Becoming Rich Toward God

1:02Fighting over inheritances, of course, is nothing new. Battles over family estates go back thousands of years, with dozens of examples recorded in Scripture for us. And I think that one reason we have so many examples of inheritance battles and squabbles over money in the scripture is because there is really nothing in this world that shows what we love, where our hearts are, more so than... In our money. If you want to know what a person loves, what a person lives for, you look at how they spend their time and how they spend their money.

1:39And so we have all of these examples in Scripture about money and what happens when people are going after the thing that their hearts desire. It reveals what we worship and what we love. Well, friends, today we are in week two of our seven-week topical series called Generous God, Generous People. And we're going to be looking at the parable of the rich fool this morning in Luke chapter 12, which I pray is going to move us to honest self-reflection as well as a commitment to live for the eternal, to store up treasure not on earth, but in heaven.

2:17Now, at the outset of this chapter, thousands of people have gathered together to hear Jesus teach. They are trampling one another. They're just trying to get in as close as they can to hear this famous rabbi. And he begins to teach his 12 disciples in the presence of these large crowds of thousands of people. And so in verse 13, we see that this man calls out in the crowd to Jesus, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

2:46Now, that might strike us as odd, but one thing you have to understand about the context is that people often went to rabbis to settle disputes. Remember, they're living in a theocracy, and so the law of the land is the law of God. Law of God is the law of the land. And so they go to rabbis to get these disputes settled. They often served as mediators or as arbitrators between two parties. Well, we know that human nature hasn't changed in 2,000 years, which meant that a significant number of these disputes that rabbis were asked to settle involved money.

3:23Well, according to the Mosaic law, the firstborn son possessed what is known as the birthright, and that meant that he received a double portion of the inheritance. So he would get twice as much, and then all of the other sons in the family, the rest of the estate, would be divided up equally between the remaining sons. And so in this case, it would seem that the man who is asking Jesus to intervene is not the firstborn son, and therefore he didn't receive the double portion.

3:53Clearly, he thought this was unfair, and maybe that's because he thought that every son should receive the same amount. He just didn't like God's law, maybe. Or maybe it was because his older brother, the firstborn, didn't work as hard. Maybe in his family, he pulled a lot of the weight. He did the most for his dad. He worked the most on the family farm or the family ranch, and he felt he was entitled to more. But what is definitely clear is that, first of all, the man wants more of his father's estate than he is scheduled to receive. And secondly, this man has no idea who he's really talking to.

4:31He understands, of course, that he's talking to Jesus of Nazareth because Jesus had built a reputation as the greatest rabbi in Israel. That's why this man is coming to him to ask him to settle this dispute. But he clearly did not understand that he was talking to not just an ordinary teacher, not even just a great teacher, but the Christ, the Son of the living God. And that's obvious from his request, because the man says, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

5:07This is similar to when your kids come up to you and they say, Mom, tell him to give it to me. It's like, hang on a second here. I think there's a couple of misunderstandings. One, you don't tell me what to do. I tell you what to do. That's how this works. Secondly, you are assuming that you are right. And that's really very similar to how we approach God in prayer, isn't it? We make demands based on faulty assumptions.

5:42And so this man comes to him and says, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And what does Jesus say in response? Man, man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? Well, It's a rhetorical question. No one made Jesus a judge or arbitrator over this guy. More specifically, God had not made Jesus an arbitrator or judge over this guy, at least not in that way, at least not at this time. Take a look at John 6 on the screen.

6:23Jesus says to his disciples and to the crowds that are listening beyond them, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. See, it's no surprise that this man misunderstood both who Jesus was and what he came to do, because nearly everyone at this point in Jesus' life and ministry misunderstood who he was and what he came to do. Nearly everyone at this point believed that Jesus was an amazing rabbi. Some believed that he was a prophet from God. But virtually no one at this point understood that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Christ who had come, the Savior who had come, to reconcile us back to God the Father through his life and death and resurrection. Virtually no one understood or believed that at this point.

7:18And so Jesus' primary concern was not the resolution of earthly conflicts between people, but the reconciliation of eternal life. Souls with God. That's why Jesus came. But he does take advantage of this opportunity to teach. And so in verse 15, look at what he says: Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Now, covetousness is an overpowering desire for something. And most ordinarily, it's an overpowering desire for something that belongs to someone else. So take a look at the 10th commandment in Exodus chapter 20.

8:16God says, you shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's. So it is possible to covet money, people, property, or anything that is your neighbor's. You can covet anything. That's why Jesus says, take care and be on guard against all covetousness. Because covetousness can't be restricted to one particular category or one particular area, as if it's not okay. For us to covet our neighbor's house, but it is okay to covet our neighbor's influence or power or looks or anything else. That's why Jesus says, take care and be on your guard against all covetousness.

9:17And so, Jesus, as he often does, wants to illustrate his point. And so, the master teacher tells this wonderful parable that we call the parable of the rich fool. And in this parable, this rich man's land produces so bountifully that his existing barns can't possibly hold the bumper crop. Now, that's a legitimate problem. You can't leave the crops outside, they'll spoil, or animals will eat them, or they'll be stolen. It's a legitimate problem. And so, he resolves that he's going to tear down his smaller barns, and he's going to build bigger barns to hold all of this crop.

9:57And then he reasons he can relax and enjoy the rest of his life. Well, friends, from a worldly standpoint, his resolutions make perfect sense. From a worldly standpoint, if you've had this banner year, why would you not want to store it up? Why would you not want to look ahead to the future? Why would you not think this is the opportunity to satisfy my dreams and desires? This is what I've hoped for. This is what I've worked for. It makes perfect sense from a worldly standpoint.

10:28But from a spiritual standpoint, Standpoint, his resolutions make no sense at all. You see, the rich man's response to his crop gives us a window of insight into his worldview. And in this man's worldview, he is at the center. He is at the center of his own worldview. And his response reveals three sin issues, issues that we all have to watch out for and be on guard against, as Jesus said. And those three sin issues are self-sufficiency, selfishness, and self-satisfaction. Self-sufficiency, selfishness, and self-satisfaction.

11:23What we're doing in this series is we're working to build a biblical theology of generosity. And the reason this parable and the teaching that comes out of it from Jesus is so important is because every one of these sin issues will undercut generosity. Self-sufficiency undercuts generosity. Selfishness undercuts generosity. Self-satisfaction undercuts generosity. That's why it's so important that we understand these things. And so let's consider the rich man in these ways and see what we can learn about ourselves.

12:01So, first, the rich man is self-sufficient. One of the first things that you notice in the parable is that the rich man doesn't acknowledge God at all. He doesn't thank him for his abundant provision. He doesn't pray and inquire what he should do with his crop. He doesn't even act as though God exists. The rich man acts as though his great crop yield was entirely the fruit of his own hard work. But of course, plenty of farmers have worked very hard day in and day out, dawn to dusk, and they have not seen this kind of result.

12:53Well, why not? Let's look again at Psalm 104, where our responsive reading for our call to worship came from. Look at what the psalmist says. You cause the grass to grow, for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. See, the consistent message from Scripture is that everything we have comes from the generous hand of God. We are not self-sufficient.

13:31We are dependent on him to sustain us by providing for us. When we fail to acknowledge that truth, we begin to view ourselves as self-sufficient, as though we have earned everything that we have, and therefore that we have the right to do whatever we want with it, to do as we please. But self-sufficiency undercuts generosity because it leads us to believe that we've earned everything, and therefore, if others are in need, what that means is they haven't worked hard enough. They don't deserve it because they haven't earned it. We have earned it, we think, when we view ourselves as self-sufficient.

14:20We're going through the book of 1 Corinthians, and I want to remind you guys from what we learned in the middle of the fall in 1 Corinthians 4. Paul asks these questions: What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Those are great questions to ask any time we start to see self-sufficiency creeping into our lives, because self-sufficiency will undercut generosity.

14:58The second truth we see from the rich. Man, in the parable, is that the rich man is selfish. So, not only is he self-sufficient, he's self-ish. He doesn't acknowledge God in any way, but you notice in the parable as well, he doesn't acknowledge anyone besides himself. Did you notice all the personal pronouns in verses 17 through 19? All the instances of I or my? In the three short sentences that the rich man speaks in those verses, he uses personal pronouns 11 different times.

15:39He speaks of my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods. He views himself as an owner, not as a steward or manager of the things that God rightfully owns. But of course, selfishness is the natural result of self-sufficiency. If you don't believe that God exists, or even if you say you believe that God exists, but you don't live as though he does exist, then selfishness is the inevitable result. You remember what we talked about last week when we introduced the series?

16:17We noted that when we were growing up, we were essentially taught in children's books: you should share, because not sharing is mean. Well, says who? Who says not sharing is mean? If I don't believe that God exists and you tell me that it's good to share, I think you're a sucker. Because why should you give away the things that rightfully belong to you, that you have earned, that you deserve, to someone who did not earn them or deserve them, in your view? Why should you share if God does not exist?

17:06And if the whole reason that we share is that we are generous because he was first generous with us? Now, you still might share your stuff, perhaps with people that can return the favor in some way. Isn't that what Jesus says in his teaching? You might still share your stuff, but it's to get something in return, and therefore the motive is still selfish. You're doing it to personally benefit in some way. So selfishness is the inevitable result of self-sufficiency, but selfishness is a sinful response to God and what he has done in generously providing all that we have.

17:40And selfishness undercuts generosity because a selfish person is acting like an owner rather than as a steward. And friends, a selfish Christian is an oxymoron. It's something that should not exist. Take a look at James chapter 2. James asks, What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to him, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

18:29So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. See, James is not teaching that we are saved by believing in Jesus plus doing good things. James is saying that we only have real, actual, living faith in Jesus if that faith moves us to action, to practical works of love toward God and toward other people. That's the only kind of faith that will save us. According to Scripture, the only faith that saves us is a faith that manifests itself in those things. The rich man exhibited none of that. All that he exhibited was a selfish obsession with his own future, his own comfort.

19:20Friends, selfishness undercuts generosity. And then, third and finally, we see that the rich man is. Self-satisfied. This is fairly obvious, I think, from the congratulatory speech that he gives to himself. He says, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry. He's satisfied. He has accomplished everything that he wanted to accomplish in life. The rich man has concluded that he's made it, that his ship has come in, there's nothing more to do. His whole life, everything that he's hoped and worked for, the results of this one year, this bumper crop, it's here. Now he can retire early. Now he can do what he wants. Now he can quit his job finally. And friends, those desires aren't hard to understand.

20:27Many Americans fantasize about this very thing. There's even an entire movement that's taken off in the last decade known as fire. Financial independence, retire early. Well, is fire an unbiblical concept? Not necessarily. Financial independence is a good thing, right? We don't want to be dependent or a burden on other people. Retiring early is not necessarily an evil thing, especially if we're going to use our time, our extra time, and our money to serve. Others. That's a great thing.

21:04But what about the rich man? I mean, clearly he loved the idea of being financially independent and retiring early. But fire for him was not about God and others at all. It was all about him, his wants, his desires, his dreams being fulfilled. And I think we have to turn the mirror on ourselves and ask the question: what about us? What if your ship came in? What if somehow you came into so much money that you did not have to work any longer?

21:42You could retire, you could do whatever you wanted. I think if we're honest, we would at least be tempted to make the same exact choices as this rich man. We'd be tempted to quit work, relax, eat, drink, and be merry, live on a cruise ship, live on a golf course, live on a vineyard in California. Since this is pretend, you could afford the taxes. The rich man was self-satisfied. He had everything he wanted, so he wasn't worried about anyone else. But that's the point, friend. Self-satisfaction undercuts generosity. Because a self-satisfied person stops sacrificing his time, his money, His resources the second that he accomplishes everything that he wants to accomplish. That's what a self-satisfied person does. Something in this world was the goal, and so when that goal is finally achieved, when it's finally reached, they quit sacrificing.

22:46A self-satisfied person only sacrifices enough to be able to afford whatever lifestyle most appeals to them. And once they're able to do that, when they reach that goal, they stop sacrificing because it was all about fulfilling their desires. And so, self-satisfaction undercuts generosity. So, the rich man is self-sufficient, he's selfish, he's self-satisfied. All of that's evident in his response. How does God assess his response? Let's take a look at verse 20. But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

23:50According to God, this rich man is a fool. And if you've ever read the Sermon on the Mount before, you know that is a serious indifference. Indictment for a Jewish person. Why is he a fool? Because he carefully prepared for the rest of his life on this earth, and he didn't prepare at all for eternity. That's why he's a fool. Did you catch the irony in the rich man's speech? When he talks to himself, he doesn't call himself self or frank or richy rich.

24:37He calls himself soul. Well, the soul is the spiritual part of our beings, the part that will live forever. According to God's word, we all are eternal souls. Our souls never die. These temporary bodies will die and be resurrected on the last day, but our souls never die. They are eternal. So ironically, this guy is addressing the spiritual part of himself, that part that will live forever, and yet he is living as though this temporary life, this temporary world, is all that there is.

25:18He was well prepared for retirement, but he wasn't prepared at all for eternity. Friends, this same thing is true. For so many people today, even so many people who profess to be Christians. We say that we believe in God. We say that we believe in heaven and hell, but then we live our lives as though God doesn't exist, as though we will not have to give an account one day to Him, as though this world and this life is all that there is.

25:54You see, this man's problem according to Jesus was that he was well prepared for this life. He had laid up lots of treasure on earth, but he wasn't prepared for the eternal life to come. He was materially rich, and yet, all the while, he was spiritually poor because he had not stored up treasure in heaven. And every one of us was or is just like the rich man in this parable. See, what we learn from Scripture is that when we're born, we are born spiritually poor. A better, maybe more accurate way to say it is that we're born spiritually bankrupt.

26:42We're born with a sinful nature that has been passed down from our very first parents, Adam and Eve, all the way down through the generations to us. And what that means is that when we're born, you and I are hardwired to think and to act just like the rich man in this parable. We're born with a desire to live for ourselves, not for God, not for others. We're born with a desire to live for this temporary world, not the eternal world that is to come.

27:14And not only are we born spiritually bankrupt, but apart from the gracious intervention of God, we spend our entire lives investing in what amounts to a spiritual Ponzi scheme. We spend our entire lives investing our time and money and resources in a religious system of our own creation, hoping and believing that it will somehow make us spiritually rich. But friends, just like all Ponzi schemes, it's a fraud. We can invest all the time and money and effort into a religious system of our own choosing, and yet in the end, we will be just as bankrupt as we were before.

28:03That's why Jesus came. See, contrary to popular belief, Jesus didn't come primarily to teach or to set us an example. We had all the teaching we could ever want in the Old Testament. We had all the examples we could ever want in the prophets and teachers of Israel. That was all there for us. No, Jesus came to take spiritually bankrupt people and make them rich by leaving heaven. Coming to earth and taking on flesh to live the perfect life that we were called to live, to die in our place and for our sins, and to rise from the dead, victorious over sin and death, so that through faith in Him, His great, infinite spiritual riches could be transferred to us, where we could go from being spiritually bankrupt to spiritually wealthy.

28:58Jesus came to transform hard hearts, hearts that are self-sufficient, hearts that are selfish, hearts that are self-satisfied, hearts that love themselves and the world. Jesus came to transform those hard hearts into soft hearts that are worshipful, that are others-centered, that are generous. That's why Jesus came. See, friends, when our hearts are transformed, we no longer have to live for the world, working to store up treasure on earth. Instead, we can now live for eternity, working to store up treasure in heaven, treasure that lasts.

29:41We can become rich toward God. And so, friends, let's be on our guard against all covetousness because, as Jesus says, our lives don't consist in the abundance of our possessions. Let's lay up treasure in heaven where we have an inheritance. There, that can never be taken away. That is the great news of the gospel. And that is the greatest reason, the greatest incentive to be generous people. Because as we are generous people, we are laying up for ourselves treasure in heaven to enjoy forever along with our enjoyment of God, along with our enjoyment of all other people that God has mercifully and graciously saved.

30:27I want to leave you with these words from the Apostle Peter because he does such a wonderful job communicating the reason why we live generously. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

31:12Thank God. What a great hope. Let's pray. Father, we pray this morning that you would help us to believe that we have a great Inheritance waiting for us. Not an inheritance that has its root and value in this life, in this world, but one that is undefiled and unfading, one that can never rot or wear out, one that can never be stolen. We pray that you would give us great faith to believe your words so that we will live our lives accordingly. Father, we confess to you that we have bought into the idea that this life is all that there is, and so we need to squeeze everything out of it. We need to hang on to the things that we have, to the things that we've convinced ourselves that we have earned all on our own and we deserve.

32:26God, would you release our hands from the tight grip that we have around our stuff, our money, our resources, our time? God, would you release us to be generous people because we believe that living generously is the only right response to your generous provision of your son Jesus and the only right response for people who believe that what matters eternally is not this life, but the life that is to come. Help us to believe the truth and help us to live our lives in accordance with it.

33:07In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.