Alright, we're here in Psalm chapter 49 and last week we went through the first five verses
and I talked about five fundamentals of church and we're not going to cover those verses
again.
I just want to read you verse number five though because there's a big comparison between
verse five and then the next group starting in verse number six.
And the name of the sermon is a false trust in wealth, a false trust in wealth.
And notice what the Bible says in verse five, wherefore should I fear in the days of evil
when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about what I talked about last week.
When it says the iniquity of my heels is a metaphorical way to talk about your past.
Your heel is the back of your foot.
What he's saying is that when you're serving God, you really don't have to worry about
the states you've made in the past because you've moved on, right?
And as long as you're serving God, you don't really have to fear.
But the next group of people are a group of people that do have to fear.
The Bible says they that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their
riches.
So if you're serving God, you don't have any reason to fear, right?
The Bible says other than fear God and keep his commandments, I mean, we don't have anything
that we need to fear.
And when you're serving God, you're not really living a life of fear.
But those that trust in their wealth, they tend to have a lot of fear.
The Bible speaks about they're afraid of what might happen to their money.
What are they going to do?
I mean, they can be very paranoid.
Now, here's the thing.
Money is not inherently sinful, and I'm not saying that here tonight, but a false trust
in money will destroy your life, which is what the Bible is speaking about.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
And oftentimes when people have a lot of money, they tend to boast about what they have.
It's like, look at this car I have, look at this house I have, look at these restaurants
I get to eat at.
And the Bible's speaking about this group of people, right?
You think of Hezekiah, for example.
God spares Hezekiah, he gives him more time, and then all of a sudden he's bragging about
what he has to the king of Babylon, and as a result of that, well, it's like, well, now
Babylon's going to take you over because you're bragging about what you have, right?
Verse number seven, none of them can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a
ransom for him.
And so the Bible's saying is, it doesn't matter how much money you have, that's not going
to redeem your brother or your sister or your friend from going to hell if they don't believe.
No matter how much money you have, it's not going to help you either.
It's not like, well, you know what, hey, I'm Elon Musk, here's a billion dollars, let me
into heaven.
It's like, it doesn't matter if you have 20 billion dollars, that's not going to cut it,
right?
You can't redeem your brother with any amount of money, you can't give any amount of ransom
or payment, it doesn't work that way with God.
Now, maybe in this life they get away with that.
They can do whatever, here's some money, and then they get away with whatever they did.
Right?
I mean, people that are rich, they tend to be able to do whatever crime under the sun
and they get away with it.
Right?
I remember when I was a kid, there was a famous OJ Simpson trial, and I don't think OJ Simpson
is super famous here because the National Football League is not so big here, but when
I was a kid, it was like the biggest thing, right?
You know, it's like, I remember pogs were really popular, it was like the don't squeeze
the juice pot, OJ, you know, like orange juice, Simpson.
And here's the thing, it was so obvious that, you know, he was guilty of murder, but he's
a rich celebrity, and then all of a sudden, innocent, right?
And that's just one example, but you know, generally, people that are really rich, they
can get away literally with murder or whatever they want, and they're perfectly fine.
Right?
I'm amazed you see like, athletes, celebrities, they get in trouble for like 20 different
women of sexual assault or rape, and they spend zero seconds in jail.
It's like, explain to me how that works, but that's called money, that's called pain, that's
called power, and people that are rich, that boast and trust in the richest, they get away
with it in this life, so they seem to think they can do this wherever they want to go,
and no matter what, they're going to be perfectly fine, doesn't work that way with God.
Doesn't matter if it works that way in this earth, it's not going to do any good for you
to get any sort of forgiveness for your sins and make it into heaven.
The Bible says in verse number 8, for the redemption of their soul is precious and it
ceaseth forever.
Now, here's something about this, when people live in this world, they're so obsessed with
this life, but as people kind of get toward their end, people start wondering about their
eternal destiny, and the vast majority of people in this world believe in God, they
might not believe what we believe, but they believe something that's out there, and they
might think about these things, and they think, wait a minute, I've had all this money, and
look, generally, rich people have done a ton of charity work, and they think they're great
people because they've done that, but the reality is, when you have that much money,
it's a small drop in the bucket, and you're generally merely doing it to look good to
be seen of man, and the result is people say you're so great, you're such an awesome person,
I mean, there'd be people all around the world that would say, Bill Gates is such a great
person, or Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg, or Warren Buffet, you know, other rich, they're
such great people, look at all this charity work they've done, and I'm pretty sure all
of them have done charity work, but it's like, well, when you're a multi-billionaire that's
actually not that big of a sacrifice you're making, and honestly, you're just doing it
to get praise of man, and to be seen of man, and to be popular.
Bible says in verse number nine that he should still live forever, and not see corruption,
and see, this is in the mind of people, their eternal destiny, that's why when you see really
rich people, what they're trying to do today is come up with scientific methods to preserve
their body, and preserve the process of aging, I mean, like, in the world we live in, and
I'm not a science fiction sort of person at all, but they're trying to do things to like,
get your brain, you know, permanently last forever, and artificial intelligence forms,
robotics, and things like this, to try to stop the process of aging, it's like, look,
you're going to die, you're going to grow old, the evil days come upon you, it doesn't matter
how much money you have, you're going to grow old, and eventually die, they're never going
to reach a point where you can just live forever, it does not work that way.
Go to Romans chapter eight, Romans eight, Romans chapter eight.
Now some of these things are kind of more modern things, a lot of the robotic things,
and artificial intelligence where they're trying to preserve life, but there's really no new thing
under the sun, it's not completely different than things in the past of trying to get a
absulsion for your sins, and the things that you've done, and get forgiveness, and try to pay your way
out, have eternal life, or whatever, and a common example is with the Catholic church, I mean, think
about the time period where indulgences were a big thing, and in case you're not familiar with
indulgences, I'll spend a little bit of time to talk about this, but what is an indulgence? This
very common within the Catholic church throughout history, an indulgence is the full or partial
remission of temporal punishment for sins after the sinner confesses and receives absulsion.
Under Catholic teaching, every sin must be purified either here on earth or after death
in a state called purgatory. Now the average Catholic you talk to does not believe in purgatory
in 2023. I always tell people on soul winning, it's like when you die, it's either heaven or hell,
there is no purgatory, 99.9% of the time you're like, yeah, of course it's either heaven or hell,
they don't even believe in purgatory. But the Catholic church teaches and believes in purgatory,
and indulgences were way, and what purgatory is, in case you're not familiar, is basically this
intermediate state between heaven or hell where you suffer for a period of time depending on how
bad you are, and then eventually you get to go to heaven unless you're like the worst person ever,
but generally you just spend time in purgatory, you get some suffering, and then you eventually
get to go to heaven, right? And so with indulgences, let's say somebody had like 5,000
years in purgatory, hey, you know what, you give us money and then we can let your brother out of
purgatory a little bit sooner. This is what the Catholic church did. I mean, it's a fact, this is
not a conspiracy theory, it's just a fact. How anybody could stay Catholic when you know the
history of the Catholic church, I don't get it, right? And of course, it's nobody's fault if
you're raised in a false religion, I'm sure half the crowd here or more was probably raised
Catholic, but it's like when you actually know a little bit about the Catholic church, whether
you're saved or not, how can you stay in your religion? I mean, they claim the pope is the
vicar of Christ on earth, he speaks on God's behalf, and then everything he says is infallible,
and when you look at the history of the popes, they're some of the most wicked, depraved people
you could ever come up with. I mean, like literally getting over in Rome just all kinds of sexual
perverts that was done in their so-called holy area by the popes, and then people just,
I don't know, they just put a blanket over their head and pretended it didn't exist.
And one of the things that popes are guilty of was basically, hey, give us money and you know what,
we'll forgive you. Give us money, you'll spend less time in purgatory. Give us money, you're
more likely to go to heaven, right? So that's what indulgence is. How about the practice of dispenses
of indulgence? When did this begin? The first known use of plenary indulgences was in 1095
when pope verbatim the second permitted all penance of persons who participated in the
crusades and who confessed their sins. So if you help kill people on behalf of the Catholic Church,
we'll forgive your sins, right? That's kind of interesting because let's say indulgences were
biblical and correct, and let's say the Catholic Church is right that the first pope was Peter.
Why isn't Peter granting indulgences, right? I mean, doesn't that make logical sense? I mean,
if indulgences are biblical and Peter was the first pope, why don't you see the first pope
saying, hey, you know what, give us this money and you'll spend less time in hell. Give us this money,
less time in purgatory, right? And it says later the indulgences were also offered to those who
couldn't go to the crusades, but offer cash contributions to the effort instead. So you
kill people on behalf of the Catholic Church, we will forgive you. If you can't go, but you give
us money to help us kill people, then we'll forgive you, right? In the early 1200s, the
church began claiming that it had a treasury of indulgences consisting of the merits of Christ
and the saints, that it could dispense in ways that promoted the church in its mission. In a
death-retoll issue in 1343, Pope Clement VI declared the merits of Christ are a treasure
of indulgences. How were indulgences used in Luther's time? So when this really became a
thing was when Martin Luther split off from the Catholic Church, and I am by no means a
Martin Luther fan. I've read one of the books that he's written before and he's a total heretic,
but he stood against the Catholic Church and he really lambasted them for indulgences
and basically stealing money from people. And here's what was going on during his time.
In Luther's time, the pope delegated the privilege of dispensing indulgences.
The Castle Church in Luther's Wittenberg, for example, was delegated the rare privilege
granting full remission of all sins. So basically some churches could not forgive you for everything,
but some churches like this one, you know, the one that the Castle Church, the Castle Church
could forgive it all. So if you really want to get your sins forgiven, you know, go to a pilgrimage
to the Castle Church and get a lot of money and then all your sins will be forgiven. Or you can
just get like 85% of your sins forgiven. Does this make any sense? And of course, here's the thing,
the average person in the Philippines has no idea about any of this. They have absolutely no idea.
They have no idea about the history of Catholic Church. We really live in a day of people that
are just ignorant toward knowledge and the truth. I mean, people just are not educated
and they believe something very zealously without having any education about it whatsoever.
Then it says this, Frederick the Wise, Elector for the region of the Holy Roman Empire that
included Wittenberg, took pride in a large collection of relics. Over 19,000 holy bones
and 5,000 other items of saints that supposedly provided the basis for granting indulgences.
So this man collected the bones of dead people, but this is the sort of person where I want to
stay very far away from them. It says that he had 19,000 holy bones and this is the Elector
for the region of the Holy Roman Empire that gets to decide what sins could be forgiven. And this
guy had his own personal home, just 19,000 holy bones. So he collected bones, somebody would die
and keep their bones. Look, that is creepy. This is something out of a horror movie. 19,000 holy
bones and 5,000 other items of saints supposedly provided the basis for granting indulgences
that could reduce stays in purgatory by over 1.9 million years. And so basically by having these
holy bones, it could help people get 1.9 million years forgiven in purgatory. 1.9 million, right?
And it says these treasures were made available to believers on All Saints Day, November 1st.
It keeps getting better and better, right? Why am I not surprised? I'm not preaching about All
Saints Day. I mean, I'll do that around November 1st, but here's a reason not to celebrate All
Saints Day. It is a satanic and wicked holiday that Christians should have nothing to do with.
Don't go out to the graves of your dead relatives and don't collect the bones of your relatives
and bring them on All Saints Day, right? But on All Saints Day, they would bring out these bones
of dead people, right? And by viewing the relics and making the stipulated contribution, the
believer could produce a stay in purgatory while providing much needed financial support for Castle
Church and the University of Wittenberg. So basically they would bring out the bones on All
Saints Day. All of the Catholics would go out to the graves. They would see the bones and give some
money, and now you're forgiven, right? I mean, this is just bizarre. It's literally something
out of a horror movie. And look, the Bible says very clearly in Psalm 49, your money cannot get
you forgiveness for your sins. It doesn't matter how much money you have. I mean, literally,
you could donate $20 million, a billion pesos to church. It's going to do you nothing. It's not
going to get you any forgiveness, right? For some reason, people that are rich, they trust
and they're rich is the point. They think their money can get them forgiveness. Just give money,
and then I'm good to go. And look, this is obviously not something that we believe,
but you see similar sort of mentalities in other churches as well. Like for example, you know,
my old church in West Virginia, they would have like a, actually this is a different church,
not West Virginia, it's a different church. But they would have a once a year event where people
would do soul winning, you know, all day and everything. And then they also had like money
that they gave to make promised missions and they have testimonies and people would talk about how,
you know what, this money I gave, I can't even begin to wonder how many souls are going to get
saved as a result of my donation. And literally people would stand up here behind the pulpit and
they would say, you know what, this $200 I gave, you know, I literally, I remember somebody saying,
I can't wait to see how many people are going to greet me and shake my hand and say, thank you
for saving me. I'm just like, you're insane. I mean, like it's such an arrogant thing. Like,
why would anyone stand up and boast in what they've done? And yet that is exactly what I
saw done in Baptist churches. Churches that preach a right gospel, people that I assume are saved,
and they're talking about how their money is going to get them so many rewards in heaven
and get so many people saved. Obviously being generous with money is a good thing. And the
Bible speaks about that, but, but, but to think, well, I can skip solely because the person who
said this, they never went solely ever. It's like, well, I'll just give money and I'm good to go,
right? And you know, the same sort of things you're going to see in other church where as
long as you give money, it's like, God's going to be happy with you. That's the sort of mentality
that they have. Look, of course, God would love you to be generous, but, but, but here's the thing
if you want to be right with God, follow me and I'll make you fisher of men. And if you're
following God, you'll be a fisher of men. Have you read your Bible this week? I mean, if you
donate a ton of money and you don't read your Bible, get right with God, because the Bible
says we're either in all the days of our life and what God requires financially is 10%.
If you want to give above and beyond, or you can't give above and beyond,
obviously God can reward you for that, but that is not going to forgive the fact that you don't read
your Bible. You don't go to soul winning. You don't go to church. You committed the
assent. Well, I give a lot of money, so it's okay if I do this. It doesn't work that way, right?
Romans chapter 8. Romans 8. The Bible says Romans 8 verse 19.
And what we talked about, you know, before I went on that rabbit trail, you know, is,
is basically that our bodies are going to age. We're going to get older and eventually you reach
that point. You're going to pass away and you're going to cross over to the other side. And people
want to stop this process of aging, but it's just a law that's going to take place. You cannot stop
the process of aging. Obviously, if you eat healthy and exercise and God blesses you with
good health, then you can extend your health and extend your life. But there is a point where you
can't extend past that. And no matter how healthy you are, it's going to come to an end eventually.
The Bible speaks about this in Romans 8 verse 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature
waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. And what this is referring to is our bodies.
And we are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. And what that means is that
when you get saved, there's no proof. There's no manifestation. You don't start glowing.
You don't get taller. There's nothing physically that changes about you when you get saved. We're
waiting for the manifestation. And here's the thing. It's not just that you physically look
the same. In the context here, what the Bible is saying is you also aren't just going to physically
automatically. I don't like rock music anymore. I don't watch TV anymore. I'm just going to always
serve God. No, we're waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God because people try to come to
churches. They'll say, if you're really saved, you're going to have worse. Look, we are still
waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. If you're reading your Bible every day and you're
going so many, the manifestation that's taking place is you're drawing close to God. But in
terms of salvation, you cannot judge based on someone's works. You say, why? While we are living
here, we wait for the manifestation of the sons of God. The Bible says here in verse 20, for the
creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same
in hope. Look, when you get saved, you would love it if you never sinned anymore. But the Bible says
the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. This is just the way it works. You
get involved in the new man. You still have the old man. You still have the creature because the
creature itself also shall be future tense, delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So what takes place is that eventually we grow old.
Eventually we die. And assuming the rapture does not take place in our lifetime,
what's going to take place is those that are dead in Christ shall rise, the Bible says.
And until that point, there's been no manifestation of the sons of God.
We don't have a glorified body. We have a corrupted body that sins and grows old. And
everybody in the world has the exact same. You could never look at somebody's works to be 100%
dogmatic on their salvation. You say, well, brother, it's not that I knocked on the door
and somebody said they were saved, but I saw alcohol. I don't think they're saying
their works are not proof of their salvation. I remember this was a long time ago. Probably when
I was like 19 or 20 years old, I was preaching the gospel to this kid in West Virginia. He was
a college student. And I remember, I mean, he was, and I didn't realize this when I started,
but he was drunk as a skunk. And I remember him saying, you know, because I started talking with
all this guy's drunk and I just gave him an invitation. He's like, no, he's like,
I know you're not going to believe me. He's like, I'm saved. He's like, I believe on Christ.
I have eternal life. I know it's not worse. I can't lose it. I know you're not gonna believe
me. I said, I do believe you because it's not based on our works. This guy was, was incredible.
And I mean, you could even in his drunk state, like he was, he seemed to be very,
feel very guilty of the fact, ashamed that I talked about the Bible, but there's still
that thing being a brother of Christ on the inside of him. He's got the Holy Spirit of God.
And you know, he was actually saved, even though he's living in sin. You know what? There could
be some people that seem to be doing everything right. Never drink, never do drugs, just very
respectful, very hard working. And they could go to a Baptist church and die and go straight to
hell because it's not based on your works. The manifestation is not taking place during our
lifetime unless we live for the rapture where we get the manifestation and glorified body.
Verse 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only they, but ourselves also. So what the Bible is saying here is not only they
is referring to basically the unsaved world and the animals and everything out there,
but ourselves also. So what it's saying is the whole creation, everything is growing old and
travaileth in pain together until now. Everybody grows old and nobody wants to. It's just part of
life. That's what takes place. And not only they, but ourselves also. So here's the thing. The
unsaved world, they grow old and they can do whatever they want to try to extend their life.
It's not going to happen. And they're eventually going to die. But ourselves also. But the context
here is not so much about the fact that we physically age because although we don't really
want to do that, it's not really something to be depressed about as a believer in Christ.
The thing to really be depressed about is the fact that we sin and do wrong and we have
a guilty conscience even though we know it's wrong and we still choose to do it. And the Bible is
saying ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves grow within our
waiting for the adoption to with the redemption of our body. Now, why are we waiting for the
redemption of our body? Because we're not going to sin anymore. I mean, that's I mean, obviously
growing old and having health problems. Nobody wants to go through that. But honestly, it's like,
even though we know what salvation is, we know what the Bible teaches, we know the commandments.
And yet we still sin. We still do wrong. And we have a guilty conscience. And it makes us
depressed when we do wrong. Is that not true? I mean, we know what's right. But the spirit is
willing and the flesh is weak. Right. And so the process of aging and the process of our bodies
decaying, this is just the way it works. Not willingly. The Bible says, I mean, obviously
we would love it if we just had a glorified body. We never grew old. We never sinned. But that's
just not the way that it works. Turn your body to Luke 12. Luke chapter 12.
And you can look at people that are just the greatest athletes in the world.
And eventually they grow old. Eventually they're not that fast anymore. Eventually they can't jump
that high. Eventually they pass away. It's the way it is. Right. It's like the whole creation
grown and trailed and pained together. And so now it's just the way it works. No matter who you are
over the last thousands of years, there's probably been a ton of amazing athletes. And what happened?
They grew old. They couldn't run fast anymore. They couldn't jump high anymore. And then they
eventually died. It's just the way it works. Luke chapter 12 verse 16.
And this very famous parable of a man who is trusting in his riches and is obsessed with his
riches and says in verse 16 and he's saying a parable on them saying the ground who served
rich man brought plentiful and he thought within himself saying, what shall I do? Because I have
no room where to bestow my fruits. And he's just like, I've got so much money. What am I going to
do? Right. Verse 18. And he said, this will I do. I will hold down my barns and build greater. And
there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, so that as much goods
laid out for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be married. This is a man in this
parable who spends his entire life obsessed with his possessions. And I consider this a safe person.
I mean, obviously it's a parable, but he's trying to illustrate it to save people. And he's saying,
a man spends all of his time on his riches and his possessions all the time. I remember a quote
I heard a long time ago where it said, the possessions you own end up owning you. And I
think it's a great possession or a great quote, right? Because the truth is, if you have so many
things that you spend all your time just dealing with those things and you can't really enjoy
anything. And that's what you see in this parable. It's not wrong to have nice things, but quite
honestly, sometimes having less can actually be more, right? Then it says in verse 20,
but God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then who
shall those things be which thou has provided? So as he that layeth up treasure for himself is not
rich toward God. So assume this is a safe person, right? And he died, he went to heaven. Now,
when somebody dies today, everybody's equal in heaven at this point, because we have not yet had
the judgment seat of price or rewards are going to be given. Okay. Judgment seat of price is going
to be before the millennial rate of price because the determination of how we roll in rank with
price is going to be based on what we did. So the rewards come before the judgment seat of price,
whereas the great white throne of judgment is after the millennial rain, not before like the
judgment seat of price. But assume this person is saved. And we get to the judgment seat of
price. One day, this man who had all of these goods on earth is going to have nothing, nothing.
Of course, being in heaven, you're going to be happy. Obviously we understand that. But the
thing is you spent all your life toward yourself, but you're not rich toward God. You don't spend
any time reading the Bible. You don't spend any time memorizing the Bible. You don't spend any
time going to church. You don't spend any time going to so many and actually doing things that
matter. And you know what? This parable is the reality for 99% of Christians. They spend their
entire lives doing nothing for God. I mean, the vast majority of safe people, they die having
never let a single soul of Christ in their life ever. And probably most die without even trying.
Right. I remember once somebody sent me a text message and they were asking me, and this was
someone who didn't go so when they were asking me for advice because they're trying to get a relative
safe from their deathbed, but they've never gotten so many before. And here's the thing. I was very
kind and polite, trying to get advice, but if I was brutally honest, I'd say if you've never
practiced going so many before, you probably don't have much hope. I mean, that's the reality.
Anyway, what I mean to myself, I don't know if I heard this from someone or I just thought of it
myself. I can't really remember, but it's like, why not try going so winning to people that you
don't care about that much people that you don't know. So when you have someone that you really
love and care about, you're going to know what to do because this is not what people do though.
They wait just to preach to those that they love. They never preached to anybody else.
It's like, why not get practice with people that you don't care about as much? And I'm not trying
to sound cold or insensitive, but let's just be honest. You care more about your family than you
do about people you don't know. Why not practice on those? Because here's the reality. Everybody
starts off bad at soul winning. When you first go soul winning, you're just not good. Neither was I,
neither are any of us. You say, why? Because you're practicing your new items.
You're not good at something when you first start doing it and you get better with practice.
You practice, you practice, you learn what to say, you learn what to do, you memorize more verses,
you start to perceive better and you slowly get better. What I would always say to people is
start with people that it's not that important to you. You don't care about them as much. That
way you get the chance to preach to your uncle, your cousin, your brother, your sister, your spouse,
your parents. You know what to say, you know what to do, but that's not what people do.
They don't preach to anybody. And then when they really need to know how to preach the gospel to
someone they really care about, they're not able to do this. And the vast majority of people,
they die having never led a single soul to Christ and they don't even know how to do it.
I mean, sometimes I think to myself and access team that if somebody actually came up to you
and bow down and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? A lot of people that are saved
would be like, believe and not know what to say. Is that not true?
Most say people would literally not know what to say. They wouldn't know what to do. They have
the perfect opportunity. I mean, literally the fish would be right there trying to hook itself.
And it's like, what do I do with this? This pole, right? And they wouldn't know what to do.
And that's reality because if you've never done it before, you're not going to know how to do it.
Nobody is good when they first start something. When you're new at something, you're not good at
right. It's always terrifying when somebody gets their driver's license, right? It's like,
oh, boy, you never know. It's like, you know, they're not going to be that good. I mean,
I wasn't good when I first started driving, right? It's just the way it is. So, you know,
practice with those that it's not as important to you. So when you do have a friend,
a neighbor, cousin, mom, dad, uncle, aunt, whatever, that you actually know what to say,
right? This man did nothing for God. His life died, went to heaven, makes a parable. It's not
a real man, but this same sort of story has existed a million times throughout history.
Go back to Psalm 49. Psalm 49. Psalm 49.
So number one, wealth cannot deliver a soul. It cannot give you more rewards in heaven.
It can't, you know, you can't pray somebody out of purgatory. There is no purgatory. You can't
pray somebody out of hell. The Bible is very clear in Luke 16 that there is no crossing over. You're
in heaven. You're not going to hell. You're in hell. You're not going to heaven. It's permanent.
It's done, right? But number two, wealth cannot keep you famous. Wealth and money and prestige
is not going to keep you famous. Verse number 10. Psalm 49 verse 10.
For I see it that wise men die, likewise the fool and the British person perish
and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, and the Bible is saying here,
it's giving us an indication of what people are thinking on the inside of themselves. And
it's shocking the stupidity of these people. This is what people that trust in riches,
this is what they're actually thinking on the inside, even though they might not say that on
the outside. Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever. These people
really think that the wealth they've accumulated, I'm going to pass it on to my son and we can come
here a thousand years later and we're the richest family in the world and we have everything. That's
what they're thinking on the inside. Their houses are going to continue forever and they're dwelling
places to all generations. It doesn't work that way. If you were to look at the richest families
in the world today and then look at them 500 years from now, the world lasts that long, you're not
going to see the same rich people you want. It's not going to last forever. Their houses shall
continue forever. They're dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands after their
own names and they think that by naming things after themselves, naming a company after themselves,
it's going to last forever. No one's going to take place. That company is going to go bankrupt.
It's going to get bought out by another company and be completely forgotten. I am amazed that in
my life, how many very powerful companies from the United States are nothing today.
They're gone today. When I was a kid, it was Walmart versus Kmart. It's like Kmart.
Just completely dissolved. Sears was a huge company, just kind of dissolved.
I mean, just you see the biggest companies, you tend to think they're going to be powerful forever
and they just dissolve. Over the last 12 months, Amazon's lost over 50% of its money.
It is plummeted. Even their owner said that because what happens, new companies come in
and they, you know, do things a little bit differently. And even with Amazon,
I thought Amazon surely can last forever because Amazon's like shopping times 20
and yet it's falling apart. Same thing with shopping. 20 years from now, there probably
will be no shopping. But for Amazon, eBay in the United States was the big company and it's just
nothing. It's just the way it is. When you look at social media, MySpace was big before Facebook.
Then Facebook comes and you got Instagram, Twitter, maybe X, Twitter, whatever. It's like
these things come and then they end up going. They don't last forever.
Things will last for a thousand years. They're popular and then it fades.
Empires have a tendency to think their fame is going to last forever.
It's like a country becomes powerful. It will never fall. Look, that's what people think about
the United States today. Every empire falls. Egypt was powerful. It fell. Assyria, you read Assyria
in the Bible. No one can ever bring us down. And then nowadays, if you ask people about Assyria,
they'll be like, what? They'll think you're saying Syria. They don't know Assyria.
It's not popular anymore, right? I mean, Greece is not popular or prominent today. I mean,
it's a known country, but it's not prominent. Egypt is not the land of wealth in 2023.
Rome is not the land of wealth in 2023. And neither will the United States be forever.
No empire just lasts forever. Countries come, they're powerful, and then they go.
I mean, literally I read from a book. It's right at the beginning. They're talking about countries
in Asia. This is what they were saying a hundred years ago. They said the two superpowers in Asia
are going to be Japan and the Philippines going forward. They were going to be the two superpowers
financially in Asia. That was a hundred years ago, that book. Well, that didn't last very long.
I mean, the Philippines is not a poor Asian country compared to the others. It's certainly
not one of the richest though. And it's like, here's the thing. I mean, Japan, you know what,
they're powerful now, but they're also going down. It's just the way it works.
Same thing with companies. Same thing with famous people. You could name a bunch of famous people
from 500 years ago to the average person on the street. And they'd be like,
who? It doesn't matter how much money they have. It doesn't matter how famous they were.
They're going to be forgotten. It's just the way that it works.
And we're here in Psalm 49. Let me just quote you that from a biblical perspective,
it's not something that we should be striving for to be famous. What the Bible says is as unknown
and yet well known. So what does that mean? It means that we're unknown here on earth.
We are nobody's here on earth. Look, you might think because,
you know, this is a new I have been church. I'm a new I have been creature. Like, oh,
people know brother stuff. I am unknown in the world. Nobody knows who I am, right?
If you ask my name around the world, it's like, there'd be very few people who know who I am.
But here's the thing. If you're serving God, you're unknown on earth, but you're well known
in heaven. That's what the Bible said. And as a Bible believing Christian, our goal should be
being rich toward God and being known in heaven, doing great things for God, getting people saved,
serving God, not being rich and famous down here. Obviously work hard, try to be successful at your
job. Money is not inherently evil and having money can be a good thing. And the Bible says,
try to pass it on to the next generation with your family. And I get that, but that's not what
your life is about. And many people come to the end of the life and their life was money,
money, money, thing, thing, thing. And then they die and they think it's going to last forever.
And it doesn't, it's nothing just space. Psalm 49 verse 12. Nevertheless, man being in honor of
by not his life, the beast that perish man being an honor by not, you know, people that have great
honor in this world and a great reputation and a really famous people. Usually they end up losing
that reputation. Isn't that true with most celebrities, everybody praises them. They're
the greatest thing ever. And then all of a sudden some scandal comes out and all of a sudden their
honors completely gone. Someone's well-respected. I mean, look, literally, you know, in the United
States, Donald Trump was a very well-respected man 20 years ago when he ran for president.
It's like, now tons of people hate it, right? It's just the way it is. It's like,
you're well-respected, you're famous, you're successful. You got these actors. You think
they're so funny. They got all this money and everything like that. They're so great.
Then some scandal comes out and a reputation is gone. They're an embarrassment. There are
children. That's the way it works, right? And the Bible says, man being an honor by not,
he is like the beast that perish. We're going to skip verse 13, uh, till later. Then verse 14,
like sheep, they're laid in the grave. Death shall feed on them and the upright shall have dominion
over them in the morning. And look, even if people's popularity does not fade while they're
alive, which it almost always does. I mean, people have like a couple of years being very popular
and it usually just things. How many people today are still popular that were from a while back?
Very few. I mean, you know, I mean the one person I can think of, Michael Jordan is still pretty
famous. I see number 23 Chicago Bulls everywhere, but it's like, that's like the one exception I
can think of because there are a lot of great athletes in the past, but nobody knows who they
are. Just fades. It's forgotten. Nobody knows who they are, right? Their fame goes, their honor goes,
they're no longer popular. I mean, they have their time of fame and everybody loves them and
just kind of fades away. Right? I mean, when I was a kid, I was a big Michael Jordan fan. I had the
poster on my wall and for several years he was incredibly famous. He's not, I mean, he's still
famous. He's not as famous as he used to be though. It's not like everybody wants to be like
Mike in 2023. Why? Because there's always going to be some new athlete that comes. Somebody new comes.
Things change. It's just the way that it works. Like sheep, they're laid in the grave. Death shall
feed on them. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. See those that are godly
are going to have dominion over them. Look, you can be a nobody here on earth and have very little
money, but you serve God and you're going to have a lot of rewards in heaven while people like that
rot in hell for all eternity. And what for? I mean all that fame and it did nothing.
We only live a short time on earth,
70 to 80 years and it's going to fly past you and then you're gone and then it's like,
what did you do for Christ? That's all that's going to matter. Do you really think that you're
going to get to heaven and someone's going to say like, Hey, you know what? I watched you in
that basketball game on TV. I'm a big fan of yours and I saw you score that goal. That was awesome.
I heard you sing that song and I was watching TV and it's not going to happen in heaven. Nobody's
going to care about it. You know why we're not going to care? Because our bodies are gone when
we go to heaven, we've got the soul. And then when we get the glorified body, the glorified body
doesn't care about those things. The glorified body cares about godliness and holiness and
righteousness, not worldliness. The Bible says that the universe 14 in their beauty
shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. Look, some people that are rich and famous,
you know, especially you think of actresses in Hollywood and they're really famous for being
very beautiful people. But you know what? Here's the thing. That beauty is going to fade while
you're alive. You don't even have to get to the point of your grave because as you get older,
the way it works, right? The people that were really famous for being beautiful 20 years ago,
nobody talks about those celebrities anymore in that way. You say, why? Because you get over it
just is what it is. And then no matter how beautiful you are, I mean, you're still going
to eventually die and then your body's just going to rot in the grave. That's the way it works.
It's not like, you know, you've got the new stations and say, well, let's pull this person
out of the grave. They're still so beautiful. It doesn't work that way.
Your bodies will rot in the grave and that's it, right? That's what the Bible is saying here.
Their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. Now we'll say this. There are other
ways to destroy your beauty. The Bible speaks about those that drink alcohol, that their beauty
is like a fading flower. A flower is a beautiful thing when it's in full bloom, isn't it? And then
when it starts to get old, it's just kind of like the Bible says alcohol will do that to you.
If you drink alcohol, you do drugs, you smoke, you have a lot of vices. It will destroy your beauty.
I've known people from my hometown. It's like they went to college just getting drunk all the time.
And it's just like, man, they changed a lot in a couple of years. I mean, it's like, I'm not
friends with anyone on Facebook that I was, you know, friends with in high school that I knew in
high school just because I'm at a different stage of life. But I remember the last time I saw some
people, people just the same age as me. And I'm thinking, man, it looks like they lived a hard
life. I mean, some of them looked old enough to be my father or my mother. I'm thinking, man,
you look like you're 50 years old. What have you done to yourself, right? And it's like your
lifestyle will affect how you look. But even if you stay attractive to the day you die, well,
I mean, eventually it's going to consume away in the grave. But God will redeem my soul from the
power of the grave for he shall receive you say love. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
when the glory of his house is increased, for when he died, he shall carry nothing away.
His glory shall not descend after. I was saying, don't envy these people. People get a lot of
money. They have a lot of success that are ungodly people. Don't envy them. Right? Don't be like in
Psalm 73, I think it's ASAP where he's envy and saying, man, I wish I had this. I mean, I've been
serving God in vain. I mean, their beauty is going to fade. Their money is going to fade.
Their power is going to fade. They're going to be a nobody for all eternity. They're going to be
nobody. And even if some of these people are saved, if they're doing nothing for God, they're
going to be a nobody in heaven. They're going to be unknown in heaven, known here and then unknown
in heaven because they did nothing for Christ while they were alive. Turn to
Esther chapter three.
Let me give you an example of someone who is an extremely famous person at one time and not a
single person in this world, unless they read the Bible, knows who this person is. And even with
some of the kings that were kind of famous, nobody really knows. I mean, the Persian kings are pretty
famous in history, but nobody really knows, you know, Darius in 2023. Maybe they know Cyrus,
but you know, they don't really know the other names. And so, but here in Esther three, notice
this. Verse five, and when Haman saw that Mordecai vowed not nor did reference, then was Haman full
of wrath. Here's Haman, who had everybody bowing down to him, everybody worshiping him,
the second most powerful man in the world. You would think if you're the second most powerful
man in the world that you would have fame that would extend, but is there anybody in this world
in 2023 who knows who Haman is unless they read the Bible? Not a single person. He is a nobody for
all eternity. I mean, you could probably go over to Iran where Persia was located, and they
probably wouldn't even know who he was. He's a nobody, because your fame is going to fade. It's
going to be gone. Go back to Psalm 49. Psalm 49. And verse 17 is an interesting verse in Psalm 49,
where it says, pretty die if you shall carry nothing away, his glory shall not descend after
him. I mean, that should be pretty obvious, but you know, when you look at the ancient Egyptian
empire, isn't that what they're famous for? Where they would be buried with their gold,
and somehow they thought they'd take their gold in the afterlife, right? You get buried with
your possessions, and then I've heard people in the United States doing this. They get buried
with like a lot of money. I'm thinking, what a selfish person. You've got a son of a daughter
you could pass that money on to, and then it's just like, you get buried with this money.
It's like, what are you doing with them? What kind of philosophy do they have in their head?
What do you think is going to take place? And this is very famous in the ancient Egyptian culture,
where you get buried with nice clothes. You get nice clothes in the afterlife. You get buried
with money. You get money in the afterlife. You get buried with gold. You get gold in the afterlife.
I mean, you wear your kingly crown, and you become a king in the afterlife.
That's the sort of mindset that they had in ancient Egypt, and that's what they would
actually do. It's one of their assessments, preserving the body and things such as that.
But obviously, the Bible says you're going to carry nothing with you, right?
Point number one, wealth cannot deliver a soul. Point two, wealth cannot keep you famous.
Lastly, people encourage others to seek after wealth. People encourage others to seek after
wealth because you might think if wealth is not all it's cracked up to be, if living your life
from money, because even outside of Christianity, people will say living your life from money
does not make you happy. They've done a million studies, and you see rich people,
and they're not happy. People know that. So why do they seek after it if it doesn't really make
them happy? What's the reason? Well, I mean, because men encourage them to. Notice what it
says in verse 13. This, their way is their folly, yet their posterity approved their saying,
Selah. What is posterity? It is the descendants of a person. So it's your kids, it's your grandkids,
it's the lineage that is after you. That is your posterity. And so they're foolish,
living all their life for money, all their life for possessions, but their descendants,
their posterity, they approve those things. They basically are trying to encourage them.
And of course, I mean, it would benefit a child for their parents to be rich in a financial sense
if you're a cultist, right? And so the next generation encourages them to go after money,
go after money, go after money. Verse 18. By the way, let me just say this, though.
This isn't the way that young children are, though. The only thing a young child cares about
is spending time with mom and dad. A three-year-old, a four-year-old, a five-year-old,
they don't care about being rich. They just want to spend time with mom and dad. Now,
obviously, when people get older and then they get deceived by the world, things can change,
like when they're teens and things like that. But a three-year-old doesn't care about that.
All a three-year-old cares about is spending time with mom and dad. All a four-year-old cares about
is spending time with mom and dad. They don't think about money at all, right? Because kids
are just happy if they're spending time with their parents. The Bible says, verse 18,
though while he lived, he blessed his soul, and men will praise thee when thou doest well to
thyself. The Bible says that men praise you when you do well to yourself. And what the Bible's
saying is this, people, they live life for money and power and fame. And what happens? People
gather around them and just say how great they are. And what happens? Well, we'll find them,
right? I mean, look, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a famous athlete. You say,
why? Because I wanted, everywhere I went, people would say, hey, you're the greatest thing ever,
right? Because we're prideful. That's the reason why. And this is literally true with money because
think about this. If it weren't for the fact that you're trying to impress others, you probably
wouldn't care that much about what you have. Think about this. This is the way we are by human
nature. And you know what? I'm excited about the new series we're going to start this weekend on
the alphabet and characteristics. We're going to be going through angers of first sermon and
bitterness. I mean, these are things that I think are life changing sources of sermons that we all
could use. But here's the reality with human nature. If let's say that the house that you have
now was a lot worse, but it was the richest house of anybody that you knew. By human nature,
you're happy because you have more than other people because naturally what do we do? We
compare ourselves to other people. I mean, even if your house is fine, it's like, well,
someone else has a nicer one and you get upset. You say why? Because you're comparing yourself
to other people. That's just the way it works. And look, I'm also guilty of this. This just
naturally is the way that we are. And here's the thing with money is it's not that people
need more things to be happy. It's just like I've got to be able to impress other people
because I'm not going to be happy unless I look good to other people.
I got to have a nice house to impress other people. I got to have a nice car to impress
other people. I got to have a nice job to impress other people. You know, I thought about this a
long time ago that, you know, because in America you have blue collar and white collar jobs. That's
kind of how you divide it. And blue collar and white collar jobs both pay very good money.
It's not, well, it's only white collar jobs that make money. It doesn't work that way in the US.
Blue collar jobs make good money and you don't have to go to college. You can become just,
you know, a normal tradesman in a different area, in whatever area, whether it's an electrician or
a carpenter, and you make a great living and you're very successful. I mean, it's, it's,
it's here, it's a little bit harder, but in the US, you know, it's, it's kind of like,
honestly, for most people, it's not even good to go to college because you end up having a debt
and you can make more money starting out in the blue collar job. Why is it that everybody pushes
for the white collar jobs? Because the blue collar jobs are looked down on even though they make more
money. That's the way it is. Even though they can make just as much money with no college debt,
it's like they can be looked down on. And so what happens? Well, people want to impress other people
and so they want to get the job that impresses people, even though it's like, hey, this job pays
good money perfectly fine. You don't have to work, but it's like they want to impress other
people. And that is how we are. And what it says here in this verse, people are going to praise
you when you do well yourself. And we want to impress other people with what we have and what
good in front of them. Verse 19, he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never
see light man that is in honor and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish. Look, it is a
huge insult when you're being compared to an animal. I don't care what evolution says. It's
like it is an insult if you're compared to an animal, biblically speaking compared to a beast.
I mean, the Bible refers to male homosexuals as dogs and female homosexuals as swine or pigs.
Those are very offensive terms. Those are very dirty and disgusting animals in the habits that
they do. Those are not things. And the Bible is likening these people to beasts, right?
Now turn to verse 76. We're going to close up verse 76.
So look, if these people that trust in riches and live all their life for that and aren't serving
God. And this is not necessarily like bad people like reprobates. They're just, this can even be
safe people. Just people that are obsessed with money. The Bible compares them to beasts.
So think of an animal. Look at what beasts do. I mean, you want to be like a dog?
It's a dirty animal. I mean, they lick all kinds of disgusting things. You want to be like a dog?
Look at them. Is that what you want to be like? As a Bible lit Christian, you want to be like a
cat? You want to be like a pig? You know, that's just eating the slop. That lives a dirty life.
I mean, the Bible is saying, don't envy these people. They're like beasts. They're foolish.
They're not thinking straight ahead. Look, if you're saved and you're living like this,
just money, money, money, without ever thinking about eternity. It's like, are you a fool?
I mean, sense your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Things on the earth,
they fade or nothing. And if that's not good enough, just look at the life of Solomon.
Look at someone. It was just money, possessions, possessions, possessions. Therefore I hated life.
And yet people in 2023, they go down the exact same road as Solomon.
I had a friend of mine in college. His dream was to be, you know, he said, I want to be the next
Donald Trump. This is before Donald Trump was a politician. He was just known as a rich billionaire.
He's like, my goal is to be basically saying I want to be a millionaire.
That is a horrible goal for anybody to have. You say, why do you say that brother?
Well, first Timothy chapter six, notice this. We'll close up here. First Timothy chapter six,
verse six. But godliness with contentment is great gain. Contentment means happiness.
You see, I thought money was great gain. No, actually godliness. Being godly and being content
with what you have. Remember Paul is the man who stated, I have learned in what sober state I am
there with to be content. I know how to be a base and I know how to go about. He said, I've learned
to be content even if I have less. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. We're not carrying anything out of this world. It doesn't matter what you
have at your house or how much money you have. You're not carrying a single cent of it with you
to the after all. And having food and raiment let us be there with content. You know, it's
interesting to me in verse eight, we ought to be content if we have food and raiment. God doesn't
even mention a place to live. Do you notice that? And here's the thing, I think everybody in this
room has a place to live. I think everybody can go home tonight and put your head on a pillow
and sleep in a bed. Anyway, the Bible says you have to be content just with
food and raiment. You say, well, I'm not content. I want more. We'll learn to be content, the Bible
says. That's what it says in Philippians 4. Verse number nine, but they that will be rich,
basically they're living their life for money. That's what they want, fall into temptation
and a snare. A snare is a trap. It's kind of like the mouse going for the peanut butter or the cheese,
right? And on a side point, cheese is not a good way to catch mice. It's just something in movies.
Peanut butter is much better, okay? But it's like the mouse going for the peanut butter in the trap
and then it's literally a mouse trap, mouse snare, right? And it goes for the peanut butter and then
but this is how people live. Money, money, money, right? That's what the Bible is saying.
Follow the temptation in a snare and in the many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in
destruction and perdition. The Bible says when you go after money, you will destroy your life.
And you know what? Without fail, pretty much every single person who wins the lottery,
look at their life five years down the road, divorced, never talked to their kids,
drug addicts, drunks. I mean, they hate life after that. The last thing I would ever want
is to win the lottery. The last thing. You have all that money. Yeah, but look at every single
person who got that money, their life is destroyed. You can look that up. I'm not just saying this is
reality. Those that win $100 million or whatever in the lottery, $5 million, I'm sure whatever
people would, their lives are destroyed. And they think, man, I'm rich. I'm just going to sit around
and do nothing all day and be happy. Then they collect all these vices in their lives and start
drinking and circular drugs and all these things. And then they hate their life, right?
And this is what the Bible is saying. When you go after money, you're going into temptation and
the snare and the many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after they have erred
from the faith and pierced themselves through with the many sorrows. The Bible says the love
of money is the root of all evil. It's not that money is the root of all evil. It's the love of
money. And it's the root of all evil. So what the Bible is saying is you can look at people
and you can look at the most decrepit people and simple people. And if you were to go back
to the root cause and the origin, it would come back to money. And sometimes it's hard to
understand. And I'll just mention this in closing because you think about, wait a minute, brother
What about people that, you know, just become like violent serial killers, these horrible people?
Yeah, but it usually results because mom and dad are so obsessed with money, they never spend any
time with them. And so it might not have been them becoming savages, but their parents, right?
I knew someone that I grew up with. He was the smartest kid in the city I was from. Everybody
would have said he's the smartest kid. Both of his parents were doctors. They were super rich.
And it was kind of, I mean, he was a huge troublemaker when he was a kid.
And the reason why is because his parents didn't spend time with him. And I tried to do the gospel
of this guy a few years ago and, you know, honestly, it's probably a rep for me because
I saw him post online. They were thinking about killing himself, you know, 30 years old, planning
to kill himself. And he's like a drug addict. You know, he's beat his wife many times, been in prison
for all these different things. And it's just like the root cause was because his parents were just
all about money, money, money. That's the reality. The love of money is the root of all the evil
Bible says. And so as Bible-leading Christians, is there anything wrong with money? No, there's
nothing wrong with money. The problem is the love of money. The problem is not having the proper
balance. I mean, if you're coming to church, you read the Bible, you're going soul-winning,
but you're working hard and providing them, that's fine. But if you're forsaking the things of God
in order for the almighty dollar or the almighty peso or whatever, right? It's like, you're cool.
Because of the same person, it's like, you're only living 70 to 80 years. I mean, you've got
rewards in heaven that you can get if you decide to serve God. Our life here is going to flash
before our eyes. All right, let's go to prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I think for a long time we're
here today and just, uh, the lessons we can learn about wealth found in the word of God and help us
not to be people to go down this road and help us not to live our lives just for money, money, money.
Help us to obviously work hard and we ask you to, uh, you know, bless the families of the people
that are at this church, you know, and in their lives or in their health or their spirituality,
but also their finances as well. God would help none of us to go after money and end up
loving money and end up destroying our lives and piercing ourselves through what many start with
great things that you say.
Yeah.