All our pieces of gold are but current to the grave; none of them will pass in the future world. Therefore as merchants when they travel make over their monies here, to receive them by bills of exchange in another country; let us do good with our goods while we live, that when we die, by a blessed bill of exchange, we may receive them again in the Kingdom of heaven (Luke 16:9). To part with what we cannot keep, that we may get that we cannot lose, is a good bargain. Wealth can do us no good, unless it help us toward heaven.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 250.
When Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, it’s not just because wealth might be lost; it’s because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions… Realizing its value is temporary should radically affect our investment strategy… According to Jesus, storing up earthly treasures isn’t simply wrong. It’s just plain stupid.
The Treasure Principle, 2002, p. 13-14, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org. Get this book!
When you leave this world, will you be known as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn’t keep? Or will you be recognized as one who invested treasures in heaven that you couldn’t lose?
The Treasure Principle, 2002, p. 49, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org. Get this book!
You can’t take it with you – but you can send it on ahead.
The Treasure Principle, 2002, p. 17, Used by Permission from Eternal Perspective Ministries, www.epm.org. Get this book!
Riches may leave us while we live, we must leave them when we die.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 248.
Quit being satisfied with little five percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured securities of heaven. A life devoted to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rathole. But a life invested in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending.
Desiring God, 1996, p. 110, Used by Permission, www.DesiringGod.org. Get this book!
Quit being satisfied with little 2-percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured securities of heaven. Giving your life to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole. But a life invested in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending
The Dangerous Duty of Delight, Copyright 2001, p. 52, John Piper. Used by permission. www.DesiringGod.org.
So what does the Christ-honoring, non-materialistic family look like? They invest primarily in the things that will leave this world with them and as a team they are all on this same pursuit. They experience freedom and more time for the things most important because they have limited resources that they own in order not to be owned by them. They experience constant joy because the only source of joy they expect is from the Lord. They do not need to have stuff to impress others because the only person they seek to please is the Lord. They have no compelling love for the shadows of the world because their hearts see the true Substance, the beauty of God’s marvelous light. They have their priorities right: things are to be used and people are to be loved. They are content people following Christ and therefore have a great family because their mutual trust is not in material things which will let us down, but in the One who always delivers.
Sermon, Siblings Separated by Sin, Genesis 27:1-46, September 15, 2013.
That only is worth my having which I can have forever. That only is worth my grasping which death cannot tear out of my hand.
Sermons 29.509.
