers Us in it so that when God looks at you he does say this is is my son and my daughter in whom I'm well pleased not because you are a son of Abraham but because you are a son of the Gospel which

the Bible tells us makes you a part of the true family of Abraham the chosen of God because he chose us and gave it to us that's the gospel message and that's what he's trying to get home to them the law and the prophets were until John since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it you're like what does that mean it means they're trying to force their belief system into this position of favor they're trying to say we've we we deserve that we've worked our way into that like we're that's good for us too

and he's saying no you didn't you have it but you didn't believe it it's there for you but you don't read it and observe it you don't believe this is actually the word of God and that's why he says it's easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void it's easier for us to just let Heaven and Earth die and go away than it is for the law of God to be rendered ineffective which in the end in other words is saying there is no other effective system of belief that allows us to get into heaven

other than the word of God period and no if you're wondering about the dot other translations use the word Iota I mean it literally is meaning a mark so every inspired word of God from the 39 books of the Old Testament to the 27 books of the New Testament the roughly 1100 chapters that are in the Bible every dot that is in the inspired word of God is what's necessary for the effectiveness of us knowing and understanding what the gospel message is so that we know who we are in the story we know who Jesus is in the story and we believe in Jesus and

not ourselves in order for us to as it said in the first Parable to enter into Eternal dwellings rather than the dishonest manager who was only focused on the temporary he was worried about the Mansion like the rich man was but not worried about his eternal glory and mansion that he would receive in his inheritance and what at the end of the day the warning for us is what are we treasuring what are we treasuring are we treasuring the word of God that informs us of the beauty and wonderful message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the good news like it's good news for you

to hear that that you can't do it you can't pray your way into heaven you can't give your way into heaven you can't work your way into heaven you can't like help old ladies across the road into heaven like you can't do those things you can't out good yourself versus bad in order to get into heaven that's what the Pharisees were all about that's what their whole system is all about and if you look at every other world religion and actually I'll even say even under the banner of Christianity there are C certain sects of Christianity that are unfortunately moving into or are head into

this idea of works-based religion well I can do Penance and I can give and I can do good deeds and I can do those like as if it's a measure of my status and justification with God he may have saved me and I believe in Jesus Christ but in order for that to keep I I've got to make sure that I continue to do enough in order to stay in that favor and that's just not true it's just not true that's why Ephesians 2 8-10 says we are saved by grace alone as it is the gift of God not by means of works so that

no man May boast there's nothing that on the front end there's nothing that we can do to earn the salvation and on the back end there's nothing that we can do to keep the salvation but one thing that is true is as John 13:35 says you will know that they are Disciples of Christ by their love for one another or in other words you will know that they're Disciples of Christ by The Works that they accomplish and the works that they do that show that they consider the interest and love of others rather than just their own Pleasures forever more their own Comforts forever more

and so that gets you back to that original um Parable where it says how you deal with the unrighteous wealth how you deal with money and your possessions and your material wealth how you utilize those things reveal where your treasure ultimately is it reveals whether or not you believe Jesus Christ because again we can take if you were to modernize this passage into current day it might look something like well I go to church you know a couple of times a month I I I give to the church I I do good things I volunteer on several teams I I work and so therefore I

should be considered a Christian I should be under the banner of God's favor in his salvation but here's the reality is you can do those things and still not treasure Jesus and I'll just be honest with you from my position you're the worst church members like those are the worst church members because they're frustrated about everything why because they have no satisfaction their treasure is is meaningless and so because it's not working there's frustration there where if you treasure Christ and in Christ you have all that you need all of a sudden now it's less about what you need to receive from the ministries of

the church or from the people of the church well I I don't like I I love that you love me and I love that you interact with me and I love that you serve me and all those things but at the same time and again that's beautiful don't hear me say don't do those things for one another the bad church member is the ones who expect that and and um desire that in such a way that when it doesn't happen well now they've experienced Church hurt because well again the church is not saving them the church is not helping them the church is not serving

them it's about them it's it's honestly the same thing as the dishonest manager I'm using your means in order to establish my own Earthly comfort and right now you're not doing a good job you're not comforting me and so what we need instead is to have the flip side of that where we treasure Christ we love Jesus so much that not only did Jesus utilize material wealth and possessions I mean he told the disciples take a money back go and give to the poor and go and give to the needies take everything that you have and sell your possessions and give it away like he

was utilizing unrighteous wealth in order to gain Eternal dwellings for them when it cames to them going out and sharing the gospel with people and then sometimes he even told them don't take money back because I don't want you to have the temptation of storing up extra for yourself I want you to go and and literally empty yourself for everyone else the Temptation for us is to do that in such a way that we still want to provide for ourselves rather than for others but that becomes the the the the standard or kind of the check engine light for us whether or not we are

treasuring Jesus or treasuring our stuff when it comes to seeing an opportunity of someone in need and let's say it cost $100 do we think man I I could give them a $100 right now or we could go to a steak dinner I I mean I love steak I'd really love to go have that steak dinner but maybe in this moment I consider the of this other person and I give to them in order to have a gospel conversation with them and tell them hey yeah this this is a Band-Aid but at the same time I want to share with you good news that will

lead into Eternal dwellings rather than just helping you pay this this light bill right now like it you got to get it to the gospel too it can't just be a social justice Ministry but are are our minds thinking that way or are we just thinking about man I really go to I really got to work on my own stuff here consider the interest of others that's what Jesus is getting at here it reveals where your heart is and when it comes to Christ again not only did he use money and wealth to be able to do those things but he straight up paid himself

for us I mean when he says like take up your cross daily like he took up a cross and died for you like we're not in a current system where like that's our um actual work to be Christians is like go find someone to die for today but that's what Jesus did for us like that's the extent of him using physical tangible stuff is he used his flesh to pay for our sins in order to redeem us so that we would have right position and posture with God so that then makes that $100 look like chump change when it comes to the effectiveness for the

kingdom and it changes our entire mentality on how we Steward what we have with heaven in mind and hell as a warning it changes how we Steward who we are and what we have for the sake of the god gospel and for others that reveals the sake of ourselves and where we are with Christ let's pray together father we thank you so much for your word this morning and we thank you for these Parables that you gave us in Luke 16 that point to our connection that we have with utilizing worldly possessions and materials those things are not inherently wrong or evil but they are

tools they are tools and we are tempted to either treasure them or utilize them to store up Treasures in Heaven not only for ourselves but for those who we share the gospel with and so God I pray for every person in this room because this message is for every single person in this room that whether again wealthy or or you know we even feel at times like impoverished um sometimes we feel like the rich man in the house and sometimes we feel like the poor man outside the gate regardless of where we are Lord will you help us see the meaning and message of these

Parables that it's not about storing up for ourselves Comforts and relieving our own personal um positions and experiences but it's actually about those who we come in contact with that we are seeking their Eternal posture and and and position and where they are with you are they in a relationship with you or not I don't know but I want to ser them in such a way that I'm able to show them the generosity of God and what you have done for us we were able to show them and connect it to the message of Jesus Christ and what he ultimately did in giving his life

for each one of us to forgive us of our sins and to bring us back into relationship with you that's what I'm hoping for for us and I hope that even in that message that it grows our affections for Christ and for you as a father and for the spirit because of what you were willing to do in order to make Sinners become sins thank you we thank you it's in your name we pray amen and one of the ways that we thank Christ for what he's done for us in paying his life on the cross for your life to be in heaven is that

he went to the cross and he died he broke his body and he shed his blood of anyone who could have utilized his wisdom I mean when he was 12 years old and he was in the synagogue and they were asking him questions and he was asking them questions he was stumping the religious Elite in the moment so someone who could have gone down a track of establishing for himself all of the pleasures of the world and all of the Comfort could have been the greatest considered Rabbi ever in the Jewish culture he said I'm not going to go that route I'm gonna be homeless

I'm gonna be a carpenter I'm gonna go without so that I can give you everything that's what we worship that's who we worship that's Jesus that's Jesus and the greatest point of it was him being tortured on a cross crucified for us so that we don't have to he became that poor man outside the gate so that you might become rich that's what he did for us so if you'll stand with me if you believe that message I invite you to come down grab the elements bring them back to your seats and we partake together