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00:00:00 good morning everyone today's scripture reading is taken from The Book of Luke chapter 16 verse 1 to13 verse one Jesus told his disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions so he called him in and asked him what is this I hear about you give an account of your management because you cannot be manager any longer the manager said to himself what shall I do now my master is taking away my job I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg I know what I'll
00:00:39 do so that when I lose my job here people will welcome me into the houses so he called in each one of his master's debtors he asked the first how much do you owe my master 900 gallons of olive oil he replied the manager told him take a bill sit down quickly and make it 450 then he asked the second and how much do you owe 1,000 bushels of wheat he replied he told him take a bill and make it 800 the master commanded the dishonest manager because he had acted shly for the people of this world are more shrewd
00:01:22 in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light I tell you use worldly wealth to gain friends for your elves so that when it is gone you will be welcome into Eternal dwellings whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth who will trust you with true riches and if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property who will give you your who will
00:02:04 give you property of your own no one can serve two masters either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve both God and money this is the word of God thank you uh sister Clementine for reading the scripture and uh good morning to you brothers and sisters can you hear me clear up there good what about outside the hall can hear me okay that's great yeah so um Brother Don just told me that uh you know he forgot to welcome newcomers so
00:02:50 I'm going to do the honor is anyone here new to us uh for the first time you come to church or for the first few times can you please raise your hand so that we can acknowledge you and um make friends with you yeah no any shows or hands all right so looks like we are among regular this morning yeah oh I do have a friend here who is new yeah maybe the second time uh caros can somebody attend to him please so I'm trying to get him to join us to do live in FBC so be nice to him yeah okay okay um the topic today is actually
00:03:32 um trading worldly wealth for Eternal gains yeah so that I hope that you'll be a treat to you the word of God this morning but next week uh we will have brother Ron havl U to talk about the Great Commission in Matthew and John yeah and the following week will be uh the following two sermons will be done by Brother John Lee uh on the 14 will be the gospel in Temptation and idry and then on the 21st will be the balance of freedom and limits in a live Le for the glory of God so before we get to the
00:04:03 sermon proper this morning I ask that you bow your heads and pray with me AB father We Want to Thank You Lord you know for this opportunity to come and feast on your word and Lord so that I ask that you attune our hearts and mind to receive your truth this morning and I also ask that father you anoint my lips as I brought for uh as I bring forth your word you know so may your word never go and come back empty-handed you know we thank you Father and ask this in Jesus name all right so as We Gather here this
00:04:35 morning to reflect on the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ I'm reminded of the story of cornelis the Centurion a Roman Centurion there stationed in ceria uh who is described as a devout and God-fearing man now despite holding a position of authority and privilege his heart was attuned to the voice of God and he was generous in giving uh to uh those in need and also generous to charity so he stewarded his well with a deep sense of reverence for God and which actually Echoes the theme that I'm bringing forward this morning uh from
00:05:14 Luke chapter 16 verses 1 to13 yeah that is Jesus calls Believers to Faithfully Ste their worldly wealth for Eternal gain yeah I repeat that again Jesus call Believers to Faithfully Ste their worldly we for Eternal gain so um as we dwell into the passage this morning let us um consider how you and I too can honor God with our worldly wealth yeah and uh we will look at this Parable in two parts and part one will be unveiling the parable taken from verses 1 to9 and part two will be lessons and applications verses 10 to13 so I ask
00:05:54 that you take a photo of this U sermon outline so that you can follow my uh sermon yeah as I ask SE it the parable to you now this Parable if you are not familiar with it I believe not many people is uh is U described by many scholar as one of the most controversial Parable out of the 40 Parables that Jesus has told because no other Parables has resulted is as much confusion and complication or interpretation yeah as this one now I suppose even when sister Clementine was reading the scripture to
00:06:28 you just now I suppose there were many questions yeah arising in your mind but first thing first yeah in case you are not familiar with how Jesus tells stories Jesus like to tell Parables yeah and a parable is something that he used to illustrate a spiritual or moral lesson now it is usually deep and profound so it is also designed to hide the truth from the hot Harden uh case in point yeah the Pharisees who are looking around and also the unbelievers and to those who are ears to listen Jesus would
00:07:02 reveal its meaning to them in privacy like the disciples and also the Believers and this morning brother and sister I am teleporting you back to the first century somewhere between the year ad3 to 33 and there amidst the crowds you can see that Jesus is relating and interesting and taught provoking Parable directly to his disciples and uh Jesus began by saying this he said there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possession so he called him in and asked him what is this that I hear about you give an
00:07:45 account of your management because you can no longer be manager so essentially there are two characters here in Jesus's Story the first character is a very rich man who is likely to be a property owner uh a man who own a large piece or many pieces of land or the or the um properties yeah under his name and like the very rich tycoons of uh today this certain rich men employ a manager yeah to be in charge of his possession now he's aing to the CEO of the company today who is in charge of all the Affairs uh of big and small yeah
00:08:22 of his master so he has power in executing in the name of his his master but then words came to this rich man that this manager was a bit of a waster now in other words he was kind of irresponsible and Unfaithful in managing the resources that the master has entrusted to him now this wasting may have resulted in the squandering of the Master's wealth leading to either a loss or reduction in wealth now to give you an example of what is wasting yeah now this is Yan Johansson the ex CEO of SCA which is a
00:09:00 leading hygiene and Forestry company in Sweden you know with an annual annual turnover estimated about 13 billion US dollar in the year 2015 now he was charged with the scandal of misappropriating the use of a fleet of private jets under his disposal now he was misusing this jet to F his wife and children including the family or other board members were aligned to him for Personal Pleasures yeah now these abuses included trips to a company hunting lodge where he built uh during his time and also to Formula 1 racing
00:09:36 and to World Cups and also to Olympics and then he was um basically wildly successful to the extent that he has forgotten his place and started spending extravagantly using the resources that does not belong to him but belong to the uh company for his personal enjoyment so Yan Johansson was eventually uh put on Garden leave and later charged by the public prosecutor and eventually lost his job in 2 back in 2015 now in a similar manner brother and sister the rich man learning about the Scandal decided to call his manager to
00:10:17 task and Pronto yeah he demanded that this manager give an account of his wasting you know and told him that he could no longer be the manager in other words in a word of Donald Trump you are fired but the strange thing is if you read the text he was not let go immediately yeah in fact he was given a great spirit could be a few days could be a couple of weeks it is not explicit in the Bible because before he has to pack his back and get out of the place because the master asked him to give an account yeah now the retention in my
00:10:53 humble opinion is not very good idea isn't it yeah now you want to dismiss someone because of his wrongdoing now do it on the spot yeah and get someone else to come in to figure out the messes that he has made you know and and keeping the perpetrator in his position of power for a few more days or a couple of weeks will open uh the door to all kind of Shannon eagans and this was exactly what the manager did in the passage so if you look at verse three when the manager heard that he has been called uh to an
00:11:27 account the things that he has done he did not even bother to defend himself did he now the word accused okay in the in the scripture just now is actually taken from the Greek word dialo yeah and the English word diabolika as you know is taken from it which means evil so in other words yeah the the scripture infers that he is guilty of his charge you know now unless you have been fired before you will not have or you will not understand the anxiety and the sinking feeling that's going through the stomach of this
00:12:06 manager now losing one's job or losing his job yeah is not only does not only mean that he lose a steady income but he also lose his dignity right he also lose his reputation and most of all he lost his security for the future without income you know all men feel this big yeah yeah I speak from experience you know so um he was definitely stressed out and although he has been found guilty of wasting his master's resources but he certainly did not waste any more time at all now look at verse three yeah
00:12:45 the manager responded by saying that what shall I do now no my master is taking away my job and I'm not strong enough to dig and definitely you know I am ashamed yeah to beg at the corner of the street for some coins you know too much pride you to do so and judging from the text I would say that this guy is still pretty much uh worried about his finances in the foreseeable future but he's not a he's not a dim we yeah he's not he's not dumb so to speak yeah in fact he's actually a rather clever resourceful guy so successively
00:13:24 in verse four we are told that he had a urea moment and what is that moment he say that I know what I will do so that when I lose my job here people will welcome me into their houses now in other words yeah he was thinking on his feet very quickly how to establish a network of Good Will so that when the time comes yeah he could call them up and ask them to give him a cozy job and take him into their houses now why houses yeah it was very likely that you know it's a perk for him he is living in one of the Master's
00:14:01 houses yeah uh just like the CEO today you are given a company car and also maybe an official residence to live in and what we about to unve in the next um um scripture is not something that you should mimic but is nevertheless I have to tell you that it's remarkable if not ingenious to say the least now in verse five this manager decided to call call in each of the Masters dors and he call in the first one and he asked him you know how much do you owe my masters as though he doesn't know you how much the master uh
00:14:40 the guy is owing you know the company and the deor said to him you know 900 gallons of olive olive oil now the currency of choice in the first century may seem strange to you and I today but back in Jesus's day it is not uncommon for them to trade in Goods or produce you know to pay rental or to pay Debs now with that this manager look into the you know the white of the eyes of this dapor and say to him he said good now take your bill listen carefully he say take your bill and sit down quickly and change it to 450
00:15:18 gallons now the Bible is not uh clear about this not explicit not direct you know but I'm inclined to say that this transaction was is done was done in a dodgy way which is painted by the manner that it was done why because the the the Bible say sit down quickly you know he's saying yeah okay infers that he wants to uh this thing to be done privately secretly okay not not not in the knowledge of other people especially the master now a case in point thiefs and conmen are always in a hurry and there
00:15:53 okay they will say that you know take this yeah sign here Sign Here sign here if anybody anybody do this to you you know please walk away you must be allowed time to consider the deals they put in front of you and conversely I must say that the deor who is getting the 50% discount is not straight either is he yeah why because he didn't ask the question to what do I owe this pleasure to why because he doesn't want to know the answer to that question all he wanted to do is to sign up the deal quickly and get out of there because the
00:16:29 this is a deal of a lifetime you know the one that he could only dream of now if you meditate on verse six on the screen carefully you will realize that this manager is really conniving isn't it now he didn't say hey look brother I am going to write off 50% of your depths to my master what did he say he say instead he told the adaptors you you take the bill and you quickly change it to 450 gallon of olive oil now we can certainly learn a lot from this manager that is a lot of stuff that you and I shouldn't be learning at
00:17:12 all so remember yeah after this sermon if someone want to cut you one of this deal make sure that it is not done in your handwriting otherwise you know your Dobby MK will be all over the Scandal when the prosecutor put you on the stand and then he go on you know he call in the second deps you know in verse 7 and say how much do you owe actually he knows yeah he knew how much they owe but he asking a question you know how much do you owe yeah and the guy say you know 1,000 busher of wheat which is
00:17:48 equivalent to about 27 metric tons of new measurement today then he told him in verse 7B he say okay I cannot give you 50% discount you know but take your bill again and change it to 800 busher you take the bill you change it to 800 busher and so in essentially brother and sister we do a simple calculation is about 20% discount yeah mentally now I just want to give you a sense of how much did this would cost his boss yeah now according to um the uh Jewish historian Joseph first yeah now 1,000 Bush of weat is estimated to be about
00:18:29 2,500 to 3,000 dinari which is equivalent to approximately 8 to 10 years of salary of a day labor back in the first century yeah so a 20% discount of that would mean two years of salary approximately now assuming yeah in Malaysia today the day labor is 150 RIT per day uh and that would equal to 4,000 ring per month okay so 2 years of salary will actually approximate to about 100,000 ring rounded up yeah okay and that is just one of the deps yeah the bible say that he calling all the deps of the master God knows how many he
00:19:13 managed to do the same too yeah so verse five say uh sorry so it is reasonable to assume that it was a substantial squandering yeah so now he is getting from wasting to embezzlement agree yeah because we're talking about hundreds of thousands here so you can imagine that the adaptors are only too happy to immediately sign up for the discounted Bill See No Evil Hear no evil speak no evil yeah like the saying goes yeah very famous saying in Malaysia you know willing Giver willing take her yeah it's
00:19:55 immoral to the core but then who cares nobody cares yeah done deal and so brother and sister my point is this is the bottom line all the depts are now indepted to him so in the very near future he could approach them and say Hey Brother remember how you reduce your deps you know from my masters you so I scratch your back and now you have to scratch mine you know you need to give me a cozy job and a comfy place to live in and if you don't I will let everybody know that you have benefited at my Master's
00:20:42 expense which would cast you in a lousy light in a dishonorable light now you may not be able to understand what is dishonorable yeah given the condition of the um society that we are living in I know I'm just joking not trying to be the condescending but but in the Jewish Society back in the first century they value honor highly and therefore this is a form of compelling pressure to the venders to the adapters so I want to stop here for a moment and ask the question brothers and sisters friends who are visiting today
00:21:18 now isn't this the way of the world that you and I are living in yeah isn't this the type of maneuvering conniving methods that many people employ shamelessly today to outwit each others you know to get ahead of one another in order to secure their future at least the temporal one in this world and then we go on to verse eight when the rich man finally had time you know to sit down in his office and finally go through the book for the very last time then it Dawns on him that this manager has taken him for
00:22:01 another right yeah okay so the word say that uh um the master commanded the dishonors manager now here's the oxymoron instead of being upset he's commanding this manager no and he said that he had acted shly so verse 8 therefore verse 8 A and B I will show you later is the words that perhaps render this Parable one of the most controversial Parable ever told by the Lord Jesus Christ he's he told a total of 40 Parables yeah in the Bible now the question is why would this rich man is he out of his mind or losing his
00:22:41 marble you know he would command the guy who has Che him you know of such a fortune paying a compliment to him yeah is he saying that he's actually happy being ripped off you know and most importantly is Jesus commending his scandalous and dishonor Behavior so I'm inclined to say no but don't take it from me let's see what the Bible says to unravel this question first you and I have to know the exact meaning of Shu yeah now the textbook definition of shu is astute clever or sharp bitten so if you read mandering I
00:23:22 was told that is chinging you know and then Malay J and here is an illustration of shess why the man the the owner commanded on his shess yeah now I want you to I want to this is this man is called Frank Abel I don't know whether you right about this story it's a real story he is actually considered the greatest conment ever Liv in the American history and the only reason that I'm showing to you brother and sister not to distract you because he is the definitive representation of a sh man he was
00:23:59 ingenious yeah in the deceptive art of check forgery and throughout his con career he managed to cast in listen to this yeah 177,000 pieces of fake checks amounting to 2.5 million American dollar back in 1960s you so you do the math how much it would be today now he was so good in his trade in his deception that eventually when he was apprehended by the authority the FBI came forward you know to offer him a job to identify fake checks that's how Shu and clever he was you so I hope this give you a inclination of or
00:24:43 representation of what shess mean in this passage in the right context yeah so Jesus is not commending the boss is not commending on him being dishonors he's commanding that this guy when he comes to being the dishonors he is is really really good so I hope you get the picture yeah don't miss the forest for the tree yeah okay now in the same way this man was Astound uh the master was astounded by his rudness you know because he has exploited the wealth of his master and to amess Goodwill for himself to get the
00:25:21 next job and to get the next cozy house to live in and then Jesus moved very quickly from Commendation to comparison now he says in verse 8 listen to this for the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than the people of the light very confusing yeah now Jesus is using the approach of uh reasoning yeah from the Lesser to the greater now he is saying this if the perverted Wicked people of this world or the non-believer like this dishonor manager can use every unimaginable way
00:26:06 with their wealth or better still someone else's wealth to purchase dwelling for their temporal future Jesus is asking why how come the people of light that is you and me who love Jesus you know the Believers who have an eternal future with the Lord who has salvation who has sunship are not able to use the same the wealth that God has given to you and I for the purpose of his kingdom so it's a thought provoking verse yeah keep this in mind as we go on now I want you to think about this you and I are safe
00:26:50 right yeah and uh washed a new by the blood of Jesus Christ the lord Jesus went to the Cross whether you recognize him or not he died for you so that you and I have a future with him in eternity but sadly more often than not brothers and sisters the underlying uh priority of our worldly wealth or in our wallet is not the Lord Jesus Christ agree why well to know why we have to go down to the stinging truth yeah now the stinging truth is this yeah because true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not an
00:27:33 intellectual Ascent yeah now if it is according to oops if it is then the demon are qualified to be a believer according to James chapter 2: 19 because he says you believe that there is one God James say very good but even the demon believes that and shadows see not just an intellectual Ascent yeah now true faith is believing in God and acting on it at the same time you know true Faith yeah call for three levels of intellectual ascent and action number one believing in in Christ that he is your savior he Lord your lord and
00:28:15 savior number two building a personal and trusting relationship with him which means that you have to speak to him yeah as often as possible intimately so that you know him well yeah and three giving up the control of your life so if you want the verses where I get this from you know come and see me after the sermon because very long yeah so uh I will give it to you now the last one the third one that I mentioned should be the most challenging of all because it means that you and I have to surrender everything in our life to the
00:28:51 Lord Jesus Christ the ownership of your house the ownership of your life your children you know the grass in your front door to the small thing in your life and to the biggest you have to commit it to Jesus Christ surrender it to him including the wallet in your pocket and your wealth you know so brothers and sisters you how do you hesitate or struggle to give to the cause of Lord Jesus Christ you know how will believing that Jesus has ownership of your life changed es you to Ste your wealth for his
00:29:39 kingdom and then Jesus go on you goes on you know and then verse n he says that you know he tells us how to put this principle that I have just shared with you into application yeah he says I tell you yeah I tell you do this use unrighteous wealth yeah to gain friend for yourself so that when it is gone in some translation when it says that when it fails you will be welcome into Eternal dwelling but the question would be how to make Eternal friends in Eternal dwelling for our Eternal dwelling do we
00:30:14 not have to get there first you know into heaven you know new Heaven and new earth Jesus say no you start now how he says use your money to buy friends for Heaven who will be standing there to welcome you when you arrive shocking is it how again you know simple yeah don't use your wealth like the rest of the world as Christian we are not supposed to behave like the rest of the world don't H your wealth he says and use it only for selfish reasons okay I see uh a lot of worrying faces yeah so I get
00:30:57 worried now the first thing that I learned eons ago when I was in college you know in my economic 101 class is that money has an opportunity cost and you can use the same dollar to buy two different things now if you use your money to buy an hery bag just saying yeah now the same money cannot be used as Tiding to FBC so in other words you cannot have the cake and eat it at the same time yeah now in order to invest in Jesus's Enterprises you need to say no to the purchase of a consumable which means
00:31:42 that you and I have to make conscious Choice how do we Ste our wealth for the Lord's Kingdom think about this and that is what the Lord Jesus Christ is challenging you and I this morning Brothers you know one day one day without exception you and I our eyes will close on Earth and when we open our eyes in heaven the lamb the Lord Jesus will stand before us you know and in our Eternal dwelling with both our pockets empty out everything empty out because you cannot take you can you didn't bring anything into this
00:32:21 world and you cannot take anything out of it 1 Timothy chter 6: 7 you know and the currency that you have the hardcore cash that you have in your bank in your investment in Dow Jones in K is not a legal tender in heaven you cannot buy happiness you cannot buy blessings you cannot buy anything it has to be given to you now I want you to Picture This scene as you walk through the Gate of Heaven and you see familiar faces yeah people whose life that you have touched with your gener generosity you know and they
00:32:59 Rush forward to embrace you with overflowing joy and gratitude you and they say welcome my brother my sister because of your generosity we are here today thank you for caring thank you for making a difference in our life but above all else you above all this testimony the the the best thing is this you will hear the resonating of a you will hear the echoing of a resonating Majestic voice of the lamb and says that well done you know my good and faithful servant you have been faithful with a few things yeah and I
00:33:44 will put you in charge of many things come and share your Master's happiness Matthew chapter 25: 23 so in the aftermath of covid-19 pandemic yeah as the economy reopened many of you found yourself you blessed with u unexpected windfall either a search in uh bonuses or New Found Prosperity because of the extraordinary profit yeah now businesses Thrive isn't it yeah on the wave of Revenge shopping and Indulgence filled by months of um Penta demands you know during the lockdown so the the the question is this
00:34:34 brothers and sisters you when was the last time you sat down and you shly reminded yourself your wallet and your wealth that Jesus is the Lord and Master of your life you may meet so but did you you know educate your wallet and your and your wealth to do the same how have you shared your new found wealth you with the poor with the marginalized or those they are sitting Among Us very quietly you know who can benefit spiritually from your generosity and in what ways does the uh investment of your wealth you know
00:35:25 reflects the Eternal values of compassion of generosity and faithfulness towards the Lord Jesus Christ creating a ripper effect extended to Eternity have you thought about that so the truth that I want you to take away from this part one is that Believers like you and I brother and sister are caught to invest your wealth in relationships that hold Eternal significance don't use your wealth only for selfish reasons now as we go on to part two yeah I want to remind you that Jesus's ammonition this morning are not only
00:36:15 targeted at the reach that are seated Among Us this morning or Beyond this Auditorium now how do I know that yeah you ask you know because Luke tells us in verse one that the main audience of this Parable that Jesus is is relating to are disciples and they were not rich they left everything that they have to follow Jesus you know and if you say that well I don't give much at this moment because the Lord Jesus Christ don't give me much yeah if God were to give me more I will certainly give more and my respon to you would be no
00:36:53 you won't then you will get upset and you will say Brandon you how can you say that no you don't even know me it is true I don't know you but Jesus know you true and true every single hair in your head you know he counts he knows now look at verse 10 sorry look at verse 10 yeah what he say in verse 10 he said whoever can be trusted with very little or the least According to some translation can also be trusted with much and whoever is Dishonored with with very little the least will also be Dishonored with
00:37:32 much so he knows you yeah and I very well you in other words Jesus is saying that it is not a matter of how little or how much you have at this moment you know faithful people he says will be faithful no matter how little or how much they have Unfaithful people will be unfaithful no matter how little or how much you have and if you are not faithful in a liter you are certainly not going to be faithful in much full stop period now the amount of wealth or the lack of it is not the point of contention here the contention
00:38:07 here is the matter of the heart brothers and sisters you know now I'm well aware of the fact that know while we we we see material wealth in this world as the most important possession in our lives you know but conversely if you read these words you will see that Jesus said that our worldly wealth is regarded to be one of the least in his kingdom and therefore the argument sums up to this way that if you if a person cannot be faithful in managing the things of the least in this lifetime then how can you know Jesus
00:38:48 trust you in handling the things that are much in eternity and our Lord Jesus Christ Christ is not done yet so please bear with me know he continues in verse 11 he says that so if you have not been trustworthy in handling worthy wealth who will trust you with true riches that's kind of baloney isn't it yeah what is true riches you know true riches here is interpreted by most Bible scholar as the true spiritual blessing or Heavenly treasure in God's kingdom you know now if you want me to spell out
00:39:27 from it I can but I wouldn't do so because the Bible is not explicit about it but you can find it in 1 Timothy 6:19 and Matthew 6:19 to 21 now in other words brother and sister we are responsible to stver our worldly wealth in preparation for the life to come and the way you and I behave you know with our wealth the way you and I Steward our wealth in this lifetime determines how much we will possess in the age to come like I say you know this life in God bless you 70 80 years he blessed you very well maybe up to 100
00:40:04 you know but in the eternity life to come where your currency is not valid is millions upon Millions upon millions of year so I want you to think about this because we live in this world everything is very real no the difficulties you know the things that we need to buy the material Comfort the creatures Comfort is very real yeah but our are we considering eternity in mind when we Steward our wealth now Simply Good simply put yeah uh Jesus is saying that that you know your trust got to be early
00:40:40 yeah now if you demonstrate unfaithfulness yeah in using your wealth you will fulfi the spiritual blessings and treasure both now and in eternity and Jesus is on the row yeah with another challenge you know let's look at verse 12 he says that and if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's properties you know who will give you properties of your own does it make sense yeah what exactly is someone else's property now Jesus is making a very important Point here we may Overlook from our day-to-day life that
00:41:21 our wealth does not belong to us but it belongs to God yeah and you may say hey Brandon wait a minute I think you got it wrong because I work very hard for my money you know and it is mine I earn it well that may be true no that you work very hard for your money you sweat and you bled for your money you know but it is not yours brothers and sisters look at Psalm 2 24:1 Jesus said the Earth is the Lords with the apostrophe as very clear and everything in it the world and all who lived in it even your dog is not yours
00:42:04 your cat is not yours it belongs to Jesus yeah so don't think that you earn it you know yeah okay and Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 18 say this but remember you know the Lord your God for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth and you you and I think that we are hot short you know we a lot of money in the bank because we are able no the Lord gives you the ability so it is not yours brothers and sisters so you don't own anything actually so it is not yours at all yeah everything that you and I have is under
00:42:44 stewardship on under Le hole yeah not free hole you cannot bring it with you you cannot give it to your next yeah it is a test of your faithfulness and my faithfulness whatever the Lord give us now I want to quote Yeah a famous uh Baptist pastor and alal know FB mayor in the 19th and 20th Century he said that so God is testing Men by giving us money that we that he may know God may know yeah how far to trust us when we get to heaven so I want you to think for a moment you know have you been faithful towards the Lord
00:43:31 with the riches or the lack of it he has given to you and I now when you think about wise money management there are a lot of wise people here know yeah when you think about wise money management in where or in what do you invest most of your money in you know do you invest only in things that give you dividends because when you invest in someone else's life you don't get dividend now but you get dividend in heaven do you progressively invest more and more with an eye or both eyes looking towards
00:44:11 eternity where your lasting home will be millions and millions and millions of you or like most of the world brothers and sisters you know you wait until the day when you have accumulated enough then you say to yourself I'll start giving to God's Kingdom and I say this uh with fear and trembling before the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ if you are on that trajectory that I've just mentioned let me assure you brother and sister that you will never ever have enough no matter how much you have accumulated at
00:44:47 this point in your life you know or any points right this is because Ecclesiastes yeah chapter 5: 10 say that whoever loves money never had enough whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income you know this two is meaningless and the love of money is the root of all evil yeah 1 Timothy chapter 6: 10 so the money is not evil the love of money is the root of all evil and you know what it will F the love of money will fill your heart with corruption with discontentment and also it will bring
00:45:32 you griefs like the words here say Sorrows sadness and I want you to listen to what Jesus have to say in the parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12 regarding a wealthy man who has misplaced his trust in material wealth of this world yeah now Luke 12 says and he told them who is he Jesus told them in this Parable the ground of a certain rich man yielder and abundant Harvest you lots of harvest New Wealth you know he thought to himself what shall I do I have no place to store my crops my house is not big enough my
00:46:09 bun is not big enough I will tear down my buns he say you know and build bigger ones and there I will store my Surplus grains don't we do that in our life you yeah we accumulate more accounts you know to put more money in we buy bigger and bigger properties you know one not enough we buy five you know five not enough he buy 10 you know and then he says this is what I will do you know he say to himself and I'll say to myself he say you have plenty of grains laid out for many years and take life easy eat
00:46:38 drink and be married celebrate you don't we do that as well but God said to him you fool this very night you will be demand your life will be demanded from you then who will get what you have prepared for yourselves now if you you believe that Jesus is the Lord of all and your life and my life is in his hand and I read this words with great fear and trembling as well yeah and this is how it will be he says no whoever stores up things fors but is not reached towards God and then Jesus sum it up all in
00:47:25 verse 13 that's the last words you know and he says no one can serve two masters either you hate the one or love the other or you will de be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve both money and God agree know amen only few amen so a lot don't agree brother and sister we cannot serve two Master any more than you and I can walk in two separate Direction at the same time yeah and let me assure you that you are no difference you not an exception you are not an X-Man or you are not Naruto
00:48:05 uzak for those for those who love manga you know who he is now Jesus the Lord Jesus Christ is demanding a total and complete allegiance to him there's no middle ground here yeah now if you are caught between money and God let me assure you that you will not live in peace you will experience this internal conflict that will tear you apart eventually and humbly you know I admit I speak from experience you but I also wonder at the same time you know uh if not some of us you know are feeling or experiencing this exact
00:48:50 conflict in your heart as I unveil the word of God to you in Luke chapter 6 16 this morning FYI very important yeah okay I am not saying that you cannot enjoy the riches that God has so richly given to you but you cannot I repeat you cannot be slaved to God and be slave to money at the same time absolutely not now if you're slave to God then money is your slave then I will say congratulation brothers and sisters you know that is excellent yeah but if you are slave to money then money is your master money is your god
00:49:33 and that's absolutely horrible and disastrous because money is a very very dangerous master and you will ask me how dangerous you then we will ask the Lord Jesus Christ you know what did he say about that look at 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 9 he say those who want to get rich fall into temptation and ATT trapped and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruins and destructions you yeah some people eager for money it says wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many
00:50:11 Grieves so you cannot Love Money wholeheartedly and love God wholeheartedly at the same time now in the word of John Calin he says that when riches hold the Dominion of your heart heart God has lost its Authority whoever rules your heart you know yeah rules your wallet I keep a small one to remind myself that he is Lord you know now if you are a visitor here this morning I want to acknowledge the fact that this sermon may make you feel very uncomfortable or a bit uncomfortable not a lot you know but I want to assure you
00:50:58 that here in FBC we don't talk about money matters every week but the Lord Jesus Christ does speak about wealth yeah hence it is an important part of our Christian discipleship that we talk Faithfully about it in accordance to the text like the one that is found in Luke 16: 1-13 this morning so brothers and sisters friends who rules your heart how does trusting in God's sovereignty in your life impacts the way that you make financial decision what is preventing you you know from letting go of the control of your wealth and trust
00:51:41 God for the unknown trust God for the unforeseeable future can you easier said than done yours truly yours truly included therefore yeah faithfulness in stewarding worldly well love requires unwavering allegiance to God there's no middle ground here either you are for him or you are not yeah now as I conclude yeah I see that my time is up so I'm going to conclude our time this morning but I want to make it explicitly clear to you that your stewardship of your worldly wealth the riches that God has given to you has
00:52:21 nothing to do with your guarantee of Salvation it's important that you take make this uh know this because your salvation is assured the moment you place your faith in Jesus Christ full stop do I hear an amen amen yeah now the moment you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ death cannot hold you back for you and I will definitely pass from this world but we will go into life in eternity to Eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ there's no question about it why because the work that the Lord Jesus
00:52:55 Christ has done on the cross is is perfect complete and final you cannot add to it you cannot subtract to it yeah so Ephesians chapter 2:s 8-9 says therefore by Grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing yeah it is the gift of God not the result of works so that no one can boast and therefore a believer in Jesus Christ will not go through what we call a punitive judgment like nonbelievers but ever you and I without exception every one of us who believe in Jesus Christ will still have to face the
00:53:33 Lord for evaluative judgment on the faithful day when Jesus returns again and he will ask you and I a very pertinent question that is what have you done with all the resources that are given to you assigned to you while you were leaving in this rolling sphere 2 Corinthians 5: 10 say this for we Must ALL appear before the Judgment seat of Christ he's talking to Christian so that each may receive compensation for for his deed done through the body done through which body the body of Jesus Christ in accordance with what he
00:54:12 has done whether good or bad now in other words Although our Salvation is secure in Jesus Christ our unfaithfulness in stewarding our worldy wealth will lead to losses which might involve missing out on rewards recompense or compensation as the wor put it or facing discipline or even receiving rebukes from the Lord himself look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3:14 what does it say if anyone Works which has been built on it remains he will receive a reward if anyone's else work is burn out he will suffer lost but
00:54:59 he himself will be saved yet only so Through Fire therefore if you have been investing your money only on things that are going to perish you are inversing cutting into the spiritual blessings and the Eternal recompense compensation prepared for you by the Lord Jesus Christ and FIY yeah FIY you know some of you may probably be wondering by now you know why have I not say that you know what is the standard or the Quantum of tie or giving you know for example in percentage or income that you should
00:55:33 give to the Lord in terms of investment to his kingdom is it 10% is it 15 is it 20 is it 25 you know and so on and so forth now I would argue that the quantum is from your heart and this is a a question that you need to take you need to talk to the Lord about it you know between you and God alone and it should not weigh too heavily on your hearts this morning for each tie and offering will look very different in shape and sizes from one to another because the Lord blesses each and every one of us very differently
00:56:09 yeah and most importantly I want you to know that you give not because you have to because you ought to but give because you love to because God has love you first the Lord Jesus has loved you first you know and he loves a cheerful Giver yeah amen but having said that you know still yeah brothers and sisters the truth remains yeah remains you know long after this sermon you know that many Christian will continue to struggle to part with their wealth as the Lord has commanded why because our fear of the unknown is far
00:56:57 far greater know than the faith in God isn't it now even when you're struggling you know you're dying of thirst in the desert you know just like when you found the Lord Jesus Christ like discovering this beautiful Oasis in the middle of an arid desert you know the fear of not having the fear of scarcity and the fear of losing material comforts you know Linger on long after the discovery long after we come to know the Jesus the Lord Jesus Christ you know because we fear losing what we can see and touch failing
00:57:32 to trust fully and completely in the Unseen and eternal cannot see right can you see Eternal you can because we forget that our true security lies not in the Earthly possession in our bank in our home in our accounts you know but in the Eternal riches promised by the Lord Jesus Jus Christ and in the word of Timothy Keller he says to be a Christian is to receive God's good gifts to enjoy them the most why because we know that they come from God the Father the giver he gave it to you and I you know we can enjoy it but
00:58:17 we only need them the least why because we have the giver if you have a giver why do you why do you need the gifts you know he will give you and to share them and give them away most freely why because we do not get absorbed in the gifts but we get absorbed in The Giver so brothers and sisters you know do you trust or Love The Giver or do you trust and love the giftes and if you love The Giver how will you wisely then from here on or locate the gifts from him to honor him yeah knowing that your faithful
00:59:05 stewardship will yield handsome Eternal gains you know it's not a mean to an end yeah as I said it earlier but you have to love giving to the Lord Jesus Christ so how do you feel that the holy spirit is calling you this morning to tie do you feel that the spirit is calling you to tie towards large Provisions you know like uh you know give to our missionary tiing to Church Ministries you know in FBC or your church for that matter or to something as small as bringing in food for those who are poor and those
00:59:40 who are in need and the bottom line is this yeah in response to God's call brothers and sisters you know how can you all my brothers and sisters you know who are blessed be a blessing to your brothers and sisters or even Stranger in our midst who are in need physically and spiritually in this community so if you cannot remember any of the words that have said in the last 45 minutes I want you to remember that Jesus calls believer like you and I brothers and sister to Faithfully Steward our wealth for Eternal gain do I
01:00:25 hear an amen amen shall we pray ABA father we want to thank you for your words and uh the wisdom that it imparts you know and as we reflect on the truth uh we ask that you you guide us you know to Steward our resources uh the way that you want it you know for your kingdom and help us to use our wealth Faithfully not for worldly gain but for your Eternal Kingdom uh may we be wise and generous and honor you Lord you know in our financial decisions and action so you transform our minds and hearts so that we will live accordingly
01:01:00 so that we are pleased and acceptable to you in jesus' name we ask and all God's people say amen thank you for tuning in amen indeed the word of God can be challenging and it exposes our sins and our failings but may we learn to respond by trusting in Jesus trusting in God as we surrender all that we are and all that we have unto him for his glory and for his name's sake show we ar rise As we sing this song together I surrender [Music] all sing after to me All to Jesus all to Jes I surrender all to him
01:01:57 I freely give and I will ever love and Trust in his presence daily [Applause] live All to Jesus oh to Jesus I Surrender home we at his feet i b worthy prous all forsen Jesus Take [Music] me I surr surrender all I surrender all and all to the my blessed saor I Surrender [Music] [Applause] to Jesus I [Music] Surrender be savior Holy Light let me feel the holy spir Tru know that thou are [Music] I surrender [Music] all I surrender all hold to the my blessed savior I surrender all say I surrender all
01:04:26 I Surrender home I surrender all and all to see my bless savior I surrender all [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and All to Jesus I Surrender Lord I give myself to the fill me with thy love and power th bless for are say all surrender all surer all and I surrender all all to be my blessed saor ier see that CL again as I surrender all and I surrender all and all to the my blessed savior I Surrender just your voices is I Surrender [Music] all I surrender all all to the my blessed sa I Surrender now brothers and sisters may
01:06:51 the Lord bless you and keep you may he guides your hearts and mind to Value ET etal Treasures over the worldly wealth may you Faithfully Steward all your wealth that he entrusted to you and may you leave a testament to his grace and generosity so go forth brothers and sisters in his peace and love serving him with all your hearts your soul and strength and in Jesus name we ask amen amen thank you um those who are require prayer yeah please come forward because our pastors and Elders are waiting for
01:07:25 you in front to pray pray for you and otherwise you know with a moment of silent meditation the uh service is over thank you guys you know for the music
