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We have the offering total just out of our ballot pages in the month of June. Prayer requests, we went through all these this morning. If you have a prayer that you'd like to add, we have little cards over on our bookshelf where all the Bibles and DVDs and everything else is. All that stuff's free for the taking. But if you want to fill out prayer requests, you can drop it off in one of the offering plates, or you can hand it to me personally. Just please, if you do have a prayer request, don't just tell me verbally. Please write it down for me. It helps me out so much. I don't have the best memory anymore when it comes to a lot of these things, so if you give it to me in writing, I will definitely be able to add it to the list and make sure that I remember it so that I can then effectively pray for you as well. So I do appreciate that. We're praying for Pastor Mejia and his family and his church, First Works Baptist Church in Anaheim, California. Appreciate you being out here with us. Once again, I appreciate you more this evening. It's really good to have you here on the next page. Of course, our five-year anniversary. So sorry for those of you who weren't here earlier and you came in, you see kind of a big mess. We had a big celebration. It's not normally disorganized in this array, but we had a really good time this afternoon. And thank you all. We have people coming and visiting. Thank you for everyone who's been helping and keeping things clean and organized and watching over stuff. And so many people are volunteering to help. I really appreciate it. It helps. It goes a long way. So thank you all so much. Did everyone here have a pretty good time? Yes? Did we do it again or just cancel it and not do it again? Is this something that we should be like, no? Do it again? All right. All right. We can do this again. Thank you. No one ruined it for the team. That's good. That's important news. I'm not going yet. Never again. Thank you. So glad everyone had a good time. And really looking forward for the rest of the year here. I don't know what the food situation is. Is there anything that people need to take home with them? Has it already been figured out? What's the deal with the food? I would say if you brought it with a boiled can of food, you can take it home. All right. Anyone who brought food, whatever's left over, bring it back with you, please. And this evening, we are going to need to clean up the building and stuff. So there are still some snacks and treats here. What I'm going to ask is that if anyone is going to have any more of the sticky stuff or things that would make a mess, especially the kids, to do that outside. If your kids want to have a snow cone or something, I'm fine with that. But please have all the kids doing that stuff outside where we don't have to worry about cleaning up the inside because people are going to be cleaning up the inside after service. And I will request just one more thing for men who, if you've got some muscles, you want to help, right? No weaklings? Want to come help me pack up the slides and everything back here? I am going to have to do that afterwards. And I am a weakling, so I'm not going to be able to do all that by myself. So I'm going to need some help. I definitely need some help. So I need the stronger guys in our church to give me a hand. If you would, please, after the service. It should be all drying and everything out there. So we've got to wrap it up and roll it up and put it on my trailer. So if anyone's willing to do that, I appreciate that. Continuing on, the Jude Challenge, I already mentioned that, that the challenge this month is to attempt to preach the gospel to this one person every single day of the month. Who's keeping up with this? Who's kept up with this for the month so far? Amen. Amen. Amen. Very good. And I've asked this before. Besides those who are keeping up with this, who has done more so and has made an attempt or gotten a salvation as a result of this challenge? Many more hands. Amen. Very good. All right. That's what it's all about. So even though we're so late in the month of June, maybe you haven't even heard about this challenge, try to just close out the month and say, you know what? I'm going to try that. I'm going to try to just take advantage of any opportunity I can and try to give the gospel to someone for the rest of the month. Or you could do it for July. No, I'm not going to give you a prize for that. But my rewards stay in comparison to the awards God's going to give you. So that's the challenge for June. July is backsliding month. No, I'm just kidding. The prize is summer break from the challenges. We do 11 challenges up here. We don't do one in July. We give you a summer break. And then it's back to the challenges. And it's all set in August. So don't worry about what we're doing in July. We're taking the month off. So yeah, that's all I'm going to say about that. If I have a memory of that, it's Hebrew chapter 8. If you memorize the whole chapter, you'll get a prize where you'll do that within the time frame. Upcoming birthdays and anniversaries are listed there for the month of June and July. And I know there's one more birthday on there for the month of July. And it just didn't fit in the list here because this is the last one that I have. But that's what's coming up there. And then the last event that's coming up is Pastor Anderson preaching for us on Wednesday night, July 5. So I'd love to see you out here. Even if you don't normally come out on Wednesday night, try to come out and be here for his preaching. I'm sure you'll be blessed by that. Now, I also mentioned earlier that there's still ice cream. I think there still is ice cream in the big white freezer, the big deep freezer. Again, if you're a visitor here, don't be shy. Help yourself. Go ahead. You got permission to do it. Just go in there. Open up the freezer door. Grab yourself an ice cream. And please, help yourself to that or any of the beverages or anything else that we got out here today. It is a celebration. We're having fun. It's a five-year anniversary. And we appreciate you all being here today. And with that, that is the end of my announcement. So I'm going to turn the service back over to Brother Peter, who will lead us in our next song. All right, church, if you can't open up your headphones to song number 55. Song number 55, when the world is cold and young. Song number 55. All right, church, let's sing this out of the verse. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, the time shall be no more. When the morning breaks eternal bright and fair. When the saved, the worse shall gather over on the other shore. When the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead and fresh shall rest. When the glory of His resurrection shares. When His chosen ones shall gather to their own beyond disgust. When the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. For the last, let us labor for the master of the dawn to stand still. Let us talk about His wondrous love and care. And when all of life is over and our work on earth is done. And the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder. When the road is fallen, yonder I'll be there. All right, this time I'm going to ask the ushers if they can just set up and collect the plates for Sunday evening offering. While the offering plates are being passed around, you can open up your Bibles to the book of Proverbs, chapter 23. That's the book of Proverbs, chapter 23. And as we do customary here at Stronghold Baptist Church, we want to read the entire chapter. We'd like you to pause. Amen. That is Proverbs, chapter 23. Proverbs, chapter 23. The Bible reads, When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee. Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom. With thou set thy eyes upon that which is not, for riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye. Now the desire thou his dainty meets, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. The more so which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. Remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless. For their redeemer is mighty, he shall plead their cause with thee. Apply thine ear unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reign shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long, for surely there is an end, and thine expectations shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among wild bibbers, among righteous eaters of flesh, for the drunken and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags, harken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth and sell it not, also wisdom and instruction and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begateth his wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice. My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways, for a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in weight as for a prey, and increases the transgressions among men. Who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without cause, who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon a wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent and singeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lied down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lied upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shall thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. Let's pray. Father God, once again we thank you for your word. We thank you for Pastor Mejia visiting our church and allow for him to speak with boldness, allow for us to be tuned in to hear what he has to say. Let us have ears to hear what thus say of the Lord. We just praise you and thank you for all that you do. We say this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Alright, it's a blessing to be here once again tonight with you all here at Stronghold Baptist Church. And I want to thank my friend, Pastor Berzins, once again for the invitation and happy anniversary to you all once again. Tonight, I want to preach on the subject of things that are better than money, things that are better than money. Look what it says in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse number four. It states, Labor not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. And the subject of money in the Bible is something that is important, of course, and we know that we need money in order to pay for the bills, in order to provide for our family members, in order to purchase the possessions necessary for us to live a normal life, just to kind of live in this world and to function. We need money. However, sometimes the world, and of course in context of what we're going to talk about tonight, Christians can often place finances and money on a pedestal, and it can actually affect their Christian life in a negative way. In fact, if you think about the subject of covetousness in the Bible, covetousness is a grievous sin, and it's a sin that a lot of churches don't want to talk about. We often preach against a lot of different types of sins, but covetousness is one of those things that kind of creep into the life of a Christian almost under the radar, and sometimes Christians don't even know that they're behaving in a covetous manner, but it's such a grievous sin that the Bible states that if a Christian is unrepentant regarding covetousness, that they actually merit excommunication from the church, according to First Corinthians chapter five. So not just fornication, not just idolatry and railing and extortion, but even the sin of covetousness can cause someone, if they're unrepentant, to be thrown out of church because it can infect the entire church. It can cause others to become covetousness, to become covetous, excuse me, and have a distorted view of money and finances, and really they can make it, in a sense, they can turn it into idolatry where they're worshiping the almighty dollars, so to speak. Go with me if you would to First Timothy chapter six, First Timothy chapter six, and of course in Proverbs 23 it states don't labor to be rich, right? It's important for us to labor. It's good for our character. It's good to provide for our family if we don't. The Bible says that we're worse than an infidel, but it says here to make sure you labor, not necessarily because of the fact that you think that laboring is bad or it's somehow gonna affect you in a negative way. It says make sure that your goal is not to become rich. Don't do it so that you can become wealthy, so you can purchase all types of possessions. The Bible tells us that a man's life consists not into things which he possesses, and so we need to make sure we warn ourselves and warn others of the sin of covetousness, and he goes on to say, of course, that riches, they have wings. Now, if you're a dad, you have a wife, you have kids, you know exactly what that's like. They just get paid, and all of a sudden, it just flies away, you know what I mean? I can't remember the last time I actually carried cash in my pocket, and the reason being is because myself, if I have cash in my pocket, I'll probably spend it, and it's true. Once the money comes in, there's bills to pay. There's diapers. There's all types of expenses that you need, and so riches, you can't really place your faith in riches because of the fact that they grow wings, and they end up fleeing from your pocket. They end up fleeing from your bank account. They end up fleeing from your own possession, and what God is trying to get across here is that, you know, finances and riches, they're unstable, okay? And it's for that reason that we should not place our faith in finances. Look what it says in First Timothy chapter six and verse number three. It says, if any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strives of words. Wherewith cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. Listen to this. Supposing that gain is godliness from such withdrawal of thyself. Now, if someone were to tell me, show me in the Bible where the Bible condemns prosperity preachers right here because prosperity preachers, that's exactly what their message is all about. Gain is godliness. If you serve God, you'll be rich. If you serve God, you'll be wealthy. If you serve God, you'll be happy. But here it says that these men who preach these types of sermons are destitute of the truth because they're giving you a perverse doctrine that gain is godliness. And it says from such withdrawal thyself. Get away from preachers like that. Get away from preachers and pastors that try to increase your ungodliness by creating an appetite for the possessions of this world, for finances, and try to deceive you into thinking that just because you have a lot of money, somehow that equals godliness. And it's funny because when you look at the Bible and you study the life of Jesus Christ and the apostles and the disciples, you know, Jesus Christ said the sin of man hath not worth to lay his head. Whereas the prosperity preacher says, you know, name it and claim it. You get yourself a yacht with a helipad. You know, you can get yourself a nice vehicle, a Bentley or whatever. Whereas the disciples, they many times were without. Jesus Christ didn't have a place to lay his head. And so we can see how this message is often propagated to Christians that gain is godliness and how money can sometimes become the focus of a Christian if they're not careful. Look at verse 17, if you would, verse 17. Now look, obviously, there's Christians in this world that just come from money. You know what I mean? It's not necessary that they labor to be rich. They might just come from a wealthy home. They might have wealthy family members. And so they just kind of come from money. You guys know what I'm talking about? I don't know if there's anybody like that in here. I promise you it's out there, okay? There's Christians out there that may come from a wealthy family or they just have a, they're savvy about business and finances regarding their own business and so they're wealthy because of it. But even then, God gives instructions to those particular types of people. It says in verse 17, Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. What does that mean? Make sure you're not proud. Just because you got a lot of money. Just because your bank account is full and you got a nice house and all these vehicles and you don't have to necessarily worry about finances. You got it all. Don't become a high-minded person. Don't become proud and arrogant thinking that somehow money makes you a valuable person. He says that they be not high-minded nor trust, listen to this, in uncertain riches. So that leads us to believe that Christians, if they're not careful, they can place their faith in finances, right? They can place their faith in riches because they think that's the answer to all of life's problems. He says, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. He says that they do good, that they be rich in good works. So if you're a wealthy person, God says you need to be wealthy in your good works. And your good works need to outweigh how much finances you have, right? Be rich, be wealthy in the works that you do. He says ready to distribute, willing to communicate. Don't be stingy. Don't be the type of person if you're wealthy that you're just saving up for a rainy day or something like that. Make sure you use your finances and your wealth to be a blessing to others. Be willing to distribute to others in need. Be 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. Now I really like this verse in verse number 19 because of the fact that it's basically saying this is the best way to save money. I don't mean saving money in your bank account or in your bitcoin or something like that. He says that they may lay hold on eternal life is referring to money, resources. If you want your resources to last for all of eternity, the best thing to do is to invest it in eternal things and that way your finances lay hold on eternal life. A lot of people waste money on stupid things, trivial things, things that don't matter, possessions that don't matter. But if you invest your resources in the eternal, in sowing and being a blessing to others, you're essentially transmitting your resources to heaven so that you'll have them from here on out. And you think of someone like Tutankhamun, for example, who was buried, that Egyptian pharaoh that was buried with millions of dollars worth of treasure and they had this weird belief that if they were buried with their treasure that somehow that was gonna accompany them in the afterlife. But you know what? If we had a screen that can view hell at this moment and find Tutankhamun in hell, he'd have no treasures with him. And even if he did, he probably could care less how many treasures he had beside him because all he would want is a drop of water. Because you can't take it with you, my friends. And so it's important that you invest your resources in the eternal and save your money. Not here, but redeem your money by investing your money in the eternal. Go with me to Ecclesiastes chapter number five. Ecclesiastes chapter number five, all by way of introduction here. What are some things that are better than money? Let me give you some introductory verses here. Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse number 10 says this. He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase, this is also vanity. If you have an inordinate affection towards silver and resources and gold and Bitcoin and all this weird stuff, you know, that's not necessarily gonna fulfill you. It's gonna leave you empty, it's vain. He says when goods increase, they are increased that eat them. So the more possessions you own, the more enemies of your possessions you also own. Right? You know, if you got yourself a yacht or a boat outside your house or you got a nice vehicle outside your house, you're probably waking up throughout the night wondering if someone's gonna break into it or something like that. Because they that are increased, they eat them. He says and what good is there to the owners thereof saving the beholding of them with their eyes? He's like what good are the possessions if you're just gonna stare at it and look at it? Use what you have. Don't just buy things so you can look at them. 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. Oh man, if I just had this much more money, I would have so much peace and I can just enjoy life. No, actually you enjoy life if you labor. If you put God's things first, you actually sleep soundly. Whereas if you're wealthy and rich and have everything you've ever wanted, so to speak, according to the Bible, you're gonna lose sleep over it. It says in verse 13, there is a sore evil which I've seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. Isn't it interesting that people think that if they just accumulate more things, they'll be happy? But what we see is that the more they accumulate, the less happy they are. The more miserable they become, the more covetous they actually become. Now, don't misunderstand me. We obviously know money's important and don't take the sermon and say, oh, you're saying that I shouldn't work this many hours and provide for my family. Obviously, we know that you're supposed to provide for your family. Don't be worse than an infidel. But also, don't use those verses as an excuse to become wealthy and rich just to fulfill your own desires and the will to be rich and you're doing it for that particular reason. We need to make sure money is in its rightful place in our lives and not have this inordinate affection where it becomes our master. Where we fall in love with mammon and it dictates our life. And look, this is definitely common with Christians because sometimes Christians make decisions, spiritual decisions, based off of money. Let me say that again. Sometimes Christians will make a spiritual decision based off of money. Like, oh, man, I don't know what to do. I'm kinda struggling with my finances. I'm gonna start working on Sundays and just miss church. Well, that's not the way to go. Oh, I'm just gonna work on Sundays and work on Wednesdays and just keep working every single day because I need to provide for my family. Folks, we need to make sure that we put God first in every area. And the Bible tells us that we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you. Never make decisions based off of finances, amen? Make spiritual decisions but never base those decisions off of how much money am I gonna make? You know, how much more do I have to work? And things of that nature. Things of that nature. We need to make sure that we keep the kingdom of God first. The Bible says, you don't have to turn there. In Proverbs 11 verse 28, he that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. Proverbs 13 verse seven says, there is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Isn't that interesting? You know, these rich people out there who just accumulate wealth, but you know their family life is miserable. Their kids hate them. Their wife hates them. They don't have any friends. And the friends they do have, probably only their friends because they want something out of them. They don't have a church family. They don't have the peace of God, the passive understanding. They're miserable. So even though they have all these resources and monetary wealth, at the end of the day, they have nothing. Folks, I'd rather have nothing physically and be rich spiritually, amen? Amen. Turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter number six. Luke chapter 12 verse 15 says, he saith unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Look at Matthew six and verse 19. Along with the same concept that says in verse 19, 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. And so what is the Bible saying here? You know, it's not wrong to lay up treasure. It's not wrong to want wealth, so to speak. But it has to be the right type of wealth, the right type of treasure. And he says here, you know, the logical thing to do is to lay up your treasure somewhere where the elements of this world will not corrupt it. Or the thieves of this world can't break through and steal it. And, you know, I think every time I read this passage, I think of a van that we used to have. And this van that we used to have, you know, it served its purpose. Purpose being it got us from point A to point B to point C to point D. And I remember when we lived in Los Angeles, that wonderful place in America, in California. You know, I remember we got up one morning on a Sunday, and it was an Easter Sunday, and we had a great soloing marathon the day before. Got a lot of people saved. It was just a great weekend. And I come outside of our house, and now I'm just like, now where did I park that stupid van? You know, it's that Sunday morning thing. I'm like, I don't remember where I parked it. And I'm like, I probably parked it around the corner, because it's Los Angeles. It's hard to find parking sometimes. And so I go around the corner, and I'm like, nah, it's not here. I'm like, where did my wife park this stupid van, you know? It was my wife who put it somewhere. And I'm going up and down the street looking for this van, and I'm like, this van is not here. So I call my wife to yell at her, and I'm just like, hey, where'd you put the van? She's like, it's in front of the house. It's not in front of the house. Where'd you put it? And she's like, you parked it in front of the house. I'm like, oh, man, they stole the van. So I find out they stole the van. In fact, the van had all types of zoning materials in it. And we ended up finding the van about two days later or something, and it was completely stripped along with all the Bible material and everything. It took all types of marching design. I'm like, well, hopefully, you know, they watch it or something. And they even stole my Bible that was in there. And I was thinking, I hope they read the parts about stealing how wicked it is and covetousness is wicked. It's like the irony. You steal a Bible. It's just kind of weird. So then we had that van for a while. We got it back. But then we got the protest and all that stuff that happened a couple years ago, and the reprobates ended up stealing our van. They came to my house. They parked out in front of my house for a while while I was in Arizona. And then when we came back, they ended up coming back and actually stole our van. And they ended up finding it in the city where we were being protested at. And it was completely stripped. And it was just they took everything out of it. It was just you couldn't even drive it anymore. And then I thought to myself, you know what? I'm so glad that I don't love this van. Because if I love this van, I would be heartbroken. You know, it's just like, oh, my van. But really, I thought to myself, take it. You know what I mean? Never liked this piece of junk anyways. It did what it was supposed to do, which was get me to church, get my family to church, get us to the store wherever we had to go. I'm not attached to this vehicle. I don't have any affection towards this vehicle other than what its purpose was for. And it just helped me to realize my treasure is not in this van. My treasure is not any vehicle that I own or any possession that I have. You know, my treasure is not in a particular building. You can take anything from my life, physically speaking. And you know what? My affection is not on that physical property, possession or whatever. Because I lay up for myself treasures in heaven. And I'm not worried about whether they take my van or my vehicle or whatever it may be. Because at the end of the day, I have something far greater in heaven waiting for me. And so that's the attitude that we need to constantly have is recognizing, you know what? If the world takes everything from me, you think of the most valuable possession that you have this side of eternity. What if God took that? What if God allowed that to be taken from you? What would be your attitude towards that? Are you laying up for yourselves treasures here on earth where moth and rust does corrupt and thieves break through and steal? It says in verse 22, the light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. Referring to greed, envy, covetousness. He says if therefore light that is in thee be darkness, how great is thy 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. He goes on to say 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? Isn't there more to life than making money? Isn't there more to life than the clothes that you're wearing or the food that you're eating or the things that you have? There's more to life than that, especially for us as Christians. And this evening I want to talk about things that are more important than money. Go to Luke chapter 12 if you would, Luke chapter 12. Of course we know that the most important thing is God's word, right? God's word is more valuable than money. Psalm 119 72 says the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. But let me talk about some other things here. You know, living forever is better than money. Living forever is far better than all the silver and gold that this world can offer. Salvation. And in fact, look at Luke chapter 12 verse 13. And one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto a man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And of course we read verse 15 said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Says in verse 16, he spake a parable unto them saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself saying, what shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said unto, and he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all of my fruits and my goods. And I always laugh at verse 19. I always thought this is very weird for someone to like speak. And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Who talks like that? Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry. By the way, 1 Corinthians 15 says for tomorrow we die. You know, evil communications corrupt good manners the Bible says. And that's what it's referring to. But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Go to Acts chapter 8. So what is this parable teaching? It's teaching us that there are certain individuals in this world where money is their God. And as long as they have money and possessions and resources, that's all they need, right? But hold on a second. Eternal life is better. And some people out there think that just because they have money, somehow that equals to, well, I don't need anything else in life. I don't need God. I don't need Christianity. I don't need religion. I don't need the Bible. And, folks, they're obviously being deceived. They obviously don't realize that at the end of the day those resources are going to fly away. It's not going to amount to anything. You ask any rich person in hell today, the rich man, he would trade it all to have eternal life. All those riches can't deliver him from the wrath to come. Salvation is far greater than all the money in the world can provide. And it says to be rich toward God. And, by the way, the reason we're rich toward God is because we have salvation. The Bible tells us of Jesus Christ that he himself became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. Because we have salvation. We have something that money can never buy. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can purchase. And the Bible tells us, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Never envy the rich of this world. Never envy the wealthy of this world. Why? Because at the end of the day we're far richer than they are because we have something that they can never buy. I don't care how many billions of dollars Bill Gates has, how many billions of dollars these people have, they can never ever purchase salvation. I'm not rich. And I didn't have to purchase salvation. It was given to me as a free gift by Jesus Christ through his blood. Look at Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8, of course, this is a story of the sorcerer, and we see here that he gets saved. But then he begins to see that the disciples have these supernatural abilities to heal individuals and also to impart the Holy Ghost upon him. It says in verse 14, Now when the apostles, which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. So this guy thinks that some amount of money can actually purchase the power of God, right? It says in verse 20, But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. And so we see here that no amount of money could ever purchase the power of God. We can't purchase salvation. And salvation is obviously more important than any amount of money this world can offer. Now explain this to the Catholics with their penance. Explain this to the philanthropists of this world. Because who gives a rip how much Bill Gates, you know, gives to charity? There's no amount that is ever going to purchase salvation for him. There's no amount of money that will ever, that he donates to charity or donates to, you know, to make some vaccine. Actually, that's going to make his hell worse, you know what I mean? You know, there's no amount of money that he can give to charity or whatever it is, all these philanthropists of this world, that will ever help them on Judgment Day because salvation cannot be purchased with money. The power of God cannot be purchased with money. Salvation is far greater than what all the money in the world can offer. Proverbs 11 verse 4 says, richest profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. Turn with me, if you would, to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Salvation is better than money. So whenever you get into a position where you might envy the wealthy of this world, just know this, you're richer than they are if you have salvation. Now, I'm talking to people who have the right salvation, by the way. Not the wrong salvation. What's the wrong salvation? Thinking that you're saved by your works. Thinking that you're saved because you repented of your sin or because you were baptized or because you go to church or because you felt like you've kept God's commandments. You know, you're deceived, my friend, and if you think that that's what's going to save you, I mean, you're basically as bad as the person who thinks that they're saved by having riches. The poor and the rich meet together, okay? And one day the poor and the rich will meet together in a place called hell because they think that their works can save them. But let's talk about something else that's better than money, and that is wisdom. Wisdom is far greater than any amount of money you can ever have. Look at Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance, and by it there's profit to them that have the son. Verse 12 says, For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom giveth life to them that have it, the Bible says. Turn with me, if you would, to go to 1 Kings chapter 3. And, you know, sometimes I think that Christians don't really understand the value of having wisdom in their life and how it's far more valuable than any monetary gain. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 8 and 11, For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. Proverbs 16 and 16 says, How much better is it to get wisdom than gold? You have all these people storing up gold because they're afraid that the dollar's going to crash and, you know, all these cataclysmic things are going to happen, you know, the economy's going to crash. Let's save all this gold. Well, how about saving up some wisdom? Because how much better is it to get wisdom than gold? And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver, the Bible says. Now, let's look at a clear example of this in the Bible. Look at 1 Kings chapter 3 and verse number 5 regarding Solomon. It says in verse number 5, In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. Now, that's a pretty amazing command there, right? When God comes to you and says, All right, what do you want? Ask what I shall give thee. Now, let me just be real honest. The natural propensity of man is to say, Oh, millions, millions of dollars, or just all the possessions, right? I mean, this is the natural tendency and inclination of man to say, Well, if God has offered me anything, I'm just going to ask for money. I'm going to ask for treasures. I'm going to ask for a long life. That's just the natural inclination of man. I mean, think about it. What if God came to you and said, Ask what I shall give thee? Some guys would be like a wife. Some people would be like, I don't know, just millions of dollars or health, you know, wealth, whatever. And Solomon said in verse 6, Thou was showed unto thy servant David, my father, great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him this great kindness that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David, my father. And I am but a little child. I know not how to go out, how to come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which is thou hast chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted from multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge this. Thy so great a people. So instead of asking for riches, wealth, the life of his enemies, he just says, just give me understanding. Give me judgment. Now, the covetous of this world would say, what a stupid thing to ask for. You had one wish. You know, you had one wish and you could have asked for anything. And all you ask for is understanding and judgment. But hold on a second, look at verse 10. And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, because thou hast asked this thing and has not asked for thyself long life, neither has asked riches for thyself, nor has asked the life of thine enemies, but has asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to thy words, lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that there is none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto all thy days. So what does he say? Look, because you didn't ask for all these, you know, temporal things, you asked for yourself wisdom and judgment. Okay, now I'm gonna add unto you honor, life, riches. Now why is that? Why did God do that? Well, think about this. The Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter three that when you have wisdom, you add unto yourself length of days. When you have wisdom, that riches are in her right hand and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. So when you have wisdom and understanding, the byproduct of that is that you have riches, you have wealth, you have length of days. And a lot of times Christians get them backwards, right? They want the riches, they want the wealth, they want the possessions, when at the end of the day, what they need is wisdom and understanding, and the byproduct is that as you get these temporal things. Your heart is in the right place. Riches is far better than money. Now try explaining that to the five billionaires that went in that submarine last Sunday, right? Because here's the thing. You think to yourself, well, you know, these billionaires, they became billionaires because they were so smart and so intelligent. Well, it sounds like they didn't have a whole lot of wisdom. Because the wisdom says, don't get in the submarine in the ocean where the Titanic, you know, because the Titanic is like down there where people died. And don't go there because you might suffer the same fate. So he has all these billions of the CEO of Ocean Gate, had all this money, all this wealth, all of these riches. But yet the guy didn't have the wisdom to build an actual legitimate submarine. I mean, think about that. They use like an Xbox controller to navigate the thing. It's like you have billions of dollars. Don't you think you could have invested your resources to constructing a legitimate joystick or something? Not something that's Bluetooth. You have all these billions of dollars. Where's the wisdom? He said, what are you trying to say? You have more wisdom than that guy? Yes, because I'm not going down there 12,500 feet in the middle of the ocean to go look at some shipwreck. I don't need to see that. I can pull it up on YouTube. I have the wisdom to just click on a video of the Titanic on YouTube from the safety of my own home in a large space, and I'll finish that video and come out alive. And I don't need billions of dollars to do that. And in fact, they paid $250,000 to do that. Hey, I'll show you the Titanic for free. I'll pull it up on my phone. You can watch it for free. You can watch it in 4K. I'll show you the movie, the Titanic, for free. And you'll see how it ends. You'll see it from beginning to end. And it sounds silly, but folks, wisdom obviously is better than riches because this guy had billions of dollars. And in fact, I think there was five billionaires on that submarine who made the decision to get in that thing and basically paid $250,000 to go die by the Titanic. Now, whether you believe that's true or not, people are like, oh, they faked their deaths or something. It's a distraction. People always say it's a distraction. Folks, we can focus on multiple things at the same time. Come on, don't think we have such a low IQ that we're only focused on this one thing. We can talk about multiple things. And the same people are like, it's a distraction from what's really going on in the government. It's like what's really going on in the government is a distraction from spiritual things. So how about that? But they're going to go watch the Titanic, not the movie, but the actual thing, 12,500 feet in the ocean where there's like 4,000 tons of pressure per like square, I don't remember, like meter or something like that. They said the pressure was so strong that it would turn like a soda can into something the size of a marble. And once it crushes that submarine, I mean, it takes about like 30 milliseconds to do so. They probably didn't even know what happened. The death was so fast. Because they're like, you know, did they suffer? And like, no, they didn't suffer because it just crushed them immediately. And their brains didn't even have time to process what took place. And honestly, when I think about that, I'm horrified. And the reason why is because these guys and, you know, you have like this 19-year-old who's there who didn't even want to go. I'm horrified by it because they're in this submarine, they're crushed immediately in 30 milliseconds, and then they lift up their eyes in hell. So you got to think what's going on in their mind. They're probably thinking to themselves, oh, the submarine's on fire or something. But then the fire never goes out. And they're just burning. And then they come to a realization after a while, I'm in hell. Because, you know, they didn't have time to process their deaths. They don't have time to process what took place. They don't know what happened. They say that the last thing they probably heard was the creaking of the submarine, which takes place right before it implodes. And it happens so fast, their brains can't even process that. So you think to yourself, that takes place. And then they just lift up their eyes in hell. They're in torment. And they probably think they're still alive and that the submarine's on fire or something. But then the fire never goes away. They're just continuously burning. And here we are seven days later, they're probably thinking to themselves, I'm burning in hell. I should have never taken that trip. Yeah, there go your billions of dollars. They could even purchase you a level of wisdom. And by the way, the CEO of Ocean Gate, he said, you know what? The ocean is our only hope for existence. Like if we ever destroy the planet, we can just live in the ocean. Well, I... You sure about that? You sure about that? What's up with these people wanting to go to Mars? They want to go to... It's like, what in the world? Billions of dollars worth of money and resources, but not an ounce of wisdom. This should teach you and I never envy or covet the rich of this world. Because they don't even have the wisdom to live. To know how to stay away from that which can destroy your life. And it was just like the submarine wasn't even like... It wasn't like there was like a glass case over and you can view. It's like they're watching everything through a screen. You could watch everything through a screen in the surface. Why get in a submarine and risk your life? But folks, this is the wisdom of this world. This is the nonsense that the world has to offer. And no amount of money can ever purchase the wisdom of God. And look, I'm not even saying that not going is the wisdom of God. It's just common sense to just not go. You couldn't pay me $250,000 to get into a submarine. You couldn't pay me a billion dollars to get into a submarine to go look at the Titanic. I already know it's there. We know it's there. Why am I going to look at a piece of junk from the past or whatever? It's just like there's nothing novel about that. And don't you guys have like some sort of Titanic museum here or something? Someone just told me that. There's some sort of Titanic museum where you can just go around here. You don't even have to go into the ocean and do that. Wisdom is obviously better than money, my friends. And the billionaires of this world can't seem to understand that and they'll never understand that. Go to Proverbs 31 if you would. Proverbs 31. Hey, wisdom tells us that doing drugs will destroy your life. That drinking alcohol will destroy your life. All the money in the world can't teach you that. But you know the wisdom of God can teach you the consequences to your actions. You know the wisdom of this world teaches us that fornication is wicked. That adultery is wicked. That divorce is wicked. It teaches us that railing is wicked. It teaches us the consequences of our actions and it helps us to stay away from evil. We don't need money to teach us that. You don't need a five-week course, right? On these areas, we can just read the Word of God, gain wisdom, and see how valuable it is to just obey the Lord and ask for that particular wisdom to help us to stay away from those things. Look at Proverbs 31. Not only that, but a godly wife is better than money. Godly wife is better than money. Why say that? Well, because now there's a generation that's being raised up of young people who hate women, believe it or not. And in fact, they hate the Western woman. So they're just like, oh, there's no good women out there. And really what they're saying is that they don't have any game or something like that. They don't know how to talk to girls or something because they're of a generation where everything's done online. You know what I mean? And so they're just like, oh, all women are bad. All women are wicked. And what they're referring to is like the whore that they look at on Instagram. There's no good women out here. You don't even go to church. How do you know? How many of you are married in here? Raise your hand. Found yourself a good woman, right? You're like, I got myself a good woman. So here's proof that there is good women. And in fact, we don't just have good women. We have godly women. But you know, you have this movement out there by Andrew Tate and these passport bros that think, well, you know, in order for you to be happy, you know, you got to be a man of value. So the way you become a man of value is by making a lot of money. Yeah, if you want to get married, you can get married. Get married, cheat on your wife, have a bunch of women. This is nonsense, my friends. Scott, I don't know if he if he's a millionaire or something, but the guy is obviously a fool. He's a complete idiot. The only the only people who are more dumb than him are those who are paying for his course. Godly wife is better than money. Prove it. Look at Proverbs 31 verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies? The Bible says you don't need to go to some online course to show you how to be a man, show you how to cheat on your wife, how to be a man of value. That's nonsense, my friend. That is the wisdom of this world that shall come to not. It's wicked. It's garbage. It's trash. Stick with the Bible and all that guys do is attracting a bunch of simps. So they are dudes who don't know how to talk to girls. They just don't know how to spark up a conversation. They don't know. They don't have a personality or something. They can't seem to just walk up to a random girl in church and say, hey, how you doing? My name is so-and-so, you know, and just talk to them. There's they just automatically label them as being wicked and they have the worst of intentions. But, folks, it's a complete lie. It's stupid. It's a guy who's simply taking advantage of these young people, making money off of them by, you know, espousing these philosophies. He says, verse 11, the heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. She would do him good and not evil all the days of her life. I'm thankful for my wife. Man, my wife is more valuable than any ruby, any amount of gold, riches or silver. And I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. Because not only is she valuable as far as her character is concerned, her integrity, her godliness, but really she completes me. Aw, you know. I'm hoping she's watching. She's watching, right? Are we live? You guys getting all this? All right. Hey, I mean it, amen. Her price is far above rubies. But, you know, it's no wonder these guys are always complaining about women because they're always going after whores and sluts on Instagram, on social media, women who aren't even saved. They don't even care about the things of God. All they care about is how many followers they have and how many people are lusting after them, how much money they can make. But these are the kind of, these are the quality of women that men are going for today. Folks, a godly wife is better than that. It's better than all the money. It's better than all the riches. Young men don't get deceived by these, the Andrew Tates of this world. And, you know, he sometimes likes to delve into the Bible and say, well, you know, David did it. You know, David had all kinds of wives and everything. Yeah, how did that turn out for him? How did that work out for him? He had all these wives and all these kids and, you know, and he's the godliest man in the Bible. Yeah, but let's talk about his story and how that went. How about we talk about the fact that he murdered a man to have a wife? You know, how about the fact that his sons were like killing each other? Is that what you want? So it's not the best thing to do to go to that example and say, well, David did it and so therefore I'm going to do it too. Folks, the Bible gives us stories in the Bible not because we're going to follow every single example that we see, but we're just going to see the bad examples and stay away from those bad examples. You know, and obviously David is a godly man, but not because he had a bunch of wives. Because he was a man after God's own heart, that's why. We're not looking at him and be like, yeah, that's the kind of man I want to be. Just a womanizer, an adulterer, a murderer. Is it raining outside? Georgia is crazy. It's really raining outside. Wow. Man. I'll pray for you guys out here. That's loud. All right. Go to Proverbs 15, if you would, Proverbs 15. Godly marriage is better than all the money that you could ever have. Having a godly marriage. Hey, having a household where there's peace, where your wife loves you and respects you, you know, where you actually got you guys actually get along. I mean, that's more valuable than all the money in the world. So don't have this attitude or just like, well, you know, I just want to make a bunch of money and I don't want to go home. And because, you know, my wife nags me or something. Well, work on your marriage then. And wife, stop nagging your husband. Amen. I mean, look what the Bible says in Proverbs 15, verse 16. Better is littered with the fear of the Lord than great treasures and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. What does that say? It would be better for you to make less money and have a vegetarian home. I can't believe I just said that. But if I were actually says it, it would be better to just make less money, have a vegetarian home. But at least there's love in the home. Then having ribeye and all the good meats, but then you and your spouse can't get along. What is that telling us? It's more valuable to have a good relationship with your spouse than to make money, than to have resources. Now, luckily, we don't really have to make that decision. You know, we don't have to choose. Amen. We can we can be meat eaters and still have a good marriage. Amen. Because I will never go vegan. I'm never going to do that. We're going to make it work somehow. Okay. There will be a dinner of a stalled ox and love therewith as well. Okay. And so make it happen. But, you know, having a godly marriage, a marriage where you actually look forward to going home, that's worth more than all the money in the world. Having a home where you actually come home and you actually look forward to seeing your spouse, that is worth more than all the money in the world. You know, because there's there's people out there, there's marriages out there that they just can't stand each other. You know, and they're willing to work the extra hours at work just so they don't come home. I mean, think about that. Folks, we should be the kind of Christians where it's just like, well, I can't wait to go home. I can't wait to see my spouse. Wives should be like, I can't wait till my husband comes home. I want to see his face. I want to make him a sandwich. I want to make him dinner. I want to reverence him. Amen. I only got one amen off of that one, but thank you, sir. That's good. Hey, I mean, that's that's worth in all the money in the world. You know, there's no amount of money in the world that can ever offer peace in your home. They can ever offer a wife who reverences you, a husband that loves you as Christ also loved the church. Because there's men out there who have all the money in the world, but they live miserable lives when they go home. They go home and they immediately go to the corner of the housetop. They go home and they look for the wilderness. I mean, that's the thing, my friends, I remember when I used to live in Los Angeles, we had these neighbors. And this particular neighbor, his name was Mike. Hopefully he never listens to the sermon. But Mike, he had one of those wives, like the continual dropping type of a wife. And I'm not just saying that because I would hear them. I'm saying that because she was a continual dropping to us, too. It's just like, man, this lady's annoying. You know, she's constantly yelling at her husband, constantly like just hating her husband, talking down about talking bad about her husband, talking down on her husband, nagging her husband. And it's just like, God bless Mike. I hope he gets the help that he needs, you know. But you know, Mike would do. He just never was home, though. See, where was he? Well, he didn't work either. Maybe that was the problem. But every time I'd come home, he was just always in his car. He like lived out of his car. He would just listen to the radio in his car and just never go home. Every time I see him, he's just in the front seat of his car, just listening to the radio, smoking a cigarette. But in my mind, I was just like, you know, I don't blame him because that's his corner of the house.