(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning church family, happy Lord's Day.

We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ The sun cannot compare to the glory of your love ♪ ♪ There is no shadow in your presence ♪ ♪ No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne ♪ ♪ Before the holy one of heaven ♪ ♪ It's only by your blood ♪ ♪ And it's only through your mercy ♪ ♪ Lord I know ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises I receive ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you are today ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ The sun cannot compare to the glory of your love ♪ ♪ There is no shadow in your presence ♪ ♪ No mortal man would dare to stand before your throne ♪ ♪ Before the holy one of heaven ♪ ♪ It's only by your blood ♪ ♪ And it's only through your mercy ♪ ♪ Lord I know ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I receive ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you are today ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ I bring an offering of worship to my king ♪ ♪ No one on earth deserves the praises that I receive ♪ ♪ Jesus may you receive the honor that you are today ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ ♪ Oh Lord I bring an offering to you ♪ - Okay, good morning everybody.

Some announcements for today. We'll be having our Family Ministry Picnic today. It's going to be between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. You're to bring your own lunch, any picnic blankets or chairs, games that you'd like to. And it's for members and non-members. So we hope that if you're part of Family Ministry you can join us for that.

We also have our Summertime Seekers Group on Wednesdays for four weeks, 7 p.m. upstairs in our Sprouts Room. So if you know anybody who would benefit by coming to a Seekers Group and learning about Christianity, interacting with people about where they are in their faith, please sign up for that.

And then if you're a part of the BAM, the Koinonia groups are going to be closing today. If you are a senior in college, you are welcome to sign up for this. It's going to be members only and a little bit of a higher commitment because of the nature of accountability for about six weeks, June through August, every other week or so.

And you'll schedule those times within those groups. And then lastly, our India Pastor Support, we're going to be opening that up again in June as we do every year. The India Pastor Support is going to be $60 per month if you would like to do that. As you know, we have missionaries over in India that we support every month.

And as we do that, we're contributing to their monthly needs and whatever else that they, as we kind of work with them, we're going to be receiving prayer updates and other prayer requests that Pastor Peter's going to be putting up. So if you want to be a part of that, we're going to be opening up that in June.

So take the next couple weeks to think about that. Okay, today, after our worship set, we're going to be having Cat Chung come up and be baptized. And if you want to give offering, you can give electronically. There's also a physical box in the back. I'll pray for us.

Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord, that as we sing about giving an offering to you, Lord, that as we give our lives, as we give all that we have to you, Lord, that it wouldn't be so different how we treat our finances. I pray, God, that our offering would truly be from our hearts.

God, that it would be given joyfully and cheerfully, used for your kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Let us all rise and spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us. ♪♪ Today we will be introducing an older hymn called "Hallelujah, What a Savior." And to introduce it, I'd like to read a few verses for us.

Verse 1, it goes, "Man of sorrows, what a name! For the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior!" Verse 2, "Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned, He stood. Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior!" And verse 4, it goes, "Lifted up was He to die.

It is finished was His cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah, what a Savior!" So this is a simple hymn of exaltation of what Christ has done for us on the cross, and how He resurrected and will return one day in full glory. So let us reflect on this gospel as we sing this hymn.

Amen. You may be seated. Hi, my name is Katerina Chung, and this is my testimony. I grew up in the church, and so I am no stranger to being told Bible stories about the gospel, and how I was a sinner, and God was my salvation. However, it was in 10th grade when that truly seeped into my brain and heart.

Up until 8th grade, my spiritual life felt like it was at a standstill, and I didn't really have a sincere relationship with God since I didn't believe the gospel because I couldn't fully grasp it. Through Sunday school lessons, I always knew that God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins because of his steadfast love for his children.

But that never seemed like a logical answer to me because I didn't feel fully loved by God, as every time I experienced something good, I would praise and credit myself for it. Yet while I experienced something bad, I'd immediately blame God and question and doubt his love for me.

I graduated middle school in the midst of quarantine, and because my church was practicing sheltering in place and many ministries had moved online, I felt a deep and hollow loneliness in my freshman year of high school. It felt like no one was willing to go the distance for me and that I didn't deserve anyone's company.

And throughout all of this, I thought, if God really did love me with such vigor, why am I feeling such bad and overwhelming emotions? And so wallowing in self-isolation and feeling discontent at God's presence or lack thereof in my life, I stopped talking with friends from church, and my fellowship presence started on a very rocky path.

It became something I would dread on Friday nights. I started off small at first, leaving in the middle of meetings and convincing myself I was still participating and being a good Christian since I went for half the night. These habits grew worse, and I started to skip entire nights of fellowship.

Spiraling, I made the decision to stop attending fellowship altogether. All the while, my parents had no idea what I was up to. Just like I had ghosted my friends, I tried to do the same with God. This ignorant bliss I was experiencing did not last long because my parents were notified of my absence and confronted me about it.

In choosing the consequence of me ditching fellowship, my parents picked discussion rather than immediate punishment. It wasn't at all what I thought I deserved, but they gifted it to me anyway. And after an honest talk with them, I returned to fellowship. Flash forward to the 10th grade, I was back to going to fellowship online every week, and I was even offered a leadership role.

With support from my friends and family and prayer, I accepted the position. This opportunity reminded me that I had a wonderful community to serve and how I do have something to lean on for guidance and truth-- that is, God's word. And I became more engaged with my fellowship and my brothers and sisters.

I had reconnected with my friends, and the understanding and receptiveness they gave me was a blessing from God. My life still had its troubles, but I was now aware of God's workings in my life. Isaiah 45.7 says, "The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being, and creating calamity.

I am the Lord who does all these things." By that, the love, encouragement, and honesty my peers gave me were through the grace of God. I started to realize my past and current interactions as extensions of God's love. Reminders of God followed me everywhere I looked-- my friends who gave me time and patience, my parents who showed me mercy and compassion, and my advisors who gave me a second chance.

However, that verse also tells that calamities, too, are under his providence. The feelings of loneliness and sadness and the sins of me straying from my friends, family, and the church were calamities in my life that God used to reveal his masterful love and care for me. And so I know now that all of those experiences and acts of love were nothing compared to the love, mercy, grace, patience, and compassion that God has for me.

And the gospel is the epitome of that. And so I suppose I was somewhat correct before. God's love for us while we were still sinners is illogical. But instead of that causing me to dwell in paralyzing doubt, it now only emphasizes my heart of repentance and gratitude for the cross and resurrection.

In Romans 12, 1, Paul urges for Christians to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God as spiritual service of worship because of the mercies God has shown us. With new life in the Lord and by the help of the Holy Spirit, I aim to please and be a living sacrifice for God, my Savior, for he is good and holy.

His providence through my well-being and calamities are all a part of his mercies and love for me. Thank you. , OK. Thank you, Cat, for that testimony. And as we think about our own, as we think about how God has purchased us, we can go into today's subject of finances.

And it's not the easiest topic to go into. So I'm going to pray for us to begin, and then we'll launch into this. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for purchasing our lives with the blood of your Son. Thank you, God, that by doing so you have redeemed us.

And now we have been wholly, completely been brought into your possession, God, that we belong to you. We are so thankful, Lord, to be in such a place, so thankful, God, to serve such a good God. And I pray, Lord, as we look into today's passage, that it would elicit in us not just something we ought to do, but, Lord, that it would elicit in us desire.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you could turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." So we know that we live in a consumerist America.

We know that at the snap of our fingers we're able to get what we want. We're very-- it's in recent years, actually, this-- I know Amazon feels very-- like it's been around for a very long time, but it's pretty recent, where you're able to just purchase something from your home.

Years ago, of course, you would have to go to a mall, you would have to go to a store, you would have to actually physically go somewhere. But now, from the comforts of our own room, on our own cell phones, we're able to get whatever it is that we want, whenever it is that we want it.

And generally speaking, we understand this, too. I know we're at different places financially, but by being here in Southern California, we are amongst the richest people in the world. Sometimes we may not feel that way. The Bible has much to say about material possession. And the passage we're going to look at today is about this.

The Bible, when it comes to our riches, even Jesus, when he was around, walking this earth, he spent about 15% of his teachings just on possessions, on wealth. He spoke more on possessions and wealth than he did on heaven and hell put together. So it's very, very important. And Paul is speaking to a young pastor named Timothy, who is pastoring a church in a large church called Ephesus.

It's the Church of Ephesus, and it consists of many socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are wealthy people. And so these are the people that are being addressed today. Today's passage is what we will call doctrinal, teachings. Doctrine, sound doctrine, it just simply means sound teaching. And that's what Paul is doing with Timothy.

It's a doctrine on how to view wealth. It's God's teaching on wealth. It's on what he desires and what he wants of us. Over and over again, in the three pastoral epistles, there's three of them, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, this is the most repeated word, doctrine, teachings.

Paul emphasizes the sound doctrine because Paul is supposed to be a pastor who is giving this doctrine to others. So it's interesting because Paul is instructing Timothy to instruct others. Does that kind of make sense? So that's the instruction. There's two sets of instructions going on. It's like, I'm passing on sound doctrine to you, and you pass on sound doctrine to others.

That's the idea. Over and over, it's Paul's main instruction to these young pastors, Titus and Timothy, to preach the sound doctrine, and it's something that must be passed on. In 2 Timothy 2.2, it says, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." So this is doctrine.

It's not meant to be something that you just teach to yourself. It's meant to be also passed on. We know that this doctrine isn't strictly held to be, then, content and knowledge and information that you possess, but it's meant to be followed. Doctrine has always been and always will be a call to action.

1 Timothy 4.6, as he speaks of doctrine, he says, "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and the sound doctrine which," and here it is, "you have been following." So when it is that a parent would speak to a child and give instruction, it's not enough for the child to say, "I heard it." The expectation is there inside of the instruction, which is to obey or to follow.

So sound doctrine is not just knowing. It's not just knowledge. 1 Timothy 4.16 describes it even better. "Pay close attention to yourself and to this doctrine," to this teaching. "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching." That is, how are you going to pass this on unless you yourself have possessed it?

Unless you yourself are living it out? So in doctrine, there is this call to action. It's built in. Not just simply a set of laws, rules, facts, and principles that you appreciate, not just a momentary conviction, but consistently following such things. Doctrine follows along this idea of wisdom. Wisdom.

Wisdom is different than knowledge. Knowledge is possessing something that you know as content or material. Wisdom is applying that knowledge. So that's the big difference. If you know how to live as a Christian, if you're living here almost like a practical atheist, then you would call this gap here foolishness.

You bring this together as you grow in Christ like this, as you're walking with the Lord, that gap gets smaller and smaller because you don't just pronounce what you believe, you live out what you believe. And it comes together this way. And this is doctrine. Biblical wisdom is born only if you have biblical knowledge that you follow through on.

In 2 Timothy 3.14, it says, "You, however, continue in the things you have learned "and have become convinced of." There it is, right? "You know these things, "knowing from whom you have learned them, "and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings "which are able to give you the wisdom "that leads to salvation through faith "which is in Christ Jesus." He tells us all scripture, all of these things that we know in the Word of God is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching.

There's not one of us who would disagree with that. If we're to look for churches, I'm guessing a vast majority of us would go onto the website, go onto Things This Church Believes, and go into this section of scripture. And we're looking for key words about the Bible, right?

So it's not hard to understand, "Okay, yes, I believe all scripture's inspired by God "and profitable for teaching, "so let's keep teaching it." But there's a reason for this teaching. It is for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. It's a call to obedience, it's a call to action.

It's very clear instruction, this doctrine, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. We can say all the right things in theory, but our lives will display what we believe, which is why he calls for Timothy to watch your life. Watch your life and doctrine.

Today we're going to look specifically at the doctrine of Christian riches. The instruction, 1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19, our passage today, the instruction that it gives are to those who are rich in this present world. And so he's saying heed. He's saying if you are rich in this world, listen, and be ready to apply.

There are six instructions given in these three verses. They're given through infinitives. There are six infinitives. We're going to combine them together into only four points, but there are six instructions. The first instruction is to not be conceited, to not be conceited. 1 Timothy 6, 17, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world." There it is again, that's who he's speaking to, those who are rich in this world, right now, that's us.

And he says, "Do not be conceited." That is the instruction. Now Paul is talking to people who are already rich. In 1 Timothy 6, 9, just a few verses before ours, he says, "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction, for 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 pierced themselves with many griefs." Again, I understand that we're on a spectrum.

I understand that some of us are struggling financially and some of us aren't. And so 1 Timothy 6, it speaks to a spectrum of people. 1 Timothy 6, 9, talking to those who want to get rich. But today's passage is to those who are presently rich. That the two people are going to be brought together in the same doctrine in chapter 6, verse 6.

And it's right here. "This is to all believers, but godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment." This is the linking thread. "For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food uncovering with these, we shall be content." So in verse 9, when he talks to those who want to get rich, he says, "Be content.

Do not seek to get rich." It is a snare. It is a temptation. And for our passage today, for those who are already rich, Paul is not denouncing the rich man. His instruction here, the doctrine, is not that he ought to give away all that he has. Although we should pause and ask ourselves, why not?

All it takes is a moment to think. Sometimes we jump over that and go, that's not what he really means to sell all that he has. So we have to ask, what does he mean? What is the application? Sure, there might be one interpretation, many applications to scripture. So what is the application for me?

But the prime instruction here is not that you must sell all that you have to the rich man. He is not saying, get rid of everything. The instruction is, don't be conceited. Do not let it get to your head. A conceited man is a man who has grown arrogant, as if these riches say something about him.

As if having money in the bank, the car that he drives, or the fact that I have a house, actually says something about me. It causes me to be able to lift my head up and walk in such a way. But it's an illusion. Don't grow conceited. You are not in control.

And you are not what you think you are. Sometimes we're deceived into thinking that our riches mean security. In a moment, it can be wiped away. Just as our very breaths are sustained by God, in a moment, he snaps, and our homes go up in flames. Our jobs are taken away from us.

Our bank accounts go dry. Our stocks are gone. In a moment, do not be conceited. Do not say, but I've evaluated the risks. Our investments in this world are easily decimated. The rich are more easily deceived into thinking that God is not needed. And so he grows in conceit and arrogance.

It's far easier to fall into a state where you are not dependent on God when you are rich. So you'd go to prayer only when you actually are in need of God's help. A conceited person doesn't need your help. A conceited person can take care of himself. A conceited person, everything revolves around him.

The opposite of a conceited person is a humble man. A humble man knows that he is not in control. A humble man is dependent on the Lord for everything. See, this is not just head knowledge. This is felt in the heart. Are we dependent on God for everything? Or in our riches, have we grown conceited?

Riches will bring a temptation to make you king. It will allow you to have what you want when you want it. With riches, you buy into the illusion that this world is here to satisfy and to please you. You might say, I'm not asking for much. I'm not saying I want to be filthy rich.

You might say all of these types of things, but the desire is there. The desire for riches is there. The desire for more is there when we think of our cars, our homes, our possessions, a certain lifestyle, the way we might live, the comforts, the pleasures that this world has to offer, the foods we eat, the vacations we go on, all sorts of materialistic things.

The lie is that you are king, that you are sovereign, and our money is going to be how we live it out. King of a world that you know is already set ablaze and doomed, longing for, constantly researching, buying into the best things that this world has to offer.

Our riches give away, in fact, what is inside of our hearts. Our riches give away what is inside of our hearts. It's far better to lose all that we have, all our possessions, everything we own, than to fall into this kind of snare, to be disconceited. It's better to have nothing in our hands than to have riches that will cause us to grow arrogant in our lives, to say with our lips and then use our finances, declaring that I am.

Whether we have a lot or whether we have a little, whatever it is that we think, that this instruction is there to those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited. That's the first instruction. Secondly, the instruction is to not fix hope on uncertain riches, but on God.

This is found in verse 17. So again, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. And now, this idea of fixing hope is very easy. It means to hope.

It means to place expectations upon. It would be foolishness to place hope on something so passing or fleeting, something so uncertain. And this is an instruction given for Timothy to instruct the rich. Stop fixing your hope on riches. Again, we have to be careful, because we can very quickly look at our lives and our hearts and think, I'm not.

I'm not doing that. Are we certain? He says, do not fix hope on the uncertainty of riches. Psalm 62.10, it says, "If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them." Do you know why that's written? Because when your riches increase, the temptation for you to set your hearts upon them increases.

There are a lot of college students, young people at our church, and that's there. You think, oh, once I get there, I don't have a big paycheck. I still owe my parents money. All these kinds of things that are there. As riches increase, so your heart will set upon them that those temptations will increase.

These are not new truths. These are not truths that are difficult to understand. So doctrine means, OK, sure we understand that. We understand that when riches increase, we are not to set our heart upon them. Doctrine means, have you considered your recent decisions? That's kind of what doctrine is.

It's not just telling you facts that we already know. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep saying the same things we all know, right? What's the point? It brings us to the footstool, right? It brings us to the throne. And it causes us to look and to evaluate. Not other people, not in comparison to other people.

That person has a bigger house. Talk to them first. And then to me, I'm just renting. This is here for all of us, this temptation that's there. When you see your wealth grow, the temptation to set your heart upon it will grow. And we think we don't have much, so it's not going to be there.

It is there. Proverbs 23.4, "Do not weary yourself to gain wealth. Cease from your consideration of it." Do we know what cease means? It means stop. Sometimes I think we think it means slow down. It means to just take some time to evaluate it. No, it actually just means stop.

It means cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. That word "when" is powerful. It's very, very weighty and strong. When, when you set your eyes on it, poof, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

And so we come across passages like Luke 12.19. And we look at it, very challenging. "And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this very night your soul is required of you.

And now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not ready to give it to you. So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." Our thought process and use of money is central to our lives because it actually shows you what you believe.

It shows what we value. Talking about doctrine, how we spend our money is that intersection of things that we might be taught, but the obedience and call to action in it. Our decisions follow our beliefs. And so, yes, evaluating how we spend our money can be very, very uncomfortable.

Putting this sermon together, it was very uncomfortable for me. But it's also such an excellent tool for us. That's what's amazing about this. It's awesome because we have an excellent tool at our disposal. Where has my money been going? And what does that reveal about my heart? It's cool, right?

That's a very powerful thing that we have. Each of us, we get bank statements every single month. What this means is, all I have to do is look and ask myself, what does this say about my heart? Matthew 6.33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Later on, he says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So where we have placed our treasures, what does that show about where my heart is?

In fact, your use of money will show you who is your functioning master, who is your God, who is your king, and your Lord. It says in Matthew 6.24, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." You cannot serve God and wealth.

Don't turn off the ears here. You cannot. You cannot serve God and wealth. Does our use of money show where we are fixing our hope? Is it upon the things of this world that do not last, or is it upon God? Is it upon the things of our kingdom and what I want, or upon God's kingdom and what God wants?

What this passage says is that there is no neutral place There is struggle, yes, but there is no in-between place where you're like, "It's neither for God's kingdom or for mine. It's one or the other, and then everything else is a fight." So where is my heart? And aside from the words I'm able to speak, what does my spending have to do with my heart?

And aside from the words I'm able to speak, what does my spending of money say about my heart? Very uncomfortable, but really good. Money will come and money will go, but our hope is anchored. It is to be fixed upon God. Set your hope on God. Put your money there, because God does not come and go.

God is forever. That's why this is not just about money management. We're not just trying to get better in how we spend our money. We're not just trying to get better at sinning less by being less greedy, by stealing less from God. We understand that all of it belongs to God, that I am a sold-out slave of God, that I have been redeemed by God.

And so all that I own, not just my money, my time, my life, my energy, all that I am is for God. And now we are struggling, we are striving, we are pursuing, and we are fighting for this. But the purpose is not just to manage that. It is to surrender.

Not just getting better at stealing less, but not to steal from God at all. We agree on the doctrine here. The doctrine calls us today to live it out. What do our lives show? There's a man by the name of Jim Elliott, famous quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Wonderful, right?

Print it out and frame it. Put it in your kitchen. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Sound doctrine there, if I ever saw one. But he lived it out. At the age of 26, he gave his life for this doctrine.

What of us, what is our doctrine? How large is our gap between what we practice and what we preach? For to me, to live is Christ and die is gain. But what do our decisions say about this? Spurgeon, he says, "I do not want you to have to say when you come to die.

I have had large possessions, but I have been a bad steward. I have had a competence and I have wasted my master's goods. All I have done with my wealth was to furnish my house well, perhaps to buy expensive pictures and to allow myself luxuries which did me more harm than good.

Brethren, some men spend so much upon themselves and so little for the Lord that they seem to me to eat the apple and give Christ the pairings." And so this was the second point. The instruction is not to fix hope on uncertain riches, but place them on God. And he begins to describe what this looks like in the following instructions.

Point number three, the instruction to do good and to be rich in good works, these are instructions numbers three and four. The instruction is to do good and to be rich in good works. Verse 17 tells us, "Those who are rich in the present world, instruct them," and then verse 18 says, very simply, two more infinitives, "to do good, to be rich in good works." But they're instructions.

These are doctrines. This portion of the instruction is what you would call the exercise portion. This is how you do it. It's not fix your hope on the things of the world, but on God. Do good and be rich in good works. That's how you practice. Doing good is the same instruction for the rich and the poor.

When it comes to Christianity, it's not whether you have a lot or a little. We are given the same thing. This is the responsibility given to us as believers who have a Heavenly Father who cares for us. In Ephesians 2.10, it says, "For we are his workmanship, we are created in Christ Jesus," and that word "for," "for good works." That's purpose statement.

We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. We workmanship of God. He has fashioned us for good works. There is a purpose. There's a reason why people build things, right? For a purpose, whether it's functional or whether it's form, it's there to accomplish something. Because our purpose is for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them, so that we would live it out.

What this means is that if God has given you riches, what is the point of it? It means, the point of it is, that it is that we are to do good works. Because we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Because this is who God is. He is a God of good works.

All the works he does, it shouldn't even have to be saying good works. He just does works and all of it is just good. It's just good works. This is who he is. And now we are the hands and feet of God. Hands and feet of Christ here in this world, the body of Christ.

And we were created to do the things that he wishes and wills to accomplish in this world. What Jesus came to do that we are here to do. All of the resources given to us to be expended for that purpose, because that is my purpose in life. We're image bearers of God.

We do the things that God would want. If I were to give something to my child, there's an expectation that comes with that giving. With my children, if I'm to give them something, they know automatically because this is who we are in the home, that they are called to share.

Very simple parental thing that all of us as parents, if we're parents, have experienced. That we are called to teach them this, to share, to be gracious, to be generous, and to be kind. It's one of the ugliest things to see when out of your love and desire for your child to have such good things and you give it to them, only to overhear in the other room them flaunting it and hoarding it and not sharing it.

What you would want to do is just to take that away or not to give at all. It's one of the ugliest things. And so now what of us? God has given to us all that we have for a purpose. Why has he given you your home? Why has he given you a car?

Why has he given you your job? Why has he given you your finances? Why has he given you your families for good works? Think of how he sees us. Does he see a child who is being selfish, hoarding, simply for my own good pleasure, and not in any way considering what he wants, not in any way considering the needs of the others?

It's me. Everything just gated inside to me. My backyard, even in the things that we would say is good works, it's just about me, about accomplishing my duties. How would the father feel? Now, he says, do good works. That's an active thing. But he also says, be rich in good works.

This is passive. He says, this is what you were called to do, and then now, grow in this. Be rich in good works. Grow in this. He continues this thought of doing good. Doing good is something that is commanded actively. But if we are to look under the hood of a Christian, it should be rich in good works.

Rich, not just trying to do good works here and there. It should be growing in richness in good works. If we're Christians who have been living for year after year after year-- I've been a Christian for 20 years. I am called to be growing in this, growing in abundance, in richness when it comes to good works, to use money to help others, to use what I have to help in any capacity that I see.

Ultimately, ultimately, to do what God wants, what God would deem as good. And so it doesn't stop with just feeding a perishing life. The end goal is eternal life. And so we use what we have to accomplish his purposes, to do what is best for our fellow people. For the Christian is to be good in good works, to advance the kingdom.

Money in the hands of a carnal person is altogether self-centered. Good works is a duty to be accomplished. But money in the hands of a Christian saved by grace is altogether functional for the kingdom to spread God's love. Our aim is to use wealth to do this ultimate good, rather than something that is simply there for personal comfort, pleasures, and luxuries.

John 10:10 shows why Jesus came into this world. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Taken incorrectly, this can seem like it's all about me because Jesus came, and wow, he came to give me life and to give me life abundant.

And we can stop there and think that that's what-- what does it mean to have an abundant life? It means true life. It means eternal life. Not to live this life for pleasures that are passing and fleeting and leading to death. That's not life. An abundant life is this life that proliferates, and it expands, and it grows, and it's lavish.

Jesus came so that I might have that kind of life. He came into this world so that the world can have this kind of life. Not one that is just fenced in and just trying to live out the things that we want here, just biding our time till we get into that kingdom.

This idea of abundant life means something that keeps growing. It cannot be contained. That if God has given me this kind of life, that the only option, the only thing that comes out outside of something like that, of a realization of that, is that there needs to be more of that.

That's what all that I do are being used. All the things that I have are being used to proliferate that abundant life. So that was instructions three and four. The last two instructions, five and six, are the instructions to be generous and to be sharing. 1 Timothy 6, 18, "to be generous and ready to share." Again, these doctrines are very simple.

He expands upon it by saying, "storing up for themselves the treasures of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life and deed." He says, be generous. There is your instruction. Be generous. Are you generous? Be generous, give without restraint, to be liberal, to be bountiful in giving.

Remember how we just read that Jesus came to give life abundant. We don't get to redefine what it means to give. Jesus came and said, this is what it means. This is what it looks like. We don't get to redefine what it means to love. Jesus came and he says, this is what it is to love.

He says, the things that I give were to be abundant, to be liberal, to be bountiful. There's a Korean saying, and I forgot it, so I'm not going to even try, but I'll give you the meaning. There's a Korean saying. I'll probably butcher even the meaning, but I'll try to give you the shell of it.

But it talks about when you're a parent, you never count how much money is going out. You see your kids, and you don't take notes saying, oh, this t-shirt costs this. And then today, I took them to Pho, and this is how much it cost. And then I took them to Chuck E.

Cheese for a birthday party, and each of their friends costed this many. So parents don't do that, right? Parents, we budget, and we look at our finances, but at the end, whatever it takes to take care of our children. But the Korean saying goes, that's how it goes, but when you go the opposite way, children, when they come to age where they have to begin to provide for their parents, count every cent.

It's really interesting that the idea of this is that even if you don't say it out loud, there's something where you're counting the dollars. And there's a reason why instruction is given to parents to honor their parents, even monetarily. Instruction needs to be given because of what's there. But these parents, they give it gladly, lavishly.

We are to give generously, liberally, bountifully. When he says, be generous, meeting the needs that are there, are we generous? We have some generous people at our church. Let me tell you, that service auction every year blows me away. What is the matter with our church? That's what I think at every service auction.

But I'm so thankful that it goes to missions. We have our budgets. I mean, look, I have a budget. I have a budget part that says this is what we're going to give. I'm not going to tell you how much, but it's there. You might have that. It's like, there it is.

There's our budget. There's our balance. But he says, give liberally, bountifully, the way God came into this world, to give abundant life. What it took, 1 John 3:16 says, "If we know love by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." That's doctrine. Not just that you have the truth, but in deed.

Don't just say the words, but to live it out. God generously gives to us. Ephesians 1:7, "In him, we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling.

What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?" He has lavished us. And so he says, give lavishly. The last instruction, to be sharing. It feels like this is just like a child's sermon, you know? Be generous. Be sharing. Share what you have. Give from what God has already given you.

It's an idea of stewardship. That all that you have, you do not have anything that you yourself deserve. Not one thing. You think I've bootstrapped? You think I've climbed the ladder? You think I've put in all this hard work, and so I deserve it? Where do you get that from?

Now, of course I'm not discounting the hard work. Of course I'm not discounting the fact that you reap what you sow. The idea is that everything that I have-- my breath, my hands, my feet, my body, my life-- is a gift from God for a purpose. Share. There's a purpose for it.

2 Corinthians 9.10, "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for the food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing." You have to be careful how you read this. Basically, he who supplies what you have has given it to you for a purpose. What does it say?

For sowing. Not to hoard. Not to increase my harvest, but to increase the harvest of righteousness. You will be enriched in everything. Great, but for what? For all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. So we're called, then, to give generously and to be sharing. And he expands upon that.

He says, "Store up treasures in heaven." Now, this is where I kind of titled the sermon what it was, because we're not health wealth, and we're not name and claim. We are not people who say, like, God wants you to be rich and everything here in this world and have everything that you would ever want.

If you have faith, that's not it. But he does call us to be rich. Rich in good works, and he calls us here to store up treasures in heaven. What we invest here in this world will have eternal reward. It's the soundest advice that you will ever receive. This is financial advice.

It just makes no sense for us to say that this world is just gone like that, and that we are going to live forever there. You know what this passage is saying is invest in the there, not in the here. And we're like, yeah, that is so obvious. Why is it that when I pull up my bank account, it says something different?

Why? Store up there. He's saying be rich there. He's commanding us to store up great wealth in the kingdom. Being rich in and of itself is not negative. It is not sinful. He wants us to be rich. He is a rich God who lavishes us. But this world is passing away.

This is sound financial advice. Your financial advisor will say if you delay gratification. If you put aside $100 here, it will grow to here so that you can use it when you are 65. Something like that. And then you die. If you spend $100 for the kingdom, the idea is it is eternal.

That's cool. When God promises good things, we know it's going to be good. So we don't know exactly what that's going to look like. But we know it's going to be good. Service auction. Every year, I look for one thing because it's so entertaining to me. It's the one where one of our church members puts up a mystery box.

And in this mystery box, the first time I saw it, I was like, what is going on? It was in such high demand. And it was a mystery box. You don't even know what you're going to get. Why? Why were they doing that? Because they knew the person who was putting it up.

It was incredible. They knew that this person only gives good things. The best things. Sought-on couponers. And whenever he would put things up, it was everyone just trying to get what you could get. Oh, if only we could look like that when it came to the treasures of heaven.

To invest like that. To know that what God gives is so much better. Randy Alcorn, he says, God wants your heart. He isn't just looking for donors for his kingdom. Those who stand outside the cause and dispassionately consider acts of philanthropy. He's looking for disciples immersed in the causes they give to.

He wants people so filled with a vision for eternity that they wouldn't dream of not investing their money, time, and prayers where they will matter the most. And so today, these instructions are not prohibitions, mainly. It's saying, yeah, stop putting your money here because that makes no sense, but invest in kingdom things that last.

He concludes in verse 19 by saying, take hold of what is life. He says that by doing this, you'll be taking hold of what is life indeed. In 1 Timothy 6.11, it says, but flee from these things, you men of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. If you look very carefully here in the passage that leads up to our passage today is that there is much instruction.

He says flee. He says fight. He says pursue. Take hold. You know what that means? That means it is what we teach our children. You have to work hard in order to be able to get. It's not just going to come into your lap. What this is saying is you are not going to just become godly in this.

These temptations are not just going to go away because you know that it's going to be there. You're not going to be like, oh, I have some convictions, so we walk out that door and something has changed in me. No, he gives us instruction. He gives us doctrine. Follow it.

What he's saying here is fight for every step, for you are in a war. Flee from the temptations that are there. Take hold of that which is life, because you will not naturally do this in your flesh. Pursue godliness. Pursue righteousness. Get away from the things that take your eyes off on the things of this world, and take your eyes off of God.

Put your things into the things that will cause you to look up at the kingdom. He is saying, do this. Take hold of what is life. Don't sit there wondering, why am I so apathetic? Why am I so jaded? Why am I so easily tempted? Why am I so easily shaken?

Obey, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Sow, and you will reap it. Live in accordance to the things that you believe, and watch it grow. Look with your own two eyes, and see that that is worth it. And so the desire grows, and you will grow.

And we will check under the hoods of our hearts in each other, and we will see rich and good works. Paul makes a description earlier on here of what it looks like to take this life. He won't just fall into our laps. It's a call to pursue. 1 Timothy 6, verse 10, it says, "For the love of money is root of all sorts of evil, and some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith." You see the wander?

It's a wander. It wasn't intentional. None of us intentionally do this. If we don't take hold of that which is life indeed, we will wander. Mark 10, 21, looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him. This is the rich, young ruler, the one who said, I have done all these things you have commanded.

I have been a good-- we'll put it to today's terms. I've been a good Krishna, I've gone to church, I've done good things, I've given to the poor. I've done all of this to the best of my ability. And Jesus, it says, felt a love for him and said to him, one thing you lack, go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow me.

Meaning that we can do all that we say with our lips. We can open our mouth up and down and say all the right doctrines and say, yes, I'm trying. I go to church, and I serve, and I use my money for good things. I try to be generous, as generous as I can.

And all of this, we can put all these things up. But he says he wants it all. The point of living like this is that by living generously and sharing and storing up in treasures in heaven, it's not just sacrifice that he's talking about, that we're getting better at this.

We're talking about surrender of life to something that we believe, that is, that this world is uh-uh. We don't want it. But we want Christ. And it makes sense. We will not walk away from this. Taking hold of true life is anything that draws us towards the kingdom. It's what brings us into whatever propels our heart towards the kingdom and the king.

If money is causing us to take our eyes off of Christ, or what it can purchase is taking off our eyes off of Christ, then we're in trouble. We're not living in the life he has given. That is not true life. That is not abundant life. But when we live with loose hands, knowing he will care for us and give abundantly and lavishly for the kingdom, sowing there we know will always produce eternal reward, and we will truly live life.

The world might see us as failing, losing, dying, wasting. For us, it's not. We are no fools who give up what we cannot take. A.W. Tozer, to conclude, says, "As basic a thing as money often is, it yet can be transmuted into everlasting treasure. It can be converted into food for the hungry and clothing for the poor.

It can keep a missionary actively winning lost men to the light of the gospel, and thus transmute itself into heavenly values. Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality." And so this was the doctrine from 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 17 to 19.

This was the doctrine. This is what he instructed Timothy to preach to the church, to those who are presently rich in this world. Here are your six instructions to go and live it out. To sit down, to actively make decisions now. To not think that our decisions are just going to change, that we're going to wander into that.

Because if we are not being intentional and active, we will wander in the opposite direction. That's what the Bible says. So let's not be fools. Let's grow in wisdom. In whatever capacity that God has given. Whether we're rich or whether we're poor. Whether we have a lot or whether we have a little.

Whether we're struggling or we're fine. As Christians, we live together for the same purpose. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, would you help us in this? We are weak. But God, we know that you can work in us. As you open our eyes and our ears to hear. That we would hear, listen, obey, and understand.

That we would heed your word. And Father, that we would look to our hearts, to our lives. That your spirit would cause that kind of reflection inside of us. And that by your work, Lord, that we would respond. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us all rise as we sing our closing praise.

(SINGING) I'd rather have Jesus. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather be his than have riches untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I'd rather be led by his nail-pierced hand than to be the king of a vast domain and be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. I'd rather have Jesus than man's applause. I'd rather be faithful to his dear cause. I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I'd rather be true to his holy name than to be the king of a vast domain and be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. He's fairer than lilies. He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom. He's sweeter than honey from out of the comb. He's all that my hungry spirit needs. I'd rather have Jesus than let him be than to be the king of a vast domain and be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today than to be-- than to be the king of a vast domain and be held in sin's dread sway. I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. Well, Father, we do trust that you'll provide for our every need.

We trust in you, God, that you are enough for everything. So we thank you, Lord, for your son Jesus and the work that he has done in us. And I pray, God, for fruit that goes out and causes us to be the hands and feet of Christ. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us both now and forevermore.

Amen. (SINGING) God sent his Son, they called him Jesus. He came to the earth. He went through heaven and earth. He died to buy my pocket. An empty grave is there to my Savior's place. Because he lives, I can't face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because he lives. In time of need, Lord, I can't help but see faithful you are, faithful forever you will be, faithful you are. And all your promises are yes and amen. All your promises are yes and amen. Beautiful Savior, you have brought me near.

You pulled me from the ashes. You have broken every curse. Blessed Redeemer, you have set this captor free. (upbeat music)