to Anchor Baptist Church. If you would grab a hymnal, find a seat, and turn to
number 105, All That Thrills My Soul, hymn number 105105, All That Thrills My Soul.
On the first, who can cheer the heart like Jesus by His presence?
All be fine, true and tender, pure and precious.
Oh, how blessed to call them by.
All that grows my soul is Jesus.
And that's it for an ice cream!
I bless it.
You're nice to me.
your heads with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for another opportunity to be here this
evening. Lord, just as this morning I pray that you would be with us for the service, that you'd
open our ears to the message and just have us have ready hearts to apply this, also that you
would just fill Pastor Oz with your spirit. And Lord, that you would be with those that called on
your son's name for salvation today, that they would just get fired up to get in a good church
and to serve you. These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Alright, for our next hymn this evening, turn if you would to 115, no one ever cared for me like Jesus, hymn number 115-115.
115, we'll sing there on the first.
I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus
Since I've found him a friend such strong and true
I would tell you how he changed my life completely
He did something that no other friend could do
No one ever cared for me
by Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he. No one else but take the
sand and darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me. Oh, my life was full of
Jesus was so strong in loving arms about me, And he led me in the way I ought to go.
Though whatever care for me, be like Jesus, There's no other friend so kind as he,
Though what else could take the sin and darkness from me?
much he cared for me. Every day he comes to me with new assurance. More and more I understand
his words of love. But I'll never know just why he came to save me. Till someday I see
his blessed face above.
care for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he. No one else to take the sin and
darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Anchor Baptist
If you don't have a bulletin, please raise your hand and Usher will bring you one.
On the front there is our Bible memory verse of the week, Galatians chapter 1 verse 4. Keep
working hard at this chapter and if you can memorize the whole thing at the end, there will be a
prize. On the inside is our service times listed Sunday morning at 10 30 Sunday evening at 4 30
and our midweek service on Wednesdays at 7 o'clock.
Our soul winning times are all listed there and those meet here at the building.
Nursing home ministry schedule is listed there.
Next week we've got Brother Eric Loshko preaching for that.
Our year-to-date statistics are listed there, and I think that now we're getting close to 49-ish or something like that for the month, or 39-ish, excuse me.
Please be in prayer for Miss Whitney Reed for our expecting Lady of the Church for her pregnancy.
Also, don't forget that this Friday, Pastor Anderson is going to be preaching for us at 7 o'clock PM, that's January 31st.
February 2nd is our men's preaching night. And again, the cutoff to sign up for that is today.
So before you leave this evening, if you want to preach in that, please do sign up.
And there is going to be a 10 minute limit for this men's preaching night. So you got a week in
advance. Everyone knows 10 minutes is the limit for that February 14th. That's a Friday evening
at seven o'clock. We're going to have our sweethearts banquet.
and just as a reminder that is for married couples only and of course you're welcome to bring your kids
we're probably going to have them on somewhere over here in the church hanging out and playing
together so the adults could have a good time but please make sure you indicate how many of your
kids you're bringing because I am getting different food for the married couples and the kiddos so
please make sure you sign up if you want to be a part of that and the cutoff date to sign up for
April 19th is our Easter soul-winning marathon here in Oklahoma City.
May 16th through the 18th in Vancouver, Washington is the King James Bible Conference.
Durant Oklahoma soul-winning marathon on May 31st.
Church Fellowship event at the Tinker Air Show on June 28th.
The Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship, hard preaching conference there, August 27th through the 31st,
and our Bahamas missions trip on October 6th through the 11th.
Make sure to get your itineraries to Pastor Shelley and Vangelis Fur at Steadfast if you are going to that.
Online giving is listed there and on the back is our prayer request.
Make sure to go over those and be praying for our church members throughout the week.
And as always, if you have any requests,
please email the church and I'll be happy to add that for you.
So we could be praying for you.
That's gonna be it for our announcements this evening.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song.
Let's sing it out together.
All right, for our third hymn this evening, 124.
God will take care of you.
hymn number 124, one, two, four.
God will take care of you
124 we'll sing their starting on the first
God will take care of you, God will take care of you.
Through days of toil and hard to fail, God will take care of you.
And angels fear so bad a sale, God will take care of you.
Take care of you, God will take care of you.
And as the offering plates are being passed, turn, if you would, to Mark, Chapter No. 10.
Mark, Chapter No. 10.
Good evening Mark chapter number 10 mark 10 the Bible reads
And he arose from thence and cometh into the coast of Judea by the farther side of Jordan and the people resort unto him again and as he was want he taught them again and the Pharisees came to him and asked him,
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away.
but from the beginning of the creation of God made them male and female for this cause shall a man
leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh so then
they are no more twain but one flesh what therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder
His disciples asked him again of the same matter and he saith unto them
Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another
Committed adultery against her and if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to another
She committed adultery and they brought young children to him that he should
that he should touch them and his disciples rebuked those that brought
them but when Jesus saw it he was much displeased and said unto them suffer the
little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the
kingdom of God verily I say unto you whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child he shall not answer therein
and he took them up in his arms and put his hands upon them and blessed them and
When he was gone forth into the way there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him good master
What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
There is none good, but one that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery,
do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him,
one thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven
and come, take up the cross and follow me.
And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved,
for he had great possessions.
And Jesus looked round about and saith unto his disciples,
How hardly shall they that have riches
Enter into the kingdom of God?
And the disciples were astonished at his words.
But Jesus answered it again and saith unto them,
Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches
To enter into the kingdom of God?
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
Than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished out of measure saying
Among themselves who then can be saved and Jesus looking upon them said with men
It is impossible, but not with God for with God all things are possible
Then Peter began to say to him low we have left all and follow thee and Jesus answered and said verily
I say unto you there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for
My sake in the gospels, but he shall receive an hundredfold
Now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions
and in the world to come eternal life
But many that are last but many that are first shall be last and the last first
And they were and they were in the way going up to Jerusalem and Jesus went before them and they were amazed
And as they followed, they were afraid, and he took again the 12 and began to tell them what things should happen unto them, unto him, saying,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again.
James and John the sons of Zebedee come unto him saying master we would that thou should us do for us
whatsoever we shall desire and he said unto them what would ye that I should do for you they said unto him
granted to us that we may sit one on that right hand and the other on that left hand in thy glory.
But Jesus said unto them, ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, we can.
And Jesus said unto them, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of and with the baptism
that I am baptized with all shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left,
is not mine to give but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared and when the 10
heard it they began to be much displeased with James and John but Jesus called them to him and
saith unto them he know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise
But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
And they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat on the highway side begging.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And many charged him that he should hold his peace.
But he cried the more a great deal.
Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
And they called the blind man crying, saying unto him,
Be of good comfort, arise.
He calleth thee.
and he, casting his rose, and came to Jesus.
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
what wilt thou that I should do unto thee?
The blind man said unto him, Lord,
that I might receive my sight.
And Jesus said unto him, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole.
And immediately he received his sight
and followed Jesus in the way.
Let's bow our heads for a prayer father and have we thank you for this day the souls that were saved out this afternoon
And we just ask that you would fill up ask the Holy Spirit
Hey man, all right, well we are in mark chapter number 10 this evening and let's read verse number 17
Bible says, and when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and
kneeled to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? And of course, this is the famous story of the rich young ruler as
he's referenced in other gospels. And I want to skip kind of to the end of this
interaction between Jesus and this young man before we get into the sermon, but
skip down to verse number 24.
How it says and the disciples were astonished at his word, but Jesus answered it again and saith unto them children
How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God?
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter into the Kingdom of God.
And the title of my sermon this evening
is the dangers of trusting in riches.
The dangers of trusting in riches.
Jesus talks about how hard it is for a person
who trusts in their money and their wealth
to enter into the Kingdom of God.
He even gives us this really extreme metaphor
saying that it would literally be easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
then for a rich man to be saved.
I mean, that's just an extreme example,
but that's how rare it is that someone who grows up,
you know, rich and trusting in their riches,
especially actually gets saved.
So keep your place in Mark 10 throughout the sermon,
but I'm gonna give you three dangers this evening
of people that are trusting in their riches.
Number one, danger number one.
making money the focus of your life. This is a serious danger for people who
have riches and who trust in riches. The danger with that one of them is that
you would make money the focus of your life. Look at verse 17 again where it
says, and when he was gone forth into the way there came one running and kneeled
to him and asked him, good master what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life in verse 22 talks about how this young man had great possessions.
in other Gospels he's referred to as rich and so one of the Bible definitions of the word rich
is someone who has great possessions someone who has a lot of possessions and I find it interesting
the way that this rich young ruler even frames the question to Jesus to begin with notice the
terminology he uses he says good master what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life. I don't think it's a coincidence that this man who is very rich, who puts his trust
in riches, someone who's just kind of obsessed with money, when he asks Jesus about salvation,
he kind of uses a financial term when he's talking about it. Hey, how do I inherit eternal life?
Why? Because one of the dangers of people who are rich and people who trust in riches is that
and they become obsessed with getting money,
and it just becomes who they are as a person
where everything is about money.
Even to the point where this man is asking Jesus a question
about something spiritual,
yet he's still using these financial terms
because that's just how this guy is.
He's just a man that trusts in riches.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number five,
Ecclesiastes chapter number five.
And you know, before I get too deep into this sermon,
let me just make it very clear
and preface this sermon by saying,
there's nothing inherently sinful about being rich.
There's nothing inherently sinful about having lots of money.
The Bible talks about how it's wrong
to get money through unjust gain, right?
You're supposed to get money honestly by working hard.
You know, if you've done a great job in business
and you've become successful, let me make it clear.
I'm not talking about that type of a person.
I'm talking about a person though.
who loves money or who trusts in riches.
There are serious dangers for those
purse for those type of people.
Look at Ecclesiastes 510. It says.
He that loveth silver now look every word of God in your Bible is important because this verse doesn't start by saying
He that has silver right he that loveth silver noticed shall not be
satisfied with silver see it's just sad and
Meaningless for a person to become obsessed with money and to have that be the centerpiece of their life
Because the Bible says when someone loves money guess what they're never gonna be satisfied with money
And that's kind of what everyone in life is chasing, right?
It's chasing some level of satisfaction, chasing some level of fulfillment in life.
And people who are obsessed with money, they think that money buys happiness, right?
That's a common phrase. People think that money can buy happiness,
but the Bible is saying those that love silver, you'll never be satisfied with silver.
That's why it's such a vain and just worthless way to spend your life is just chasing money chasing as much money as you possibly can.
The Bible says that that's going to lead to a very empty, meaningless and unfulfilled life.
That's why you would think that the happiest people in the world are these Hollywood actors
and actresses and all these celebrities, yet oftentimes they have tons of depression issues.
They're constantly committing suicide.
They're constantly getting addicted to drugs and alcohol and all these issues.
Why?
Because money does not buy happiness.
It's true.
It does not buy happiness.
Let's keep reading.
with increase. So if you're the type of person where you just love having all sorts of goods
and that's what this rich young ruler is, he has great possession, right? He has all these
goods. The Bible says that you're not going to be satisfied with increase. This is also vanity.
And I don't know if you've ever experienced this in your life.
I know how I have, where there is something that I really, really wanted.
And there's just this item that I really wanted and I got that item and I found it immediately
to be disappointing.
Has anyone else been there where you just think like, man, this is going to be super
cool.
I've been waiting for a long time and you get it and it's just like it's nowhere near
as cool as I thought it would be.
I think all of us have experienced something like that.
that just wants abundance, they just want more stuff.
When they get that increase, it's vain, it's empty, it's meaningless.
And you know, we don't want to live our lives as Christians,
just serving that which is vain.
Living meaningless lives, verse 11 says,
when goods increase, they are increased, that eat them.
You know, when you get more money and more things, often times what happens is there's
more things that that money needs to be spent on.
One of those things being people.
It's funny how people want to be your friend when you have lots of money, right?
And it's increased those that eat them when you have more goods.
And what good is there to the owners thereof, saving to be holding of them with their eyes?
You know, it just gets to a point where rich man just has so many things that it's just
You know, who knows who Jay Leno is, Jay Leno.
Okay, he owns like, like thousands of cars,
hundreds of cars at least.
Like that's his big thing is he's super into cars
and he just has a crazy amount of cars.
But it's like at the end of the day though,
what good are all those cars to him basically
other than just looking at them?
Cause you can only drive one car at a time.
right? And even if he drove a new car every day of the year, he probably still wouldn't touch all
his cars because he just has so many cars. And it just gets to a point where you have to ask
yourself, okay, at what point is this just vain? At what point is this just meaningless and worthless?
Right? Look at verse number 12. It says, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he
You know in our human wisdom we would think man if we just had all this money if we just had so much money
We'd be able to sleep great because we wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills
We wouldn't have to worry about providing for our family when actually the Bible says hey
The guy that just works the laboring guy who works hard
He could sleep like a baby whether he's eating a big meal for dinner or where he's whether he's eating a very little
He could sleep well at night because he's worked hard, but yet the rich man notice. He's not able to sleep. Why?
The abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
You know, what is this show about a person when they're literally losing sleep at night over their money, over their assets?
It shows that money is the centerpiece of their life.
Because if something is just keeping you up at night and not allowing you to sleep, that
is what is on your mind.
That is your singular focus as a human being and for the rich here, those that have abundance,
they're not even able to sleep at night because of how much they have.
That sounds very stressful.
And we think that, oh man, what's really stressful is not being rich,
whereas the Bible is saying like, look how stressed out these rich people are.
They're not even able to sleep at night because of the abundance of things that they have.
They're always worried about who's coming after them.
Who's coming after their assets? Are they in any danger?
Is their company in any danger?
They're having to worry about all these things because they have so much.
Making money, the focus of their life.
A few pages back, Proverbs chapter number 30, that's why the Bible teaches us to have
a balanced view when it comes to money, right?
The Bible tells us not to labor to be rich, not to desire to be rich, but at the same
time we don't want to be in poverty either.
Look at Proverbs 30 verse 8.
It says, Remove far from me vanity and lies.
Feed me with food, convenient for me, right?
So you could have on one hand a rich person
and someone who trusts in their riches
make money the centerpiece of their life
because they just love silver
and they just love abundance and they love money.
That's wrong.
But also you could have on the other side
someone in extreme poverty,
also make money the center of their life because of their lack that they have, right?
And so we don't want to be those that are just extremely poor and living in poverty,
where all we're thinking about is the next, you know, income that's coming in.
We want to be able to live a middle-class, normal life.
That way we could put our effort and energy into serving God
and not worry too much about, are we going to starve to death over here?
And also, we're not thinking about, oh, you know, I can't wait for the next Lamborghini
and the next private jet and all those things.
You notice how it says, feed me with food convenient for me.
Doesn't say, you know, give me a Lamborghini.
Doesn't say, feed me with filet mignon every single night.
It doesn't say those things.
We want to have some sort of a balance when it comes to this.
Now go to Mark chapter number 10.
Mark chapter number 10.
So like I said, you don't want to be on either side of these things.
You don't want to have poverty or riches.
Now, these words are somewhat subjective.
They kind of change with time.
They change with inflation.
They change with culture, right?
And so I'm not putting a specific number on what is rich and what is poor,
but I will say, you know, there was a rich man who was trusting in his riches,
and the Bible says that he fared sumptuously every day.
You know, that could be one definition of rich where your life is living a party every single day, right?
That's one definition of rich.
Or the rich young ruler just says that he had great possessions.
He just had a ton of possessions.
That could be another Bible definition of...
rich, but I'm not saying that because some people have a weird
mentality of this, they say like, oh, you make $100,000 a year,
you're rich. Oh, you make $200,000 a year, you're rich.
That's not even close really to what rich is in our 2025
hyperinflation society. So not talking about that, but Mark
chapter number 10.
The second danger when it comes to people who have riches or trust in their riches is becoming prideful
Becoming prideful look at Mark chapter 10 verse 17 again
It says when he was gone forth into the way there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him good master
What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
Jesus said unto him why callest thou me good? There is none good, but one that is God
Notice how the rich young ruler when he's asking the question of what does it take for him to get eternal life?
His mentality is already on the well, what do I have to do because the rich often think
that they've achieved everything in their life.
They've gotten to where they are by their own intellect,
their own strength, their own willpower and all those things.
And so they think, well, it must be the same thing spiritually.
When it comes to getting to heaven,
hey, just tell me what I need to do.
I'll make the checklist and start getting to work,
not realizing that that's not what salvation is.
Right, the prideful of this world think,
I have to do something to get myself to heaven,
not realizing that they are a rotten sinner.
and that the greatest, richest man in this world is nothing to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that man needs to be humble enough to realize that he is a sinner deserving of hell.
And this is why many rich men never get saved.
because they think they're great, right? And you know so many people today have
been fed this prosperity gospel, right? That says if you're righteous, if you're
godly, if God is on your side, you're gonna have health and wealth. And you know
what? This mentality harms people because what happens is you get rich
men who genuinely have worked hard, they've done good in life, they've made a
lot of money, but because this lies out there they think God must be so for me.
I mean, what do you mean?
What do you mean, am I saved?
Look at my life.
God's clearly blessing me.
Of course I'm saved, not realizing that the prosperity gospel is a lie.
And you could be unsaved and become rich.
You could follow the principles of the Bible, the principles of being diligent, working hard,
having discipline, having wisdom about you.
You could follow those things and get rich and not be saved.
You could follow the carnal truths of the Bible and reap the rewards of that.
And so many rich men, they're just so prideful.
They think, of course, God is on my side.
One time I was soul winning in Vancouver, Washington,
and I went to this very huge property out soul winning.
This man was out there working on something, and I asked him, if he was 100% sure that
if he died today, he'd be going to heaven, and he literally laughed at me and scoffed
at me and pointed back at his house.
He literally said, look at what God has given me.
I'm building a second house over here on this property, and he literally just started talking
about all of his riches.
He was basically saying, yeah, I had to pull down barns to build other, to bestow my goods,
right?
That was literally that story.
This guy thinks, just because he's rich, that God's on his side.
And look, that's sad.
I'm not for that.
I don't want him to go to hell, but I'm just telling you, this is a danger that men who
are rich, men who trust and riches have, is becoming prideful.
Okay, look at verse number 18 again.
It says in Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
There is none good but one that is God.
Notice Jesus indirectly is trying to get it through this guy's head that he's not good.
right? Why is Jesus saying this? Because the rich man thinks he's good. And so Jesus is trying to
say here, hey, you're not good, buddy. There's only one good. And that's God. And of course,
we know that Jesus is God. Because, you know, oftentimes the Jehovah's Witnesses will point
to this verse and say, see, you know, Jesus isn't God because he's saying that there's none good,
but one, and that is God. But hold on. First of all, there's clear verses in the Bible that
teach that Jesus is God. Let's look at one of those real quick in Hebrews chapter one.
You know, first of all, when you want to get your doctrine on any subject, why don't we
get a clear verse before you just find a statement that Jesus said to a guy, let's find a clear
doctrinal verse on the deity of Christ, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, Hebrews 1 verse 8, but
unto the Son, he saith, this is God the Father saying this, Thy throne, O God.
is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Here we have a clear verse where God the Father calls Jesus Christ God.
Why? Because there are three that bear record in heaven.
We believe in the Trinity. We believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
are God. Three persons, one God.
And so when Jesus says there's none good but one, that is God.
First of all, because we know that Jesus is God from clear Scripture,
that must mean He's good, right? And you can flip that around.
We know that Jesus Christ is good. The Bible says He has done all things well.
right? We know that he's never sinned because we know he's good. We also know he's God. So this is
actually a great passage to prove the deity of Christ, even though the cults like to use it to
disparage the deity of Christ. Go to Romans chapter number three, Romans chapter three,
but you know Jesus was kind of in a cryptic way, in an indirect way, just saying to this guy,
Now, why would he have to say this?
Because rich men often are prideful, right?
Rich men often think, hey, I'm good.
Even out soul winning when you ask them the question, oftentimes that's the literal answer
that they give you.
Hey, do you want to hear what the Bible says takes to heaven?
I'm good.
There's kind of a double meaning there, right?
They're kind of saying like, hey, I'm not interested, but really in their heart, what
are they saying?
Like, yeah, I'm good.
Oh, I'm good.
I'm going to heaven.
I'm good.
I'm a good person, right?
It's really a double meaning that they're saying.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.
There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way.
They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no not one.
Now the Bible goes on to describe human nature here in verse 13.
Their throat is an open sepulcher.
with their tongues. They have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known. There's no fear of God before their
eyes. You know, there's kind of two competing philosophies as far as outlooks on human nature.
In this world and one says that people are kind of basically good, right?
And this is things that I heard in school growing up that, oh, you know,
human beings are just basically good, but maybe, you know, as a product of their
environment or how they grew up, you know, they could be corrupted and kind of
learn to do evil. Or there's the idea that just man is inherently sinful.
And that is what the Bible teaches, you know, this is what our founding fathers understood
and why we have things like the separation of powers and government because they understood
that man is inherently corrupt. We need to have checks on man because man is just inherently
sinful. And so, you know, this is a great passage to prove that no one's good, right? There is no
You know, the Apostle Paul even said that he knows that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, right?
And that's really what Romans 3 is at the heart at. It's just talking about us from a human nature perspective, us from a fleshly perspective.
Of course, we know that once we're saved, we are righteous, right? Because Roman 3 says there's no none righteous, no, not one.
That's speaking of the old man, the flesh. Once we're saved, we are righteous.
Once we're saved, our new man cannot sin.
Our new man always wants to do that, which is right.
The Holy Spirit guiding inside of us the same way.
Proverbs 18, verse 10, notice this.
It says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runeth into it and is safe.
So one of the attributes of a righteous person,
what do they do?
They trust in the Lord.
They run to the Lord, and the Bible says here that the name of the Lord is like a strong tower.
The righteous are the ones that do that.
Now, in verse 11, the Bible is going to contrast the righteous with, you would think, the wicked, right?
Like if I was writing the Bible, which thank God I didn't, I would compare the righteous with the wicked.
But you know what the Bible does here? It compares and contrasts the righteous with the rich man.
That's not a coincidence.
Look at this.
Verse 11, the rich man's wealth is his strong city and in high wall in his own conceit.
So notice, you have the righteous.
What do the righteous do?
They trust in the Lord.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
They trust in the Lord and are safe.
And then on the other side of that, you would think that the Bible would have said, well,
here's what the wicked do, but the Bible says that the rich, what do they do?
So, he doesn't trust in the name of the Lord.
The name of the Lord isn't like a tower to him.
His riches are what he trusts in.
And many rich men, because of the pride of their heart, think, I don't need God, because
look at what I've done without him.
right? This is what they think. This is like this golden globe Emmys that happened a few months ago
where all these stupid celebrities were congratulating each other on their terrible music and movies,
whatever they were congratulating each other on, and one of them got up and made fun of
the Lord Jesus Christ saying, oh, notice everyone's clapping and thanking different people tonight,
but guess how many times the Creator of heaven and earth has been thanked tonight? Zero times!
Everyone starts laughing in the crowd.
Why?
Because the rich often times are wise in their own conceit and they think that their riches
is a strong tower and they think they're untouchable because of their riches.
But you know what?
It's a delusion.
It is a delusion.
It says that they're in their own conceit.
That word conceit is an excessively favorable opinion of one's own ability, importance,
You know, isn't it annoying being around people like that, that think they're so important,
that think they're so smart, they can't listen to anyone else, no one else has any input
or anything like that, that's an annoying person to be around.
But the reason that they're like that is because, because of their riches, because they trust
in riches, it's caused them to become prideful.
Deuteronomy 8 verse 11 says, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping
his commandments and his judgments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, lest
when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein, and
when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and
all that thou hast is multiplied.
Sounds like rich people right here, right?
Notice verse 14.
Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth
out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.
So you ought to remember that if you're in here and God has blessed you with wealth and
with money, look, there's nothing wrong with that, but the Bible is giving people like
that a warning that, hey, if God increases you and multiplies you in all these areas,
Do not forget to keep his commandments.
Do not sit here and think that you got to where you are based on your own intellect and your
own will.
The Bible talks about how God is the one that gives us power to get wealth.
Yet so many rich people today think they got there by their own bootstraps, by their own
intelligence.
You know what?
It's not true.
Anyone who's gotten anywhere in life, God has helped them in some way.
God has given them air to breathe.
God has given them resources and friends and connections.
God has blessed every single person in this world.
For God so loved the world.
Okay?
So there's no one in this earth that has just gotten everything on their own.
That is a lie.
Wherever we are, God has helped us greatly in that way.
Go to Mark chapter 10.
I'll read for you Proverbs 28, 11.
The Bible says, the rich man is wise in his own conceit but the poor that hath understanding
searcheth him out.
So oftentimes, the rich, they're super prideful, their wives and their own concede, they think
they know everything, but the poor, because they're in a more humble state in life, they
actually search out wisdom.
They actually want to find wisdom, they actually want to know the truth oftentimes, which is
why if you've ever been soul winning, you've noticed that it's so much easier to get someone
that is poor or middle class saved than someone who is rich.
You know, some of the hardest soul winning I've ever done in my life has been in wealthy
areas in the Northwest, you know, Boise, Idaho, where the median home price is like
almost $600,000 or something like that.
The median home price here in Oklahoma City is like $195,000.
And I'm just telling you, the soul winning here in Oklahoma City is way better than in
Boise, Idaho or in Seattle or in Portland or any of these areas.
Why?
Because oftentimes people that are rich, they're trusting in themselves, they're trusting
Danger number three of someone who trusts in their riches is that they are less likely to serve God
Less likely to serve God and also you kind of see a correlation with this in our country in the Bible Belt
Which generally has lower income than the rest of the country states like Mississippi states like, Oklahoma
Oftentimes the income is a lot lower in these places yet church attendance often is higher again places like Idaho
You know getting people to go to church in Idaho is very hard because the people that live there
They kind of live there to just enjoy
the state. And what I mean by that is like, there's always the next camping trip, hunting trip,
glacier climbing trip, white water rafting trip, all these different things you could do. There's
a lot of great things to do there, but usually that kind of stuff takes a lot of money. And so a
lot of rich people move there to just enjoy this life and just live all the great blessings of life
and they're not really interested in going to church. They're not really interested in serving
God. You know, usually it's not rich people that come to church. Okay, look at verse number 19 of
So he had just been asked, hey, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life?
Mark 10, 19, thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery,
do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not,
honor thy father and mother.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
Now, one thing I want to point out in these couple of verses here is that obviously Jesus is not teaching a works-based salvation here.
Notice, Jesus did not say, hey, you know, here's what you have to do to get to heaven.
Notice how Jesus said, thou knowest the commandments.
He's just saying, hey, you know the commandments, right?
Here's the commandments.
And he said, master, all these have I done for my youth.
Now why did Jesus tell him all these commandments?
Obviously, Jesus knows all things.
He knew his response here.
I've observed all these things from my youth.
But the question is, do you think that this is actually true?
that this rich young man actually had observed all of these commandments from his youth, of course not, right?
This kind of goes back to the pride of rich man oftentimes, thinking that he actually has kept all these things.
Now go to Matthew chapter 5 because
Jesus actually clarified a lot of these sins in his ministry
and actually raised the bar of righteousness in his ministry
because sometimes what rich people do is they'll change the standard of sin
to just not fit whatever they're doing. It's just why Donald Trump said,
hey, if I had done something wrong then yeah, I would ask God for forgiveness
but you know, I try not to do things that are wrong, right? That's somewhat of what he said.
I think it was like back in 2015 or something saying like, yeah, you know, I don't ask God for forgiveness
because, you know, I don't do stuff that's wrong.
And it's like, what is that?
That's someone that's obviously changed the standard of righteousness that the Bible has
just to fit whatever he's not doing.
But Jesus actually raised the bar of righteousness.
Verse 27 says,
You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Pretty straightforward, right?
Don't lay with another man's wife.
Don't lay with another wife's husband.
Verse 28, But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
So, yeah, the rich young ruler, he might be telling the truth here that he has not murdered someone, that he has not
committed adultery as far from a literal perspective,
but is that just the only standard for sinning against God? No.
Because Jesus said that if you even look after a woman too lust after her in your heart,
you've committed adultery with her in your heart.
Now what man on earth has not done that?
No one, right?
This is something that everyone struggles with.
There's no way that this rich young ruler had never done that.
And so Jesus is kind of bringing this up
because it's just such a ridiculous idea that this man has.
I'm going to read for you James chapter 1 verse 10.
The Bible says for whosoever shall keep the whole law
and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
That's why it's such a silly concept,
this idea of repenting of your sins for salvation.
Thinking, well, you just got to stop doing the sins
that you were doing and get better in the future.
But the Bible says that once you've committed one sin,
you are guilty of all.
You're completely guilty of all, and okay, so you stopped sinning in one area of your life,
but the question is, who's going to pay for that sin?
You can't pay for it by repenting of your sins.
That doesn't do anything for the sin that's already been committed.
Someone pure and clean had to have paid for that sin, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, of course.
And then that begs the question, if you could just repent of your sins to get saved,
why would Jesus Christ have to die to begin with?
Why would the sinless Lamb of God have to go get tortured on a cross and burn in hell for three days and three nights?
If you could just simply stop smoking and go to heaven, you know, that wouldn't make any sense.
No, you're not gonna be forgiven of your sins just because you stopped sinning.
You get forgiven of your sins by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
You don't get forgiven of your sins just because you've never committed murder or adultery.
What about lusting after a woman in your heart?
What about having a foolish thought?
What about stealing?
What about lying?
What about taking the Lord's name in vain?
What about being lazy?
Right? There's tons and tons of sins
that we all commit all the time.
Christians that are saved, I'm talking about, commit all the time.
And you know what? You don't get forgiven over those sins
because you stop one day.
You get forgiven because Jesus' blood was applied to your account.
That's the only way.
1 Timothy 6, 17.
says, charge them that are rich in this world,
that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
So notice, those that are rich are being charged,
not to be high-minded, not to be prideful,
not to be trusting in uncertain riches.
Go back to Mark chapter 10.
Mark chapter number 10.
Mark chapter 10 verse 21. Notice Jesus' response after he hears the silly answer.
Oh, all these things have I kept from my youth up. Verse 21, then Jesus beholding him, loved him.
That's a pretty...
impressive, amazing, mature response,
because I'll just be honest,
I kind of get annoyed very easily
by people out soul winning that say things like,
oh, you know, I'm a good person.
Oh, you know, I haven't really done anything bad.
Oh, I've kept all these things from my youth up.
That would immediately just tick me off.
That would immediately just make me wanna like,
okay, I'm out of here, not wasting my time.
But you know, it's a lot of love and patience
that the Lord Jesus Christ has
that he beheld this stupid answer.
And that's what it is.
It's a stupid answer, right?
But he beheld this answer, and he still loved the guy.
He still cared about him, and that's the right attitude, all right?
And he said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way,
sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come,
take up the cross, and follow me."
You know, Jesus is basically
I think in a way kind of playing with him or kind of messing with him a little bit where he's like,
okay, you've never sinned. Okay, you're good. You're going to heaven. Okay, well, let's worry
about your spiritual bank account then. Let's worry about getting you some riches in heaven.
Hey, all you got to do, sell all that you have, give it all to the poor and follow me and you'll
be rich in heaven, right? Because Jesus knew that this would kind of like shock this guy and put
him a little bit on the defense. You know, Jesus didn't really make fun of him, but he just said,
like, okay, you're saved. You're good. Okay, let's take your word of that because theoretically,
If you have never sinned, you would not need, you would not go to hell, right?
If you've never sinned, there's no way you would go to hell.
You would have no need to be saved because you weren't a sinner.
Theoretically speaking.
Now, of course, that's not possible, right?
And so Jesus is saying, oh, theoretically, okay.
Theoretically, you've never sinned.
Well, theoretically, if you sold everything that you had right now and gave it to the poor,
you'd be very rich in heaven.
But is that what you see in reality from rich men today?
When we see the rich of this world, are they the ones who are going to be rich in the kingdom
of heaven?
No, they're not.
Why?
Because rich people, one of the dangers trusting in riches or having riches is that the rich
are less likely to serve God.
It's true, look around this room, look around other churches you've been to,
churches that are going out and doing great works for God,
doing real soul winning, preaching the word of God is not really full of a bunch of
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's and these people, they're not the ones that are
serving God.
Right, like we looked at this morning, who was it that was serving God? The fishermen.
The cattlemen, the tent makers, the carpenters, these people are not rich, right?
They're just regular blue collar guys.
Now go to James chapter number two, James chapter number two.
James chapter number two.
Look at verse number five.
Have not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him?
You know, it's kind of a seeming contradiction, but it's reality that oftentimes it's the people who are poor physically in this world who will be rich in the kingdom of God.
And oftentimes, it's the carnally rich people of this world who will either just go to hell, unfortunately,
or be broke and poor in the kingdom of God.
Why? Because they're just too invested in their things.
They're too invested in their riches and the things that they have.
Verse 6 says,
You know, we ought to be aware not to despise the poor.
This is a bad attitude and I know we talked about this a little bit this morning.
These ideas are kind of connecting, but look, do not despise the poor.
Now, obviously, in our society, there's a difference between the homeless, drug-addicted, alcoholic bum who does no work.
That's different.
The Bible says to consider the cause of the poor.
If someone's poor because they're doing that, that's wicked.
The Bible says if a man does not work, neither should he eat.
But then there's also what's known as the working poor.
They put in tons of hours into their job every week.
They are not lazy people, yet they still live in poverty.
Do not despise those people.
Do not look down on those people or think you are better.
The Bible talks about to have respect of persons and judgment is not good.
Right? If someone walks into church wearing vile clothing
and you tell them to sit down and be your footstool,
you're transgressing the law of God.
You're sinning at that point. It's a wicked mindset.
And Jesus did not have that aristocratic attitude
looking down on someone that's poor.
And also be careful of just immediately lifting someone up because they're rich.
Because it's just human nature, unfortunately, to just bless the rich
and to think good of the rich and to immediately lift them up.
That's why he says, do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seat.
He's having to kind of remind them of that because people just naturally like and respect
and honor and venerate rich people.
I mean, look at Elon Musk.
Everyone seems to just like that guy just because he's rich.
But, you know, you shouldn't just automatically trust someone or venerate someone or look up to someone just because they have money.
You know, there's a lot more to life than that.
Go back to Mark chapter 10, Mark chapter 10, and we'll see the rich man's reaction here to Jesus telling him,
hey, go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor.
And of course, this is not a commandment of God, this is not something Jesus is literally telling us to do.
He's using this to illustrate the point that this man does not actually want to serve Christ, that he does not actually want to be a disciple.
Verse 22, And he, the rich young man, was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, notice, for he had great possessions.
Why did this man want to not want to take Jesus's advice?
Why didn't he want to go follow Christ like Jesus said because he had great possessions?
And why today are so many people not willing to go to church?
Not willing to become a soul winner, not willing to invest their time in reading the Bible,
learning, praying for other people. It's because they have much possessions, right?
Because they're just too distracted, there's too much for them to do,
and you know, a carnal person, if they're going to have to decide between going to church on Sunday
or going on some excursion in their yacht or some vacation,
the carnal person is always going to choose the latter.
And so this person, he goes away sad.
Why? Because he had much possessions.
You know, if he had nothing, if he was poor,
and Jesus is offering him to follow him,
he'd be happy.
He'd be excited.
And, you know, we see plenty of other people in the Bible
that Jesus said, hey, stop everything you're doing right now,
give up your career right now,
and follow me,
and they said, yes, Lord.
Let's do it. They left their nets. They left everything. They were willing to follow Jesus.
Why? Because their heart was not invested in things. Their heart was not invested in money.
And what we see today when we go out soul-winning into the poor ghetto areas and we show up with the gospel of Jesus Christ,
it's exciting to them. It's valuable to them.
It's something that they desire, whereas sometimes people could have so much of this world's good that the spiritual isn't really attractive to them.
They don't really care because they just have are so full on the things of this world go to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter number 6
Matthew 6, verse 24, the Bible says no man can serve two masters for either he will hate
the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
God says here that you have to esteem one and hate the other.
And hate always doesn't have the exact same definition
as we would think of in our modern vernacular
of like to abhor to look down and disgust at something,
that type of hatred.
Sometimes hatred could mean
esteeming something less than something else, right?
When it comes to hating your brother, your father,
your wife, your sister,
that doesn't mean necessarily to abhor them
unless there's some sort of like wicked reprobate or something.
But it's saying to esteem them less than serving God.
When it comes to are you gonna serve God or Mammon?
Really, how we could tell which one you've chosen is to look at which one you've esteemed as the priority in your life.
It doesn't mean that whenever you get paid at work you have to rip up your paycheck or burn it in the fire or something like that.
Go take all your cash out of the bank and burn it, you know, give it to the poor.
That's not what it means to hate mammon.
What it means is that when you have to choose between things and God, you choose God every single time.
It means that when you have to choose between going to the lake on Sunday morning and enjoying
your nice things, whatever your hobbies is, whatever you could buy with money, whatever
pleasures you can get, if you had to choose between that and going to church, you choose
church.
You choose reading your Bible.
You choose serving Jesus Christ.
That's how we could tell which one you esteem higher.
Go to Mark 10.
So again, it's not the quantity of money that matters, it's where, what are you esteeming
Are you rich toward God, or are you just esteeming riches better than anything else?
Mark 10, verse 23, then we see Jesus' reaction to this conversation.
He says in Jesus, looked round about and sayeth unto his disciples,
How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God?
You know, that is just a truth of this world, that it is a rare thing for a rich man to get saved.
And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered it again and saved
unto them children.
How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God?
So Jesus clarifies here that it's not just those that have money that aren't going to
be saved, but it's those that trust in riches.
Why?
Because what do you have to do to be saved?
Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We always use this example out so many when you get in the plane you believe the pilot exists
but when you say that you believe in him what you're saying that you trust him to get you to the
destination right it's not that you just believe Jesus exists or even that you just believe he's
God it's that you trust him to save you you trust his works to pay for your sin
In verse 25, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can be saved?
And Jesus looking upon them, saith with men, it is impossible, but not with God, for with God, all things are possible.
So because of this truth in the Bible,
I hope you understand that we want to focus our efforts on the poor.
We want to focus our soul winning efforts on the poor or the working middle class of
Oklahoma City.
You know, we're not going to just beat our heads against the wall and go soul winning
in Nichols Hills every week.
Right?
I mean, how many salvations will we have at the end of the year if we just went knocking
Nichols Hills every day, that would be a waste of time.
And look, it's not that we hate rich people.
It's not that we're against people that have money.
We're just looking at a Bible truth here
that says that it's rare for rich men to get saved.
And that if someone trusts in riches,
they, dead sure, will not be saved
because you have to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Right, so we want to go to people that are hungry.
We want to go to people that are hungering and thirsting after righteousness and after
the things of God and it just so happens that those people are often the poor, that those
people are often regular middle class people as well.
Go to 1st Timothy 6, I'll read Matthew 4-3, it says blessed are the poor in spirit.
for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit.
You know, many people dream of being rich.
Many people long for and are envious of people
that were born into riches and wealth and a rich family
and they think that their life would be so great
if they were rich and they desire
all the things that the rich has, right?
But the truth is, is that we don't know
if this rich man got saved.
It doesn't really say in this story.
I think that he probably did not get saved.
I think that, sadly, this rich man is probably burning in hell right now.
And many people are so foolish to think, man, I wish that I grew up rich.
Yeah, but really, do you, though, because do you even know if you would have believed
the gospel if you grew up being a spoiled little rich brat with everything handed to
you and seeing your family members trust in riches?
What do you think the chances are that you would have trusted in riches as well?
Right? So many times we desire things that are not good for us.
Right? We're supposed to pray for things in faith and according to the will of God
and not pray for things to consume them upon our own lusts.
And yet many Christians say they just want to be rich. They want to be rich.
Look, being rich is not necessarily going to make your life better. Being rich is not
necessarily always a blessing.
Sometimes people who are rich have miserable lives and way worse lives
than you and I.
Or, you can think about this, there's a bunch of poor people in the Bahamas that grow up
in poverty, and look, you say, well, the Bahamas, poor.
The Bahamas is a poor country.
Yeah, the little strip on the beach where all the rich white tourists go from America.
Yeah, that's a rich area.
That's a nice area.
But the island is poor.
Those people grow up in poverty, and you go to the Bahamas and any store you go into,
grocery store, restaurant, they all have gates and bars, and they have armed security.
They have to buzz you into like a grocery store.
You can't just walk into a grocery store there.
I mean, it's poverty, it's crime, people are hungry, people are skinny, people are small
there.
Look, those people are poor, but you know what's funny?
You know what's funny is that these poor people, that many Americans would say I would hate
to grow up like that.
I would never want to grow up like that.
Those people though, when we show up and preach in the gospel, they're hungry for it and they
get saved.
And you know what, they're going to be rich in heaven.
Meanwhile, all the rich people in New York City, the rich people growing up in Hollywood
think that their life is so great, but a thousand years from now, they'll still be burning
in hell.
Which one would you rather be?
Which one would you rather have?
Sometimes we complain about our situation in life,
but you know what, I would rather grow up
the most poor man on earth
and go to heaven,
than be the richest man who's ever lived
and spend one minute in hell.
You know, be thankful for the lot
that God has given you in life.
Don't sit here and be envious of the wicked.
Don't sit here and be envious of the rich
and realize that, hey, you grew up in a situation
at least to where you were humble enough
Praise God for that.
Thank God for that.
First, Timothy 6 says in verse 6,
but godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into this world
and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
Look, every single person when they leave this earth,
their bank account is the same number, zero.
It doesn't matter.
You can't take any of your money with you, all of its vain.
Verse 8, and having food and raiment, let us be there with content.
But they that will be rich, that means you want to be rich.
That could be a Christian.
That could be an unsafe person.
They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful
lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Hey, let the Bible give you your opinions tonight.
Don't sit here and think like,
well, I think that I'd be great.
My life would be great if I was rich.
I just want to be rich.
I'm just going to focus on making money.
It's not the way the Bible paints that picture.
The Bible says those that will be rich,
that their life is full of perdition, destruction,
foolish and hurtful lusts.
Verse 10, for the love of money,
is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they've aired from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, notice the commandment here, flee these things.
And follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
We are supposed to flee from desiring to be rich.
We are supposed to run away from the love of money.
Again, it's not money that's the issue, but it's desiring to be rich, that's the problem.
It's the love of money, that's the problem.
Their lives are gonna be full of all this destruction,
perdition, all these problems.
What we are supposed to do as Christians
is follow after righteousness.
Make that the goals of our lives,
not chasing after money.
Go back to Mark chapter number 10, Mark 10.
So remember, he said that rich people hardly get saved, his disciples are kind of shocked by this.
Then Peter responds in verse 28, says, then Peter began to say unto him,
Lo, we have left all and have followed thee.
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house
or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and
the gospels, but he shall receive an hundredfold now and this time, houses and brethren and
sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come
eternal life.
But many that are first shall be last and the last first.
you'll have great rewards in heaven.
And Peter kind of cracks me up.
He reminds me of my kids when one kid does bad,
and the other says, but I did good, you know?
Peter's like, hey, we've left all, what are we gonna get?
And it's like, well, you know,
you did make the right decision.
You did forsake all these things.
And any person that goes in forsakes,
brother, sister, houses, land, all those things,
you're gonna receive a hundredfold more in heaven
with rewards and spiritual blessings in heaven.
So it's not like us forsaking the route of pursuing money.
that we're not going to be rewarded or blessed for that?
No, we're going to get rewards for that.
It's not the prosperity gospel that you hear, right?
But it is spiritual blessings.
God will reward you for those things.
Go to Proverbs chapter number 11, Proverbs 11.
So, what is the message of the sermon is, hey, let's not be people that trust in riches,
right? Because there are serious dangers for those that trust in riches.
Proverbs 11-28 says, he that trusted in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
No matter how much money you have.
No matter how much you've accumulated, no matter how great your portfolio is,
you know what, it's still not going to keep your mother from dying.
It's still not going to keep you from getting cancer in your old age.
It's not going to keep you from having tragedy strike your family.
You cannot trust in riches and be saved by that.
It'll never, ever work. It's vain, the Bible says.
Because it's vain, know what we should do is trust in the Lord.
It made me think of a couple of people, Saddam Hussein.
His net worth was $2 billion when his compound was raided and he was destroyed and killed.
Did his riches save him at that time?
It doesn't matter how much money he had, he was destroyed.
Osama bin Laden, his net worth was $100 million.
These were very, very rich men, but it didn't keep him from getting killed.
It didn't keep him from getting destroyed.
And cons—I mean, Nebuchadnezzar.
A great rich man.
Did it keep him from going insane and experiencing the punishment of God?
How about Pharaoh, one of the strongest rulers of the world?
Did it keep him and his armies from being drowned in the depths of the Red Sea?
Right?
How about the devil, the God of this world?
Is all the money that the devil controls in this world going to stop him from being thrown
into the lake of fire someday?
Nope.
Why?
Because trusting in riches is vain.
And what a shame that Christians will do the same things that the world does.
The world who's unsaved, who doesn't have the wisdom of God, will sit there and trust in riches when it's not going to save them.
And sometimes Christians will do the same thing.
That is vain and stupid.
Go to Proverbs 23, flip a couple pages there.
Proverbs 23, notice what God instructs us in verse 4.
Says,
Cease from thine own wisdom.
Quit trying to make excuses for it.
Quit trying to wrap your minds around it.
Don't labor to be rich, the Bible says.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings.
They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Money just has a way of just flying away, right?
It's called, as soon as you get something, your car breaks down, or your kid goes to the hospital, or you have a medical bill, right?
It just, it has a way of just flying away, and you know what? Maybe sometimes that's God just causing us to rely on him.
Maybe God just wants to keep us humble. Maybe the reason that you're in here and you're a regular middle-class person,
just like I am, is because God wants us to rely on him. Don't sit here in desire to be rich.
Two more places we'll go to, 1 Timothy 6 and Luke chapter 4.
1 Timothy 6 and Luke chapter 4 will be done this evening.
You know, another just application we can make from this truth tonight is that if you are rich, if you do have this world's good,
you know, don't hold on so tightly to the things of this world.
And the truth is all of us in here have a lot of carnal blessings, a lot of great blessings just from the fact that we live in America.
You know, compared to many people of the past, all of us in here would be considered rich
to someone in the past, right?
And so we should not just hold on to and value the things of this world so much.
First Timothy 6, 17 says, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded.
Right?
Don't be prideful.
Don't look down on other people, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good
works.
Great, but be rich in good works too.
Be rich in serving God too.
Ready to distribute, willing to communicate, right?
Being willing to share that wealth by blessing other people in your life,
blessing the house of God, taking care of your family.
Be ready to do those things if God has blessed you financially.
Verse 19, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come
that they may lay hold on eternal life.
You know, when you use those things for the glory of God, you're laying up a store for yourself in heaven.
You're laying up spiritual blessings for yourself in heaven.
Luke chapter 4 would be the last place we turn to, Luke chapter number 4, the last application
from this truth is realize that our efforts should be spent on the poor.
You know I'm glad that this year we're going to the Bahamas to preach the gospel and not
to insert whatever rich nation.
You know, I'm glad that we're not going to waste our time there.
We need to focus on the poor of this world because they are the ones that are receptive
to the gospel.
Luke 4.18, we'll end it here.
Jesus said, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor.
He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord.
Hey, let us follow the Lord Jesus Christ's example.
Let our ministry reflect his ministry, where we say, hey, God has anointed us to preach
the gospel to the poor.
Let us not despise the rich, or hate the rich, or anything like that, but let us warn them
of these dangers.
Let's focus on getting the gospel to the poor of this world.
Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this day and thank you for the warnings in your word.
I just pray that no one here would ever be infected with the love of money,
that no one here would ever trust in riches,
but rather our desire would not to be to get rich in this world,
but to become rich spiritually by investing our time,
investing our money and our resources and energy into serving you
so that we could reap a spiritual reward.
I just pray for the rich people of this world to be humbled,
to have their hearts softened,
to realize that they need a Savior.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, our last hymn this evening is 134.
My anchor holds.
134.
One, three, four, my anchor holds.
We'll sing there 134, starting on the first.
Though the angry surgeon's role
On my tempest-driven soul
I am he
And true, back in hell.