Good morning, Veritas. How are you all today? Good. As Jordan mentioned, my name is Matthew. I have the distinguished privilege to be a pastor here and just happy to get to serve. And we have been walking through this sermon series called Encounters with Jesus, where we get to see and follow along with Jesus Christ as he encounters different people. So in this series, we have covered Jesus talking to sinners, we've covered Jesus talking to the busy, we've covered Jesus talking to the fearful and the anxious. And today we're going to have the opportunity to discuss the story of Jesus encountering a wealthy man. And so as we get into that, you can turn to Luke, chapter 18. And as you turn there, I've got a question for you to consider. All right. Have you ever been doing something so epic, so biggest, and then you get to the event and you realize you forgot a key element of what you needed? I have a friend on Facebook and this happened yesterday. He was on his way. He's a musician. He loves music, he's very passionate about music. And he has band camp up at the canadian border. And so he's been talking about this band camp on social media forever. And he's like, we're getting ready to go. And they go and he forgot something for his trumpets. And he's like, I knew I would forget something. And that's kind of been on my mind, too. I was a youth pastor for eleven years and we would do a missions trip every year. And so usually in October, we would start sending out emails to gather people who are interested in going on a missions trip. And we would start fundraising processes and we would do an Easter brunch and a garage sale, and we would do all this stuff. And then it would come to the week, usually mid June, right after middle school camp. And we would meet and I would be like, okay, do you have all your paperwork done? Do you have all your insurance forms signed? Do you have all the stuff? Did you pack the stuff? And if we're bringing stuff to wherever we're going, did we get all those extra bags? And did I pay for the extra bags? And who's going to take the vehicles after we're dropped off at the airport? And I just had a listen, so many things. And on top of trying to make sure my, I don't know, ten to 20 kids were ready to rock and roll, I also had to pack for myself. So I had to pack my own stuff. I had to make sure some of my own paperwork was signed. And I had to kind of be ready to go. And the thing that I feared the most, I literally had a nightmare about this. Well, actually, I've had it more than once, was getting to the airport, having all this stuff ready to go, and forgetting my passport. I mean, literally, that was the most paralyzing, fearful thing in my mind. To have everybody ready to go, to have all my students have their passports ready to go, and then show up at the desk where I'm supposed to show my passport to get my ticket, and then be like, oh, no. Oh, no. And I mean, I literally think about ways, like, if we're flying out of Fargo, North Dakota, it'll take me at least an hour to get home. And I had all these backup plans, but I could call my dad and I could have him come. And if we're flying out of Minneapolis, that one's going to be a little bit. Bit more dicey because that was 5 hours away. What am I going to do? And I would create these backup plans for it, but it would be terrible to go into something so big like that and miss and miss kind of the main thing. If you go to an airport with the intention of flying internationally and you do not have your passport, your license isn't going to cut it. Your license isn't going to cut it. And they're going to be like, stop. And me, as a youth pastor crying in the fetal position on their desk isn't going to help my situation either. They're going to still be like, you might want to leave this guy back anyway, right? But to not have a passport would end the trip for me right there, or at least make me a couple days late. And, folks, I wonder if sometimes we're doing that on a much grander scale. I wonder if we're, like, going through life preparing, right? We're busy. We've got careers to maintain. We've got families to keep alive. We've got families to provide for. We've got a tradition to keep. We've got a family to maintain. We've got things to do. And I worry about us missing the main point, and I think our story kind of addresses that today. So are you missing the main point in your busyness? Turn with me to Luke, chapter 18. If you're already there, you can kind of scan the chapter, and you see that Jesus Christ has been teaching. He's been teaching the people. He's been telling parables to the people and talking even about children before this text. And it seems like he's kind of wrapping up what he's saying. And so we're going to dive in right there. If you're at Luke 18, go to verse 18. It says this. A rich young ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother. And he said, hey, yeah, I know those commandments. And all these I have kept ever, even since my youth. And so it's interesting that eternity is on this guy's mind, all right? And it makes sense because in the verses, if you just look before that, Jesus says, let the little children come to me. The people had brought children, and they're like, I want Jesus to touch my child. I want Jesus to bless my child. And the disciples were like, just get away. Like, stand back, right? And Jesus says, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child, shall not enter it. And so this issue, this concept of entering the kingdom of God is on people's mind, is clearly on the mind of this young ruler because he wants to know, like, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And it doesn't seem like this man is necessarily a pharisee, though. He's a law keeper, which makes me suspicious that he's a pharisee, but he's also a very wealthy man, which doesn't necessarily separate him from being a pharisee. But we don't know exactly what this guy led or what he is a ruler over. But usually the assumption biblically or in that time is if you're a ruler, it probably means you have some clout. You're probably in some levels kind of a big deal. Okay, so this young ruler is asking about this, and it's kind of interesting. This passage has always kind of blown my mind because he says, hey, good teacher, like, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus deflects. Like, you're like, he doesn't go and answer the question right away. He's like, hey, why do you call me good? But I think Jesus is building here towards a point that he's going to make. He says, hey, why do you call me good? And Jesus reminds him right off the bat, there's nobody good except God. So it's crucial for us to remember that. And it's crucial for us to really remember in the context of humanity, that no one is truly good and no one is innocent. Okay? When we go into life and you think about car accidents and various things on the news, we oftentimes so quickly say, well, they were all innocent. And in some senses, yes, in some cases, yes. But when it comes to theology, we don't stand innocent. None of us do. None as righteous. No, not one. We were born ephesians two. We come back to this text all the time. We were born dead in our trespasses and sins. No one escapes that reality. Therefore, in an eternal sense, in a theological sense, we all stand guilty before goddess. There is only one who is good. Now, it's interesting here, too, that Jesus doesn't say, well, I'm God, and I'm good, too. He doesn't point that out, right? Then he doesn't get into those weeds. But he does say, he does clarify to the man, like, why do you call me good? Only God is good. So let's get that right, because that might have fueled a little bit of even this man's question here. Okay? As Jesus clarifies it. So Jesus brings up those commandments there, right? You know, the commandments, don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't bear false witness, honor your mom and dad. And the guy confidently says, yeah, I've done all that. I've done that, actually, since my youth. Like, I have been honoring my parents. They're great people. I'm good, and I haven't killed anybody. Yes. Now, for those of us who've read the scriptures, we know that in the sermon on the mount, particularly in Matthew, chapter five, six, and seven, Jesus kind of blows those commandments out of the water. He says, you shall not murder. You've heard that, right? But I tell you, if you hate your brother, you've committed murder in your heart. And then he says of adultery, two of them that we'll hone in on here. You know, you've heard it said, you shall not commit adultery. But I'm telling you, if you look lustfully at a person, you've already committed adultery. And so that's just like, oh, whoa. So. But we have to realize that this man, as he approaches Jesus, probably may not have heard the sermon on the mount. Okay? He might not have heard that part. And so when he's thinking of the law, he's literally thinking of, like, I have not stuck a sword into anybody. I have not snuck away with somebody who I should not be with. I mean, that's what his thought is, he's like very practically, I have not committed those sins. And you can about imagine the other sins. But Jesus doesn't approach it this way. Jesus doesn't tell the man, listen, if you hate your brother, that's murder. He doesn't approach the topic with the man that way. He kind of comes at it from a different angle. And we read in Luke 1822, when Jesus heard this, he said to the man, one thing you still lack, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. And when the man heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus gets to the heart of the matter this way in this text with this man. This man sees like, well, I've accomplished these laws. I haven't killed anybody this week. Yes, and Jesus, like, you're missing one thing. One thing. One thing that fuels all these things or should fuel all these things. He recognizes that the man's good actions, though seemingly righteous, they were not done for the right reasons. Okay. Jordan so eloquently pointed it out. I just learned so much last week about, you know, Mary and Martha, right? Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, and Martha is busy, like, getting ready because the king, the king is in the room, and Jesus kind of in the discussions with them, says, martha, you're so busy, you're so distracted, you're so anxious. Mary has chosen the right meal and the meal that you're busy preparing, though it probably had its place and would have been, girl, that one's temporary. And here I'm the bread of life, and I'm sitting before you. I'm in your home, and you're busy and distracted and stressing out. And so I see that here, this guy has been busy and distracted. He's been doing a bunch of good stuff. But the treasure he's been gathering, it's the wrong treasure. You've been working hard. You have been honest. You haven't been killing anybody or committing adultery. You've respected mom and dad, great. But the treasure that you're building here, it's become an issue. It has grabbed ahold of your heart. And when I challenge your treasure, dude, you walk away from me. Sad sorrow has gripped your heart. You think about a guy going in like, Jesus, what must I do? And he's optimistic. Like, I've got this. I've been doing so well in life. And you see a man kind of dejected, his shoulders let down, just kind of walking away, like, I can't do that. Do you know how many success podcasts I listen to? Do you know how much saving I've done? Do you know how much sacrifice I've made to collect my wealth? And you just say, go sell it to them. They'll probably buy alcohol with it. If I give it to the poor, they might squander it. But Jesus wasn't worried about the poor man's heart. He was worried about the rich man's heart. I'll take care of the poor man. I'm concerned about your heart, rich man. Just like Mary and Martha, one was concerned about the bread of life and the eternal meal, and the other was worried about earthly possession or earthly meal. This man was concerned about the earthly possession. And Jesus calls it out, you can't have a corner of sin in your life and be okay. It all needs to come to the light. It all needs to be addressed. And Jesus calls it out. It's the fair, loving good thing. If you go to Matthew chapter six, Jesus says this in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 624, it says this, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can't serve God in money. You can't serve God in money. There's no room for anything else up on the throne. And what's interesting in this tension with money, especially in Matthew six, God goes on to say, like, I'll take care of you. See the birds? I got them. They don't even store up in barns. And I feed them, I take care of them. See the grass that is just growing and growing and growing and growing after rain, after rain, after rain. I got it. I'm going to clothe the grass. I've got it. In fact, I'll clothe the grass. I'll clothe the lilies. I'll do it better than Solomon, the richest man in the world. I've got it. And so it's not just this calling to sacrifice, it's this calling to believe that God is good and that God provides. And so it's interesting here, when Jesus is addressing this man, he doesn't start at the first commandment with the rich man. He kind of starts down the list away. He starts at the 7th commandment and says, hey, don't commit adultery. Have you committed adultery? Have you committed murder. He starts down the list and doesn't even cover all of the Ten Commandments. And so I want us to go to Exodus chapter 20. And I would love for you to turn there in your bibles to Exodus chapter 20, because I want you to see this. Part of my concern when we go to the Ten Commandments is how often I have heard and you aren't them. Right. But how often I have heard people say, like, well, I keep the Ten Commandments. I strive to keep the Ten Commandments. I don't murder. I'm not going to fool around on my wife, and I'm not going to steal anything. I am not a thief. And so quickly we go to those ones because those are kind of practical. Those are kind of things we can grasp onto. Those are kind of the one anothers. The other people are going to see that I didn't murder you, and they're going to enjoy that. That's good, right. Other people are going to see that I am not a thief. Right? And those visual ones. But if you go to Exodus chapter 20, it is where the Ten Commandments are written. There's another version in deuteronomy as well as the Israelites enter the land of promise trying to get there. There we go. All right. Exodus chapter 20. Let's start with the first commandments. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I am Yahweh, your God. I am jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations, those who hate me, but those. But showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. And then he goes on. Jesus sums up these commandments as, love God, love others. That's the greatest commandment. But the first one that comes is this loving God. You shall have no other gods before you. And I think for us again, it's easy to pick out the things that we're doing well and to show and to talk about. This is where faith is thriving in my life. I do so good at these areas. But at the heart of our faith are we loving God like there is no other? At the heart of our faith, at the heart of our Christianity, at the heart of our religion, is their love of goddess. There is no other God. Nobody who would save me. At the heart of it is God, is Yahweh. There is the creator, the center of why we do anything. Is he our vision? Is he our cornerstone? When Jesus reveals an idol in this man's heart. And I think a lot of us think that this man might have had a money issue, right? But the man didn't have a money issue. He had a faith issue. He had a faith issue that displayed itself in how he treated his money. I'm going to hoard my money. And if Jesus Christ, if God ever tells me, give up this, I will be like, no, you can't ask for that of me. How dare you? So the fruit of. Of his heart issue is a love of money. And when God says, I think you need to offer this on the sacrifice to me, and he's talking to God, he says, I just. I can't. That would be really hard for me to do. Like, how am I supposed to take care of myself? Don't you say in the older testament something about leaving, leaving an inheritance for my children? And you're asking me to give it all to you or not to you. You're asking me to give it to the poor. And God knows what they'll do with it. Yeah, he does know what they'll do with it. But I'm talking to you, rich man. And the problem with this idolatry issue that appears as money is that it must be confessed and dealt with by faith because it will eliminate him from the eternal life. Remember the context of this conversation, Jesus. What must I do to inherit eternal life? And he wants to be like, why, Jesus, here's my scroll. I do all these things good. I do good. And Jesus says, yeah, okay, but you're missing the main point. Because God is good, you need not kill because God provides. You need not steal because God has given you the wife that you are supposed to be sharpened with and transformed by. You should not commit adultery or take other shortcuts to pleasure because God has provided. You need nothing else. I'm your God. I'm your treasure. I will help you survive. This money issue was a damning issue, and in this text, it eliminates him from eternal life. Because he rejects the calling to follow Jesus, he rejects the option to confess his sin, deal with his doubt by faith and trust Jesus. Let's read on Luke, chapter 18, verse 24. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard it said, then who can be saved? But he said, what is impossible with man is possible with God. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Okay. There is no language in here that needs to be clarified by us. Going back to the Greek, Jesus Christ plainly says to us, it's hard for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom of God. You can go online. I'm not going to do it. And you can study how wealthy we are as just Americans. Even if you're living paycheck to paycheck in America with our backup social services programs, we're all, okay. We've got backups. I certainly hope you view your church as a backup, but we're all doing. We're all wealthy. And Jesus says it's really hard. Take his words for it, not mine. It's really hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. And he compares it to a camel going through an eye of a needle. And there's a lot of speculation out there by what Jesus means here, but I want you to get this. You can't enter heaven by your own works. You cannot work your way into heaven. The most righteous deeds you do, and I hope Veritas isn't a notch in your righteous belt so that you can get closer to God. Veritas cannot save you. We cannot save you. It's not because you attended church seven weeks in a row that God lets you in. Salvation is not an act of works. So that we might boast, well, I did more than you, so of course I'm here. I can't boast in it because God saved me. And I don't understand why. I mean, I kind of do, to bring him glory. But why me and not my brother? I don't understand. But God has been gracious in it and it fuels me. But it talks about this camel and needle, and you can go online and there's all kinds of stuff about, well, there's this camel gate that goes in Jerusalem, and the camel could have take off his saddle. He can get on his knees and crawl through like, you can't crawl your way into heaven. And there is no architectural findings that say there was a camel or an eye of a needle gate in the walls of Jerusalem. It's not there. Don't be distracted by what is a camel and what is the eye of a needle for an excuse to get into heaven? It isn't possible unless God moves and intervenes in your life. There's no crawling into heaven. There's no earning our way into heaven. And I fear for us with money is like, I got this covered. If I get in a pickle, I'll buy my way out. I'll buy my way out. I've got insurance. I've got good doctors. I've got a lawyer on retainer I will buy my way out of. And you take all that thought and you bring it to this text and it is God alone who saves. Certainly a lawyer can get you out of some sticky situations. Certainly money can help you when you're struggling with health or trying to get help for your friend or your child, sure, but it doesn't help at the eternal level. You cannot buy your way into heaven. You cannot take the saddle off the camel and eke through some mysterious gate. It's impossible. Salvation is from God. That's why. Because there's no camel gate in the walls of Israel. That's why the people respond this way. Then who can be saved? Who can be saved? What? I can't. Why? What are you doing, Jesus? You're in ministry. You need money. Why not take him on? And Jesus says, I'm more worried about the heart of this man than I am about having a follower who supports me. I'm on God's plan. God will provide for my needs according to his riches. I don't need this man's money, so I need to confront him in his sin because that's going to withhold him from the kingdom of God. Jesus ministry is fine. He trusts God perfectly. Who can be saved? And Jesus answers, only God saves. What is impossible with man is possible with God. And this should not cause us to walk away sad. This should cause us to be in awe of who God is. God saves. Many of you, most of you, probably in this room, have experienced the saving work of God in your life. It's crazy, it's gracious. It's awesome that he gives you so much and he gives you himself a sinner. God gives himself to us. But Peter responds, let's go. Because Jesus does call us out. He does call us to go. And he did call this man to sell everything. Okay? Flat out, he called this guy to give up his money, give it to the poor. Verse 28 and Peter said, see, we have left our homes and followed you. And Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brother or sister or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come. Now, I don't think someone can say, hey, I'm going on missions, wife, we're done. Okay? I'm sad that somebody could probably use that twisted mentality to do that. But I think there's this reality that in ministry there is sacrifice. In following Christ, there is sacrifice that might separate you from family and wife and children, and Jesus knows it. Jesus knows that there's sacrifice in ministry. Some of you, even by representing the gospel of Jesus Christ, can't go to Thanksgiving with your family. It has separated you. And Jesus says the gospel will separate you from your family. And God is aware, God knows what he's called you to, and God's going to walk with you in that calling that he has made in your life. And Peter says, we've left our homes. And if you go back into the early parts of the gospels, you see him, hey, hey, Nathaniel, come follow me. And he's like, okay. He gets up. Many of them leave their nets, like, leave the nets that they're working on, leave their source of income and be like, yes, I'll follow you. Let's go. And many of these men follow him to their death. And God provides for their whole entire life. And God is providing for them. Now in eternity, these men are still alive in the presence of God with the king enjoying the pleasures of eternity. He hasn't forgotten them. Peter, I won't forget you. You have left your family. You have left your business, you have left your life. And I will take care of you many more in this time and in the age to come. Would Christ have abandoned them if they were obedient? Would Christ have abandoned them if they were? If they followed him? Hey, come follow me. We're going to sacrifice. Good luck. Bye. No, he walks alongside. He is the great provider. He is the connector between them and God. In fact, if you look at Matthew chapter 13, I don't have this one on a slide. There's a lot of really good texts about this, and you just can't fit them all in. But if you go to Matthew 13 and go to verse 44, it says this, it's a parable of a hidden treasure, the kingdom of heaven. It's like a treasure hidden in a field. Back in that day, people didn't have banks, and so you would gather up your wealth and you'd hide it under your tent, or you'd find a secluded area and you'd dig a hole and you'd literally bury your treasure. Right? So can you imagine being out in a field somewhere or just off the beaten path and then coming across like, I see a metal box. Oh, oh, oh. This is treasure. And there's a lot. And then you cover it back up, right? Kingdom of heaven is like a little treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. So you have this picture of, like, God will supply all my needs according to his riches. He is a treasure. God is with me. What is holding me back? What is holding me back? He knows my bank account. He knows my anxieties. He knows my giftings. He's given them all to me. He's sharpening me. What is holding me back? Because at worst case scenario, even if I die in sacrificing to Jesus, I live for an eternity with Jesus. I get Jesus. I get goddess. At no point am I removed from the greatest treasure of the earth. And this guy finds this treasure, and he's like, whoa, I'm just going to bury this. All right? I want to buy this field. I'm not going to sell you the field. Oh. I will give you 15,000 an acre. I'm not selling the field. I like that field. It's good. Hey, man, new offer. 25 an acre. I want the piece of, like. Where are you going to get 25? What are you, nuts? I'm still not going to sell it. That's crazy. I will give you 50. Let me go. I'll sell my home. It'll be gone in two weeks. I will give you $50,000 an acre. I want the field. Okay. Okay. I mean, that's a lot. Hey, why don't you give me 100 for the field? Done. I'll take the field. It's mine. $100,000 an acre. I get the field. Because within the field is a greater treasure. And we walk through life, and we have George Washington's showing us. Nobody's really impressed by George Washington anymore. I had never seen $100 bill, so I don't know what's on it. But anyways, we have all this money. We have all these distractions waving in your face, and they're just trying to pull you away from a greater treasure. There's more treasure. It's worth selling your home. It's worth selling your business. It's worth giving it up and stepping out in faith, knowing that Christ will care for you, that he's with you. Now, reality says not all of us need to sell our homes. Not all of us need to sell our business. But I think all of us need to consider, like, what do we treasure? What are we treasuring? Because at the pearly gates, or however you view that time, when you get to heaven, you can say, jesus, I haven't killed anybody. That was pretty good of me because there were some people that made me really mad and Jesus didn't commit adultery and Jesus, I, I mean, I was a pretty good person. Like, I even took care of my parents until, until you took them home. So, I mean, I'm good, right? And it's like. But you treasured so much of the earth. You treasured so much of earth. Another story in the scriptures. I don't have it on the screen. I'm not going to read it to you. You can go find it. It talks about a rich man who goes and builds a barna he builds new barns. I got so much stuff, I need barns, I need rental properties to store this stuff. And that night he dies. And it's the propensity of us as Americans to gather and gather and gather stuff. And like when we compare our stuff to our king, our stuff is king and it's awesome and it's fun and it helps me relax and I have a great time with no thought of our eternity. Your life in the grand scheme of things is this big on this earth. And your eternity goes on for billions and billions and billions of years. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal. Set your mind on the king of eternity. Lean into him. Don't be saddened when Jesus calls you to extraordinary sacrifice because the treasure you will earn on this earth, the care that he will have for you, will be sufficient for you. And more than that, folks, as you step out in faith, it reveals that you trust him. Everything for us should be held loosely in our hands for Christ to take because he's great. He's given it to us anyway, to steward. Here's our big idea for today. Faith in God. Faith in the good God. Remember? Right, there's only one who is good. Faith in the good God fuels kingdom living. Our life doesn't exist for us to build our kingdom here on earth. Our life exists for his kingdom, which we are in now and we will be in very physically and practically soon. Our life is about his kingdom. We remember his faithfulness to his promises that fuels us as we step out in faith. When the world says, you need another million, what is going on with our economy? You need more, you need more. Or Christ says, I am all you need. How do you pull that truth out of a Bible story and make it practical? In life, you grow your view of God. You see him as lord over economies, as lord over nations, as king of kings and lord of lords who loves you, who sees your sacrifice and ministers to you in your time of need. He doesn't call you to sacrifice and say, good luck. I hope it works out well for you. He says, no, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And not only in this life, but there's eternity. He calls us to let go of our earthly treasures and our idols. And our idols, promising us the incomparable riches of one, his presence and to eternity with him in his kingdom forever. So what does this say about you? Are you going through life? You've got the family thing kind of figured out. You've got the retirement thing. It's locked up. We're taken care of. Got some plans. If I die, does your roadmap for life say, I'm treasuring God that he alone is lord? I think money is a very practical way application to our faith. And so, as you think about money, as you think about treasure, I would ask you one way that this is revealed, and you'll love this. Right? Is tithing. Now, our church budget isn't in trouble. I'll just tell you that this isn't a teaching on money. We don't talk about money all that often, right? But a lot of people, when it comes to tithe, it's like, I don't want Jordan to get a yacht and park it in the Cedar river. Like, he doesn't need that. Let God take care of Jordan's heart. If he wants to buy a yacht and put in the Cedar river, he's got other issues. But anyways, let God take care of Jordan's heart. The point being, like, let's not be distracted by what could go wrong. Let's focus on the attention here. Like, do I give to the Lord? If I give, will God take care of me? If I give, will God take care of me? It's probably not a giving issue. It's probably not a veritas issue. It's probably a faith issue. I'm not trying to insult you. I'm trying to. Let's grow. Let's grow in this. Okay? Where's my faith in that? That's a practical way to ask us, do we treasure? Do we idolize money? And if you're like, where's my money going? That's a great question. I don't know where mine's going either, but it might be a way for me to evaluate how many times do I go to chick fil a in one week? Because is my treasure set on my comfort? It's not a chick fil a issue. It's a heart issue. It reveals a heart issue. And you're like, come on, it's just fast food. No, these practical things reveal the heart. Out of the heart. The mouth speaks. Our actions come from our hearts. So do I eat out too much? Do I need to realign my life, realign my entertainment, so I can give first to the one who has given me all things and has given me the money to steward anyway, do I give? And then practically, I think the first application of this message is for those who have money, because it's so easy to be distracted. It's so easy to think like, well, I got my retirement locked up. I'm good. I've got the best doctors, and I can just pay my way out of other stuff. And if anyone else gets in trouble, I might be able to help them out, too. But how about your eternity? Because you can't pay your way out of that. The first application is regarding to those of us with wealth. A second application, if you kind of stretch these truths a little bit, is to ask yourself, what if Jesus asked this of you? Would you? Would cause you to be like, I'm out. Jesus, I will not follow you, Jesus, you cannot take my child. You're not a good, loving God. If you do such a thing and you walk away in tears, ruined by the fact that the giver of life might choose to take somebody within your family, let's deal with it on that level, because he is God and he is sovereign God. If I get cancer, we're done. You're supposed to be good and loving and kind, and cancer isn't good, loving and kind, though it might radically transform your life. If you take my health, God, I'm out. Matthew likes to be an active person. You all could and should challenge me. If I were to ever break my neck because I couldn't ride my bike, I couldn't go throw a ball with my kids. We don't do that that often, but that would be a challenge to my faith, right? It's a spinal issue that results in a faith issue, and a lot of us face loss. God, if you do this, you're not good. And he is good. He has had his hand in your loss, and he is working and shaping and transforming your life, and he is preparing you for an eternal way to glory beyond all comparison. Don't lose heart. But do we trust that? What if God asks for that? Would you walk away saddened? And, folks, I don't want us to walk away saddened. Because this is a message where God says, and he's a promise keeper. He's a covenant keeper. And he says, I'll give you a greater treasure. I'll give you one that lasts for eternity. I will walk alongside you through your suffering. Am God. Church. What is it? What would it look like for us to walk in the freedom and joy that comes from releasing our grip on temporary earthly possessions and fully embracing the eternal treasures of God, which primarily is himself? What does it look like to stop worshiping our children? What does it look like to stop worshipping our money and our careers and our retirement and our farms and our businesses? What does it look like to release all that? Our sacrifices, no matter how significant, pale in comparison to the blessings of God and the blessings that he has in store for us? He promises us that what we give up for his sake will be returned many times over, certainly not in billions of dollars. I give you a million. You give me a billion. No. With the peace, hope and love that comes from the presence of our creator. That's what he promises. And then he tells us, you'll be with me forever. Folks, this is a hard issue. This is a faith issue. God is faithful. God keeps promises. He'll walk with you in your sacrifices. Let's pray. Father, I'm grateful, God, that you are a God who loves and cares for God, that you walk alongside us even when you call us to extreme holiness. God, to give up our life or possibly give away our life. God, I pray that you would grow your church's faith in who you are. God, that you would reveal to us areas where we have little idols that have so distracted us from your character and your nature. God, I pray that you reveal to us now, even as we prepare, as we examine our hearts for communion, God, reveal to us areas that we don't trust you. May we confess those things and trust you. Help our unbelief. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.