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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good evening everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. Once you find a seat, please go ahead and grab a songbook. Turn to song number 134, My Anchor Holds. Song number 134 as our first song. Let's all stand together for this first song, If You Are Able. Song number 134. All together nice and strong on that first verse. 🎵Though the angry surges roll on my tempest-driven soul🎵 🎵I am peaceful for I know wildly though may blow🎵 🎵I've an anchor safe and sure that can evermore endure🎵 🎵And it holds, my anchor holds, though you're wildest then, oh gale🎵 🎵On my bark so small and frail, by His grace I shall not fail🎵 🎵For my anchor holds, my anchor holds, mighty tides about me sweep🎵 🎵Perils lurk within the deep, angry clouds or shade the sky🎵 🎵And the tempest rises high, the tempest shook🎵 🎵For my anchor grips the rock and it holds, my anchor holds, though you're wildest then, oh gale🎵 🎵On my bark so small and frail, I shall not fail🎵 🎵For my anchor holds, my anchor holds, I can feel the anchor fast🎵 🎵Each sudden blast and the cable go unseen🎵 🎵Bears the heavy strain between🎵 🎵Through the storm I safely ride, till the turning of the tide🎵 🎵And it holds, my anchor holds, though you're wildest then, oh gale🎵 🎵On my bark so small and frail, by His grace I shall not fail🎵 🎵For my anchor holds, my anchor holds🎵 🎵On the last troubles almost wound the soul🎵 🎵Lulls o'er me roll, tempters seek to lure astray🎵 🎵Storms obscure the light of day🎵 🎵But in Christ I can be bold, I've an anchor that shall hold🎵 🎵And it holds, my anchor holds, though you're wildest then, oh gale🎵 🎵On my bark so small and frail, by His grace I shall not fail🎵 🎵For my anchor holds, my anchor holds🎵 Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start our first service with a word of prayer. Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for giving us another day. That we can come to your house, Lord, and sing these hymns unto you. And we thank you for the souls that were saved this afternoon. We just ask that you please bless the service tonight, Lord. Please bless the singing, most of all. Please fill past me here with your Spirit as He preaches unto us. And give us your Spirit also in the congregation, Lord, that we may leave here changed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Please turn your songbooks to song number 44 as our second song. Song number 44 will work till Jesus comes. Song number 44, all together nice and strong on that first verse. 🎵O land of rest for thee I sigh, when will the moment come?🎵 🎵When I shall lay my armor by and dwell in peace at home🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes, will work till Jesus comes🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes and will be gathered home🎵 🎵To Jesus Christ I fled for rest, He bade me cease to roam🎵 🎵And lean for succor on His breast till He conduct me home🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes, will work till Jesus comes🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes and will be gathered home🎵 🎵I sought at once my Savior's side, shall roam🎵 🎵With Him I'll brave death's chilling tide and reach my heavenly home🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes, will work till Jesus comes🎵 🎵Will work till Jesus comes and will be gathered home🎵 Alright, great singing, just a few announcements before we sing our next song which will be 120 if you want to get that ready in your songbooks Jesus, Savior, Pilot, Me, of course our services are as Fall or Sunday morning is at 1030, Sunday evening at 5pm and then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock you see the soul winning times and teams, the list of expecting mothers of course we're going to be adding Ms. Chanel Gonzalez, congratulations to her and Brother Jose and then congratulations to Brother Leon and Ms. Lorena on their baby girl and so if you would like to provide a meal or send a gift card to them please make sure you text my wife, she's organizing that and so get in contact with her if you're interested in being a blessing there you see the important reminders at the bottom the upcoming church events, we have Ms. Tanya Leeve's baby shower on Sunday, May 28th that will be next week after the morning service on Monday, May 29th is the Monday soul winning meeting here at 1130 at the church building and you can see Brother Ulysses Hernandez for more details about that the end of school picnic is coming up on Tuesday, May 30th at 1230 and that will be at Eucalyptus Park and then we have the ladies prayer breakfast on Saturday, June 3rd and Ms. Chanel will be heading that up so you can see her for more details about that please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service it takes them so many numbers from this past week's salvation from Monday to Thursday salvation for Monday to Thursday, one how about Friday and Saturday, salvation for Friday and Saturday five for Riverside, one anybody else? how about this afternoon, salvation for this afternoon, one four for Brother Morrie's team, one for Brother Glenn's team two for Brother Marcus' team two from last week for Brother Hikes team, just keep that in mind anybody else? going once, twice, thrice okay, keep up the great work, let's go ahead and sing our next song 120 Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me song number 120, Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me all together on that first verse Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me over life's impetuous sea unknown waves before me roll hiding rock at treacherous shoal chart and compass come from me Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me as a mother stills her child thou canst touch the ocean wild boisterous waves obey thy will when thou say'st to them be still wondrous sovereign of the sea Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me when at last I'm near the shore and the fearful breakers roar twist me and the peaceful breast then while leaning on thy breast may I hear thee say to me fear not I will pilot thee amen, wonderful singing, at this time the ushers will come forward to receive the offering you can turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter number 6 you you good evening, we're in Matthew chapter 6 tonight Matthew chapter 6 and the Bible reads take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven therefore when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee when thou pray'st do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory of men verily I say unto you they have their reward but when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth that thy alms may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly and when thou pray'st thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily I say unto you they have their reward therefore pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking be not ye therefore like unto them for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him after this manner therefore pray ye our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen for if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses moreover when ye fast be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast verily I say unto you they have their reward but thou when thou fastest anointeth thy head then wash thy face that thou appear not unto men to fast but unto thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness 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 therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your body what ye shall put on not the life more than meat and the body than raiment behold the fowls of the air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly father feedeth them are ye not much better than they which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature and why take ye thought for raiment consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall ye not much more clothe you oh ye little faith therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for tomorrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the hour of the evil thereof. Let's pray dear Lord God we thank you for this time we have Lord where we could hear the preaching of your word Lord I just pray that you bless pastor right now and fill him with the Holy Spirit Lord as he preaches to us Lord and that us in the congregation were edified by the preaching so just bless this time we pray this in Jesus name Amen. Okay tonight I'm going to preach the second half of Matthew chapter 6 from Thursday of course on Thursday evenings were going through the book of Matthew and these chapters here are pretty long and so I've been breaking them into halves here and teaching one half on Thursdays and then the other half the following Thursday but I'm going to conclude Matthew chapter 6 tonight and so we're going to continue on here with the Sermon on the Mount of course there's a lot of topics an array of different subjects that are being covered here by Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount and on Thursday we talked about the fact that he talks about giving alms and making sure that you do it in secret so as to not be seen of men referring to the motive that you have when you give alms referring to a donation of some sort giving to someone who is in need someone who needs food or raiment some sort of resource that when you give to that person you're obviously giving it because you love that individual and you want to help that person but it doesn't mean you can't give it because you want a reward because of the fact that God promises us a reward he's just saying that if you want to solidify and confirm that you're going to get a reward you've got to make sure you do it not to be seen of men and those who do things, do the works of God, donate to others but they publicize it, they sound a trumpet before them they're not doing it because they want a reward in heaven they want the recognition, the admiration and the accolades of men they want people to see them doing those good deeds and of course he uses the hypocrites in the synagogues we know of course he's referring to the scribes and the Pharisees these are individuals who have this outward appearance of being godly and pious but inwardly they're full of dead men's bones these are wicked individuals and they're only concerned about what people see on the outside and so he talks about that and then he goes into the subject of prayer and how it's important to not pray as the hypocrites do in the corners of the streets blowing a trumpet so to speak on the corners of the streets standing in the synagogues just trying to draw attention to themselves so that people can have this perception of them being godly but in reality they have a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof they're not really godly individuals, they are holier than nows that are only concerned with the praises of men more than the praises of God and of course we get into the model prayer in verses 9 all the way down to verse number 13 and we explain what that is and of course a lot of that would apply to Catholics today who don't seem to realize that a lot of what they're praying are vain repetitions they're just repeating prayers, lines, and verses and thinking that the quantity of how many times they pray is going to earn them God's blessing but of course the Bible says that those are vain repetitions it's not going to do anything for them they're praying as the heathens do and they're not going to be heard for their much speaking and then the last thing we covered is fasting and he talks about in verse 16 how when you're fasting don't be of a sad countenance now the reason he has to say that is because obviously when you fast you're tired, you're depleted, you don't have those calories you don't have that energy and that sugar boost and all that and so naturally your body has a tendency to maybe even disfigure a little bit you're just kind of like tired, you're hungry and what Jesus is saying is you kind of have to work twice as hard to make sure you don't have that base and he's basically saying the reason you don't want to appear as though you're fasting is because if people see that you're fasting they're going to think oh okay this person is fasting and therefore you lose your reward but the reason people are supposed to fast in the first place is because they're coupling that with prayer and that's a pretty important doctrine regarding fasting fasting has actually been popularized as of recently but more so because of health reasons they do intermittent fasting, OMAD for example and they do it so they can heal the body and it just has a lot of health benefits coupled with that but this is not what that's referring to this is referring to a spiritual discipline, an accessory discipline that is to be coupled with prayer let's say you have a particular need in your life, a really big need a conflict that needs to be resolved a prayer that needs to be answered of some sort and you're praying and you're praying and you feel like you're not really getting that answer to prayer well one accessory that you can do to kind of boost that prayer life is fasting so in other words you take a day, let's say tomorrow for example instead of eating lunch you fast at lunch time and the time that you typically take to eat food you would pray you afflict your soul by abstaining from food and taking that time to pray now some people take this to an extreme and they think you gotta fast for three days or you gotta fast for six days, seven days or something fast for a week and go without for that much in order to really make an impact but the examples in the Bible don't really go that long actually sometimes it's a meal, sometimes it's a day you have an extreme example that's done by Jesus where he went 40 days and 40 nights but he's the only one so obviously he's bearing the sins of the world he's about to start this ministry that's gonna last three and a half years and so he chose to do that but nowhere in the Bible does it tell you you have to fast so you're not better necessarily if you fast but you're also not the worst if you choose not to fast it's simply an accessory discipline you use coupled with prayer in order to kind of accentuate that request that you're making that petition you're making before God but it does definitely work if there's something specific you're struggling in your life and you just kind of need help overcoming a specific temptation you need an answer to prayer often fasting actually does help with that when you couple it with prayer and you're afflicting your soul and by the way you know fasting in the Bible aside from being coupled with prayer is sometimes something that people do naturally when they're grieved when they are already afflicted in their soul because of a trial or tribulation that they're going through for example sometimes you go through a trial a difficult time you're not even hungry you don't eat you don't have an appetite you're feeling depressed you're feeling discouraged and food is the last thing on your mind now you may think to yourself is it possible to learn this power is it possible to have yes it is possible it's either by trial or tribulation you lose a loved one for example there's individuals who lose a loved one and nothing can really move them they're not hungry they don't have an appetite or they just go through such a hard trial that trial is on the forefront of their minds the last thing they're really thinking about is food that's a form of fasting that we see in the Bible as well but this in particular obviously because of the previous verses is referring to fasting and prayer and so he's talking about that there and in each of these cases again he tells you how to do it but he also shows you how to do it by showing you how not to do it by using the Pharisees as an example of individuals who are holier than thou just wanting to be seen of men so now we're going to get into the teaching of heavenly treasures okay look at verse number 19 it says lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven now let me ask you is God against you wanting desiring covening treasures absolutely not you know you don't want to go too far to the other extreme and think well God just wants me to live this really you know this life this ascetic lifestyle where we just go without and we're just kind of miserable and we can't have nice things and we can't desire treasures and riches no he wants us to have treasures and riches but the right type of treasures and riches not necessarily the monetary type treasures and riches we're talking about those that last forever the eternal treasures and riches and he specifically says you know make the right type of investment too many Christians are making an investment in the temporal and not enough in the eternal which is why he says if you're laying up treasure by the way they're actually not supposed to do that they're actually not supposed to do that they're not supposed to do that when they pass by this particular area here they have to wait until they reach all the way at the end but ever since we moved not ever since we moved here but as of the last couple of months they'll do that during a service just letting everyone know that right there busters let it be anathema I'm just kidding he's saying look hey don't make so many investments in this world because of the fact that eventually the moth and the rust is going to get to it you know eventually someone's going to steal your vehicle they're going to break into your house your expensive clothing is going to be eaten up by moths you know if you've ever experienced how many of you have ever experienced moths eating clothes you know you go to a suit you know there's a particular suit maybe you haven't worn quite some time because you're too chunky to put it on and then you lose some weight and you go there you're like I'm finally going to wear this suit and there's like this huge hole in it it's like the moth already got to it okay and so he's saying look it's not wise to make temporal investments because of the fact that these things are corrupt they're susceptible they're susceptible to thieves they're susceptible to the elements of this world they're susceptible to rust it's going to be done away with so it's not the wisest investment to make okay you know laying up treasures in your bank account acquiring possessions on end having all types of clothing and houses this isn't the best investment for Christians to make because eventually all of that stuff is going to go away okay so he says rather lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal now I became acquainted with this verse very well when my van kept getting stolen I remember one time we had a sowing marathon and it was like the Saturday before Easter and man it was such a great marathon a lot of people got saved and the next Sunday you know we're getting ready for church my family and I and we go on I'm just like where did I park that car the vehicle because I called it the vehicle I'm like where did I park the vehicle and so I'm like I go down the street I'm like this is not where I parked it and I go all the way down the other street I'm like that's where is this I call my wife I'm like where'd you put the car because you know it's her fault of course you know anytime you know I just have to blame the wife you know and she's like you put it in the front like we parked it right here in the front dang it someone stole our car so someone came and they stole the van and we ended up making it to church I don't remember how we made it to church but they stole the van and we found it like a couple days later and they had taken all the DVDs that we used for sowing all the Bibles and you know like a pair of shades that I had or something like that I don't remember exactly what it was but they stole like my jacket I mean it was a van that wasn't really like like why would they steal it you know the van kind of sucked I'm surprised they didn't fix it put it that way you know and I'm just like man you know so we got it back and then later on we got it stolen again by the sodomites or whatever and I remember thinking to myself you know what this is why I don't really like vehicles and this is why I'm not that attached to vehicles because moth and rust doth corrupt thieves break through and steal you know there comes a point where you become so attached to a particular possession that when it's taken from you you know you have a really bad day but if you're not really attached to the things of this world people can take it and it doesn't ruin your day because you know you know what this is going to disappear one time or another someone's going to take it it's going to break down it's going to go away that's the way it works and in fact previous to owning that van I used to have an Acura and I'll be honest with you I used to call it my car so even when I got married it was just like well I'll take my car you know that's my car and I'd take care of it you know and the van I wouldn't really take care of it's just like if it's dirty it's dirty you know what I mean it's just it has a purpose but this is my car but then my car ended up breaking down and then it's just like well we got to get a van now you know because we're having our families growing and then thereafter every every car that we got thereafter is just known as the vehicle it's no longer my van or my car it's just I'm placing distance between between me and that possession okay kind of showing you that there's like a lack of love for that particular that thing over there called the van or the car but you know what that's how we should be with everything right with our possessions it should be something that we use as a tool to help us get the job done whether that's taking care of our family going to work going to church and not be so attached to the things of this world that if something were to happen to you you just lose your mind okay it's getting kind of quiet in here amen you know hey we need to make sure it doesn't matter how nice of a vehicle you have how expensive it is hey how would you react if that thing was gone tomorrow you know could you just depart from it and say you know what Moth and Russ doth corrupt good thing I didn't lay out for myself treasures here upon the earth because eventually it was going to go away or is it where you just lose your mind my baby he was just like that would be a problem right and he says in verse 21 for where your treasure is listen to this there will your heart be also now what does that mean whatever you invest in is whatever you're going to love that's what you're going to love so the more you invest in something your treasures your monetary gain your resources you're going to love that particular thing and this is applicable to just to anything not just possessions hey if you have if you've lacked if you're losing a love for the bible invest time into the bible and you'll have a heart for the bible if you are losing love for souls go sowing and guess what your heart will follow right if you don't like our church then go somewhere else I'm just kidding or or or okay if you don't like our church invest in our church and then your heart will follow okay you'll end up loving the church if you have a lack of love for biblical preaching listen to biblical preaching invest in biblical preaching and you will love it okay and obviously those are secondary principles and the main principle is this is that invest in heavenly things seeking first the kingdom of God and then your affection shall be set on things above okay that's what he's referring to here and so it's important to get heavenly treasures hold your place here go to 1 Timothy chapter 6 if you would 1 Timothy chapter 6 I'm going to read to you from 1 Peter chapter 1 verse number 3 says blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you God's trying to get across to us that the things that we invest in when it comes to the eternal it's settled they're going to be there they will not be corrupted they're not going to be stolen it actually has substance okay so it's not worth investing in the possessions of this world use the things of this world as not abusing it use it to get the job done but don't become so overly attached to the things of this world that it kind of blinds your mind it causes you to have this inordinate affection towards those things okay he says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 in verse 17 it says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high minded now who is he addressing? he's addressing rich people right so that means if he's referring to believers that means there's some believers who actually got money if he's talking about rich people and this shows us here that God is not against rich Christians because some people just come from money they come from a home that has money they're good with their money maybe they're business people that just make a lot of money they would be considered wealthy people and God is trying to get across here that it's important that the rich of this world the Christians who are rich in this world that they don't become high minded what does that mean? proud, arrogant oh I have all this money in the bank I have all these possessions I have a home I have all the things that I need I'm such a great person because of everything that I have don't be high minded because those things can be taken away from you in an instant and it says nor trust in uncertain riches now I think this is something that a lot of Christians can struggle with is that when there's an abundance of resources available they can have a tendency or a temptation to place their trust in those riches it's just like well there's enough money in the bank we'll be okay there's a lot of money and we'll be fine but you know what? regardless if there's money in the bank or not we need to place our faith in God because of the fact that money can just disappear like that and if it disappears like that your faith is just still being the Lord your faith is just still being God it's really easy to say I have faith in God when there's a lot of money in the bank the bills are paid, everything's going well check engine lights not on everything's going fine and dandy Jesus is saying we got faith in God but what about when you've just been stripped of all those things can you really say the same thing? don't trust in uncertain riches why are riches uncertain? because it can be stolen, it can be wasted, it can be taken it says nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy it says here regarding charging the rich in this world that they do good that they be rich in good works so don't become so single minded or should we say focused on the uncertain riches that you're not doing good works you see you should be wealthy in your good works be generous and abundant in your works for God that they be rich in good works ready to distribute ready to communicate, what does that mean? don't be stingy don't be a miser be a generous person if God has blessed you with abundance of resources depart from it by giving it to others and by the way psychologically it actually does you good just from a secular standpoint when people just give away their money it feels good it makes them really happy to give and all that and obviously that's a psychological standpoint but from a spiritual standpoint not only does it feel good but we never truly give away our money though because when we give away a resource we end up getting it back we never actually lose any resources no matter how much we spend or how much we lose if we invest it in the right things we never truly lose it because it's actually an investment in the eternal it actually doubles and triples and triples in worth because if you're doing good if you're wealthy in good works you're rich in good works you're investing in the work of God you're investing in soul winning you're investing by being a blessing to other brothers and sisters in Christ you're investing in your church according to the Bible it's like you're saving money and I don't mean saving like saving it in the bank I mean like you're sending your money to heaven that's what you're doing you have like a bank account in heaven and you're just racking up all the wealth in heaven so he says be ready to distribute willing to communicate verse 19 laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life who's they? the money, resources, riches so if you're rich in this world and you want to stay rich in the eternal you better give the money away you better invest in the eternal and not just kind of save it up for a rainy day tear down barns and build up greater you know what I mean just kind of well we're just going to save this for a rainy day we're not really saving for anything we're just kind of racking up wealth you better do something with it because of the fact that if you die tomorrow whose wealth is that going to belong to tomorrow? better to actually depart from that wealth invest in something spiritual you say well give me something to invest in mission strips soul winning your church people who are in need in the church there's all types of things you can give to don't give it to the derelicts on the street by the way because you're not going to get anything from that you say well doesn't the bible say give to the poor? yeah it does but they're not poor I mean I just saw the other day there's this guy in downtown LA who has this really elaborate tent set up he has a huge screen in there playing movies and he has like the most up to date technology and you know he has like a generator with him that he goes and he charges somewhere you know locally or something and he brings it and you can literally see the screen from his tent like outside of his tent it's just like he's watching like a movie or something I mean you go in there and it's like every kid's dream you know what I mean like just like the tent in the backyard with like everything you need he's like living it up well I don't even know why I brought that up what was the point of that? oh yeah they're not poor that guy's living better than I am he's not but I'm saying like he has all this technology or whatever so the guy's not poor okay he's a derelict he's lazy and people who give to them they're not considering the cause of the poor what they're actually doing is becoming enablers they're enabling that individual because those people make a lot of money on the side of the freeway one of the things that frustrates me and pisses me off the most is when I get off the freeway and I see two people on the off-ramp okay one of them is an able-bodied male begging for money with a sign and the second one is a Mexican lady selling flowers and I want to go to the guy and be like you ought to be like ashamed of yourself I'm like this lady is like actually working she's putting in the work to sell the flowers or whatever whether you agree with it or not I don't care but I mean she's putting in some work she's trying to sell make an honest living so to speak and this dude is just holding up a sign able-bodied with some stupid writing on there some people just put entire paragraphs on there he's like well the time you took to write that paragraph you could have written a resume to get an actual job so you know that's not an investment at that point you are throwing away money you're enabling individuals and God's not going to repay you for that so don't give these derelicts your two dollars and five dollars and that's your good deed for the day no that actually puts you at a deficit spiritually speaking okay when the Bible talks about investing or laying up treasures in heaven there's biblical parameters to that okay you know the Bible talks about doing good to all men but especially those of the household of faith and when it talks about communicating it's referring to giving of your resources to other people who are in need you know I'm thankful for a church that when ladies in our church give birth you know the church kind of gets together and blesses that family with meals before like at my old church they actually used to like bring meals but we live in a different age now so it's just like here's a gift card you know what I mean or here's you know here's a gift card to whatever I mean I'm thankful and by the way thank you to all of you who gave to my wife and I during this last week because you know we my wife had the baby and I've been suffering of course to pray for me you know I've been trying to recover and so I'm still working on it but hey that's a blessing and you know what other people have also done that throughout the years where someone has a baby and they're a blessing to them they give to them they send them money they send them a gift card I mean you're laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven so you give away a hundred bucks that's like a thousand dollars worth of treasures there I mean we don't know because here's the thing folks you're like oh that's an exaggeration I don't think it is because of the fact that folks are not rich and he says lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life that's for the rich people if that's a commandment for the rich people how much more for those of us who are not rich I mean you're not rich this side of eternity but you know I want to be rich up there though so that's going to require my investment in the eternal here in the temporal in order for me to receive that the Bible says in Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 1 if you then be risen with Christ your affections on things above not on things on the earth now don't misunderstand what I'm saying we're not saying it's bad to have possessions you can't have nice things or something you know can't have nice vehicles you can't have a nice house you can't have nice things that's not what the Bible is teaching okay what the Bible is teaching is where are your affections it's not bad to have possessions it's only bad when possessions have you you know it's not bad to make a lot of money you know what is bad though missing church on a Sunday to make money that's bad because at that point you're not setting your affections on things above you're setting your affections on mammon and mammon is ruling your life mammon is your master at that point okay it's when you make decisions based off of mammon and not off of biblical principles that's what's bad my friends so we need to make sure that we recognize that our treasure spiritually spiritual treasure has this link that goes all the way up to from your heart and it's connected all the way to your wallet that's how it works so wherever you put that resource that time energy and resource that's where your heart's gonna go as well okay so it's a great principle to learn if you're losing heart for anything a relationship, your spouse your kids, your hobbies or whatever the work of God invest in it and then the desire, the love will come back after that set your affections on things above go back to Matthew chapter 6 let me read to you from Hebrews 11 talking about Moses it says that he esteemed the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had to respect them to the recompense of the reward because here's the thing in Christianity there's like two groups extreme groups one group is just like have riches and wealth and health and all these things as you're just completely compromising God's word right to like a sinful extent where they just have this inordinate affection towards wealth but then you have other Christians it's just like having anything nice is bad it's just like you just can't enjoy anything in life you can't I mean it's like an ascetic type of a mentality does anybody know what I'm referring to there's Christians out there that are like that it's like you can't go to the gym you can't you know eat good food or something because it's just sinful to do that it's just wrong he's given us all things richly to enjoy okay and the main thought that Jesus is trying to get across here is the fact that we need to make sure that our attention our affection is on the eternal not on the temporal because Jesus is new rich people in the Gospels he knew rich people who honored him and had the right type of mentality and he actually blessed him for that so let's continue on here verse 22 says the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light but if thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness now what is that referring to hold your place there go to Proverbs chapter 28 we're gonna go back to 1 Timothy chapter 6 as well I should have told you to keep hold your place there but it'll help you to have some practice going through the Bible here go to Proverbs chapter 28 so hold your place in Matthew 6 go to Proverbs 28 and then also have a pen or a paper in 1 Timothy chapter 6 or you can just listen I find it funny when I tell people to turn to pages and they'll just stare at me the whole time I'm like go here they're just like go there stop looking at me or is this like alright let's read it and they're just like go there stop looking at me or is this like alright let's read it and they're just like talking about some of you in here right now so what does it mean to have an evil eye or a single eye look at Proverbs 28 verse 21 everyone look down now okay Brother Huyck look down Brother Huyck it says in verse 21 to have respect of persons is not good for for a piece of bread that man will transgress he that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye considered not that poverty is not good but poverty shall come upon him so what does it mean to have an evil eye it's referring to having a covetous eye so if the Bible is saying that if a person has a single eye it's referring to the fact that that person is focused on one thing the eternal and therefore whatever that person behold that person obviously has a biblical world view the way he views things okay his whole body is full of light it's full of truth it's going in the right direction however if he has a covetous eye then his whole body is going to be full of darkness now why is that? well go to 1 Timothy chapter 6 1 Timothy chapter 6 we're going to see why right now so again Jesus is saying here that the light of the body is the eye if therefore thine eye be single focused thy whole body shall be full of light this is why the Bible says to you know aside from setting your affections on things above it talks about having our minds on Christ right I can't think of a particular verse right now in Isaiah that says oh man someone help me out here what's the verse I'm thinking about for he is our peace no anybody know? no one knows the Bible here man thou shall keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee for he trusteth in thee so I knew it was going to come I just had to like I had to go through all the sex in my mind you know the Bible talks about just having your mind on Jesus Christ it means you're focused on the Lord okay and you're trusting in him and you know what it takes a lot of work for a Christian to do that because we live in this world we're surrounded by possessions we're surrounded by greed and avarice and covetous individuals you know especially with social media you have all these advertisements coming at you and people who have all these possessions you know it takes a lot of discipline to keep your mind on Jesus Christ to keep your mind on the eternal and just kind of sift through all that garbage and that nonsense and recognize I got to make sure I stay focused on the Lord right look at 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse number 3 it says if any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine which is according to godliness he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strives of words where have cometh to their surmisings perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth listen to this supposing that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself so what does this tell you it tells us that if you get a preacher that gets up and preaches a health and wealth gospel this is a person who's telling you that gain is godliness you know the TD Jakes and all these prosperity preachers that talk about having money and that you know that's a true sign of God's blessing don't allow that spirit of poverty to come upon you it's like blessed are the important spirit bro what are you talking about and it says here if someone preaches a message that gain is godliness from such withdraw thyself how do we apply that in 2023 you turn them off you leave a comment this guy's a false prophet this guy's wicked enter and exit out of there withdraw yourself from such people who are teaching these things of the truth gain is not godliness verse 6 says but godliness with contentment is great gain so he said if you really want to make gains in the Christian life you need to have these two virtues one being godliness in other words seeking after righteousness and then this wonderful virtue called contentment what is contentment it's being satisfied in whatever state you're in if you have abundance praise God if you have lack praise God if you have if all the bills are paid praise God if you're suffering need praise God I'm just content wherever I'm at as long as the Lord just keeps providing for me whether it's a lot or a little I'm happy no matter where I'm at I'm gonna keep serving God I'll be in church no matter what I'm gonna keep reading my Bible no matter what why because godliness with contentment is great gain so that means you can still lay up treasures in heaven with a minimal amount of resources in this world because godliness with contentment is great gain he says for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out try to explain that to the pharaohs right I mean the pharaohs think that they could take they thought that they could take all their treasures with them King Tutankhamen buried with millions and millions and millions of dollars worth of gold and all these treasures 3,000 years ago and then when they buried it when they dug it up it was still there you know they thought oh when he dies when the pharaohs die you know we got to bury him with them so that he can take it with them to hell or wherever they thought he was going he's down there and he says where's all my stuff it's in a museum it's traveling the world so everyone could just look at your stuff you don't take anybody with you you brought nothing into this world Tutankhamen you didn't carry anything out either he says in verse 8 and having food and raiment let us there with be content now how many would agree that we have more than food and raiment right like we have way more than food and raiment even as a church like meeting here we have more than just chairs it's like it's so cold in here you're lucky we got AC this sermon is so long yeah you're welcome for getting these cushioned chairs to make you feel so comfortable the light is like you know I mean we have so much here we're not meeting in a hut with dirt floors I mean what is it like in the Philippines brother Will is it like that hard chairs outside hard chairs and outside you know these are soft chairs meeting inside so look if all we need is food and raiment to be content wouldn't we be able to admit that we have way more than that therefore we should be definitely content we should have contentment and abundance but you know what happens is when you have abundance it creates a complaining spirit it creates discontentment actually sometimes if a person who you give abundance to is an undisciplined person and they have an evil eye and not a single eye it can create discontentment and a lack of appreciation a lack of gratitude and so he says having food and raiment therewith be content so again talking about that evil eye look what it says in verse 9 but 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 this is what Matthew 6 is talking about when it says how dark is that the body is just full of darkness why because if you have an evil eye it's just going to destroy your life beware of covetousness my friends beware of avarice beware of being greedy beware of having an inordinate affection towards resources why because when you fall into that temptation you're going to drown and not just in covetousness it's almost like a gateway drug because it says into many foolish and hurtful lusts drowning men in destruction and perdition you just get involved in all types of things and you know what lust when it comes to for example like sexual lust can be easily assessed you can see that someone or you yourself is struggling with that idolatry you can see that drunkenness pretty easy to see it's covetousness is sometimes the most sneakiest one you don't really see that you're struggling with covetousness because it just kind of sneakily gets in there and you know you're not involved in adultery or fornication you're not a drunkard you're not smoking pot you're not railing you're not an idolater oh but hold on a second are you covetous though which according to the Bible covetousness is just another form of what idolatry according to Colossians chapter 3 because that means you're idolizing money and so he says verse 10 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 many sorrows folks guard yourself from covetousness do not develop a love for money don't make major decisions in your life based off of money never make major decisions in your life based off of money it's the worst decision you can make you say well how am I supposed to make decisions then well look what it says in verse 11 but thou o man of God flee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness that's what you should be doing there and you know what when you follow after these things God essentially situates you in a place where then he'll provide the things that you need that's what it says in Matthew 6 seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you now it's hard for Christians to do that because they live we live in this world and so it's just like well I only see the physical yeah that means it takes a little bit of discipline and being a spirit filled Christian to actually put in the effort to follow after righteousness in spite of the fact that you're struggling follow after godliness faith love patience and meekness in spite of the fact that you're struggling financially in whatever area of life but God promises my friends listen to me God promises that he will provide for you if you put these things first and by the way that's not the only thing he wants you to do because look what it says in verse 12 fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life where unto thou are also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses he wants you to be active in your Christian life right active in your Christian life fighting the good fight of faith and stuff what I got bills to pay well yeah but God wants you to still be a Christian though so it's funny you know when it comes to like paying bills it's just like being a Christian just goes out the window it's just like oh yeah I can't be in church on Sunday I got to work I got bills to pay who's paying the bills you or God because it sounds to me well God is yeah but it sounds to me like you're yeah but I don't want to be worse than an infidel I need to provide for my family so therefore I'm gonna work on Sundays and not even be in church it's like dude you're like an infidel because infidels don't go to church how about that and you're placing the responsibility of making ends meet on yourself and not on God again it's easy to say we're depending on God when all the bills are being paid right it's like yeah we have faith in God but then when the going gets tough I need to make sure I make ends meet and provide and all these things no the dynamics have not changed God's promises are still the same this is what he wants us to do have a single eye don't have an evil eye do some heart checks tonight amen Ecclesiastes chapter 5 go ahead and turn there because it's a really good passage I was just going to read it but I think we all should read it together Ecclesiastes chapter number 5 let me see who's looking at me right now Marcus is alright, Brother Chevy alright Miss Ashley alright and Marari alright and Jason but you guys just already got there huh that's what it is alright very good alright Ecclesiastes 5 verse 10 look what it says he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver how can that be I thought that satiates the desire okay no nor he that loveth abundance with increase this also has vanity so you know when you love money you just want to make more money one more dollar just one more pay raise one more promotion and then you'll be set nope because once you get that pay raise you're just like I need more this isn't enough because now I want bigger toys I want more possessions I want you know all these things that you know are out there but hold on a second if you're content though every pay raise is just like wow that's great and by the way if you if you just live below your means you know and you stay content then you can really make some some monetary gain because of the fact that you know you're not going beyond your means you're not just spending a whole bunch of money on things or something but the point here is that you're not going to be satisfied with the pay raise you're not going to be satisfied with abundance if that's what you're setting your affections on he says verse 11 when goods increase they are increased that eat them he's like the more possessions you have the more predators for those possessions that come and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes it's like the guy who owns a yacht and he parks it in front of his house once in a while to make sure no one's vandalizing it or whatever what good is that vehicle you got if you're constantly watching and making sure no one messes with it verse 12 the sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eat little or much you want good sleep work hard or become sleep deprived because of babies and then when you take a nap you'll get some really good sleep he says the sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eat little or much but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep those who get the least amount of sleep are those who are rich because they're constantly worried what's going to happen to the riches what's going to happen to the abundance but you know what if you don't care about money you realize what role it plays in your life you don't lose any sleep over it it's like well I mean first of all it's not my money it's God's money anyways it doesn't belong to me it belongs to the Lord he's the one who gave it to me he gave it to me from the Lord here to invest in the eternal things and so if it's all taken away I'm not going to lose any sleep over it you know if I get if they take all the money all the resources they drain my bank accounts I go bankrupt so be it I don't care it wasn't my money anyways and you know what I've already invested a lot of it in the eternal but you know a lot of Christians have a hard time with that mentality because they're very much attached to the resources of this world and so recognize that resources and money need to have a particular role in your life that's not the main role Proverbs 30 verse 7 you don't have to turn there go back to Matthew chapter 6 it says two things have I required of thee deny me them not before I die remove far from me vanity and lies give me neither poverty nor riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain so you say I don't want to be rich I don't want to be poor I just want to have just enough to feed me and my family to just live a normal life and so very good principles here regarding laying up treasure and then this passage right here from verse 25 and on is a fantastic portion of scripture to help us as Christians when we're worried give heed to this look what it says in verse 25 therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your body what ye shall put on is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment now in times past you know 10 years ago we'd read that like amen you know but after like all the inflation 2020 all these things you know a lot of people start taking thought for their life what am I going to do? how am I going to feed my kids? what am I going to eat? what are we going to wear? we're going to have to live in a tent like that dude down in downtown that's probably why he did that well hold on a second isn't your life more than food and like clothes? aren't you like an eternal soul? don't you have like God as your heavenly father? isn't there like a greater purpose for you to just eating and drinking and putting on raiment? of course so why even take a thought for it? behold the fowls of the air fowls is referring to birds for they sow not and neither do they reap nor to gather into barns yet your heavenly father feedeth them he's saying look look at the dirty little sparrows out here dirty little birds something's feeding them I mean they're getting food somewhere because we have dominion over this I don't know about the rest of these states out there but here in California we've got dominion over California because you see all these buildings and stuff we don't have like wild animals running around here like crocodiles and alligators and stuff and snakes all over the place we actually got dominion over California my friends okay you know every once in a while a little sparrow will fly by or something you know he makes it like what's the wildest animal that we have like here? yeah like I've never seen a coyote it was probably just a really dirty dog yeah squirrels I mean the wildest thing I saw here was a bat and it swooped down and almost took my evangelist away almost picked them up and flew them away but even they didn't last long gone the wildest animals that I've seen is like I mean can you even consider a squirrel like a wild animal? they're like rats aren't they? just more elaborate rats I guess you know you have squirrels you have coyotes you have skunks possums I mean these are the ones that barely made it through the dominion you know what I mean? raccoons we'll let those guys stay because those guys they're in the sewers and stuff but I think raccoons are kind of cool actually what else? yeah we said possums yeah you got rabbits but you know what I don't really see these things very often because this is where we live we have dominion but you know what they're living somehow something's feeding them God's allowing them to be fed and not only that but they're producing they're making babies so their babies have to eat and it's not like they're Christians or something like that we're not PETA over here you know what I mean? it's just like God is providing some sort of sustenance for these animals to live or something okay then how much more will he provide for us who actually have meaning those animals have zero meaning purpose in life that's why they're constantly being run over by the way please don't run over a skunk let him be you say why not? they're like kamikazes you run it over and it's just like they get the last laugh because then it smells for like miles on end you know what I'm talking about and then you run over and your car smells it's just terrible and so something's feeding them folks if these little animals are being fed and taken care of how much more are we going to be taken care of who actually God cares for died for resurrected for loves us more than these other creations we are the greatest of God's creation God's going to provide for us and he says there are you not much better than they I mean this is God speaking to people here by the way Jesus is saying this don't you think you're I know what PETA believes out there that we're on the same plane as an animal or whatever but we're better than the dogs we're better than the cats too bunch of cat people over here I'm like on an island by myself over here because I've been infected by osmosis thank you we're better than the animals verse 27 which of you by taking thaw here's a good one can add one cuban into his stature can't change your height what is he trying to emphasize here your lack of power to change the circumstances around you verse 28 why take you thaw for raiment consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these there's some beautiful flowers out there they're just gorgeous flowers beautiful flowers just beautifully arrayed these things aren't even living things per se they don't have a soul they're just beautifully arrayed don't you think God can clothe you as well I mean it's not like God necessarily cares for the plants I mean he's going to burn a lot of it in the end times you know but he's trying to get across here that if you were to observe the beauty of a flower and it's not like it did anything to deserve that what about you who is a creation of God a Christian, a believer, a son of God obviously he's going to clothe you he's going to clothe you with raiment he's going to clothe your family he's going to make it happen verse 30 says wherefore have God so clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe you O ye of little faith therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed now here's like the kicker here because you know how people will be like yeah but we got to prepare though you know we got to make sure we take care of this stuff I know that's what the Bible says but you know but God wants us to prepare oh really because it says in verse 32 for after all these things do the Gentiles seek that's like the same mentality that the Gentiles have where the Gentiles are just unbelievers so don't couple yourself with unbelievers who have that same mentality as you or should I say that you have the same mentality as them for your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things yeah but we need to make sure we provide don't you think God knows what you need before you ask him don't you think he knows how many calories you require in order to live to make gains how much protein you need and fats and carbs don't you know that he knows what your children need what you need the clothing he knows it all he's omniscient verse 32 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you it's a pretty simple equation pretty simple formula if you think about it he says look I'll provide all these things for you all I require for you to do is seek after righteousness go to church live a godly life fulfill your godly roles win souls to Christ serve the Lord and I'll give you all these things but then Christians are like no we gotta make sure we I gotta pull out my bootstraps and make sure I get this thing done wrong that's the wrong formula yeah but you just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow though what about tomorrow yeah I will say that that kind of sucks sometimes verse 34 says take therefore no thought for tomorrow for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself he says let tomorrow worry about itself now this last phrase you know it just kind of shows you how real Jesus is now I don't mean real like was he fake or real I'm talking about like how genuine he was when he was preaching here because he says here sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof what does that mean well you know for us who like to prepare ahead of time days in advance weeks in advance months in advance years in advance sometimes there's going to come a point where you can't do that and you have to be content and satisfied with that which is sufficient for today why because that's the evil thereof you know what's evil sometimes is that we only have enough for today you know sometimes it's evil is that you only know that you're going to make it today but you know what it's okay because of the fact that we have the previous verses that told us that God's going to provide for us and doesn't matter how bad your circumstances get how bad you have it how much you're in debt or how much you know whatever something costs doesn't matter how the economy gets doesn't matter about the inflation it doesn't matter what president is here doesn't matter if they kill off a bunch of cows and where's the meat going to come from they're going to make us all vegan doesn't matter what happens in this world my friends God is still able to provide for you no matter what and you know if all the animals of the world died tomorrow we would probably still have some form of meat tomorrow the day after it'll probably happen circumstances there's certain circumstances in life where it just seems it's hopeless for tomorrow and you know why it seems it's hopeless why does it seem like it's hopeless because of the fact we are perceiving it through our own understanding and our own understanding is limited and it's at that point we have to recognize well sufficient unto the day is just the evil thereof so let me just survive today and then when tomorrow comes I'll survive tomorrow and the day after I'll survive that day and just keep doing that because when we only have sufficient unto the day that increases our faith and causes us to pray more Lord provide for me, Lord help me and that kind of requires for you to seek the kingdom of God you know because when you're struggling and you're like man maybe I need to really get serious about the things of God actually because I need God's favor I need God's favor on my life I need to make sure that He's favored me, that He's blessed me and that we are serving Him and He kind of uses His needs to kind of motivate us to do that and then He begins to provide and so on and so forth so what's the main thrust of the sermon of the passage Jesus Christ is basically saying earn rewards don't become so overly attached to resources of this world that you just become don't become so rich in this world that in the eternity become a pauper you're just a poor individual in heaven a lot of Christians are going to be like that because they're so focused on all the toys and the resources of this world and traveling and having all these things and not investing anything into the kingdom of God that once they go to heaven they're going to be broke they shall be saved yet so as by fire they're not going to have any it's just going to be a broke joke they're going to be asking you to pay for their meal in heaven spot me bro can you spot me you know because they don't have anything however let's say you have an abundance here well you know what you can become even more rich if you do it right you could be more rich in heaven if you do it right down here invest well I'm not rich ok then make yourself rich in heaven by investing in the eternal focusing on that which is righteous and laying up treasure in heaven where moth and rust they don't corrupt it's all about what is our perception of the resources of this life we need to have the right mindset and be eternally minded let's pray Father we thank you so much for your word help us as your people to continue to trust in you in times of want and I pray Lord that you continue to bless our church Lord continue to provide for our needs may you show yourself strong on our behalf especially in times when we have lack or the resources aren't there may it motivate us to pray more to read the Bible to win more souls to Christ to serve you Lord and I pray that you just show yourself strong Lord and increase our faith in you and help us to make good eternal investments we love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name Amen Please turn your song books to song number 148 song number 148 Jesus only Jesus as our last song song number 148 all together nice and strong on that first verse I walk the path of pleasure I toil for earthly treasure but peace beyond all measure I found in only Jesus my sins are all forgiven the chains of sin are riven and all my heart is given to Jesus only Jesus my boasted goodness failed me for sin that ailed me God's Spirit then prevailed me to leave my sins on Jesus my sins are all forgiven the chains of sin are riven and all my heart is given to Jesus only Jesus God's Word I long resisted His Spirit called insisted repenting I enlisted with Jesus only Jesus my sins are all forgiven the chains of sin are riven and all my heart is given to Jesus only Jesus on the last oh Christ for love unceasing for blessings are increasing for all my fears releasing I praise and love my Jesus my sins are all forgiven the chains of sin are riven and all my heart is given to Jesus only Jesus Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed. .