The Gospel and Your Money

Well, it is good to see, all of you here today. just a few, items before we get into our, time of study and the, the word. let's see, Here we go. I thought about not putting the name under there and saying, guess whose baby this is.

But, Carlos and Marcy had, Sophia, Grace, Monday. 10:20 in the, no, that would have been Tuesday evening. That's what it says here, 1020, but 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 2024, inches long and all are, are doing well. And so we can rejoice in that.

And then last week I mentioned, Chris and Kara Kitter's baby, Casey Lynn, but I didn't have any, any statistics for you. So, I wanted to give you the statistics, because I know many of you have been just dying all week wanting to know. 7 pounds, 3 ounces, 19 inches, long and 180 IQ is the, Information I've been given, so we can rejoice with them. Also, be, praying for the berries.

little Samuel came home from the hospital on Wednesday, and he's been doing really great and just eating up a storm and waxing stronger every day., however, Katie, she was, started picking up a little bit of a fever last night and yesterday, and the doctors told them that if she became feverish at all to please come back. And so they took her back to Kaiser yesterday and they admitted her, and I think she's going to be there the next couple of days. and she's on IV antibiotics right now.

but just be praying for her.

This has been a, as we mentioned last week, a more difficult recovery time for her than the previous, deliveries and be praying for all of, all of the berries, as well. Mike was planning on being here today, but, he's with, and with the family right now. So, anyway, I know you guys have been and we'll continue to be lifting them up in prayer. for our mission, missionary of the week this week, we have Jim and Alicia Lossing and their children that are with us, I believe even in the second service, today, and they are serving the Lord in Peru, raising up, serving in a local church and raising up a future generation of pastors and, And spiritual leaders, for Peru and other South American countries to make an impact for the Lord.

We're blessed as a church to be able to support them. they're here in our service, today, and After this service, there's going to be a reception in the modular building and all of you are welcome to, to join the Lossing family for this time where they're just going to give an update on their ministry, what God has been doing, what the needs are, and give you an opportunity to ask whatever questions that you, you might, have. So, that's after this second service and it'll probably last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, and I understand lunch is provided.

So, Anyway, we've asked Jim if he would come and just share with us for two or three minutes, just a little bit of what God is doing to whet your appetite for the reception.

Let's welcome our brother. I'd like to have and, Sarah, Daniel and Tim stand up and you can see them. We're grateful for the, the, The, the support that, for the several years, quite a few years now, from the church here, from the congregation, and we're always happy to see a lot of new people when we come back, Back here. we're looking forward to returning to Peru.

Our original goal was February, but it, it doesn't look like that'll, that'll happen, unless, well, the Lord could, could provide it's, it's the, the need of support that we need to be able to return and that's a, that's just a large area of prayer. We'll be mentioning later, ministry and three different, different aspects, teaching in the Bible College, but also teaching in, In modules in other parts of the country, a lot of interesting things going on there. And, and, and as the pastor of a, Interim pastor of a church outside of Trujillo.

the, the Lord has been leading and guiding there.

Just Saturday, Yeah, I think it was just yesterday. If I, if I'm not mixed up, I think that all last week was final exams and, there's about 15 or 13, something, I don't know the exact number of new graduates from the Bible College. There are about 70 students in all. So, as these graduates go forth into different parts of the country, it's exciting to think of the, what the Lord is going to be doing through their lives.

And, It's, as we look in past years, the graduates from several years before, as, as the Lord is using them in different areas, it's quite thrilling to see what's going on in the country of Peru. So, we're looking forward to seeing a lot of you in the next hour. Thank you, Jim. They've been serving, the Lord and representing Christ and this church body and other church bodies that support them for about 25 years in Peru.

That's faithful, committed ministry, and we're blessed to be able to support the Losings. Well, let me have you turn in your Bibles this morning to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two for a time of study, In the word this morning. We are beginning today.

Our month-long emphasis through the month of December on the subject of investing for eternity. We are wanting to cover the subject of finances for a variety of reasons, one of which is that we live in a culture which is screaming messages every day that are absolutely counter to what the Bible teaches regarding finances, and it's easy to just pick up the thinking. Of our culture, even for those of us that know the truth, it's easy to catch ourselves thinking in a worldly way regarding our finances and our possessions.

Also, we covered much of this material a number of years ago during a month-long emphasis, but there's a number of new people to this church family that have come since that time, and we just think it would be valuable.

for you that we periodically cover some of these topics in an area that is so vital as our finances. We also are choosing this month to, to focus on the subject of money and finances because of the economic crisis that is unfolding before our eyes day by day in this country as well as around the world. I don't know if you saw the news on Friday, but 533,000 jobs were lost in the month of November. That news came out on Friday and just think about the, the livelihoods.

Think about the people and think about the families that are represented and those over half a million people who lost their job just in the month of November. There are people in our own church that have lost jobs and are presently unemployed. There are some who do have jobs, but it's not in the area of their specialty, and so, they're not making the money that they would like to make in order to make ends meet, and there are some in our church body that presently have jobs, but they're not feeling very secure in their employment, right now as a result of the economic crisis that we find ourselves in.

And there are many people in our church that have, for example, retirement accounts where you try to be prudent according to the proverbs and plan for the future and And have a retirement portfolio of some sort, and there are a number of people in our church that have watched that just shrink, maybe in some cases by half, or even more.

And so, all of us to one degree or another have been affected. Even if you don't have a home, you have no retirement, you've still been affected if you've bought any gas this year. Because the crisis that our country has been in, it has weakened the dollar, and the weaker the dollar, then the higher the prices of oil become, and so higher prices at the gas pump. And so earlier this year we had record high prices.

now it's going lower because the whole global economy is slowing down, reducing the demand. So part of me, every time I see that gas has gone down another 10 cents, I'm like, yeah. Then another part of me is like, oh, that's, in fact, on Friday when the news came out about unemployment. oil, a barrel of oil, the price for it dropped by almost 10% just as a result of that, that bad news.

So, it represents very difficult news that is affecting, the world economy, right now. So, we've all been, affected. Even you go on the internet, you read any news, you turn on the television at night and you watch the news, you open up the newspaper. It's just impossible to avoid.

And I'll just make a confession, confession to you guys this morning. In the last 1812 to 18 months, I have personally thought more about money than I have at any other point in my life. Part of the reason for that is I have a daughter that's in college now. So, I'm, and I got a son who's on the way and I'm already starting to obsess on my youngest two children that are going to be going a number of years from now.

but, just things are now on a level where you just got to think about that and I'm wishing I would have been obsessing on that, maybe, years ago, but I've also thought a lot about money over the last year or so because back in July, about three weeks before the birthday of the credit crisis, I did what 1000 Americans a day are doing. I started an E-Trade account and I bought some stock just like three weeks before everything started being profoundly affected by the crisis, and I have learned a lot about how immature I really am.

just some of the obsessiveness that has come along with that, and I've learned some lessons the, the hard way when it comes to things like that, and I've just found myself thinking about money a lot over the last year and a half, and as a result of that, there's been moments of anxiety. And so forth, but through all of that, I have been struck as never before over the last year and a half by the impact that money has upon my ability to experience the gospel in all of its fullness.

I've been really struck by that. I've also been struck. By the impact that the gospel has upon my outlook on my finances when I begin my train of thought with the gospel. And that's what I want to talk about this morning.

I want to talk on the subject of the gospel and your money, the gospel and your money. We're going to see that there's a powerful relationship between these two things, the gospel and your money. we're going to look at it both ways, the effect that your money can have on your experience of the gospel and also the effect that the gospel should have upon your handling of your finances. Before we actually do that though, let me talk about money just briefly.

I have here a very unimpressive looking $5 bill. And, I would have brought a bigger one or used a bigger one, but this is what I had in my pocket. This is not impressive looking at all. In fact, if I were to crumple it up and, and this were sitting on the floor somewhere, nothing in and of itself there.

OK. Excuse me. OK. Nothing about that looks impressive, but I bet you that would catch every one of your eyes, right?

And you would stop, you'd pick it up, you'd look around. And say, is this anyone's 5? No, I guess not. But, I tried to find the original.

But it would catch your eye because we all, we all want something like this, but what is it about this piece of paper that's unimpressive looking to the eye? What is it about this that makes this so desirable, for us? I was reading, I've been reading a book by a guy whose last name I don't even know how to pronounce, recently. I think his name is Ralph Dudera.

that's how I'm going to pronounce it, but I love something he said about money in his book. called the wealth conundrum. He says every piece of currency includes the words Federal Reserve note. The piece of paper that we call money is nothing more than a debt instrument issued by the US government.

If I burn a $5 bill, it is not an act of treason, but an act of forgiveness by me toward all the other US citizens who owe me the $5 worth of stuff. And when you think about that, that's really what money is. Money is essentially power, all right? It's with money and the possession of money comes entitlement.

I'm able to take this $5 to the grocery store and I can go in that grocery store and I can take stuff off the shelves. I can take a box of Pop-Tarts and a bottle of Gatorade. And I can walk out of the store with those items. I can go to the cash register and I can say to the lady standing there, I'm taking this stuff home with me and I'm going to eat it.

I'm going to drink it, and I am entitled to do this. I have the power to do this because of this right here. And then I give it to her as proof that I am entitled that I have the power to do such a thing. Money is power and I think that's why it is so desirable.

for us. Alvin Davis and I were talking this week about the subject of money as we were just putting our thoughts together for this month-long, emphasis and, I was imagining as we were discussing both him and I going into a Best Buy, and I go in there with 100 bucks, he goes in there with 2000 bucks. Who's going to have more power inside that store? He will.

we're both equal citizens, equal in the sight of the law, but in Best Buy we're not equal, are we? I'm not going to be able to walk out of Best Buy with the stuff that he's going to be able to walk out of that store with because he will have more power than I will because of the money. That he came into the store with money is power and that's why we want these pieces of paper so, so badly. Well, we know, we've heard the saying, power corrupts, right?

Someone came up after the first service and said power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely. He had heard that from his college professors who hate PowerPoint. But power corrupts.

If we're not careful about this right here, this can corrupt us. This can actually destroy us. This right here, actually destroys lives. This can actually deepen your experience of the gospel or it can damn you to hell.

You can go one way or the other. And just I'll try to do this pretty quickly. Let's, let's contemplate how money can actually affect your experience of the gospel. How money can affect your experience of the gospel.

First of all, money can actually keep you from Christ if you let it. The story is told in Luke 18 of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus says, I want eternal life. Jesus says, Keep the commandments. The rich young ruler says, Been there, done that.

Jesus says, One thing you lack, sell everything you have, give it to the poor. And we then learned that when the rich young ruler heard these things, he became very sad. Had, for he was extremely rich. He looked at Jesus.

He looked at his money, and he chose this over Jesus to his ultimate and eternal ruin. Money can actually keep you from Jesus if you let it. Money also can cause you to wander away from the faith. Money can cause you to wander away from the faith.

In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul says the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith. And whenever you see the faith in the New Testament, it's a synonym for the gospel, that body of truth, and the person of Christ that we believe in. And he says the love of money can actually cause people in the church to wander away from the gospel. Now the idea here and the word that he uses seems to speak of an unintentional wandering.

It's not an outright rejection of Christ, but it speaks of a person who's close to the gospel, orbiting around. The gospel as the center of his life, but then he begins to love money and the things that money can buy, and without really noticing it, little by little, step by step, he begins to wander away from the faith. And Paul says such people end up piercing themselves with many griefs. So money, if you're not careful, if you're not thinking about it and wary of it, money can actually cause you to unintentionally wander away from the gospel and the power thereof.

A third thing money can do in terms of affecting your experience of the gospel is that money can actually hinder the work of the gospel in you. Jesus told the parable of the different kinds of soils and how one of the kinds of soils was the, the, the soil that seems good, but there were thorns. in that soil, and he says the seed takes root and it seems to grow and flourish, but then the thorns come and choke it out and it becomes unfruitful. And he says there are people whose hearts who are like this.

And by way of explaining that, look at how he describes the thorns of this parable. He says, the seed is the, is the word of God, the gospel it's planted in the life of a person, and it begins to grow. But then he says this, but the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things enter in and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. This is people that love money.

They're deceived by riches thinking that can satisfy their hearts, and so they, they love the money they have, they love the money that they don't have, and they're always going after it. And then the money that they do have, they worry. About that, and Jesus says, if you're not careful, riches can be so deceitful that they begin to work in your life, and they can actually choke the working of the gospel in your life altogether to where it becomes unfruitful. And I'll be honest with you, there have been times over the last year, year and a half where I have looked at this very passage and I've said, God, is this me?

Is this me? And I hope it is not me, but there have been times where I've allowed these things to and the anxieties of them to choke out the working of the gospel in my life, and that's a scary thing. That's how powerful money is. It can choke the gospels working in your life.

On the positive side of the ledger. The gospel or money can actually do some good things by giving your money to gospel ministry. You can actually deepen your participation in the gospel. Think of that with this right here.

I can actually use this as a tool to deepen my Experience of the gospel. One of those ways is by giving to gospel ministry, by investing this power that I have, this $5 worth of purchasing power, I can invest this in gospel ministry. And thereby deepen my participation in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is what we should be all about. Paul speaks to the Philippians in Philippians 1 and even beyond that, and he speaks of their participation in the gospel from the first day until now.

Later in chapter 1, he talks about how, that at the beginning of his ministry. in that region, he says, no other church shared with me in my gospel ministry except you, the Philippian Church. And so, in giving to my gospel ministry, Paul is saying, you have become a participant in the gospel in a deeper way. Paul, in chapter 4, there's a typo here, it's actually chapter 4, verse 17.

goes on to say, I'm really happy for you guys. You, you've, you've been generous to me, you've supported me in my ministry, and I'm very happy for you because of the profit that increases to your account. Profit, spiritual profit in this life, as well as in the life to come. Treasures are being laid up for you in heaven because of what God is doing with the money that you have given to help me in my ministry.

You say, well, heavenly wealth is all well and good, spiritual riches are great, but what about, material riches on this earth for those that give in this way? Well, Paul says to the Philippians, my God, will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Let me say a quick word about verse 19 there. That's chapter 4, verse 19.

This promise does not apply to everybody. It doesn't even apply to every Christian. It doesn't even apply to every Christian who gives. This promise in chapter 4, verse 19 belongs to Christians who give out of their need.

And Paul's point is the Philippians, who are not a wealthy church, have given to Paul to support his ministry, and they didn't give out of their surplus. They gave out of their need. They looked at money and says, I actually need this, but what? I'm going to give this to Paul to help him in his ministry.

To those people who gave out of their need, Paul makes a promise, My God will resupply your need according to His riches. You have taken from your cupboard, as it were, and given to me, something that you needed. I want you to know that God will restock your cupboard with what you need. This is a promise that belongs to those that give out of their need.

But the Philippians did this. They did this very generously, and Paul says, in doing this, you have become a deeper participant in the gospel, not only in this life, but also in the life to come. And then by giving in terms of the effect that money can have on your experience of the gospel, by giving your money to the needy, you actually deepen your experience of God's grace. all of us would say, oh, we want to experience God's grace, that would be awesome, but actually by taking the things you possess, the money that is yours.

And by investing that and giving that to address the needs of people, even material physical needs, you actually deepen your experience of the grace of God. You position yourself in a location where the grace of God is flowing. In Acts 4, just one example, Paul, or Luke in describing the Jerusalem church says abundant grace was upon all of the believers of the Jerusalem church, and we look at that and say, man, abundant grace was upon them. That's awesome.

I would want that. Why were they experiencing the abundant grace of God? Look at verse 34, for or Because there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Why was God's grace being lavished upon and enjoyed by these believers?

Because they were generously identifying and then giving of their possessions and their wealth to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ. So money can cause you to go two different ways with regard to the gospel. This right here can ruin your soul, pierce you with many a grief, and even damn a soul to hell. Or someone can take money.

And actually enter more deeply through the use of that money into the experience of the gospel and the grace of God that is found in Jesus Christ. And so we have to be very careful. We have to think through. We can't just have money and then not think about what we Do with it, we need to make sure that we have a right perspective and make wise decisions and right decisions about what we do with the money that God has blessed us with, because if we're not careful and if we don't think this through, then it can actually ruin us.

And so that leads to the second half of the sermon. And that is, I want, I don't want money to ruin my experience of the gospel. So, how do I make sure that I have a right perspective on finances? What I want to submit to you is this, if you want to have a right perspective on money and finances, then you need to actually look to the gospel.

And let the gospel impact you. If you begin your train of thought with the gospel, I promise you it will radically impact the way you handle your money and view your finances. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian believers, and he's, he's reminding them of when he gave them the gospel, and he says, I gave this. You as a first importance.

I didn't just give you the gospel and say, hey, try to remember this. I gave it to you and I told you this is a first importance. And if that's really true, guys, then what that means is this that the gospel should be of first importance in our lives. That means whatever issue that we are dealing with, whether it's some moral issue, Or an ethical issue or a theological issue, or even regarding our finances, the gospel must be of first importance.

Our train of thought must begin with the gospel. We then reason from the gospel all the way to the area of our finances. And we let the gospel have its radical impact on our money and the way we view our money. The way we handle our finances must bear the imprint of the gospel.

If you want to have a right outlook on your finances and your financial situation, make right decisions about the money that you have. Then I want to give you, we'll try to go through these pretty quickly, 7 steps towards letting the gospel transform your finances. OK. Step number 1 is this let the gospel amaze you with the staggering generosity of God on your behalf.

Let the gospel amaze you with the staggering generosity of God on your behalf. Go to the gospel, tell yourself the gospel story, and behold the staggering generosity of God on your behalf. We know from John 3:16, God so loved the world that He gave. And what did he give?

He gave His only begotten Son. God gave everything in giving to us His Son Jesus. We behold the generosity of Jesus. What did Jesus give us?

Well, from 1 Timothy 2:6 and Galatians 1:4, We learned that Christ gave himself. He saw that we needed salvation. And so he didn't just say, Well, I'll, I'll donate, 10% of what I have towards the salvation of these people. No, he donated everything, everything that he had.

Jesus gave, he gave himself. This is amazing love. Think about, as Paul in Philippians 2 contemplates more fully what it was that Jesus gave. He says, although Jesus existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as a thing to be clutched onto, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men.

Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Guys, this is your story. All right, I'm talking about your Savior. Really pay attention to this.

Jesus loves you so much that he was willing to completely empty himself. All the way down to the last drop of life that was in him. That's just I will give everything. Jesus came into this world.

He gave up the independent exercise of his divine attributes. He was born to an impoverished couple. He was raised in the city of Nazareth, which was a backwoods little village that people looked at and said there's nothing good that can come from this. Little village.

Jesus was often homeless and had nowhere to lay his head, and ultimately he ended up giving away his life. He surrendered his life step by step through the whole series of events leading up to his crucifixion until his last gasp upon the cross, the last drop of blood that went forth from Him, He gave everything away. Everything Until there was nothing left to give. And his body is left lying in the tomb, and we have this savior who gave 100% of Himself towards our salvation.

And in the tomb, he lay utterly left impoverished. In 2 Corinthians 9:8. Or actually 89, that's a typo, Paul says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might be made rich. I just, I want you to see the lifeless form of Jesus upon the cross after he let out his last gasp.

His body's just hanging there limp. His head is rolled over there, he's given everything, everything. So that we might be saved. You want to have a right perspective on your finances.

Start with the gospel. Let the gospel, number one, amaze you with the staggering generosity of God on your behalf. And you can even add to that the generosity of God towards your fellow man whom you are called. To love.

But a second step towards letting the gospel transform your finances is this, let the gospel assure you of the loving care of God towards you every day, the loving care of God towards you every day. You see, guys, There's a lot in scripture that we learn about finances. You can go to the Book of Proverbs and you can learn a lot of financial principles. There's financial principles in the Gospels and, in the epistles.

There's much that the Bible teaches. You're going to be learning about a lot of this stuff over the course of this month, very practical things about budgeting and what have you. But I want to submit to you that the first place that you go. The first place you go is the gospel.

And let that wield its first importance effect upon your finances. See the generosity of God on your behalf. And then number 2, let the gospel assure you of the loving care of God towards you presently every day. See, these events that took place 2000 years ago in the death of Jesus Christ.

Do not just show you that God loved you 2 1000 years ago, they prove that God loves you today. In Romans 8:32, Paul says, He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? I can appreciate this a little more now that I've bought, bought some stock over a year ago. It wasn't a huge amount of money at all, but for me it was hard earned money, so it meant something to me.

And once I bought stock in this particular company, you can bet I started caring about that company. Because I was invested in it. And to the point of sin and obsession, I was like, man, just reading up about it and just obsessing on it several times a day because I was invested in it. But what?

What has God invested in us? He's invested his son. He shed the blood of His Son. And if he did that for you, and he's got that invested in you, in fact, if he's put inside of you the spirit of His Son, and paid the price that he's paid so that you might now belong to him, do you not think God cares about you?

And whatever circumstances you find yourself, you may be jobless right now, you may be without the retirement. funds that you had anticipated, but do you not think as you look at the gospel, and then turn and look at the countenance of God, do you not see a God who is gazing upon you with utter love and concern about every detail of your life? You have to see that because he is so invested in you for all of eternity. God does not take lightly what he has invested in through the shed blood and the death of his son.

That proves that God loves you today. Find comfort in the gospel, even if your finances right now are not what you would want them to be and your circumstances are difficult. God is going to see you through. He will not abandon those that He has paid for with the blood of His Son.

In Romans 5:8, Paul makes interesting use of some tenses here in the Greek text, and we've looked at this before, but we're applying it to this context. He says here, God demonstrates present tense, his love towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died in the past for us. In other words, the past death of Christ 2000 years ago stands permanently as God's ongoing present demonstration of His present love for us every day. The cross not only tells me that God loved me 2000 years ago, but it proves to me that God loves me today.

If I go to God and say, God, I'm just not sure you love me, show me a sign that you love me, he would point back to the cross and say that proves that I love you today. And I care very deeply, and if I, if I've given you my son, if I've given up his life for you, how will I not also with my son freely give you anything that you need? Take comfort in the gospel. This right here solves your worry problem.

It just does, because we see how much God cares about those that he has paid for. A third step towards letting the gospel transform your finances is let the gospel convince you that you and all you possess are now owned by God. You are owned by God. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 is speaking to believers who thought that sex was just a body thing and God didn't care about the body.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, do you not know that you are not your own, for you have been bought with a price? In the giving of His Son for you, God has redeemed you, and in redeeming you, He purchased you. You now belong to Him. You're owned by Him.

And if you are owned by Him, then that means your body that you possess is also owned by Him. And Paul would go on to say to all of us that if we are owned completely by God by virtue of his having redeemed us, then that means that everything that we possess is also the property of God. Amen. we really need to let this sink in because often we worry and fret over.

our stuff as if it's our stuff rather than God's stuff. and I, I've been guilty of, of this also. I remember a number of years ago we bought a van, a mini van, which it wasn't a brand new van, but it was, it was really nice and we, I loved it and cherished it. There were no dings in it, but we hadn't had that van for longer than a couple of weeks before we were at a baseball game and some careless.

A young man threw a baseball over a fence and it hit the hood of our van. And my, my reaction to that moment just inwardly, if, if you were to know what was in my mind at the time, you, you would, you would definitely conclude that's Milton's van. But as I thought it through over the next, little bit, I was just thinking it through and I was telling myself, this is actually not my van, this is the Lord's van. And after a little while, I actually said to the Lord, I said, Lord, somebody dented your van.

And, And that wasn't just a word game for me. It actually helped me. It's not my van, and these dings are funny things because after a couple of weeks I never even noticed it anymore, never thought about it, but man, in the moment that was my van that some careless. Kid dented.

I wanted him to pay for a brand new hood for me, even though with hindsight, it really was not a large dent at all, but it was God's van. Everything that we have, your retirement account belongs to the Lord. He purchased that when he purchased you. Rest in that.

It's his, and if it's his. He will take care of what belongs to him. If you look at the gospel and see that all you possess is owned by God, then that tells you that, That tells you that all that not only do you are you owned by God, but all you possess is owned by God, but it also ought to tell you, wait a minute, if God purchased me and He owns me, then I will never let anything own me. I will never let any possession take ownership of me.

The funny thing is, is we all have possessions that we own. And often those very possessions end up taking ownership of us, right? But listen, we're, we're already bought and paid for. We are owned by God and we should never let any possession take ownership of us and cause us to be a slave.

I know of one couple a number of years ago that they bought so many luxury items that both husband and wife had to work full time. Both of them had to take as much Over time, as they could possibly get, they could never come to church. They were working hard 7 days a week. That couple was a slave to their possessions.

We should not let that happen. We're already owned by God, not to our possessions and not to money. a 4th thing, a 4th step towards letting the gospel revolutionize your finances is let the gospel persuade you that you should live solely to the glory of God. If you're purchased by God and you now belong to Him, your next question should be, what do you want me to do, Lord?

I, I'm yours. I'm bought and paid for. What do you want to do with my life? And Paul answers that question.

1 Corinthians 6, you are not your own. You've been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. Your agenda every single day is to glorify. the God who has saved you to live in response to His glory.

You need to live in response to His glory, handle your money and your possessions in such a way that anyone observing your life would conclude that God must be an awesome being, for you to respond to Him with your stuff the way that you do. You also should get up every morning and with your possession of time and whatever earthly possessions you have and with your money, your thought needs to be, how can I use what I have in order to glorify God? You find out maybe about a brother or sister that is in need, and so, maybe you make a dinner for them and you bring that over.

Do you realize you're glorifying God with the stuff you have?

You're, you're, you're actually taking the love of God and you're putting it forth towards this brother or sister in the Lord. You're using your stuff to glorify God, and it's not even your stuff, you're using God's possessions in order to show forth the glory of his person. Our possessions are not for us to hoard, but for us to show forth the greatness of the generous glory of God and His grace. We're moving on quickly.

A 5th step towards letting the gospel revolutionize your finances is let the gospel assure you that your greatest wealth is safe in heaven. This is actually great news, because on earth, moth and rust corrupt, thieves break in and steal. And also, money that maybe want to invest in their retirement, the value ends up being lost or diminished. And even if you never mess with any of that stuff and all you deal in is just hard currency, do you realize that the value of this dollar goes up or down every single day?

in comparison with other currencies, the buying power of this $5 bill today is not what it was like four months ago. It fluctuates and so on Earth, the value of the things we possess goes up and down, and all of it depreciates ultimately. And is destined for the trash heap. But we learn in the gospel that we have been saved to an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled, unfading, and kept in heaven for us.

And I believe, looking at this, that should be 1 Peter 1:5. No, actually, First Peter 1:4, that's a typo there. so let the gospel confirm to your mind that your wealth is safe in heaven, and that is an awesome. Deal.

Think about it. We're going to live on this earth maybe for anywhere from, now to maybe 100 or so years, if we're very blessed and fortunate. How long are we going to live in heaven? Trillions and trillions and trillions of millennia.

We're going to live in heaven forever. So compare that length of time to just a split second, comparatively speaking, that we're on Earth. Where is the location where you want your greatest wealth? It's in heaven.

And the gospel tells you that your wealth is safe. It's being kept by God in heaven. No one can take it from you. Well, a 6th step towards, Getting ahead of myself here.

A 6th step towards letting the gospel transform your finances is let the gospel convince you that there is greater wealth on the other side of sacrificial generosity. Let it convince you that there's greater wealth on the other side of sacrificial generosity. How many of you believe the gospel? Raise your hand.

All right. I really want you to think through whether Or how fully you believe the gospel. I know you believe the gospel that yeah, Jesus did what he did, he died. God raised him from the dead and ascended him to his right hand.

I know you believe that for Jesus. But when I ask you, do you believe the gospel, at the very center of the gospel is God. And do you believe that God was worthy of the trust that Jesus placed in Him? Jesus emptied himself and gave everything down to the last drop of his life, and now he's hanging dead upon a cross, and then his body is lying in a tomb.

We know from 1 Peter chapter 2 that Jesus was entrusting himself to God. Did God leave him on the cross? Did God leave him in the tomb? No.

In fact, we know from Philippians 2 that yes, Jesus became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. But then look at verse 9, for this reason, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. God did not leave him on the cross. He didn't leave him in the tomb.

He raised him from the dead and resurrection, glory and power ascended him to his right hand, brought Jesus back into his own embrace. And granted Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus is unbelievably wealthy. He was rich, he became poor, so that we through his poverty might be made rich.

Jesus was utterly impoverished, as it were, in the tomb. God raised him from the dead, and Jesus now has unbelievable power and glory and wealth. The gospel shows us, amongst other things, that our greatest wealth is on the other side of sacrifice and sacrificial generosity. And if you believe the gospel, you would say, wow, Jesus trusted.

His father that much that he would give up everything and know that the father would take care of him and then I see how the father did come through for him in an amazing way. Wow. I, I believe that that's my father, who's worthy of my trust in this way. And that leads to the final step towards letting the gospel transform your finances, and that is trust God like Jesus did and mimic the gospel in all areas, including your finances.

Trust God like Jesus did and mimic the gospel in all areas. Including your finances. we read through Philippians 2, and it's like, man, Jesus was in the form of God, didn't clutch on to equality with God, he emptied himself, became a man, and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. And man, that's amazing.

My salvation depends upon that. And then God highly exalted him and now Jesus is experiencing unbelievable power, wealth, and glory at the right hand of God. What an amazing story the gospel is. Praise God, Hallelujah.

But then we hear God say, there's a reason I've told you this. In Philippians 2, And that is because I want to say to you, let this same attitude be in you, which was also in Christ. In other words, this storyline that I've just told you, that is, makes up the gospel, that is to be the storyline of your daily life. Your life is to be an imitation of the gospel, where you surrender and you sacrifice the way that Jesus did, and then experience the faithfulness of God, who gives you life, and who gives you your greatest wealth on the other side of those layers of sacrifice.

Jesus, this is the last slide I'll show you, says to us in Mark 9, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. We often stop there and say, all right, if I'm going to follow Jesus, I gotta take up my cross, I got to follow him to the cross, and our thinking stops there. But Jesus would say, no, no, that's not what I'm saying.

Take up your cross, I want you to follow me to the cross, but realize that I'm not just going to the cross, I'm going through the cross. To glory on the other side. To exaltation on the other side. So take your cross, come die with me many times over, so that on the other side of those layers of dying and sacrifice, you can experience true life on the other side.

He says in verse 35, for whoever wishes to save his life, we have our stuff that we don't want to sacrifice and we hold on to it. And Jesus says, if you do that, you're going to lose your life. But whoever loses his life, who lets go of this stuff, And he does so, and puts it to use for my sake in the gospels. That's the person who's going to find.

Life. There's so many ways we could develop each of these, but we're, we're out of time. But let me close with this point. Our finances should be such that if a non nonbeliever were to look over our finances.

He would observe discipline. He would observe, observe order. He would observe obedience to basic common sense principles taught in the word of God, regarding our finances that we consider the future, but at the same time, we're not overly dependent upon laying aside for the future. He would observe all of those types of things that are taught in the word of God.

But here's what I want to submit to you. If a nonbeliever thoroughly looked over your finances and at no point said to you, you're a fool, Then your finances probably right now do not bear the imprint of the gospel to the degree that they could. And should. Anyone would have looked at Jesus and what he did and said, you're a fool.

To do what you're doing. You're going to let yourself die. You're gonna trust God to raise you from the dead? You're a fool.

Jesus says, that's what you think, but watch, watch the faithfulness of my heavenly Father. Who gives life on the other side of sacrificial generosity. And our finances need to bear the imprint of scripture and all that the scripture teaches, but our finances also must bear the imprint of this crazy gospel through which we are saved and which also serves as the blueprint for our lives. Let me ask you to bow your heads.

We're going to take up, as we always do, an offering in just a moment. And we would encourage you to give as the Lord leads you to give. And, There's comment cards that are in your bulletins. We would encourage you to fill those out.

In response to the message or if there's any prayer requests that you would like for the church to pray for, please indicate that and put that in the offering bags as they go by this morning. But we have much to learn this month and God wants us all to have open hearts to what he wants to teach us and so let's ask Him to open wide our hearts that we might dare to think. Of our possessions and our money differently in a way that bears the full imprint of the gospel. Lord, we thank you for the gospel through which we are saved.

We thank you for the gospel which serves as the blueprint for our lives. We thank you for the faithful Heavenly Father that you proved yourself to be for Jesus. And I don't know, the more I think about the gospel, Lord, the more, the more I see how much Jesus trusted you in this way, the more I'm like looking at you differently, just thinking, man, This God is worthy of my trust. And if I could just live the way Jesus lived and, and, and willfully make decisions to To give of what I have, to sacrifice what I have for his sake and for the gospels, I will find greater life, greater wealth on the other side.

Of those layers of dying and sacrifice, this is the blueprint for our lives, Lord. We have much to learn. We thank you for your word that teaches us these things. We thank you for Jesus, for the gospel that helps us to see like we've never seen before.

We thank you for the opportunity to give in this offering to you, Lord, and we ask that you receive these funds as a sacrifice to you. And that you would bless these funds, Lord, for the furtherance of the gospel and the spread of the fame of Jesus Christ. We ask these things in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Instead of, closing with a song, just for the sake,