"Entrusted" 10-10-21
Overview
Entrusted: Living Under God's Sovereign Care
God owns it all—every blink of the eye, every beat of the heart. Living under his sovereignty is a gracious place to be, and it changes how we view every resource he places in our hands. Money is a topic Jesus addressed more than any other in Matthew's Gospel—more than heaven, more than hell—and for good reason. A wrong understanding of finances ranks among the great sources of stress in our lives, and Jesus speaks directly to the heart of the matter.
In Matthew 6:19–21, Jesus says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal." Notice the phrase for yourselves. The warning is not against wealth itself—Abraham was extraordinarily rich, and Job among the wealthiest of his day—but against making accumulation the focal point of life. Only once, in Matthew 19, did Jesus tell someone to sell everything, and that was because wealth had become an idol. Paul echoes this balance in 1 Timothy 6:17, charging the rich "not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." Earthly wealth is fragile—moths consume the finest wool garments, rust and vermin eat through stored grain, and thieves dig through walls to find what we've buried. It cannot bear the weight of our hope.
Instead, Jesus calls us to lay up treasure in heaven—and that means using our wealth for the proclamation of the gospel and the care of those whom God loves. When third-century Romans broke into a church demanding its treasure, an elder led them to a room full of the poor, the orphans, and the widows being fed, and said, "Here is our treasure." Paul urges the same in 1 Timothy 6:18–19: be rich in good works, generous, ready to share, "thus storing up… the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life." Our works do not save us—Christ's finished work on the cross does that, and God claims us in the waters of baptism—but our giving expresses faith and brings glory to God.
"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Our checkbooks, credit-card statements, and budgets reveal what we actually love. If more flows toward coffee than toward the kingdom, that's not a question of salvation but a heart needing correction. And God meets us with extraordinary promises for those who trust him with their resources: Proverbs 3:9–10 on honoring the Lord with the firstfruits, Luke 6:38 on the measure pressed down and overflowing, 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 on sowing bountifully, and Malachi 3:10—the one place God invites us to put him to the test: "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse… and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you." There is no better investment than the one made in eternity.
Transcript
Who's your open your Bibles, please, with me for our study today to Matthew the sixth chapter, 2s
the very first book in the New Testament, Matthew chapter six for our study today. 7s
We begin today a new sermon series. 14s
We're going to examine the next few weeks. 17s
We've entitled it Life Management, Life Management. 20s
God owns all, doesn't he? 25s
Absolutely everything. 28s
God owns every blink of our eye, every beat of the heart. 30s
God is the sovereign ruler over all and living under his sovereignty is a gracious and a wonderful and a beautiful place to be. 36s
We're going to explore the next several weeks using parables of our Lord. 51s
Jesus was an absolute master storyteller and oftentimes he would use the parable, 56s
remember a parable in earthly story with a heavenly meaning. 62s
And so for three out of the next four weeks here, we're going to use parables with the exception of today. 66s
The master storyteller is put on display. 75s
In this section of Scripture, that isn't a parable, but the storyteller Jesus, 79s
masterfully brings together these images that address the heart. 89s
So may God bless us as we turn to life management under the sovereign care of all mighty God. 98s
There are several sources of stress in life aren't there. 110s
Several sources of stress. 114s
Death of a loved one, a job change, a conflict in the family. 117s
We can certainly all fill in the blanks. 123s
Jesus in our text for today addresses one of the leading causes of stress in people's life. 128s
In fact, Jesus addressed this topic 100 and 9 times in the gospel of Matthew alone. 137s
And he spoke about this topic five times more than any other topic he addressed. 152s
That's five times more than talking about heaven. 166s
Five times more than talking about hell. 171s
Five times more than any other topic he ever addressed. 176s
Can you guess what it is? 188s
Let me give you a hint. 195s
The story of the farmer comes into his wife one day and says, 197s
wonderful news, wonderful news. 202s
Our best cow just had twins, a brown one and a white one. 205s
Why I said, oh, that's wonderful news, wonderful news. 212s
The husband said, I've got an idea. 215s
I think that we should take the proceeds from one of these cows and give all of the proceeds to God. 219s
Every single penny of proceeds that we get from one of the cows, let's just give it to God. 230s
The wife said, fantastic idea. 237s
Fantastic idea. 239s
Well, which one is going to be God's cow? 240s
Which one, the brown one or the white one? 244s
Which one should we give all of the proceeds from that cow to God? 247s
The husband said, oh, we can figure that out later. 251s
We'll figure out later, which one is God's cow? 255s
A few weeks later, comes into the kitchen. 261s
He's looking rather sad. 264s
Wife immediately picks up on it, says, what's the matter? 267s
He said, well, one of the cows died. 273s
She said, which one? 278s
He said, the Lord's cow. 282s
What is the matter? 287s
One of these sources of stress is the wrong understanding of finances. 290s
Jesus talked about this subject five times more than anything else. 303s
And for good reason. 317s
Look at verse 19 with me, please. 323s
Jesus says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, 326s
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 335s
Sometimes it is thought that the Lord calls all of us to poverty. 342s
That he calls all of us to give away all that we have. 349s
Do you know the Lord only did that one time? 352s
It was in Matthew the 19th chapter, where he turned to the person and said, 356s
go sell your possessions, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. 360s
He only did that once. 366s
Why? What was the problem in that situation for the person? 369s
The problem was understanding of their wealth as being the idol. 373s
So Jesus went right after the idol. 378s
In fact, when you look at Scripture, 383s
Abraham was in correctly rich. In fact, he had so much wealth that it rivaled kings, 386s
Job. He was one of the wealthiest people. 397s
God doesn't call us to poverty. 404s
Well, listen, what he says to rich people through the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6, 412s
as for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, 417s
or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches. 423s
But rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 427s
Notice, God is not calling each Christian to divest themselves of all the wealth that they have. 435s
What he's telling the rich here through the Apostle Paul is, 445s
don't set your hope on your wealth. 451s
Don't set your hope on what you have. 456s
The issue then is one's attitude towards that which God has given them 464s
under the sovereignty of God. Look again at verse 19. 474s
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. 481s
Notice the key word there. Don't store it up for who yourself. 487s
That's where it's not let wealth become the focal point in your life, 495s
where accumulation is the thing that life is all about, where you put all of your hope, 499s
and all of your trust in the wealth he then goes on to say, 505s
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 512s
Here's the Master Storyteller here. 518s
The Master Storyteller giving such images here. 521s
In ancient day, the finest piece of clothing that you could have 524s
would be a clothing that was made of wool. 529s
That's what people prized. 534s
And that's what the moths would like to eat. 538s
He says, where moth consumes. 544s
He then goes on to say where moth and rust consume. 551s
Another place where people would put their money would be ingrained. 557s
The word here literally that's translated rust means an eating through the image here 562s
that Jesus is lifting up to the people. 571s
Is that the grain would oftentimes be eaten by rats and mice and insects, etc. 575s
Jesus saying, you understand how temporary all this is? 586s
How temporary wealth is? 591s
Why the moths consume it? 597s
The insects take it away. 603s
Then he says, and where thieves break in and steal. 609s
Inch and day, the houses were made of mud, so how would thieves access into a house? 613s
They dig right through the mud, or people would take their wealth and they would bury their 618s
wealth under the ground, so thieves would come. 624s
And they would think, now, if I lived here, where would I bury my wealth? 628s
And they would just start digging. 632s
The temporary nature of it all do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth 634s
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. 641s
Instead, he calls us to something else. 648s
Look at verse 20. 651s
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. 653s
Where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 660s
Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. 669s
What's that? 679s
What's that? 681s
Third century, the Romans were once again on one of their persecutions. 684s
They broke into a church. 693s
They were looking for the supposed treasure that would be there in the church to take it. 695s
They broke in the church to give us your treasure. 705s
And one of the elders said, oh, we'll let me show you the treasure. 708s
Romans were rather surprised about that. 715s
Let me show you the treasure. 717s
And he brought them into a room 721s
where there is the poor 725s
in the orphans 728s
and the widows 730s
eating. 733s
And the elder said, 736s
here's our treasure. 741s
Here's our treasure. 744s
Lloyd Olgavi says, 748s
that when we enter in to heaven, 753s
people should cheer us. 759s
When we enter in to heaven, people should cheer us. 765s
Here's the point. 776s
Treasure in heaven is using our wealth 779s
for the proclamation of the gospel. 787s
Laying up treasure in heaven is using our wealth 792s
for the proclamation of the gospel. 798s
Back into first Timothy 6, Paul says to the rich, 805s
they're to do good, to be rich in good works, 810s
generous and ready to share. 817s
Thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future. 820s
So that they may take hold of the life 827s
that really is life. 830s
The expression of our faith, the works, 836s
they don't save us, 841s
but the works bring glory and delight to God Almighty. 844s
When we enter in to heaven, 853s
people should. 857s
Chirus. 861s
Chirus. 864s
Good verse 21. 868s
For where your treasure is, 872s
there your heart will be also, 876s
where your treasure is, 881s
there your heart will be also. 883s
When we look at the credit card bill, 892s
when we open up our checkbooks, 896s
when we look at our budgets, 902s
it shows us our heart doesn't it? 907s
It shows us what's really the driver 911s
and what's really important. 918s
We can be tempted to spend more on coffee in a year 925s
than laying up treasure in heaven. 932s
It doesn't mean that a person isn't redeemed, 941s
doesn't mean that they're not saved, 947s
it just shows what Jesus says is a heart problem. 950s
You've got heart difficulties that need correction. 956s
Maybe it's a bypass or maybe it's an electrical issue 964s
so that the heart will beat and reverberate 969s
the priority of God. 976s
God's grace abounds through the cross of Jesus Christ. 982s
God has taken all of our sin on the Lord. 986s
Jesus Christ on the cross. He's paid our sin 988s
that we've been reconciled unto Him. 991s
Jesus says it's finished. 994s
It is paid and full. 996s
God claims us in the waters of baptism. 998s
We are not saved by our financial giving. 1003s
But you see the use of treasure, 1012s
perhaps that shows areas of growth for us. 1017s
Areas of growth. 1025s
Jesus said, let's get right to the heart of the matter. 1029s
Where your treasure is? 1037s
There's your heart. 1042s
There's your heart. 1045s
Here are the incredible promises of God to us. 1049s
The incredible promises where God does surgery on us. 1054s
Where God transforms us by His promises. 1064s
Proverbs chapter 3, verse 9, 1073s
honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your 1076s
produce. Then your barns will be filled with plenty 1081s
and your vats will be bursting with wine. 1084s
Not my promise. 1090s
Given it will be given to you. 1095s
A good measure pressed down shaken together, 1097s
running over will be put into your lap. 1100s
For the measure you give will be the measure you get back. 1103s
Not my promise, God's. 1107s
Second Corinthians 9, the points this. 1111s
The one who's so sparingly will reap sparingly. 1115s
The one who's so spoundively will also reap bound to flee. 1119s
God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance 1123s
so that by always having enough of everything, 1127s
you may share abundantly in every good work. 1131s
His promise. 1136s
Melokai 3. 1139s
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse. 1142s
That's the first 10%. 1144s
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. 1146s
And thus put me to the test. 1151s
Says the Lord of hosts. 1153s
See if I will not open the windows of heaven for you 1154s
and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 1157s
Put me to the test. 1162s
That's God's promise. 1164s
Redembed of God. 1172s
Heavenly treasure. 1176s
Heavenly treasure is using our wealth for the proclamation 1180s
of the gospel. 1190s
There is no better investment 1195s
that we could make. 1202s