Title: How to Become a Heavenly Billionaire
Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Speaker: Nate Pickowicz
Well, as some of you or maybe many of you know, I'm a great lover of church history. I love Christian church history. I love biography.
I just love to read about what God has done in times past. And one of my favorite figures from church history is the 19th century pastor J.C. Ryle. J.C. Ryle lived from 1816 to 1900.
He was a pastor. He was a writer. He was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool.
Probably the most well-known of his books was the book called Holiness. We've had copies on hand before, but Holiness was published in 1877. I would highly commend that to you.
Ryle was known as the man of granite with the heart of a child, man of granite with the heart of a child. But J.C. Ryle was also born to a rich family. Well, how rich? Well, classic Victorian, like Downton Abbey rich, really, really rich.
His father was a successful banker. He lived in a sprawling English estate. He attended the best schools.
In fact, Ryle became an avid cricket player, which is huge in England, and he became so good, so proficient at that sport. He was actually the captain of the cricket team at Oxford. As a wealthy, aristocratic young man, John Charles Ryle, he lived in the lap of luxury and he wanted for nothing.
But then tragedy struck. After a string of poor financial decisions, J.C. Ryle's father lost the family business virtually overnight. And in one swift stroke, the family estate was gone and the family itself was destitute.
Years later, Ryle would write this about the ordeal. He writes this, it would perhaps be impossible to give any correct idea of the stunning violence of the blow, which ruined, afflicted upon all. We got up one summer's morning with all the world before us as usual and went to bed that same night completely and utterly ruined.
The immediate consequences were bitter and painful in the extreme and humiliating to the utmost degree. The creditors naturally, rightly and justly seized everything and we children were left with nothing but our own personal property and our clothes. But the financial catastrophe would be the crisis that led J.C. Ryle to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
And before long he became a minister and even in years later, Ryle would praise God for the fact that he lost everything. And even while he was in the ministry, he spent 20 years, even though he did not himself accrue the family debt, he spent 20 years earning money and sending payments home to his family to try to help them pay off the enormous debt that they owed. And yet because in losing everything, J.C. Ryle found Christ.
And for that he was supremely thankful. And this leads us, I think, into our discussion today, particularly the Christian's responsibility in dealing with wealth and money. And so we're going to turn over again to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Paul has been coming in for a landing for several weeks now.
It seems as though he's about to wrap up the letter and then he keeps on going. At first glance, if you were to just look at 1 Timothy and read to chapter 6, it would feel as though chapter 6 verses 15 and 16, which is what we covered last week, it feels as though that remarkable doxology about the sovereignty of God, that that really should be the end of the book. Paul could have landed there and it would have been just fine.
Because Paul has been warning about the issue that's at hand here, what we're talking about today. He's been talking in chapter 6 about the problem of greed and discontentment, which was common among the false teachers. If you were to look at chapter 6 verses 9 and 10, we saw these a few weeks ago, Paul warns, he says, 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.
Then he adds this, for the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Well, what is this an antidote to? Or how do we fight against this kind of greed and self-destruction of the lust for money? Well, the answer he gives back up in chapter 6 verse 6 is essentially this, godliness plus contentment equals the great gain that you're going for. How do we have this great gain of the faith? Well, be content with what you have and exercise godliness in your character.
And then he elaborates, instead of chasing money and chasing riches, he tells them in chapter 6 verse 11, he says, but flee from these things, you man of God. Then he gives kind of a marching order here, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Then he says, 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.
I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things and of Christ Jesus who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time. And then he gets into this doxology, which I love. He who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion.
Amen. And so at this point, the church has its marching orders. We have what we need to move forward.
And yet, almost as if Paul has in the back of his mind one more group of people within the church that he desires to address. And that is the believers in his congregation who are rich. And so he leads into verses 17, 18, and 19 after this marvelous doxology.
Look at this with me. Verse 17, instruct those who are rich in this present life or excuse me, 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. Now I think for most middle class Americans, it's easy for us to read verses like this and sort of tune out and say, well, these verses are written to rich people and I'm not rich and so therefore it doesn't apply to me.
But I want to reason with you in the following ways. First of all, I believe that we as Americans have the luxury of living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And if you were to compare our standard of living to most places around the world, we are by comparison very rich indeed.
And even our poor would be considered rich according to the rest of the world. And so I think we have to remember that even if you do not consider yourself to be rich, if you have running water in your home, you are richer than most of the world. But I would say secondly, on top of that, because I do think that's a harder argument because you look left and right and you say, yeah, but I'm still struggling here.
I also think we have to consider that rich is a subjective term even amongst ourselves. Because how do you define rich? The Bible never gives a number, a dollar value to that. And so we might stop and consider the comparison maybe with other people around us.
So let me give you an example. To a person who makes $25,000 a year, the person sitting next to them making $100,000 a year, in their perspective, they're considered to be rich. Now, again, I'm not saying this so that we start comparing ourselves to other people, but when you go to see the application of the text, you have to keep some of this in your mind.
But I think the third exhortation I would give as we consider the verses here today, as we look at this passage, it has very little to do with money, frankly. Because again, there's no dollar value assigned here. It really isn't about money itself, rather it has a lot to do with our heart attitudes about the money that we have.
The issue is the heart. Because again, all of us are stewards of what God has given us. Whatever God has given you in your life, you are a steward.
And so the question is, well, how do you glorify God with what He has given you? Because He's given us all something, hasn't He? How do I bring glory to God with what I have been given? And furthermore, I want to challenge us as Americans. Some of you, maybe some of you, do desire to be wealthy. Maybe there are some of you who are sitting here who are scheming in your mind ways to get rich or ways to make a lot of money, or you have the second or third vacation house in your mind, or the fast car, or whatever it is.
Some of you desire to be rich. But my hunch is that most of us in the room, most of you, don't want to be rich necessarily, but simply want to be comfortable. I just want to have enough.
I don't need the second or the third house, but if my first house was really nice, I could do that. That's I think how most people in America think. But I want to encourage you away from the financial concerns of this life in favor of becoming spiritual billionaires in heaven.
What do you think about that? Do you want to talk about that this morning? I crafted my title so you'd all show up. That's the reason, to become spiritual billionaires in heaven. Let's work through this.
Let's talk about this. Look at verse 17 again. Paul tells those in the church who do have money, he says, 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.
And so again, Paul is addressing those in the church, in the Ephesian church, who are regarded as rich in this present world. Now, I think it's important to remember that the Bible never condemns wealth or riches. There's no verse that says if you're rich, that's awful and terrible and evil.
Not at all. In fact, we see hard work and riches oftentimes going hand in hand. Just a couple of examples in Proverbs 10.4, it says, poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
So the principle is if you work hard, there'll be blessings to follow. Furthermore, Proverbs 10.22 says, it is a blessing of the Lord that makes rich and He adds no sorrow to it. Of course, we understand that God is also sovereign over all situations, Proverbs 22.2. The rich and the poor have a common bond.
The Lord is the maker of them all. And so in other words, God blesses some people with riches and He makes some rich, and then other people He gives them the humility and He creates the need. So whatever situation you find yourself in, that is sovereignly ordained by God.
Because some people work and work and work, and they can never seem to crest that hill. They can never seem to get to that point where they're comfortable or they're wealthy, and they kill themselves trying to get there without realizing that God has sovereignly ordained that they are not such a way. But there are also dangers because there are some who do become very rich and find themselves in ruin, and God uses the wealth and the riches to actually bring them to a place where they realize that they are utterly ruined and need the Lord.
He is sovereign over every situation. But again, having wealth, possessing wealth is not in and of itself a sin. I think that's really important.
Abraham and Job and Solomon and many, many others were wealthy, wealthy men. What is at stake here, again, are the heart attitudes that accompany the riches. How do you view? How do you think, and how do you believe about this, whatever God has given to you? And so, with all of this, Paul gives a charge or an instruction.
The Greek word parangelo refers to an instruction or a charge or a mandate here. He instructs, he says, those believers who are rich in this present world, however that is defined. And he gives two cautions here, two cautions.
The first one is that those who are rich in this world are not to become conceited, not to become conceited. This word that is used in the Greek here, it's a relatively long word that it would take me an hour to pronounce, not really, but close enough. But it's a relatively unique word.
We don't find it very many places. But the word itself refers to a self-exaltation, a high-mindedness where you regard yourself in a higher position because of something that you've accomplished or possess. The ESV renders this word as haughty, haughty, proud, conceited.
It's when you think that you're better than other people because of your wealth. And I think this is a common problem with those who are wealthy, to look down your noses at those who have much need. And we see that trend even in our culture.
And even if you're not considered wealthy, it's very easy, it's tempting to look down your noses at those who are impoverished. I mean, how many times do you drive down the street and you see a person on the corner asking for money, and you immediately will jump to a conclusion? Or you would just assume that they're somehow of a lower class, or somehow less than you. But again, not just the wealthy themselves, but those around that even praise them.
There is always also a temptation for those who are surrounding the wealthy to do the same thing. In fact, James chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 addresses that kind of behavior within the context of the church. He talks about those who are wealthy who are being seated in the places of honor, while those who are poor in the church are cast aside and seated elsewhere, and they're ostracized.
There's a kind of dishonor that goes along with that, which is reprehensible in the sight of the Lord. God hates that kind of personal favoritism because of external circumstances. So rather than becoming conceited and arrogant, Philippians 2 verses 3 through 4 commends that regardless of where you are in this life, that you ought to be humble.
To be humble. And even further than that, to regard one another as being more important than yourselves. How do we consider one another? Do you regard other people around you as being more important than you? Or when you look around at other people, do you see them as being less important, their needs not as great, and yourself as being preeminent? That's the issue of pride and humility there.
And so he says, those who are rich in this world ought to be humble. They ought to also consider other people as more important than themselves and not to be conceited. But then Paul gives a second warning here.
The second warning is that the rich are not to, he says, fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches. I remember when I was, before I was in ministry, I worked in the financial services industry. I was there for about six years, I think I was six years, seven years, something like that.
And I worked as a financial advisor for a Fortune 100 company. I saw a lot of clients with a lot of money. And I remember I was an advisor during the 2008 crash.
And I had a lot of people, a lot of clients who lost a lot of money, irrespective of how I managed anything, the market just tanked. And overnight, I remember I had a client. We were working on some kind of a financial problem.
They wanted to shore up the foundations of their investment. And I said, why are you guys so conservative? I mean, you guys do really well financially. And they said, well, we both worked at Enron.
Anybody know the story of Enron? And they had all of their savings, all of their stock options tied up in Enron. They were millionaires. They were both computers or something like that in the company.
All their money was in Enron stock. And when Enron tanked in the early 2000s, they lost everything, legitimately everything. And so when they started building it back, they realized they needed to be a little bit more wise with how they diversified their investment.
So again, an example, just like with Ryle, of someone who loses literally everything overnight. There's an uncertainty with riches. And Paul, whereas the first warning he pertains to sinful pride, this one deals to the error of folly.
It is foolish to hope in the uncertainty of riches. In fact, that's the whole theme of Psalm 49. The issue here are those who trust in their riches to save them.
I'm just going to read a couple of verses to you from Psalm 49. Why should I fear in days of adversity when the iniquity of my foes surrounds me, even those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches? No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever, that he should live on eternally, that he should not undergo decay. In other words, what he's saying is that you can't buy more days from God to extend your life.
You can't pay God anything to get more time. Your wealth isn't going to do anything in the realm of eternity. Death is no respecter of persons.
When you die, it makes no difference how much money you have. Everyone has to deal with God on his terms. You might be doing really, really well in this life, but when you finally go and you pass on and you have to see the Lord, he's not going to care one iota how much money you had in your stock portfolio.
He's not going to give one thought to it. And so the psalmist concludes, do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased, for when he dies, he will carry nothing away. His glory will not descend after him, though while he lives he congratulates himself, and though men praise you when you do well for yourself, he shall go to the generation of his fathers and they will never see the light.
Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beast that perishes. How's that for sober thinking about wealth and resources? In other words, it is utterly foolish to fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches. Psalm 6210, if riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
If you start doing well, don't just rest on your laurels. Don't just assume, I'm all set. That's a temptation.
Why? Because you never know when it's going to go away. Like J.C. Ryle, you don't know. It could happen in an instant.
One sickness, one lawsuit, one bankruptcy, and it's all gone. Just like that. Or as Proverbs 23.5 says, when you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. He said, watch out when your dollar bills grow wings, and they will. Don't trust in your money.
That's what he's saying. Don't fix your hope on it. Rather, Paul says, if you're going to fix your hope anywhere, fix your hope on God.
On God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. We're reminded of James 1.17 that every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of lights. He is the giver of all things.
Everything you have, your life, your wealth, whatever wealth or money you have, your family, riches, your job, your employment, protection that you have, whatever you have that you consider to be of value in this life, everything comes to you by the merciful hand of God. But the trouble comes when we start to fix our hope on the gifts and not the giver. In fact, Psalm 52.7 mentions the wickedness and the folly of the man who would not make God his refuge but trusted in the abundance of his riches.
The temptation is for us to seek refuge and to find our rest in the fact that we have enough. Even if you're not rich by your own personal standards, yeah, but I got a good emergency fund, or I've got a lot of equity in my house, or I've got a family member who, when they pass away, I'm going to get all of that. I remember I had a friend when I was younger who was very carefree with his life.
I remember we had a conversation about money and his future, and he says, oh, I took, this is when we were kids, he says, I took a peek at my, I snuck into my dad's office and I took a look at his tax return and I realized how much money my parents made. He goes, I'm all set. His dad didn't really make that much, but to a 12-year-old kid, that's a lot of money.
And it's easy for us to set our hope on that, that I'll be okay because I have this, versus saying no, I'll be okay because I have the Lord. I have the Lord, and God is the giver, and God is my protector, and God is my refuge. If you have the Lord, you don't have to worry about the uncertainty of life.
But Paul talks here about the reality of fixing our hope on God. He mentioned this back in chapter 4, verse 10, with reference to the light of the hope of salvation. We can fix our hope on God for salvation.
All of us are sinners. All of us deserve death and deserve punishment because of the sinfulness in our hearts, and yet God, again, rich in mercy and love, He gives us His Son. And His Son comes to earth, bears our sin burden on Him.
He bears our debts, our spiritual debts that we owe to God and can't repay. He bears them on Himself. He dies on the cross, pays the penalty.
Those debts are removed, and then we're blessed with eternal life through faith in the Son. And when He resurrects the third day, He secures that eternal future for us, for those who repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Even that idea of wiping out spiritual debt and blessing us with an eternal inheritance, those are spiritual concepts.
Our God is so merciful, and we can fix our hope on Him. And yet the temptation is to fix our hope on that which is fleeting. This Christian life is one which lived by faith in the person and providence of God through Christ.
A relationship with God, that's the prize. Knowing Christ is the prize. He is the treasure.
You know the parable of the man who goes and discovers treasure in the field, and he runs off and sells everything he owns to buy the field because the treasure is in it. And Jesus says, that's like finding the kingdom of heaven. It's when you sell everything in your heart and you say, Lord, my life is yours.
You are the prize. The material blessings that we receive from God, that's just the bonus. That's extra.
Paul says that whatever God richly supplies for us is done so that we might enjoy them. I think it's important because we can go the other way, too. I think a lot of believers struggle with the guilt.
If God has blessed them with riches, with wealth, with security, there's sort of this survivor's guilt that we can develop a complex over and say, oh, I have too much, and it makes you paranoid. And you want to impoverish yourself intentionally. But the bottom line is you don't have to feel guilty if God blesses you.
You're allowed to enjoy what God has given to you. He's given it to you as a blessing. That's what Paul says here.
God has given you these things that you might richly enjoy them. The problem is when we fix our hope on that which is given. But Paul has more to say here.
Look at verse 18. He says to those who are rich, again, don't be conceited, don't hope in your riches. But then he said, verse 18, instruct them, those who are rich, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.
Now, he's already warned about those other two negative things of pride and misplaced hope. But then he's going to give some positive exhortations here, positive encouragements for those who are rich in this present world. Now, in the original grammar here, the Greek, verses 17 through 19 are one verse or one run-on sentence in the Greek here.
And so this word perengello, which is instruct, in verse 17 is carried over into verse 18. Some of you in your Bibles will see that instruct them might be in italics or in brackets. It's because it's being carried over.
So the same instruction Paul is giving in verse 17 is carried into verse 18 as well. And so he's telling them, he's instructing the rich, again, to do good. He says, I want you all to do good.
Agatho ergein is the compound word which brings together good and work. He's already exhorted the widows in chapter 5, verse 10 to be devoted to every good work. The same concept applies here.
If he's talking about impoverished widows who are in the care of the church, if he wants them to be devoted to good works, he wants the rich people as well to be devoted to good works also. The same concept. Wealthy Christians should be known for their devotion for doing good.
And he elaborates further. He employs this concept of riches. You who are rich in this present world also be rich in good works.
Now when you think about what does that mean? How do I be rich in good works as though riches were having a dollar amount? So like if I mow the church lawn, is that worth like $57? Like how does that work, right? It's easy to kind of say, well, I don't really know what being rich in good works is. There's no way to calculate, would you be rich? And here's the question. If you were to think about your life, forget your bank account for a second.
Think about your own life as a believer. As a believer. Think about this honestly before God.
Have I lived my Christian life in such a way that I am rich in good works? Again, I'm not talking about any kind of a numerical value. And comparing yourself to anybody else is futile. Ask the Lord.
Lord, have I invested, am I rich in your eyes, in my deeds toward others? In righteousness? Have I built up heavenly wealth in your eyes? That's a hard question to answer, isn't it? But as you consider, it's good to ponder this. And you might say, well, I don't always know how to help. I don't always know what to do.
And you might look left and right and say, these people, they have such gifts and they do this and they do this. These people are amazing. I can't do all that.
How are you able to be rich in good works? Well, Paul says even further, if you have been blessed financially, if you are rich in this present life, look at what he says in the verse. You ought to be generous. Generosity is a huge way to extend the usefulness of good deeds to other people.
Because some people are really, really good at serving and they don't have a penny to their name, but they're wonderful. They can give their time. They can pray.
They can do for other people. But other people, maybe you don't have those spiritual gifts, the same talents, but you've been blessed with riches, you can use that for the glory of God. This Greek word here is eumetidatos.
It means bountiful or liberal. Not politically liberal, but liberal in terms of free, bountiful. See, when you don't have a lot, it's very hard to give bountifully or liberally.
There just isn't much to work with at that point. But, if you are blessed with riches, if you are blessed with extra, you're able to obey what Romans 12, 8 exhorts, to give with liberality. Do you give liberally, generously, bountifully? See, when you don't have a lot, $100 is a lot of money.
But, if you're rich, that same gift of $100 is not exactly bountiful. And I think we can play these games with ourselves and we can say, well, $100 is pretty good and kind of give that away. That's fine.
But is that really generous compared to what God has already given you? Is that bountiful? Is that liberal in terms of bounty? Because the question for us to consider then is, how does God give? Ever think about that? What kind of giver is God? The Bible says in many places that God gives according to the riches of His grace. Well, how do you measure that? How can you measure the riches of God's grace? They're virtually immeasurable, right? And yet, when we consider that God owns everything and is preeminently wealthy, all the wealth that exists in this world, however many trillions and trillions of compounded dollars that exist in the world today, God is the sovereign, providential owner of all of it. God is supremely wealthy, and yet He gives according to His riches.
And He effectively gives, as Ephesians 3.20 says, far more abundantly beyond all that we could ever ask or think. In other words, God is extremely generous and bountiful in His generosity. And so the question is, what about us? What about for us? Are we? Are we generous? If you're the kind of person who God has given a lot to, are you generous? Do you give according to what you have received? I'm not talking about percentages.
I'm talking about heart. I'm talking about thankfulness to God for how richly He has blessed you. Or, as you consider the next phrase, being ready to share.
That's an interesting one, isn't it? Ready to share. The Greek word here is koinonikos. If you know your Greek at all, the word koinonia means fellowship or a common life together, a sharing together.
There's a commonality of that word. So koinonikos is similar to that. It means ready to impart or share with others.
It's the heart behind generosity. It's a desire to share what you have for the benefit of other people. In fact, Ephesians 4.28 says that that ought to be the motivation behind our work ethic, actually.
Just listen to this. This is Ephesians 4.28. Paul says, And then he gives the reason for it. Why do we work hard? Ever think about this? Why do you work hard? Well, I work hard to provide a roof over my family's head.
Yes, that's true. But think about it perhaps a little bit differently. He says, Now certainly that's your family.
If you're a provider for your family, whether you're a husband and you work hard to provide, or maybe you're a single mom and you're working hard to provide for your kids, whatever the situation might be, yes, you're working hard for the benefit of those who can't take care of themselves, but do you ever consider the fact that God has given you the ability to work so that you can be generous to share with other people? There's a lot of needs in the world. There's a lot of needs in the town here. There's a lot of needs in this church.
That's why we have benevolence. That's why we collect money to give to people who need help. And those of you who have given to that benevolence fund, which is wonderful, by the way, those of you who have given to that fund, you've given simply because you desire to share with somebody who might have a need.
You don't even know what the need is. You don't care. Neither do I. But you want to share.
It's a wonderful ministry to give to. I want you to notice here that Paul does not say, That's never an exhortation in Scripture. And you might say, what about the rich young ruler? Yes, Jesus did tell that specific man because of the condition of his heart.
He worshipped his money. And so he says, oh, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Prideful, conceited, putting his hope in his money. And Jesus looked at the young man with a lot of pity.
And he said, for you, sell everything you have and give to the poor. Then you'll have treasures in heaven. And he just went away totally demoralized.
I can't do that. It's because his money had him. It's interesting because when you look at the story of Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus wanted to make it right.
And he said, I'll tell you what, if I've defrauded anybody, I will pay them back twice as much. I'll give half my money away and I'll give it back. And Jesus said, that's wonderful.
So we're never told that we have to become impoverished for the benefit of other people. But believers can have money, yes. But be ready to share.
Be ready to share if somebody might have need. What does this look like? I want you to turn with me to Acts chapter 2 in your copy of Scripture. Acts chapter 2. Acts 2 records the gathering of the first church meeting after Pentecost.
This is very, very early in the life of the church. They're gathering together. They're in Jerusalem and they're gathering for fellowship and worship and teaching.
And it was a joyful event. At the end of Acts 2, after Peter preaches this evangelistic sermon, all these people, they repent of their sins. They put their faith in Jesus Christ.
They receive salvation. And it says in verse 41, Acts 2, 41, So then those who had received his word were baptized, and that day were added about 3,000 souls. So instantly the church went from 120 people to 3,000.
Can you imagine that? That's a revival. That's huge. So they're all together here.
Verse 42, they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Verse 43, everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. That's the sense of koinonia, fellowship, right? Verse 45, and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all as anyone might have need. Day to day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
And so the church is together. They're one body in Christ living together. And then it soon becomes obvious to them as the church has grown and expanded that there are people in their number who have needs.
There are people in the church that are poor. And so the believers, they're together, and they see the needs. And the Bible says they begin selling off some of their property and some of their possessions.
In fact, Barnabas, later on in the book of Acts, sells a whole bunch of property and just gives it to the church. He was relatively wealthy from what we can understand. But they did this to help other people.
This wasn't communism. Communism or socialism is when you force people to divest themselves of resources for the so-called greater good. And that greater good is always the aristocratic politicians who get rich off the back of those people.
It never works. It's godless. It's wicked.
This is something very different. This is a voluntary, loving, generous giving to brothers and sisters in need. This is when the individual believer looks across the room and he says, I recognize this person has a need, and I have an ability to meet something of that need, and I want to try to do that.
There are times maybe you can't meet a person's need. Maybe the need is very large and you can't do it. There's other ways you can help them.
But if you see a need and there's a way you can do it, we ought to try to do that. Verse 46, what did it produce? Gladness and sincerity of heart. They were glad about this.
They weren't grumpy when they had to give to other people. They weren't grumpy givers. 2 Corinthians 9 says that God loves a cheerful giver.
I know I've said this to you before. If you're going to give to the ministry of the church, but you're going to do it with bitterness in your heart or pride or arrogance, just don't even do it. I'd rather not see the church receive dollars that have been given out of a stingy or prideful heart.
Give because you want to give generously to the work of the Lord. Give because you love the ministry of the gospel. Give because you want to bless this ministry here, the congregation here, and help the people who are here.
Give because you want to see the gospel go out to everybody everywhere. Yes, those are good reasons to give. Give because you want to bring glory to God.
So he's talking to those who are to be generous and ready to share. What is the ultimate effect of this? Paul says that generous Christians are, look at verse 19, back to 1 Timothy. Generous Christians are 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.
This Greek word here that's used is the same root of our English word, or I guess it comes from a Latin word, thesaurus, which literally refers to a treasury or a storehouse. So Paul is talking about here, there's some kind of a storehouse, a treasury that is a good foundation, good, kalon is good, themelios is the foundation stone. There's something of a foundation, of a baseline storehouse that functions as the basis of this treasure that you have here.
Some scholars have noted this is referring to some kind of a fund. Colleges and schools have endowments, sort of this treasury that's a baseline of all their finances. That's the idea here.
And we begin to see that there is something of a heavenly bank. Scripture doesn't say what exactly this is and how far to go with it, but there is a sense in which there is a treasure, there is a storehouse that is designated for the future. This is not, however, the Roman Catholic Church's concept known as the treasury of merit.
Those of you who know your Roman Catholic theology, this idea that the acts of good works functions as some kind of a spiritual bank account to hold the infinite merits of Christ as well as the prayers and righteousness of the saints. No, that's a dogma that Scripture does not teach. Rather, this is something of a heavenly storehouse of personal deeds of righteousness.
The difference between this and the so-called treasury of merit is that these deeds are not the basis of a transaction to effect a person's salvation. God is not transactional in that way. It's not as though if I do enough good, I can fill up the bank account, God's going to see it, He's going to withdraw the funds and say, yep, you get to come to heaven.
That is foreign to Scripture. That's antithetical to the gospel. God doesn't work that way.
We don't exchange good works for God's favor or for eternal life. No, we receive eternal life as a supreme gift of God through faith by His grace given to us. And that grace that's been given is the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Everything He has done for us has been satisfied, completed, done. In fact, when Jesus was on the cross, the last thing He says is, Paid in full. It is finished.
No more to be added. And so where does this play in? Rather, this is an investment in the things of heaven which matter most to God. See, what we invest shows the content of our heart.
Doesn't Jesus say where your treasure is, your heart is also? Right? And actually, that's what we see. Go over to Matthew 6. Matthew 6, 19. This is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount here.
Jesus is speaking about these issues, not just about money, but He's talking about the heart here. Matthew 6, 19, 20, and 21. It's amazing.
Jesus uses the exact same concept here in this teaching. He tells the disciples, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
That's what He's talking about, right? Where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. And then He says in verse 21, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Again, this is all about the heart, isn't it? It's all about the heart.
Jesus is essentially telling His followers, Now that you belong to Me. Again, this is not about building up good works to be worthy of Him. That is not the gospel.
It's not the gospel. It's quite the opposite. Now that you do belong to Me by faith, now that you have been redeemed, now that you possess eternal life, and all the riches of the grace I have given you, don't waste your time focused on earthly trivial matters.
You're not earthly people anymore. You're now heavenly people living on earth. Very, very different.
And again, the acts that you do function as a barometer, a gauge, a measuring device of where your heart is. And so Paul, he's talking about this idea of storing up for yourselves this heavenly treasure, this good foundation, this endowment fund, so to speak, in heaven, not on earth, in heaven, for use in the future. But Paul gives another reason.
Again, Jesus is talking about the measure of our hearts here, showing what is valuable to us. But then he says this, Paul says this in 1 Timothy 6.19 here, the very end of our discourse. He says, why do we do this? Why do we store up for themselves treasures of a good foundation for the future? Why do we engage in good deeds, heavenly deeds here? He gives the reason.
So that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. This concept of life indeed, the ESV renders this what is truly life. What is the meaning of life? Now, we could actually answer that question, believe it or not.
Christians are the only ones who can answer the question, what is the meaning of life? You wanna know what it is? You know what it is. To glorify God, right? The meaning of life is that God has created us, and we are to spend our lives, spend everything we have, to bring glory to Him. First that comes in believing in Him for salvation, but then you live your whole life to the praise and glory of the Most High God, because you're gonna see Him one day.
That's why we exist. We exist for God's glory. And so life indeed is not life here.
It's not life filled with things that are passing away. It's not living for today and for self, and for earthly gain. Again, this life indeed can be contrasted with the futility of the life that is passing away.
I've talked to so many people. Again, I was in financial services. I had clients, I remember.
They were doing so well, they had so much money, and then something would happen. I remember one client, he was very, very wealthy, and then he contracted multiple sclerosis. And suddenly all that money was tied up in his medical bills, and he basically finished off his life impoverished and struggling.
His wife had to go back to work and try to earn as much as they could, and they lived very, very simply in the last days. You can work and strive and earn and build and play and do whatever you want here, but this life is transient. It doesn't last forever.
It's not truly life. Now, I'm not downplaying, and Scripture is not downplaying the value of this life. Paul said, to live is Christ, to die is gain.
In other words, everything I do here is for Him. Life is good. To live here on earth and live for God's glory is a good life.
Don't despise life, but true life is not all about this place. The essence of life is not to amass riches that one day is going to pass away. Now, if you invested yourself in deeds, godliness, generosity, kindness, that would effectively be heavenly treasure.
Treasure that would never pass away. Didn't Jesus say in Luke 16 to use your money, to use your wealth? Unrighteous man, when He called it, for the sake of friends. What's He talking about? There's a lot of complex things happening in that parable, but essentially, are you using what God's given you in this life to secure for the future? Do you make friends? Do you win souls through unrighteous means here? Through money? Through abilities? Through earthly things? Do you do so with a view to the future? There's been a lot of wealthy people in the course of church history who've used their blessings, used their wealth.
C.T. Studd is one of those examples. William Borden, eminently wealthy people who used their wealth to finance ministry. Amazing.
What kind of treasure do you want to have? What kind of treasure is valuable to you? I think about 1 Corinthians 3. Paul says, No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Christ, Jesus. Then he says, Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, in other words, things that are truly valuable, and then he says, wood, hay, or straw, things that are really useless, each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is revealed with fire. The fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. In other words, what are you doing with your life? Are you doing the things that are equating to straw, and stubble, and wood that's just going to burn up? Or are you engaging in the things that in God's eyes are worth gold? They're worth precious stones. They're worth something to him.
Because in the end, it's only what you do that is valuable to God that will survive. There's nothing wrong with having money. There's nothing wrong with saving money.
There's nothing wrong with spending money. Remember, God has given us all things to enjoy. But as you live, as you do, whatever you're going to do, remember that you and I, we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom.
And while we're here, we're also stewards of the blessings that God has given us. And so the question for us to consider is how will you invest? What will you do with what God has given you? Whatever that is. Especially if you are one who is blessed here on earth with abundant riches.
Will you chase earthly wealth and comfort? Or will you become rich in good works? I would encourage you, my friends, spend your life becoming a heavenly billionaire. Let's pray. Lord God, we just want to thank You for Your goodness.
The wisdom, Lord, of Your Word that You see and know all things. Lord, You've given us every blessing. Everything we have.
Lord, we have received nothing by birth. We take nothing with us, Lord. You have blessed us in this life with everything that we have.
Whatever job, whatever wealth, whatever health, whatever relationships, family, friends, gifts. Lord, everything that's good comes from You. And yet, Lord, we're faced with this.
For us, it feels like a conundrum. How do we live our lives here and survive 100 years here? Provide for families. Pay our bills.
Do what we have to do. How do we live this life in such a way that brings You glory? How do we spend what we have for heavenly benefit, Lord? We need Your help to understand. And Lord, I'm grateful for this truth that You don't give us a specific roadmap of dollars and percentages and amounts and exhortations on specifics.
That, Lord, You have called us to work this out spiritually with You according to the principles of the Word by the power of the Holy Spirit through the working of the conscience, Lord. That You've called us to honor You and to do this hard work of examining ourselves, Lord. And we want to be examined by You.
We want to be good stewards of what You've given. We want to help other people. We want to bless other people.
We want the ministry of the Gospel to go forward. We want the whole world to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. We want sinners to be reconciled to You.
We want people to know that they themselves are destined for hell, for punishment, unless they turn from sins and trust in the finished work of Jesus alone. They need to know, Lord, that You did not come and merely die and remain in the ground. They need to know that You've resurrected.
They need to know that You've ascended. They need to know that You're coming again. That one day we're all going to see You.
So, Lord, how? How are we spending what You've given to us? Father, I pray that You would work in each individual heart and help us, Lord, not to be prideful. Help us not to be conceited. Help us not to fix our hope on the things that we have.
But help us, O Lord, to be rich in good works. Help us to be generous, willing to share. Help us to have minds that are focused on our heavenly future.
Doing the things that are pleasing to You. Not because it gets us in good with You, but because You have been so good to us. And we want to give our lives in honor and worship of what You've done.
Help us, O Lord, to see this rightly and to do accordingly, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.