 Today we're Luke chapter 12 and we're going to begin looking at verse 13 now as you're opening your Bibles and getting ready for our study to be honest with you I prepared up to verse 21, but as I've been reviewing and reading this The verses from 13 to 21 in chapter 12 Basically are setting the the tone for the context or application rather that you find in verse 22 following and so Though I prepared as much as I could the first few verses there I am more than likely going to take you to verse 34 today, and so we'll see This isn't the first time I've ever looked at this passage or taught its contents, so please don't be afraid, but You know Anyway, you'll see what I'm talking about in a minute. Let's let's begin reading together in Luke chapter 12 And I'll read verses 13 through 15 and get into our study Luke chapter 12 beginning at verse 13 reading to verse 15 this is the parable of the rich fool beginning at verse 13 Jesus says or rather Luke writes then one from the crowd said to him teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me But he said to him Man who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you And he said to them take heed and beware of covetousness For once life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses He can tell an awful lot about yourself by simply evaluating what you think of during a bible study Where does your mind travel to when you're reading the word of god or being taught the word of god and in this particular case We have a classic example of a man not interested in spiritual things You see Jesus has been speaking to a group of people and he's been making it very clear That that he had come to give them something of great value And as we looked into chapter 12 initially We we saw that he first began by giving warnings remember in verse one when he had said to them that they were to Be concerned concerning the teachings of the Pharisees because they were dangerous They were like leaven And he was making it clear if you follow their teachings you will become a hypocrite He also in verse three had told his listeners that everything would ultimately be exposed for what it truly is He was pointing out that god sees everything and brings into judgment every work Whether it's good or whether it's bad Which agrees with Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 14 where the writer said god will bring every work into judgment Including every secret thing whether good or evil In verses eight and nine he had called people to make an open confession of faith in him as their savior And and on this confession of faith man's eternity rests Jesus and john in chapter eight verse 24 said it this way he said if you do not believe that i am he you Will die in your sins and so he had called man to avoid the error of the the Pharisees To be aware that everything is going to be open before the lord And that they should make a confession of faith and follow him And then finally he said that openly identifying with him would result in incredible persecution And he made it very clear that following jesus is not an easy road because you will encounter strong opposition But god will be with you as you follow him all of this is what he's been speaking about In the first few verses of chapter 12 And so as he's speaking in the midst of the crowd there's a man But this man has other things on his mind Well, other people are listening to what jesus is saying this guy is thinking of something else He's not interested at all about eternity. He's concerned about his here and his now What he's worried about is his inheritance and and now he speaks up and notice As he does so he simply says in verse 13 teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me Now that to me is just an amazing thing Because it would be like like i as a pastor teacher am giving a bible study And in mid sentence somebody in the church interrupts it With a personal concern And wants me to intervene somehow to help him to have this thing settled. That's what's taken place here So instead of weighing through what jesus has been saying He actually rudely interrupts him and disrupts the invitation that christ is given Jesus had just spoken of the incredible value that god places on us And he had made it clear that we shouldn't worry about life, but trust the lord to care for us He had just made that point remember verses six and seven when he had said are not Five sparrows sold for two copper coins and not one of them is forgotten before god The very hairs of your head are all numbered Do not fear therefore you're of more value than many sparrows Jesus was saying listen you have incredible value to god god will take care of you And and in the midst of that this guy doesn't listen at all He's lost and this is all lost on him and he's standing there waiting for an opportunity to make his request to jesus His material wealth is most important and the most important thing on his mind Remember in chapter six of luke verse 45 jesus has said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak And that's exactly what this guy does His the opportunity opposes itself He speaks out to the lord and he says tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me Interestingly he tries to get jesus to use his spiritual influence on his behalf You see sometimes rabbis actually would settle these kinds of matters and so The man's calling jesus teacher or rabbi would why why why not ask jesus to do the same thing? And he says it he says teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me You see in israel children had the father's goods divided among them You see that in the old testament book of numbers in chapter 27 as well as deuteronomy chapter 21 And the eldest would receive what is called a double portion But the rest of the family members received equal parts and this guy was simply saying I want my inheritance and tell my brother to be fair with me and to get it to me as as soon as possible And so we have to ask ourselves a question and this is what we're looking at today And this is why jesus gives this parable called the parable of the rich fool We have to ask ourselves what blocked out the message of jesus christ from this man What was it that was on his mind that kept him from hearing what jesus had to say and in a Simple answer is this it's materialism. This was a man who was simply greedy If heaven was not something he could drink eat wear or spend Then heaven had no value to him It reminds me of job in job 21 verses 14 and 15 When it says yet they say to god depart from us for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways And then the question is asked who is the almighty that we should serve him And what profit do we have if we pray to him? What is it going to benefit me? What is the profit of this for him? If it's if if heaven is not something you drink and eat or wear or spend heaven has no value And so when he asked that question or actually gives that that command tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me Notice jesus his response in verse 14 man who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you I'm not a civil magistrate serving on some court. I'm a minister bringing life to the dead You're not interested in heaven because you're too busy feathering your nest on earth You have civil authorities who can help my task is much more important I've come to bring life to people And the thing that concerns you is not the thing that is concerning me Especially at this moment when I'm giving this message to people And then he turns in verse 15 and he says to them Take heed and beware of covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses He immediately addresses the man's greed and uses it To teach and what he teaches on is the brevity of life Covetousness take heed and beware of covetousness The word covetousness speaks of a greedy desire to have more it speaks of avarice It's an energetic grasping after more The hunger for money was strong enough in Judas to provoke him to betray jesus Greed is an evil a great evil that provokes people to do amazing things Greed has been called a terrible master because greed can never be satisfied A person who's greedy always wants something else or a little bit more than what they already have A rich man was once asked how much is enough and his answer immediately was a little bit more Because the eyes of man are never satisfied. You're never satisfied like that when you're greedy Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verses 10 and 11 says whoever loves money never has money enough Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income This too is meaningless as goods increase. So do those who consume them and what benefit are they to the owner except To feast his eyes on them We have to learn Or actually be trained out of having a desire for more and for what we want It's part of the human nature and that's the truth and that's just the way it is I was speaking to a friend of mine recently another pastor and and he was saying to me that he believes that that people Are trained to to be generous and I said well I said in that I'd agree and yet I would add this basically people already are generous to themselves What they need to be taught is to be generous to others And that comes through a relationship with god But we already have this great desire to satisfy ourselves and that's the absolute truth We just passed through christmas. Did you get everything you wanted and no Probably not. You know my my grandson Josiah. I had mentioned to you that we have Christmas eve and we open up a present on christmas eve and and and he Got to choose whatever present he wanted to open and and he opened up his present And it was clothes Now this is a four-year-old and he looks at it and he throws the clothes on the ground And he just puts his face in the couch and he says I wanted a toy I mean that is that's in his heart now You're not satisfied with what you get even though underneath the tree There were so many other presents for him and that's just one house He's got other grandparents and great-grandparents and uncles and an answer We have to rent a u-haul to bring home the stuff that this kid takes in But the bottom line is is he wanted more that's human nature. That's the way it is They get that from their mothers. I know that's a fact That's just the way it is We have this desire for more and more and and and and we have to actually learn We have to be trained out of that We have to learn the lesson of christ who says it is more blessed to give than to receive But we have to learn these things and in first Timothy chapter 6 verse 10 Paul said the love of money Is a root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness And pierced themselves through with many sorrows A greedy heart is a heart that is not trusting in the Lord to provide What God gives is just never enough James in chapter 4 verse 2 says you lust and do not have You murder and covet and you cannot obtain A greedy heart is never satisfied and is not satisfied in trusting the Lord to provide And so as Jesus is speaking here He's making it very clear that a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses A man is more than the sum total of his material wealth And I know that runs contrary to to common Practice and common wisdom today. I know that it's it always has really but I see that today because Image is everything Image is everything We have a tendency of buying into the things that make us look better Cars pretty much the same. They all have to pass certain regulations to be on the road But we have choices that we make with those cars Based on the image that it projects when we drive it There's no doubt about that and people go to school to learn how to manipulate Our greedy desires and our materialism in order to get most out of us that they can we all know that That's not something you don't know already It's simply true and we can all fall prey to that kind of thing The image wanting to look in a certain way be a certain way drive a certain thing And in eat a certain rest all of that is part of what we deal with on a daily basis and and and when we have This mentality that my life consists or is made up of the things that I own Then we've lost ourselves in the truest sense of the word because we don't have an idea or a clue What life really is and what it's really supposed to be and that's what jesus speaks about here And so he gives this parable notice verse 16. He spoke a parable to them Saying the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully And he thought within himself saying what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops So he said I'll do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater And there I will store all my crops and my goods and I will say to my soul Soul you have many goods laid up for many years Take your ease eat drink and be merry But god said to him fool This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? So as he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward god And so notice this farmer is a man who's been blessed by god. He just doesn't acknowledge it He has a portion of land that is productive It receives abundant rain abundant sun And he has disease free crops In this parable that all represents god's gracious provisions for him He's so blessed that he begins to think about how he can provide for his future I want you to notice in verses 17 and 18 how he speaks to himself He speaks of my crops my barns my goods and even my soul Jesus is emphasizing the fact that none of these truly belong to him including his soul In the old testament book of deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 18 God when he was speaking to the children of israel was warning them concerning the fact that he would bless them But how they might respond to his blessings and so in deuteronomy 8 verse 18 He said you shall remember the lord your god For it is he who gives you power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant Which he swore to your fathers as it is this day You need to remember it's god who gives you the ability to do the things that you do Not a single person in this room is really a self-made person Because all of the attributes and the drive and the variety of things that you have you've received from some place else You know, what does a man have that he hasn't been given? Everything that we have our talents and abilities come from some other place And the bible tells us that it's god Who is the one who gives us the ability because god is the one who blesses us in james chapter 1 verse 17 James said every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights Who does not change like shifting shadows every good and every perfect gift coming down from above So god is the one who gives to us these benefits and blessings and all so when this guy is saying these are my things You know my crops and my barns my goods and even my soul the lord has a disagreement with them So when he says in verse 19 i'll say to my soul you have many goods laid up for many years He's in essence simply saying to himself take a break You deserve it. Look at all you've accomplished over the years Now the problem is is he's living as if there's no eternity. He's living as if there's no god The bible in psalm 14 verse 1 says the fool says in his heart. There's no god And that's how he's living In job in chapter 12 verses 9 and 10 It reads who among all these does not know that the hand of the lord has done this in whose hand is the life of every living thing And the breath of all mankind God is in control of all things And this man has basically Removed god from the equation now I don't know if it's my age or what But I notice there are a lot of commercials on tv that advertise The wise investments for your future And you've seen the commercials perhaps if you watch tv at all Usually there's an older couple and they're driving a nice car or they're taking a leisurely walk on the beach or They're sitting at a nice restaurant or a cafe and they're drinking some coffee and just enjoying each other And obviously that's the picture of the american dream The american dream consisting of financial stability as well as prosperity and and so That's a message that many people who are growing older That's a message that we have heard and and many of us desire to be true in our own life now Obviously The question can be asked well Is there's something wrong with making plans for the future and making wise investments and the answer to That is there's no it's actually wise To be aware of that. It's an even responsible I think to prepare for the future the bible in proverbs 13 verse 22 says a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children And I want to be a good man and I want to leave something behind for my children And I want to leave something behind for my children's children And so I have insurance and and I have a little financial plan that i'm trying to put money away and and all So that should the day come when the lord takes me home. I'm not going to leave marie without anything You know my uh guy that I I used for my investments told me I actually told marie your husband's worth a lot more dead than alive And that's the truth and I have no problem with that at all because I want to leave behind Something for my wife to make sure that she's okay, and I encourage you in the same way Don't wait till the last moment to make your retirement plans And so i'm not saying that jesus says there's something wrong with that I think that there's a wise stewardship involved. There are principles involved be aware of those things You may be thinking i'll do that later on when i'm older. I've been telling my kids you ought to start doing that now You ought to be preparing now start putting something away now Because tomorrow comes quicker than you think and you ought to be wise in all of that There's nothing wrong with that. We do invest in retirement. We we make sure to pay our bills on time We do purchase life and health insurance and and and I make a habit of avoiding needless debt But the bottom line is is are you prepared for eternity? That's what jesus is speaking about here This guy was ready for everything. I mean he's looking at all of the fields and how how abundant he's been You know reaping at all and he says man, what am I going to do? I have so much it's time to retire What i'll do is i'll build bigger barns. I'll store all of this and have goods for the future I'll say to my soul, you know rest be merry enjoy life It's time for you to relax to stop going out in that field and working It's time for you just to enjoy life and that's what he's saying to himself It reminds me of my cousin. I've shared this with you before but my cousin's husband Who had a retirement party when he reached the age of retirement had his retirement party And he and my cousin were making decisions about what they were going to do now that he was retired The trips they were going to take and the things that they were going to do He had his retirement party He went to bed that night and died in his sleep He never experienced one day of retirement not a single day of it He had a retirement party. He put his head on his pillow and he died Tomorrow's promised to no one and that's what jesus is saying here And that's why jesus goes so far as to say in verse 20 that god said to him full This night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you've provided Who's going to get your inheritance? Who's going to use all of the things that you labored so much for it is not going to be you It's going to be somebody else He was a fool because he forgot that he had a limited time to live Psalm 49 12 says But man despite his riches does not endure. He is like the beasts that perish Ultimately, we died This man thought he was really about to live When in reality He's what we would today call a dead man walking He forgot that eternity awaited him and he hadn't prepared for it That's why a great prayer would be found in Psalm 90 verse 12 Because there it says teach us to number our days That we may gain a heart of wisdom Lord remind us that we only have a set amount of time and so May we develop a wise heart so that we can approach eternity in the proper way Because according to first peter 4 verse 5 they will give an account to him Who's ready to judge the living and the dead we all will one day stand before you And so jesus says that god speaking to him says this night your soul will be required of you And then whose will those things be which you've provided You didn't prepare for eternity You have all the things that are to bring you comfort in this life But you didn't provide for the future life and so in verse 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward god It's a matter of setting up proper priorities guys You know, we're going to look on into verse 34, but I want to jump ahead I want you to see verse 31 because I'm going to make a point here and then pick this up But notice verse 31 how it says seek the kingdom of god and all these things shall be added unto you a moment ago When we had ray and and rebecca clancy up here sharing with you and all Dave came up and all of you who go to this fellowship know him He's he's the brother who we have over missions ministry And he's been on staff with us for several years now But let me tell you something because I just I just spoke to him prior to coming out just And I said Dave, I'm going to use you as an example and he goes. Oh, what did I do? I said no, I said I'm going to use you as a good example if you don't mind he says no go ahead You know years ago when I began to pray about who we would place over missions ministry I noted something about Dave and his wife Tina and that is they have a heart for people who are lost Tina has a very strong evangelistic heart. She's the kind of woman who wants to see you saved and I saw that in In her and I've known them for many years well, Dave was in a profession Where he um He was well, I told him I wouldn't say but I'm going to anyway. I'm breaking my word to him He was a lawyer a corporate lawyer who was a full partner in a law firm and so He'd done that for 25 years So I had said to him and Tina I said could you guys pray about Dave joining us on staff and and serving the Lord with us and They said of course and they began to pray and they prayed for some time and and you know I waited for a few months and then finally one day We met them for some coffee and I still remember the conversation as we were seated there in the coffee shop and and I said well Dave What's the Lord laying on your on your heart? Would you like to come and serve the Lord with us or or what? And so Tina says pastor if you don't mind me. I ask a question And I said of course and she said Are we going to be able to make our house payment? And I smiled at her and I said if you're asking about the salary for Dave I said of course I said we're going to make sure that you receive enough to live on And I told them the amount that I was going to give to them as a yearly Yearly salary and Dave smiles. He just smiles at me And he says you're probably wondering why I'm smiling, huh? And I said yeah. Well, yeah And he goes Every year I receive bonuses that are twice as much As you're going to give me for a year salary bonuses That are twice as much as you're going to give me for a year salary And I smiled at him and I said then why don't you start tithing? No, I I didn't quickly I'll wait till you get your next bonus I I looked at him and I said whoa And he says but the lord is laid it on our hearts that we want to serve him He says the money isn't the question It's the service to jesus christ And I told him I want to use you as an example because you seek the kingdom of god first and his righteousness And you know that all these things shall be added unto you You see that is a very tangible reality This is a man who made four times what he receives now Or more He said I don't care. He says Dave. You see he just told me he said pastor He says I want you to know something never missed a house payment lord is blessed. We're doing fine. He just told me that right now So I'm reducing his salary He's got to learn to live by faith It's a very practical reality guys and and and You know, there are a lot of stories like that that maybe I should take the chance and begin sharing with you on occasion So that you can see that this is real And what jesus is speaking about is real You see when he says a person lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards god He goes right on into sharing with us how how how god actually really does work. You see Being rich towards god is simply organizing your life around your relationship to him And that would include every aspect of your life including your finances In proverbs chapter 3 verses 9 and 10 the writer says honor the lord with your wealth with the first fruits of all your crops Then your barns will be filled to overflowing and your vats will brim over with new wine Giving financial gifts to the lord in reality is simply revealing your trust Giving is not how god raises money Giving is how god raises his children And generosity actually overcomes the sin of greed Because it reveals a faith and dependence on god And when you love the lord and you give to him you're rich towards him It actually puts your life and spending habits into proper priority And the result is going to be less stress and worry There are so many people who live beyond their means They're way beyond their means they're living from paycheck to paycheck And sometimes they're living on money that they have yet to make And what happens is there's a tremendous stress in their life So jesus wants to teach that generosity and the things of god actually put your whole life in perspective And it actually demonstrates a faith that you have in him so notice verse 22 he said to his disciples Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life what you will eat nor about the body What you'll put on life is more than food the body's more than clothing Consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap which have neither storehouses nor barn God feeds them of how much more value are you than the birds And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to a stature If you then are not able to do the least Why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow they neither toil nor spin And yet I say to you even solomon and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these If then god so clothes the grass which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven How much more will he clothe you oh you of little faith And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink nor have an anxious mind For all these things the nations of the world seek after and your father knows that you need these things But seek the kingdom of god and all these things shall be added into you Do not fear little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom Sell what you have and give alms provide yourselves money bags which don't grow old a treasure in the heavens that does not fail Where no thief approaches nor moth destroys for where your treasure is there your heart will be also Do not fear god will take care of you he makes that clear several times do not be anxious do not be anxious do not fear He's saying listen your faith has Substance to it is a reality to it when you realize that your life doesn't consist in the abundance of things you possess Then you're going to be free from the anxiety and worry of materialism As such you're going to have an eternal perspective And so you're going to take what you have and you're going to make it useful to the lord Now when he says in verse 32 do not fear a little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom The point he's making is even if you do not live in luxury there is something awaiting you that is far better Psalm 16 verse 11 very powerful scripture It says you will show me the path of life In your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore Jesus said I go and prepare a place for you And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself That where I am there you may be also Where is your treasure? And that's what jesus is speaking about here Where is your treasure because it says in verse 34 where your treasure is there your heart will be also So life is not found in hoarding material things Use your wealth to invest in the kingdom of god Verse 34 represent that which you value most and what you value most motivates your entire life So if you're seeking the kingdom of god That heart to pursue the lord is going to be demonstrated by the way you use the blessings that god gives to you In this context it speaks concerning your finances That's the context the individual says tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me Jesus says a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of the things he possesses Gives an illustration concerning a man who was very wealthy but hadn't been prepared for eternity He has all of these goods speaks to himself in such a way as he's comforting himself for a for a retirement That's never even going to be experienced And so jesus says listen god will take care of you in every way shape and form and therefore if you value the things of the kingdom Then make sure your finances are placed in the kingdom of god Because what I buy today? Can be stolen the home that I live in can be broken into The things that I have are insured Because people steal them and that's the point he's making here people can come and steal But the things that you have that are placed in heaven are protected by god So where is your investment in the things of god? Some of you might be old enough to remember the name john d rockefeller Who at one time here in the united states was the richest man? And john d rockefeller when he died And was buried had all these people attending his funeral And so one man was curious about how much he left behind and so he wanted to find out So he set an appointment when with one of rockefeller's highest aides and he asked this question He said how much did rockefeller leave behind? And the aides response was all of it And that's how it works You never see a hearse pulling a u-haul. It just doesn't work that way does it? What god has given to you use it for his glory Prioritize your finances you can live just as well on 90 cents as you do on 100 cents You need to learn that as believers because that is what demonstrates where your heart really is Because it's been said that there is a chain that is attached From my heart to my wallet and that's what jesus is speaking about here And so the man is saying I want you to make sure I get what I deserve And jesus says you're foolish because you haven't prepared yourself to meet your god That's the bottom line and your investments in your life your finances should be used in such a way As to expand the kingdom of the lord That's proper stewardship and that's what we're called to