Participants: Jon & Natalie Wood
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000026A
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00:21 Hello, and welcome to Jesus for Asia Now.
00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and I have my husband Jon here with me 00:26 on the show today. 00:28 Hello, love. Hi, Darling. 00:29 How are you today? I'm doing fine. 00:30 That's awesome. 00:31 You know, we've got second of a two part series. 00:35 Yep. 00:36 And those that joined us last time 00:38 know that we talked about Luke 15. 00:40 Yes. 00:41 So what are we gonna cover today? 00:42 In part two, we're gonna cover Luke 16. 00:45 Okay. 00:46 In this Biblical Foundation Series. 00:49 Okay. Yeah. 00:50 So what we found in Luke 15, 00:53 can you summarize briefly for us 00:55 what we found there, so that people know 00:58 what we talked about last time if they missed it? 01:00 Right, well, first of all, 01:01 Jesus is talking to people 01:03 that are complaining about Jesus, 01:07 eating with publicans and sinners. 01:08 So Jesus gives us three parables 01:10 in chapter 15. 01:12 The first one is the sheep and you know, 01:14 there is a 100 sheep, one is lost, 01:17 leaves 99 to go out and find out one sheep, 01:20 because he values that lost sheep. 01:22 Second one is the 10 coins, 01:25 where the housewife has 10 very valuable coins. 01:30 She loses one, and tears the house apart 01:33 looking for that one lost coin, values that coin. 01:36 And both of those, 01:37 when they find what they're looking for, 01:39 they call all their friends and they rejoice 01:41 and have a party. 01:42 Right. Okay. 01:43 Then the third parable, of course, 01:45 is the prodigal son. 01:47 It starts out, focused on the son being lost, 01:49 the father's heart for the son, 01:51 so happy when the son finally comes home. 01:55 And then it ends 01:56 in a very interesting situation. 01:58 It ends with the attitude of the elder brother. 02:01 Okay. 02:02 Which is really important to me 02:03 because I identify with the elder brother, 02:07 because I'm not rebellious against God. 02:11 I go to church, I follow Him, I love to pray to Him, 02:15 read the Bible, you know, I do all the stuff. 02:18 And so I see myself as the elder brother, 02:20 but there is something 02:21 that the elder brother is missing. 02:24 And that's what we talked about in the previous show 02:26 and that summarized is... 02:28 The heart of the father. The heart of the father. 02:29 He hasn't entered into the heart of the father. 02:33 He sees the father maybe as he's like a slave driver, 02:36 somebody that demands all these things. 02:38 And so he obeys him, he doesn't disobey him, 02:41 he works for him, he serves him, 02:44 all the stuff, but he hasn't entered 02:45 into the heart of the father. 02:47 And because of that, 02:49 he hasn't enjoyed half of what he could have enjoyed. 02:52 In other words, he finds his... 02:55 It's a grudging attitude. 02:56 Yeah, he finds his time with his father as a burden, 03:00 but he's willing to do it 03:01 because of the reward that's in the future. 03:04 And the father says, all that I have is thine, 03:08 meaning now. 03:09 You have it already. Right. 03:11 So he's complaining because the father 03:13 gave a party for his younger brother, 03:16 never gave one to him. 03:18 And the father is basically saying, 03:20 you never asked. 03:22 You know, all that I have is thine. 03:25 He could had a party every night 03:27 with all of his friends, 03:28 everyday the son's been gone his whole life. 03:31 And this father would have been okay with that, 03:33 because the father is so generous, 03:36 so loving, generous to a fault, really. 03:40 He just hadn't asked. 03:42 And so Jesus leaves that parable alone, 03:45 doesn't say what the elder brother's response is. 03:48 Yeah, He doesn't say if he repents, 03:50 doesn't say if he says, well, 03:52 give me mine and I'm leaving, He doesn't say. 03:54 Right, and I think that is because 03:57 it's the Pharisees that He is talking to, 03:59 the church people, the elders, the leaders, 04:02 the people that go to church all the time every week 04:06 and they pay their tithe, they do all the things 04:08 that they're supposed to do, okay. 04:10 He's talking to them 04:11 and they haven't made up their minds. 04:13 I haven't made up my mind. See, I'm the elder brother. 04:17 So my generation, people like me, 04:21 we haven't really fully made up our minds, 04:23 and that's the key, okay. 04:26 Am I going to take the time 04:29 and make the focus 04:30 being to enter into the father's heart. 04:33 You know, to go sit with him on the porch 04:35 to say the elder brother decided, 04:38 I want to see what my father is really like. 04:40 Go sit with him on the front porch. 04:41 Dad, why are you sitting on the front porch? 04:44 I'm waiting for your son. 04:45 I mean, for your brother. Really? 04:47 Why are you waiting for that rascal? 04:49 Because I love him. I miss him. Really? 04:52 What are you gonna do when he comes home? 04:54 Oh, man, I'm gonna throw a party. 04:56 Invite all my friends, we're gonna, 04:58 you've never seen such a big party. 05:00 When that kid comes home, it's gonna be amazing. 05:02 Well, Dad, you love him. 05:03 What about me? Do you love me? 05:07 Yeah, son, I love you so much. 05:10 Well, Dad, could I have a party? 05:12 Yeah, you know, if you've taken the time. 05:17 And so that is the question 05:18 what is our response going to be. 05:20 And this is really a Laodicean end time message, 05:24 because we have a situation where the elder son is, 05:28 he doesn't realize 05:29 the condition that he's in, okay. 05:31 That's true. 05:32 You think you're rich increased with goods 05:35 and have need of nothing, 05:36 but you do not know that you are poor, 05:39 blind, naked, okay. 05:42 So this applies to us today 05:44 because we really don't know our own condition. 05:47 And so this is the question with the elder son, 05:49 and as we move into chapter 16, 05:52 Jesus deals with us, 05:54 basically He has two parables, 05:55 and I think an interruption in the middle. 05:58 Okay. 05:59 So the first parable is the dishonest steward 06:01 or the unjust steward. 06:03 So Jesus says unto His disciples, verse 1, 06:05 "There was a certain rich man, which had a steward..." 06:08 Okay. 06:09 "And the same or the steward was accused unto him..." 06:13 So somebody ratted on the steward to the rich man, 06:17 your steward is wasting your money. 06:19 I would guess that he's probably embezzling, okay. 06:23 Using his master's money for himself. 06:27 Okay, that's called embezzling. 06:28 All right. 06:29 Now we're going to see 06:30 that Jesus applies this principle to us, 06:33 that the money that we think we have that we own, 06:38 Jesus... 06:39 it actually belongs to God 06:41 and Jesus has lent it to us for a time to test us, 06:44 and we're gonna see that in here. 06:45 Okay. That's very cool. 06:46 So the steward is gonna get fired, okay. 06:51 So the steward starts thinking ahead, 06:53 what's going to happen to me in the next, 06:55 in my next situation... 06:57 Right. In life? 06:58 How, what's my next job going to be? 07:00 Exactly. I don't want to dig... 07:02 Right. I don't want to beg. 07:03 Exactly. 07:04 So what are my options? 07:05 So he starts thinking ahead and he starts acting, 07:08 he uses the master's money again 07:10 and basically calls the debtors in, 07:13 his master's debtors and reduces their amount 07:16 that they owe the master, okay. 07:18 And surprisingly the master says, very good. 07:22 He commends the steward for thinking ahead 07:25 because he's making friends, okay. 07:28 He's using his master's money to make friends, 07:31 so that when he loses this job, 07:33 they will welcome him into their homes, all right. 07:37 So that he won't have to beg, he won't have to dig, 07:39 they'll find something for him to do. 07:42 Okay. So then we move on. 07:45 Verse 8, 07:46 "The Lord commended the unjust steward, 07:48 because he had done wisely: 07:50 for the children of this world are in their generation 07:53 wiser than the children of light." 07:54 Now why would Jesus say that? 07:56 Maybe because of the planning ahead... 07:57 Yeah. Thinking about the future? 07:59 Exactly. I believe so, absolutely. 08:03 And then Jesus goes on to say, 08:05 "And I say unto you..." 08:07 Verse 9, this is the punch line. 08:09 Okay. Okay. 08:11 "Make to yourselves 08:12 friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, 08:14 that when ye fail, 08:16 they may receive you into everlasting habitations." 08:20 Now, okay, we're gonna make some definitions here. 08:22 What is the mammon of unrighteousness? 08:25 Well, I think that, yeah, what's that word mammon? 08:28 I mean, it's an old word that we never use, 08:31 and so people don't really understand what it is. 08:32 Yeah. I think it's the main thing. 08:34 A lot of times they get confused 08:35 by mammon of unrighteousness, that mean like 08:38 something of unrighteousness or something, 08:40 but it just means filthy lucre. 08:44 Okay. You know, money. 08:46 The world's goods. The world's goods. 08:48 Exactly. 08:49 That when you fail, we're all gonna fail, 08:51 we're all gonna die, we're all gonna have it. 08:53 There is a judgment. 08:54 There is either the second coming or the grave. 08:57 Those are the two options that we have in our future. 08:59 So sooner or later this life 09:01 as we know it now will end, okay. 09:04 We have to look for a new position. 09:06 Right. 09:07 And what Jesus is saying 09:08 is be like the unjust steward and plan ahead, all right. 09:12 Think about what your future is, 09:14 is your future the second death, 09:15 or is your future eternity. 09:17 Exactly. Okay. 09:18 Eternity in heaven. 09:19 And this is how he says, 09:21 you can plan ahead and set up your next life, 09:26 okay, or invest in your next life. 09:28 He says, make to yourselves friends, all right, 09:33 that they may receive you into everlasting... 09:35 First of all, what's everlasting habitations? 09:38 Well, it sounds like heaven, it sounds like eternal life. 09:40 Absolutely. 09:42 Okay. Yeah. 09:43 So these friends somehow are gonna get to heaven. 09:46 Right. Okay. 09:47 How do they get to heaven? 09:49 Isn't it by you making friends with them? 09:53 Okay. Sounds like it. 09:54 So this is the kind of friend that Jesus is saying we make. 09:59 Friends that end up in heaven, 10:02 so that they can receive you into heaven, okay. 10:05 Wow, okay. 10:06 So, basically it's introducing the... 10:08 use your money to introduce the gospel to people, 10:11 they become your friends... 10:13 Right. The eternal friends. 10:14 Right. Okay. 10:15 And as you do that, 10:17 then you have an entrance into heaven society. 10:22 And the flip side is if you don't do that, 10:24 the implication is 10:26 that you're not gonna have anybody 10:27 to welcome you into heaven, 10:28 and you probably won't be welcomed into heaven. 10:33 So this is the... That's pretty serious. 10:35 Yeah, it's very serious. 10:37 It's life and death. 10:40 This is the right attitude, 10:41 this is heaven's attitude towards wealth, okay. 10:45 You've got the earthly wealth, 10:46 and you've got the heavenly wealth. 10:48 Earthly wealth is money, 10:50 houses, lands, bank accounts, cars, all that stuff. 10:54 So heavenly wealth or heavenly treasure... 10:56 Right. 10:57 ..is people. 10:58 Right, He says, 10:59 "Ask of me and I will give you the heathen 11:00 for your inheritance." 11:01 That's right. 11:03 Our inheritance is what we're going to get. 11:05 That's right. 11:06 Jesus left all the wealth of heaven 11:08 to come down here and find some people. 11:09 To claim His inheritance, right. 11:12 And so we get it backwards, 11:13 we use people to get money, okay. 11:16 And God uses money to get people. 11:20 Or whatever it means he has, talents, you know, influence, 11:24 all these things to get people. 11:26 This is heaven's attitude, 11:28 this is heaven's view of what's important. 11:32 And how we should move, how we should live our lives. 11:35 Okay. 11:36 Then Jesus goes on, He says, 11:38 "He that is faithful in that which is least." 11:41 Okay. What's he talking about here? 11:43 Well, he was just talking about making friends with money. 11:48 Right. So he's dealing... 11:49 So money is the least. 11:51 Exactly. Okay. 11:53 So he that is faithful in the least. 11:55 Yeah. 11:56 What is the least valuable thing in heaven's eyes? 12:00 The money. Money. 12:02 Exactly. 12:03 And what is the world's focus on? 12:06 Oh, riches. 12:08 Absolutely. Power, wealth, fame. 12:10 Exactly. Yeah. 12:12 So money is what? 12:13 The whole world's focused on money. 12:15 We want more money, 12:16 so we can have a better life, you know. 12:19 And Jesus is saying, 12:20 money is the least valuable thing in this world, 12:24 you know, who you know, 12:25 "What profit a man 12:26 if he gain the whole world and lose his..." 12:28 Own soul? "Own soul?" Exactly. 12:30 So there's things more important than money. 12:32 And what Jesus is saying here is 12:34 people more important than money. 12:37 People are earthy treasure, 'cause you know, 12:38 when you get to heaven, 12:40 you've got streets that are paved with gold. 12:43 What good is your money gonna be there? 12:44 Yeah. Sure. And you get plenty. 12:47 Plenty of wealth, way more wealth, 12:49 wealth is the easy part for God. 12:51 It's souls that He is after... 12:53 Right. ..His people. 12:54 Right. Yeah. 12:56 The hearts are the hard part. 12:57 Exactly. 12:59 So "He that is in faithful in that 13:01 which is least is faithful also in much." 13:04 So if we use the money that He's given us wisely, 13:07 then we'll be faithful in much, that's what He's saying... 13:10 Yeah. 13:11 ..or the more important things. 13:12 "And he that is unjust in the least..." 13:14 In other words, he that is unjust or unfaithful in money 13:19 is unjust and unfaithful in much." 13:23 I'm not sure what the much is. 13:24 Let's keep going. 13:25 "If therefore ye have not been faithful 13:27 in the unrighteous mammon, or money." 13:29 If you have not been faithful in the least or the money, 13:33 "Who will commit to your trust the true riches." 13:37 Okay, and I'm not sure what He's talking about here. 13:40 Yeah, but He has just said, 13:42 that what we're supposed to get with the money is the people, 13:46 so maybe the true riches 13:47 has something to do with people. 13:49 Wow. 13:50 And somehow I think this is relating to heaven, 13:52 when we lose this position in earth 13:55 and move into our next life. 13:57 Okay. 13:59 There's something in heaven 14:00 that He considers true riches that He's gonna give us. 14:03 Now check this out. 14:04 The next verse says, 14:05 "And if ye have not been faithful in that 14:06 which is another man's..." 14:08 Remember, He's still talking about money. 14:10 So the money that we have here on this earth 14:12 is not really ours. 14:13 Right. 14:14 It belongs to God to use, you know, 14:16 we're the stewards, He's the wealthy man. 14:19 Okay. 14:21 And how we use this money, it's really a test. 14:25 He's given us a little to see how we're going to use it. 14:28 It's like, I think there's a movie out, 14:30 I don't remember the name of it, 14:31 but this guy was given a huge amount of money, 14:34 and if he could spend it all in a certain amount of time, 14:37 then he would be given like 20 times that amount, 14:42 enough to like just take care of him the rest of his life, 14:45 and all of his family, and everybody he knows. 14:47 Just a huge amount of money, 14:48 but he had to spend it in a certain way, 14:51 first, get rid of that first thing 14:53 and this is the same thing. 14:54 God gives us talents, God gives us funding, 14:56 God gives us money, and He gives it to us to see 15:00 how will we use that money, 15:02 will we value the gift or the giver 15:04 and what He values, which is people. 15:07 And this is what He's saying, 15:08 use earthly treasure 15:11 and exchange it for heavenly treasure. 15:14 Right. 15:15 Invest it in heavenly treasure, 15:17 taking the gospel to people that don't know. 15:20 Okay. 15:21 And then he goes into verse 13, 15:22 "No servant can serve two masters." 15:27 Okay. 15:28 Now Jesus is recognizing two masters 15:30 and these are the only two masters 15:31 that I've seen in the gospels 15:33 that Jesus recognizes. 15:35 One is the father and the other one is... 15:38 Money. Money. Exactly. 15:41 "No servant can serve two masters: 15:44 for either he will hate the one and love the other, 15:46 or else he will hold to the one, 15:47 and despise the other." 15:49 And He just says it plainly, 15:50 "You cannot serve God and money." 15:53 And a lot of people are serving money. 15:56 There's no middle ground. Yeah. 15:57 Sometimes we think 15:58 we can have a little bit of this 15:59 and a little bit of that, 16:01 you know, we can look like we're serving God 16:03 and have money, 16:05 but that's not possible. 16:07 Right. 16:08 But serious thing is this is a hard issue 16:10 because does that mean that 16:12 all of Christ's followers have to give up all their money 16:14 in order to follow Him? 16:16 No. 16:18 In their heart they do. 16:19 Right. Okay. 16:20 And sometimes God calls us to do that. 16:23 Right. Many times. 16:24 I think much more often than we actually admit. 16:28 Realize. Yeah. 16:29 So maybe what He's asking for there 16:32 is not just give up your money, 16:34 maybe He's asking for us 16:36 to surrender the guidance of our money, 16:40 or what our money does. 16:42 What our money is for to Him as we learn His heart. 16:46 Exactly. 16:49 And I think that's exactly what He's talking. 16:50 I mean, you can have something but not serve it. 16:54 Right. You see. 16:55 So you might have some wealth, some money, or a little bit, 16:58 doesn't matter how much, you just have some. 17:00 It's just that, is that where your heart is. 17:02 Right. 17:03 Is your heart with the father, serving God 17:06 and seeing this as a gift 17:08 to be used for His kingdom, see. 17:11 Right. 17:12 Yeah, there's people in the world 17:13 that don't even have much money but still serve it. 17:16 Absolutely. You know... 17:17 They would do anything to get more. 17:18 What are we seeking, right? What are we seeking? 17:20 I heard just recently that 17:22 somebody in another country killed somebody, you know, 17:27 did a hit on somebody for like a $100. 17:30 Oh. 17:33 You know, that's like $100 for a life. 17:37 And so this is that attitude of seeking after money 17:42 and using people to get money 17:43 rather than using money to get people. 17:49 We have a friend that we've met 17:51 that has a ministry talking into that. 17:53 Yes. 17:54 And he wrote a book called "Help! I've Been Blessed!" 17:56 Yes. 17:57 And that's Julian Archer, our friend from Australia. 18:01 And he has a ministry and his website is 18:04 faithvsfinanace.org. 18:06 Yeah. 18:07 And there's a lot there, I mean, 18:08 his family are wealthy business people 18:11 but there is a lot there for all of us to think about. 18:14 All these blessings God gives us. 18:16 And what's our attitude? 18:18 Are we holding the blessing or are we holding the blesser? 18:21 Right. You know. 18:22 And this is, that book was his journey, you know. 18:25 He started out rather poor, his family was poor 18:28 and then the Lord opened a lot of doors 18:31 and they became very wealthy. 18:32 And so now he's looking at, 18:35 I miss my, I miss that time with God. 18:38 I've got all these destructions that keep distracting me 18:40 away from my time with God 18:42 and my pure connection with God. 18:44 You know, on the cover of the book that he's got 18:47 Jesus knocking at the door 18:48 and he's trying to get to the door to open the door, 18:50 but he's got all, you know, 18:51 these cars and this chotskies 18:53 and all these things in the way, 18:55 that he can't get to that door to open it. 18:57 So this is his story, this is his pathway 19:00 to figure out how to deal with the blessings 19:03 that God gives us. 19:05 Right, and not lose our grip on God. 19:06 Absolutely. Yeah. 19:07 And it's a beautiful book. 19:09 It's very inspiring, and I think it's very... 19:11 It helps us, because this is a hard issue, 19:14 and this is an issue that is for this time, 19:17 you know, because we, 19:19 the western world has enjoyed a 100 years of great blessings, 19:23 economic, prosperity, 19:25 such as very few countries have ever experienced 19:28 in the entire history of the world. 19:31 That's true. And what do we do with that. 19:32 Right. 19:33 'Cause any blessing if not used rightly 19:36 will become a curse 19:37 and bring us unhappiness rather than happiness and joy. 19:41 Right. We need to keep moving. 19:43 Okay. 19:44 So He says, you cannot serve God and mammon. 19:47 You cannot serve God and money. 19:48 One becomes your master if the other one isn't. 19:52 And so this is where we can ask God. 19:55 You know, Jesus in other place says, 19:57 it is almost impossible, 19:58 our earth is very hard for a rich man 20:01 to enter the kingdom of God. 20:02 Why is that? 20:03 Because money does something to you. 20:05 It reaches in and grabs your heart 20:07 without even knowing... 20:08 Yeah. 20:09 It just hangs on, it's a tough thing to battle. 20:13 We're gonna find that out in the next parable. 20:14 Okay. 20:15 Because Jesus, you know, the Pharisees, 20:17 they laughed at this, verse 14. 20:20 "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, 20:23 heard all these things, and they derided Him." 20:25 They laughed at Him 'cause they, you know, 20:27 they revealed their colors. 20:29 That they thought it was, you know, 20:31 it was silly 'cause they were doing right. 20:33 Yeah. 20:34 They thought they were okay. Right. 20:36 There's no commandment in the Ten Commandments says, 20:38 thou shalt not love money. 20:39 No, but it does say, thou shalt not covet, 20:41 and it says they were covetous. 20:44 So it's interesting, isn't it? 20:45 Yeah, I used to think that covetous meant 20:47 that I wanted something that somebody else had, 20:50 so I would kind of like get around that by saying, 20:52 well, I would like one like that. 20:55 But I think covetous is wanting the money that God has given us 20:59 to be used for our own life. 21:02 Interesting. 21:03 You know, 'cause if this is, 21:05 if everything that I have belongs to God 21:07 and I start using it for myself above what I really need... 21:10 Really need, yeah. Then isn't that embezzling? 21:14 And now we're back 21:15 to the beginning of the first parable. 21:16 Absolutely. Yeah. 21:18 So this is a hard issue, you know, 21:20 because how can we follow the lamb 21:22 whithersoever he goes as in Revelation, 21:25 you know, the end of the world of this people, 21:28 how can we do that 21:29 if our hearts are into the money, 21:31 if we're covetous? 21:33 So then He goes on and He finishes up this passage 21:35 or these teachings with another parable, 21:38 The Rich Man and Lazarus. 21:39 And we know this parable very well, you know, 21:42 there is a beggar at the gate, the rich man come in, 21:45 came in and went out 21:46 and the beggar is just begging 21:47 for a crumb off the rich man's table. 21:49 And then in the next life, all right, 21:52 same theme, lose your job, get the reward. 21:56 The next life, their fates are the opposite. 22:00 The wealthy man is suffering. Yeah. 22:03 And the man that was suffering in this life 22:06 is no longer suffering. 22:07 Right. 22:08 And the rich man says, 22:10 "Please, I got to go back and tell my brothers 22:12 'cause I've got other brothers that don't know about this." 22:16 And Abraham says, 22:18 "They have the law and the prophecy." 22:19 He says, "No, if somebody came from the dead, 22:22 they would listen." 22:23 So what's this rich man trying to do? 22:26 He's trying to warn his brothers, 22:27 that if you continue in this covetous life, 22:31 you're not gonna be in heaven. 22:32 Living for yourselves. Exactly. 22:35 You know, no matter how religious you are, 22:37 no matter how many tithes you give, 22:39 no matter how many times you go to church, 22:43 if you don't deal with this issue 22:46 is it bridges out. 22:47 You're gonna be, yeah. 22:49 You're gonna lose out on what you think 22:50 you're gonna inherit. 22:53 And so Abraham says, 22:54 even if one rose from the dead... 22:56 You know, because well, 22:57 the next thing was Lazarus said, 22:59 "Well, then send him." 23:00 Right. 23:01 And then he says, 23:03 "Even if one rose from the dead." 23:05 Yeah. They wouldn't listen. 23:07 Yeah, and I believe that Jesus is sharing 23:10 how much a grip this thing has on our heart. 23:13 Okay. 23:14 You know, it's deep in our nature 23:16 and to overcome this takes a miracle. 23:18 Right. 23:20 And it's really, really important. 23:21 Yes. 23:22 But with God all things are possible. 23:24 Right. 23:25 And so God can break this, and I believe 23:27 beyond a shadow of a doubt 23:28 that the way to break this hold, 23:30 that the earth has on our hearts 23:33 is to look at Jesus. 23:35 Turn your eyes upon Jesus, 23:37 recognize the treasure that He is, 23:40 that He has all the wealth not just of the world, 23:43 but of the universe. 23:46 He owns it all. 23:47 So when we own Him, when we have Him, 23:50 and He has us, we have everything. 23:54 Right. So, He is the biggest treasure. 23:56 He is the biggest jewel. 23:57 He is that pearl of great price. 24:00 He is that one thing that 24:01 we could sell everything that we own, 24:03 and if we get Him, 24:05 we have done our huge trade up. 24:09 And so as we look at Jesus, as we look at Him, 24:12 as we see His beauty and His love 24:14 and His master's graces, 24:16 and His wealth and everything, 24:18 everything that He is, 24:21 then these things start to lose their grip on us. 24:24 Yeah, they fade. Yeah. 24:26 And then we start to see other people 24:28 in their true value as Jesus sees them. 24:31 And we start to be able to see, 24:33 oh, I can help here, I can help there. 24:36 And that's what we've enjoyed so much in our ministry here. 24:40 We get to see how these blessings 24:44 bring people to Christ. 24:47 That's true. And that's awesome. 24:49 Yeah. It really, isn't? Yeah. 24:51 You know, just thinking about these things is so important 24:54 because it's life and death issues 24:56 and it's attitudes we don't even think about. 25:01 You know, we hold these attitudes, 25:03 and we don't even realize it. 25:04 Yeah. And it, yeah. 25:07 It's life and death. Yeah, absolutely. 25:09 Yeah, it's salvation. 25:11 Right. Yeah. 25:12 But then He doesn't leave us there. 25:15 Right. He's showing us ourselves... 25:16 Yes. 25:17 So we can choose the other side. 25:19 This is what I love about Jesus. 25:20 He brings up the truth 25:21 and He shows how we are 25:23 standing condemned in God's eyes. 25:26 And yet He opens the door, you know, 25:29 I'm showing you this condemnation 25:30 not because I hate you, 25:32 not because you're going to end up ultimately condemned, 25:36 but so that you can find salvation. 25:38 Change and choose not to be ultimately condemned. 25:41 Absolutely. Yeah. 25:43 And that's what's beautiful about this message. 25:44 Right. Yeah. 25:45 Time is not up. 25:47 Yeah. 25:48 There's opportunity. Absolutely. 25:50 Opportunity for change. 25:51 And that's why, you know, 25:52 a lot of times people see the great work 25:54 that still has to be done in other parts of the world 25:56 and they say, oh, man, it's a lot of work. 25:58 How can we just get it done? No. 26:02 This is our opportunity for joy, 26:04 to use the means that God has given us as a blessing, 26:08 as an opportunity, it's a, 26:11 what's the word? 26:13 It's a gift... Right. 26:14 To be able to use what God has given us. 26:17 There're still people our there. 26:18 Right. We can still do this. 26:20 Right. We can still find friends... 26:22 We don't have to... ..for eternity. 26:23 Right, it doesn't have to look like a huge burden. 26:26 Right. 26:27 Because with God, then we have all of the wealth, 26:31 all of the Holy Spirit, all of the salvation, 26:36 all of the words from the scripture 26:39 to speak in due season, we have everything. 26:41 Right. 26:42 You know, we have everything that we need 26:45 to take the gospel to the world. 26:46 We don't have to think of it as this overwhelming task. 26:49 Yeah, it's impossible. Yeah. 26:51 But with God, all things are possible. 26:52 Amen. 26:54 And in Malachi 3, Jesus says, 26:56 "When you bring all the tithes and offerings 26:59 into the storehouse. 27:01 Prove me now, 27:03 whether I will not pour out the riches of heaven upon you, 27:07 so that you won't have room to hold it all." 27:09 Right. 27:11 You know, so God is giving us this test, 27:14 and what will we do with it? 27:15 Will we trust Him or will we not? 27:18 Right. 27:19 Well, it has been a challenging show, 27:22 and I would like to invite you to seek the Father's heart 27:25 to look at some of these things and say, 27:28 is this what's got hold of me? 27:30 Does money have a hold on my heart? 27:33 Is there some other god that's in the way? 27:35 Because, if we're not choosing God, 27:38 then we've chosen something else. 27:41 If the Lord has impressed you to be a part of the work 27:43 He's doing through Jesus for Asia, 27:45 you can send your tax deductible love gift 27:48 to Jesus for Asia. 27:50 PO Box 1221, Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:56 Call us at 423-413-7321. 28:00 Or visit our website at Jesus4asia.org. 28:04 May God richly bless you 28:06 until we see you again on Jesus for Asia Now. |
Revised 2017-10-16