Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on October 26, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
I invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 12. If you want to use a pew Bible in front of you, it’s on page 924. We’re looking today at True Riches. Luke chapter 12, verses 13 through 21. It’s page 924 in your pew Bible.
Deb, I’m going to warn you, I accidentally put some duplicate slides in there, so I will let you know. Unless. Darla, she might have corrected me, so we’ll see.
Luke 12. Someone from the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me, friend. He said to him, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you. He then told them, watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions. Then he told them a parable.
A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, what should I do? Since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this, he said, I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, you have many goods stored up for many years.
Take it easy, eat, drink and enjoy yourself. But God said to him, you fool. This very night your life is demanded of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God. May we pray?
Heavenly Father, we thank youk for your Word. Help us to understand it by your Spirit moving in our hearts and minds. Show us where we need to change our ways and adapt to your Word. Father, give us a desire to live according to it, and give us power by your spirit to carry out that desire, that ultimately we might glorify you and lift up your Son so that others will be attracted to Him. It’s in his name that we pray.
Amen. Extra slide. Skip to the next one and then one more. Great. Someone from the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me, friend.
He said to him, who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you. So you have to imagine the setting here. Jesus has just been teaching on the importance of acknowledging him before others and the importance of not denying Him. And he’s talked about how God is giving us the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us in all our words. So in the middle of this message, out of the blue, this man blurts out, not a question about what Jesus is teaching, but he says, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance of with me.
Be like, we’re here on Sunday morning. And right now, Hunter stands up and he says, pastor Robert, tell my brother to give me his truck, okay? I mean, where in the world would that be coming from? He wasn’t paying any attention. And just as an application on the side, when we come to worship or when we spend time alone in worship, let’s all be honest.
Do you ever get distracted thinking of something other than it’s a struggle not to think about that bill that’s due, or it’s the 15th of September, I got to pay my taxes today. I don’t want to forget that, or you think about your projects or something you have to do that day. We have to concentrate on not letting the world come in on us and distract us when we’re spending time with the Lord. And that’s exactly what is happening here. Putting all that aside is a major reason that we have to set aside time daily and set a time aside on Sundays that we take a Sabbath rest just to spend time with the Lord to taste of and to have a recognition of.
Someday we’re looking forward to an eternal rest when we won’t have to worry about anything in this world. That’s what we’re supposed to strive at on Sundays. And also in personal times of worship. Jesus gives the man a warning, and he gives everybody their warning. He says, watch out.
Be on guard against all greed. There are all types of greed because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions. What I want us to think about here is the subtleness of greed. Greed isn’t something all of a sudden you have in your life. It’s something that gradually encroaches upon you.
And if we’re not watching out and if we are not being on guard, we all have the potential, because of our sinful human nature, to become greedy about one thing or another. You can become greedy before you even realize it. What is greed? Kent Hughes defines greed as the lust to have more than one’s fair share. It’s a boundless grasping for more.
The person that is way out there in greed, it doesn’t matter how much money they have or how many cars or how big their house is. If you ask them if you have enough, they’re going to say no, and how much more is enough? They’re going to say, just a little bit more. It’s a constant desire for more and for more. And similar to greed is even something further out.
It’s called covetousness. In Exodus 20, it says, do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Simple greed says, I want more. And it looks at somebody’s house or somebody’s property or someone’s bank account, and they say, I would. And here’s the key word, like, to have something like that, okay? Remember the word like. But a covetous person says, I want what they have so much.
I don’t want just something like theirs. I actually want, want what they have. And that’s where greed eventually leads to. It’s not a sin necessarily that others can see you commit. And at times you may not even be aware that you are committing it.
So you have to continually be watching out to make sure you’re not desiring more and making that the goal in your life. Next slide, extra skip. And then I think we’re on track. Let’s look at the severity of greed. Some people might say, oh, it’s kind of a lesser sin.
It’s like a white lie. Well, all sin is sin, and all sin offends God. But greed is something that’s. That’s very high up there. Let’s see what Paul compares it to.
In Ephesians 5 he says, Sexual immorality and any impurity, or what does it say there? Greed should not even be hurt among you, as is proper for saints. Greed is up there with adultery. Greed is up there with fornication. It’s up there with all types of sexual sin.
We need to be on guard against it. Again, in Colossians 3 we read, Therefore put to death what belongs to your earthly nature. Again, it’s sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire. And in that same list is greed always wanting more. And it goes on to say that greed actually is idolatry.
Wanting more is the same as placing an idol in your home and bowing to that instead of to the Lord God Almighty. No one should ever view greed as a lesser sin. It’s terrible. It’s awful. We need to be on guard against it.
Let’s go to Matthew 6:24. Jesus said, no one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Again, the emphasis it is idolatry to make money more important than God Almighty. Let’s look now at the futility of greed.
What does it really do for us to have everything that we could possibly want or desire. We go back to the book of Ecclesiastes, and we find in Solomon’s writing what he said about having enough. And Solomon, of all people, had plenty of everything. He had plenty of money, he had plenty of gold, he had plenty of wives. And this is what we read.
He said, the one who loves silver is sometimes satisfied. No, it says he’s never satisfied with silver. And whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. And this is too futile. Then he goes on to say, when good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply, what then is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?
Again, having an abundance of money, which Solomon said, will never satisfy you. And he said, as his good things increased, there were these ones, plural, who came and consumed everything that he was bringing in. As he had more and more fields, he needed what more and more workers. And as he had a bigger and bigger house, he needed more servants to clean the house. And we all know that he had not a few wives, right?
And wives cost some amount of money. And then all of those wives had what? Children. And we all know how cheap children are these days. Would anybody agree with that?
So the richer he got, there were more ones that just came along, and they were literally eating more and more food and needing clothes and needing wages. And so it was like he was saying, what was the use? Because I just ended up watching everybody else consume what I had earned. And there were even new quote friends that were showing up for dinner because he had really good parties and meals. The futility of greed having more and more never satisfies.
He goes on in verse 12 to say that the sleep of the worker is sweet. So he watched the people that scrubbed the floors and worked in the field, and they were worn out by the end of the day. He provided them enough food and enough clothing, and they went home and they were exhausted and they slept, whether that person ate little or much. But he said, the rich person, on the other hand, the abundance of the rich person permits him what, no sleep? So here Solomon was awake at night, concerned about all of his riches, while the people that had less were actually going home and resting.
There is a sickening tragedy I’ve seen under the sun. Wealth kept by its owner is too not as good, but actually to his harm. And then he shares this little epithet Here in verse 14 he talks about that their wealth was lost in a bad venture. So when he fathered a son, he was empty handed. Some people are amassing wealth and they’re greedy and they’re thinking, I’m doing this for my children.
But he says, it only takes one bad business deal, it only takes one stock market crash, and. And you can lose everything. Emphasizing wealth and money and possessions is futile. Ecclesiastes 5, 10, 16. As he came from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came.
He will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands. This too is a sickening tragedy. Exactly as he comes, so he will go. Has a baby ever been born with clothes on it or pulling along a bag of money that’s going to pay for it? It doesn’t happen.
Greed is pointless and useless. There is a saying that there’s one thing that you never see following a hearse, and that is a U haul of possessions. Putting too much effort into obtaining wealth and being greedy, he goes on to say, is like struggling with the wind. The wind is more powerful than you, but you can never grasp it, you can never control it. And there’s no benefit to you from trying to struggle with it in the end, because just as it’s with you for a while, it’s going to be gone.
Greed is futile, but not only is it futile, but Scripture tells us that greed is a dangerous thing. So we want to look at the danger of greed. In First Timothy 6, we read that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. In other words, if. If you love money too much, if you are a greedy person, always wanting more and more, it’s going to lead to evil things in your life.
And he said by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and even pierced themself with many griefs. There were people in the church there, and they were hearing the Gospel. They were hearing the need for faith. They were experiencing the love and the fellowship that the Holy Spirit brought to the body of Christ. But instead of committing their lives to the Lord, they were more interested in personal gain of possessions and money.
And that greed took them away from the faith. And in the end, it was worse than even just being away from the faith. They hurt themselves and they had many griefs in their life. So what is the significance of possessions? We go back to Luke chapter 12.
Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions. When we look at our possessions, they should be insignificant in our sight. Yes, we need them. We’re blessed by them. It’s okay to have possessions.
That’s not what we’re talking about here. But we need to realize that possessions are not life giving factors in our life. Possessions cannot heal our diseases. Possessions do not make a person’s life truly meaningful. And there is no guarantee that possessions will ever make someone happy.
Actually, scripture says that they become a burden and they can cause grief in our life. And even grief, I mean greed causes us to have this sense of need that I’ve got to keep up with other people. And we work more not for our happiness, but somehow in America we feel like we’ve got to be equal to other people and have as much as they have. But just as possessions don’t provide life, scripture does tell us what provides life. And here’s your test today.
Where does life come from? Who? God? Jesus Christ. He is the source of real life.
And that’s where John starts his Message in John 1. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God talking about Jesus. He was with God in the beginning, and all things were created through him. Initially, life came into the world through Jesus Christ.
Apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created. And not only did life come, but now he says in verse 4, in him was life, and that life was the light of men. Then he comes over to his letter in First John 5. It says, we are in the true one, that is his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is what?
Eternal life. The source of real life is not in possessions. The source of real life is not in wealth, the source of real life in this world. And as John says, eternal life after we die comes only in Jesus Christ. Now we go back to Luke 12 and Jesus gives this parable.
And the parable gives us man’s perspective and the parable gives us God’s perspective. Go back and read. A rich man’s land was very productive. And he thought to himself, what should I do since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this.
He said, I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. And then I’ll say to myself, you have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink and enjoy yourself. Now for all you English majors, what are the pronouns in there?
They’re all What? Personal pronouns. Who’s he talking about? In everything, it’s all I, me, my and mine. His greed made him focus completely on himself.
Now, as other people were looking on, there was no apparent evil in this man. We don’t see that he’s committing Any sin. And it’s not wrong to have wealth and riches because many godly men in scripture had abundant possessions. It looks like he’s gained his wealth by his work. No sins are listed here that others can see.
As far as we’re all concerned. His neighbors say, he’s a good, hardworking, prosperous neighbor. He’s living the American dream. He has what everybody else admires and says, we would like to live that way. He has plenty.
He knows that he will have plenty. He’s worked hard and now he’s just focusing. I can retire. I can take it easy. I can eat, drink and enjoy myself.
And everyone else has the same perspective. But then Jesus gives us the eternal perspective because God said to him, you fool, this very night, your life is demanded of you. And the things that you have prepared, all of this stuff, whose will they be? You won’t be taking it with you. God’s perspective is that life is short, possessions are not eternal, and the amassing of them, even if you live to be 110, is not worthwhile.
We are instead what Jesus tells us in the passage to be rich toward God. Let’s look at James, chapter five. And he gave this warning to people that were rich, that were depending upon their wealth, that were sinning in their life because they were taking advantage of other people, because they were not accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In James 5:1 6, we read, Come now, you rich people weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, your clothes are moth eaten, your gold and silver are cross corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire.
You have stored up treasure in the last days. Look, the pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out. And the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous who does not resist you. The greed in these people’s life had led them to mistreat others because they continually were trying to get more and more. And James is warning them that it’s not worthwhile.
Jesus gives us the alternative to greed, and that’s being rich toward God. We go back to Luke chapter 12 and verse 21. That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasures for himself. Suddenly they die and they have nothing because that person was not rich. Toward God instead of being greedy and making ourselves rich.
Instead, we should be rich toward God. And I want to just give six principles about that today, and they’re divided into two categories. You need to grow in knowledge about some things, and you need to grow in practice. And these six things will help you to have a proper attitude about possessions. How many of you are glad that you have clothes to wear today and you had a vehicle to bring you to church.
You hopefully slept in a bed in the house last night. All these possessions are not bad things. That’s not what we’re saying to, you have to give everything away. It’s about having the right attitude toward these things. And it starts with, you need to know and you need to reflect on the fact that God owns how much all things.
God owns the M&Ms. Up here on the table, that you’re wondering why they’re there. Okay? God owns the pews that you’re sitting on. God own owns the clothes that you wear.
He. He owns the car that you drive. All of these things he’s given to us, but they still belong to him. We call it stewardship, that he’s left it with us to do the proper and right things. Psalm 24:1 says, the earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants belong to the Lord.
And you could go down so many paths with this. When you think about buying something, think, you know, God owns that. What does he want me to do with that? Or when you think about something that you have in your house and you’re not taking care of it, you should stop and think, you know, this belongs to God. Should I be taking care of it for him?
And even with our children, they belong to God. They’re just in our stewardship. God owns all things. The second thing that we want to think about is that we are stewards. We are not owners of what has been given to us.
In Matthew 25, verses 14 through 30, I’m not going to read it today, but it’s the parable of the differing talents. The master left for a while, and he had three servants, and he gave one a certain amount of talents. And he gave the second man a a certain amount of talents. And the third he gave some talents to. And the master said, I’m leaving this stuff with you.
And the master knew that they were supposed to invest the money or they were supposed to buy and sell, because when he was coming back, he was wanting a return from each of these men. They were all left to be stewards, not for themselves, but. But for the master that was going to return. And then we get to the third principle that we also find in the same parable, that God will evaluate our stewardship and reward us according to our stewardship. Go back and read that passage sometime today.
When the master came back, the first servant had gained more and he gave what he gained back to the master, and the master was happy with him. The second servant gained and he gave it back to the master, and the master was happy with him. But the third servant, he didn’t do anything with the money. He went out and he buried it. He had no increase.
And when he stood before the master that represents God, he was evaluated for his stewardship and he was found lacking and he was punished for it. God owns all things. We are stewards, not owners of what has been given to us. And one day God will evaluate our stewardship and reward us according to our stewardship. And we’re not just talking about money here.
We talk about God has given us three T’s. He’s given us treasures. Are you using that the way God wants you to? God has given us all the same amount of time and he’s going to look at our time. Did we use it appropriately for him?
And the third thing is that God gives us talents that we’re all supposed to use in this world. And we are going to be held accountable for how we used those things one day. Grow in knowledge, contemplate, Read the Bible to find scriptures on these things. You will find it throughout the text. But it’s not enough just to.
No, but we also need to grow in our practice. And the first thing I want to share with you is give not according to the law, but according to grace. In the Old Testament, part of the law was that they were required to give. What percentage were they required to give?
Say it out loud. 10%. Are you sure that’s all they were required to give? In the Old Testament, they were required to give a minimum of 10% of their crops and livestock. That was called the first tithe.
But then also at festival times, they were required to give another 10%. And every third year, they were required to give another 10% just to help the poor. How many 10 percents were that? Three. So scholars say that it was somewhere between 20 and 30% that the Jews were required by the law to to give every year.
And the law was put there because basically it made people feel guilty about everything that they did wrong. Because God was wanting to point out their sin problem to them. And under this burden of the law of having to do these things, they were having to give 20 to 30%. But then we come over to the New Testament. It’s not required of us anywhere that it says give 10% or 20 or 30%.
Instead of being under the law where we’re compelled to give a specific amount, we’re under the law of grace. And instead of the law that says we’re guilty, we have grace that says we are forgiven. Tony Evans had a great sermon one time I listened to, and he went into this in depth, and he talked about how under the law, if they were forced to give this much and they were willing to do it, how much more, when we come to the covenant of grace, when we know how much we are forgiven, that we should give more abundantly even than what they did in the Old Testament. Give not according to the law, but give according to grace. But we also find in the New Testament that we’re supposed to give not with resentment, but we’re supposed to give with Joy.
And in Second Corinthians, chapter 8, Paul shares about the church of Macedonia. This is what he writes. We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia during one severe trial brought about by affliction. They’re in the worst of times. It says that their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in and a wealth of generosity on their parts.
It was the worst time for them. But they were joyful and they were giving abundantly. Paul says, I can testify that according to their ability and even beyond their ability of their own accord, we didn’t force it on him. He says that they actually begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry of. To the saints in Macedonia, severe trial, affliction.
And they had given so much. Paul said, you need to keep some money for yourself. And they were saying, oh, please let us give more. But the key is they weren’t compelled to do that by anyone. They were doing it with joy.
The point is this. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 9, the person who sows sparingly will also reap, reap sparingly. And the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Therefore, each person should do as he has decided in his heart. It’s a choice that we make.
We’re not supposed to do it reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. If you’re giving reluctantly because it’s forced upon you, that’s not the type of giving that God wants. So how can we give with joy? Well, we have to learn to give to the Lord like we give to those that we love. How many of you just love giving presents to your spouse or your kids or your grandkids or your friends?
I mean, we don’t resent that at all. We’re happy to do that. We’re joyful to do that. We need to learn to think about loving God enough that when we give to him through ministries in this world and however he leads you that you do it because you love Him. Give like you give to those who love you because God loved you so much that he gave what his one and only Son who died on the cross that we might have salvation.
And you will never be able to give an amount that’s equal to what God has given for you and what he continues to give to you. We all need to give according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, not according to our own plans and not according to the wisdom of the world. But how God leads us. The last way to grow in practice is that Scripture in the New Testament doesn’t tell us to give by percentage, but it tells us to give by by proportion. In First Corinthians 16, we read, on the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering.
It’s a regular thing throughout the year, and it’s according to how you are prospering. People that prosper more should be glad to give more. In First Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to instruct especially those who have more wealth. He says, instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works and to be generous and willing to share.
By doing so, they store up treasures for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of what is truly life. In Luke chapter 21, Jesus was standing in the temple, and he and his disciples were watching people deposit their offerings in the temple treasury. They didn’t write checks, as far as I know back then. They didn’t have paper money. They had metal.
What coins. And from what I understand in reading, they had what was called the trumpet. So they didn’t have a little slot in the back like we do for you to drop your envelopes in. There was like a large vessel. I don’t know how big it was.
And it Was big like a bowl, but then it would go down and get narrow at the bottom. So people would put their coins in and it would fall down into the treasury wherever it was stored, and it was locked up. And they called that the trumpet because it started out big and it got small, so it looked like some type of horn. And they would talk about sounding the trumpet. Now, how would you make that metal bowl make a lot of noise if you were putting your offering in, you know, you might throw it in it.
And the people that wanted it to be known how much they were giving, they practiced to throw it just the right amount so that it would make just the right amount of noise. I think about those things you see in the airport. And you put a coin in it. That’s what goes round and round around the middle. That’s the type of thing it was.
Jesus is watching all of these rich people throwing their coins and making all of this noise. And people are hearing that, and the disciples are watching it. But he noticed someone else there. Do you remember who it was? A poor widow.
Jesus looked up and he saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. But he also saw a poor widow dropping in two. And it doesn’t say just two coins. There are tiny coins. He said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.
For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, has put in all she has to live on.
Jesus isn’t telling us to give everything that we have. Scripture also says that if you don’t take care of your family and feed them, you’re worse than a nonbeliever. So if you give all your money to the church or to ministries and your kids are starving, that’s not what God is asking for. He’s asking us to be wise stewards. So what is he pointing out here?
He’s got these two extreme things. He’s got this widow who’s just given a small amount and she’s left with nothing. And all these rich people are giving out of their surplus. It’s about proportional giving. And I brought some M and Ms. Today.
How many of you know this is my wife’s favorite candy?
Okay, now if you were paying attention earlier, who did I tell you these M and Ms. Belong to? God. I paid for them, but they still belong to God. So thinking about this parable, you got this widow, and she has two M&Ms.
That God has given her, okay? And then you’ve got the rich people, Okay? Who has more than enough.
You’re getting the point here. Two things. Now the rich people come and they’re making lots of noise, pouring in a huge amount, and everybody’s paying attention to that. But Jesus sees what the woman with just her two things that she drops in. Now the world sits there and says, wow, look at everything that’s in the treasury.
There’s so much there and the emphasis on. On how much has been given. But God doesn’t look so much on how much has been given. He looks at what is left. So when God looks down, who gave more?
This person did, because she was giving all that she had. And this person still has more than enough M&Ms. To last for the rest of the day, depending on how well you like this.
People that have more generally, according to what Scripture says, should be giving proportionally more. Again, this is an extreme example. We’re not saying to give everything away till you’re completely impoverished unless God asks you to do that. It’s not wrong to have money. It’s about having the right attitude toward your possessions and cash and money.
But again, this isn’t just about our treasures. It’s also about are we using our talents? Are we giving as much as we’re supposed to? Are we giving the Lord as much time as we are supposed to? Being Rich toward God what do you need to ask God to help you with today on this list up here?
Do you need to grow in your knowledge or do you need to grow in your practice? Maybe you need to work on all six things. I don’t know. But when we come to the time of invitation, that’s what you need to ask yourself. Are you being rich toward God in your life, or are you being rich toward sports?
Are you being rich toward God, or are you being rich toward your home? Are you being rich toward God? Or is your riches towards your kids, your family, your hobbies, what you eat and drink, your vacations? If anything else is what you’re pouring everything that you have into instead of giving to the Lord. You’re greedy and you’re not living your life the way you’re supposed to.
And you’ve already seen the warning. And it’s real easy to sit back and say, I’m not greedy. And But Jesus warned it’s something that can gradually creep in. We have to be always on the alert that it doesn’t become an idol to us, anything in our life other than the Lord. As we come to a time of closing today with a song I just want to let you know that we’re going to have our prayer team people in the back.
This is something new that we’re doing that if you maybe just want someone to pray with you today, but also if you want to hear more about having a right relationship with go God and the gospel, they’re going to be back there to share that with you. So as we stand and sing now and Kelly Joe is bringing the worship team up, if you are interested in praying with someone or talking, just go to the back and you’ll find somebody with one of these badges on. May we pray Heaven. Father, we thank you for today. Help us to examine our hearts and our lives, to make sure that we are putting you first above all things.
That we are giving to you proportionately. That we are giving, giving to you with joyfulness and thankfulness in our heart. Help us to grow in our understanding how it applies to our lives that you own everything and what we have. You’ve given to us that we might be good stewards. In your son’s name we pray.
Amen. Amen. Will you stand with us as we sing together?