Getting Investments Right Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

In a shaky market, people wonder where to place money. In a parable, Jesus taught a lesson on ultimate investments. He counsels believers to invest in God's kingdom, because only in eternity will the true interest rate be on display.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, take us again into Luke chapter 16 for another lesson on getting investments right. Dave, I love your intro where you talk about the fact that only in eternity will we see the good that our money has done. I love to talk about this. I like to introduce people to what I call transmutation.

Transmutation is when you take your money and transform it into a different form so that it will last forever. Jesus talked about this when he said, you know, lay up treasures in heaven. We here at Running to Win are totally committed to getting the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible. And I want to take this opportunity to thank the many of you who support this ministry. And you know, this is the last day that we are making available what we call our matching gift. We have friends who are willing to match your gift up to $90,000.

Will you take advantage of that? Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com.

That's rtwoffer.com. Or if you prefer, call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now, this is very important. And because of that, I'm going to be giving you the contact info at the end of this message as well.

It's our last day when you can participate in our matching gift. But now let's go to the pulpit of Moody Church where once again, we listen to the words of Jesus about making wise investments. Who is it that funded our vacation Bible school so that 445 children could hear the gospel?

Well, I don't think that there was one individual. It spread among us. I like to think of giving to Moody Church as sort of a mutual fund. And that fund has various funds within it.

You give to the mutual fund. And there's a music fund. And there's a children's fund.

And there's a family fund. And there's our various other ministries, men's ministries, women's ministries. We have equipping ministries, evangelism ministries.

And what we're doing actually is funding together in this mutual fund. And then we have the worldwide missionary task that we are involved in. All of our missionaries who are leading people to saving faith in Christ in countries that we will never visit. But someday those people in other countries arriving in heaven will also welcome us into everlasting dwelling places because they'll say you used your money to promote the gospel. I think of our media ministry.

Many of you may not realize that thanks to the media ministry tens of thousands of people listen every day and even all throughout Southeast Asia because of Transworld Radio. Your contributions, your investment helps people, explains the gospel to them that there may be people on the other side to welcome us into everlasting dwelling places and say thank you for using your money to make friends who will be there waiting for you. That is what Jesus here is teaching. And I think, for example, of a ministry birthed here called By the Hand Club for Kids.

We know it was begun by Danita Travis who is also its executive director. But I think today of all of the people who have supported this ministry, this great ministry of children here in the city of Chicago, and many of them have believed on Jesus. Can you imagine being welcomed into heaven by children who are now adults and they are saying thank you for supporting that because we're your friends, because you invested in our lives. That's what Jesus is teaching, the way in which money should be used. And then there's a third lesson.

And the third lesson is that money is a test, a test of our future reward, a test of our future reward. Listen to what Jesus says there in verse 12. And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?

I should have actually begun just a little bit earlier than that. One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much and one who is dishonest in very little is dishonest in much. Here we are. If you then have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you've not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? What Jesus is saying that if you aren't faithful in the realm of money, which he calls very little in that which is little, the thing that is little, the Greek text says.

Can you imagine Jesus saying that it is a little? I'll tell you among the world, money isn't little. Money is big. Money is everything.

Get it honestly if you can and get it deceptively if you must, but it all all counts get it. USA Today many years ago, not sure exactly the date but I wrote this down, said that 48 percent of Americans said that they would be willing to cheat and to lie to get money if they were absolutely assured that they would not get caught. In other words, they're willing to sacrifice all that they are just to get money. And I've been to Colorado a number of times and if you drive through, you know, the backwoods of Colorado, you notice all of these places now abandoned because of the gold rush that was there.

And you read stories. I saw this on TV one time, a special on the gold rush. I mean, people sacrificed their families, they sacrificed their children, they sacrificed their lives, they took risks all to get the gold. And Jesus said, you know, it is a very little thing. If you contrast it with the true riches that awaits us in heaven, it is a little thing. So Jesus is saying if you aren't faithful in a little thing, who's going to give you the big thing? Who's going to give you the true riches?

Who is going to be there to welcome you? Who is there going to be to affirm you so that you can rule with Jesus in the kingdom? And then Jesus calls it unrighteous wealth. I think it was the King James that said filthy lucre. And now Jesus knows that money is neutral. You can use $50 to buy a Bible or you can use $50 to buy cocaine.

And it depends on how you use it. But because it is so sought after and makes all the promises that God makes, because it has so much power over us, Jesus calls us unrighteous wealth. Imagine Jesus calling it that. Are you surprised at the fact that the Pharisees ridiculed him? Look at what it says in verse 14. Your eyes need to see this in the text. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard these things and they ridiculed him. Why? Somebody calling money a little thing?

Are you serious? We're lovers of it. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. We say to ourselves, well, you know, I don't love it. I just think about it all the time.

I dated. I hug it to my bosom. I'm willing to do anything to get it.

Oh, me, no, I don't love it. No wonder the Pharisees, they ridiculed him, the Bible says, because they were lovers of money. If you're a money lover, you might not like this message. But Jesus is saying this, saying this, that the way in which you use it is going to be commensurate with the kind of reward that I will give you in heaven.

Now think about this. Think of how wise it is to invest in God's work, because number one, it's safe. Number two, the rewards and the dividends are eternal. If you're interested during a financial downturn as to where you should park your money, give it to Christian ministry. Give it for the advance of the gospel, because Jesus said that if you do that, it won't rust. It won't wear away. It's an eternal investment.

How in the world can you beat that? And then Jesus says, finally, that you can't serve God and money. I'll read it again. No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can't serve God and money. This really needs a separate sermon sometime, because it is here where we deceive ourselves. We're absolutely confident that we can serve both God and money.

We serve God on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We serve money, and we can do both. Jesus said, you can't. It would be like trying to dance to two different tunes at the same time. Now, in my case, I wouldn't be able to dance to one tune.

So two very clearly would be a bit much. But Jesus said, examine your heart on this, because you can't serve both. I recognize that we need money to live. Saving money is wise.

We have it here at the Moody Church. Instruction on the money during these financial downturns. Continue to check your bulletin, because some of you who are in debt, some of you who are looking for work, all of us can benefit from wise financial investments.

But at the end of the day, what you really want to do is to make sure that your money is working for the cause of the gospel. Two true stories very quickly. It's the end of Second World War in Berlin. Now, all of us know about the hyperinflation in Germany that led, actually, to the rise of Adolf Hitler. But now this is after World War II.

Germany, again, has huge financial problems and rapid growing inflation. In a book entitled, The Day the Dollar Died, there's a story of a German woman who came with a bag of money to a Bible school in Berlin. She had carefully saved her marks, her German marks, and she brought this bag and she gave it to the head of the school and was so gratified that she'd be able to make an investment, really, that would pay dividends eternally. He was very sad because he had to tell her something. She'd not been listening to the news. And the day before the mark, that mark, had died. The mark had been canceled. And Germany was beginning again by printing brand new money. The money was entirely worthless. What happened to this dear lady?

God bless her and God knows her intentions and she'll be rewarded for her intentions. But she waited too long to transmute her money into an eternal investment. I remember talking to a man when we had a downturn here a couple of years ago, who I suspect has a great deal of wealth.

He actually lives in a different state, the state of Michigan. But he told me, he said, you know, in light of what has happened, I wish I had just given more to the church, more to missionaries, because he was losing so much anyway. How much better to transmute it into an eternal investment?

Jesus would have said, there's a place to put your money. Another true story, Princess Eugenia. Now, I know that there's a present Princess Eugenia.

I checked that on the internet, but this is one who lived some time ago, wasn't able to actually track her down because there's a whole series of Princes Eugenias. But she's the Christian lady who was given a crown because she was a prince and a queen, and she was given that. And she said to her husband, I want to build an orphanage for children. And she said, I'd like to sell my jewels so that I could use the money to build an orphanage, because she was wearing a crown with plenty of jewels.

He was against it. You know, the crown is important, you know, keep all your wealth, et cetera, et cetera. But she insisted, so he let her sell the jewels in her crown. She took the money and she built an orphanage. And when she heard the children sing songs about Jesus, she came home one day and she said, I found my jewels. I found my jewels.

I found them in the lives of these children, singing about the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wise woman. She couldn't take her crown with her. Those jewels and all the gold and everything like that, I mean, of what value is that? What she was saying is, you know, people say, oh, you can't take it with you.

Absolutely, you can take it with you. But you have to put it in a form that will actually overcome the gap called death so that it gets to the other side, so that on the other side, there are children and adults there who welcome you into eternal dwellings and say, thank you for your sacrifice. Do you think that woman in heaven today regrets what she did? It's what she did that will last eternally. All the jewels, well, they are in case today, all throughout museums in Germany, but they do not, they do not save souls.

There's a closing comment I want to make. Maybe you're here today and you say, well, Pastor Lutzer, how much does it cost to become a Christian? Well, that's a really good question.

I'm glad you were asking it. I hope that many of you were asking it because I would really not be fair to you if I didn't explain something with as much clarity as God can give me. Receiving Christ as your Savior is entirely a free gift based on what Jesus has already accomplished. It is recognizing our sinfulness that we can make no contribution. You can give all your jewels and all your money to the gospel and you can do all that and still be lost because what you need is a Savior and His righteousness and His gift comes to you freely.

It has to be free because you and I can make no contribution whatever toward it. It is entirely of God. So if you have come here today with a troubled conscience, you have come here seeking God, come to Jesus, the Bible says. Participate in taking from the water of life freely.

It is free. Then after you have received the free gift of salvation, then you begin to say, okay, my place in heaven is secure, but now how do I live in such a way that when I arrive there I'll have something to show for my lifestyle? And that's when you begin to ask yourself what investments can I make, whether financial, volunteering, doing whatever you can so that others in heaven will be there and say, you know what, in part I am here because of you. I'm going to pray.

There are some of you who never have received Christ as Savior. You can pray along with me. Those of you who know Him, can you actually say I'd rather have Jesus than silver and gold? Are your investments secure? Eternally, everlastingly, and very safe. Join me as we pray. Father, we thank you for these words from Jesus, a parable about investments. We pray today, Father, that those of us who know you may be very faithful and those who don't, may they know that they can come without money, without price, they come freely to receive a gift that has already been made available to them, if only they believe. May they believe right now in their hearts, both in this sanctuary and around the world, for those who are watching and listening by way of the internet. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. My friend, this is Pastor Luther.

I have to tell you that I become very excited when I talk about investments that last forever and that are secure, and that Jesus Christ takes special note of. You know, today is the last day we are giving you the opportunity to participate with us in what we call our matching gift. Thanks to friends, we are able to match your gift up to $90,000. Will you help us here at the Ministry of Running to Win? Now, if you are blessed as a result of the Ministry of Running to Win, it's because other people have invested in this ministry. Would you help us?

Running to Win is in 20 different countries in three different languages. We're grateful to God for all those who become our partners, those who join what I like to call the Running to Win family. Remember, today is your last day to have your gift doubled. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com, or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Now, perhaps you did not have an opportunity to get a pencil or pen quickly enough, so let me give you that phone number again, 1-888-218-9337, or RTWOffer.com. It's time now for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. A sign of spiritual maturity is the recognition that our sins must be confessed to keep short accounts with God.

Alex listens to Running to Win. He's quite concerned about how to do this. He writes, I'd like to know how to confess sin biblically and completely. Beginning at 1 John 1, 8-10, there's the command for confessing sin. The Bible seems to give multiple methods of confession, such as pray once and leave it there from 2 Samuel chapter 24, pray multiple days and go without food from Nehemiah chapter 1, and finally, to confess in agreement with a spiritual leader or pastor who prays for forgiveness. That's in Numbers 21-7.

Which method is correct, or are all methods correct? Does it change in the context of habitual sin? How much detail need I go into when talking to God, ministry leaders, and others?

Alex, thanks so much for your question, and I think that you have maybe made it a little bit more complicated than it is. When we confess our sins, you're right. It means that we agree completely with God. And when you ask the question, how much detail should I go in with God, the answer is, whatever the Holy Spirit shows us. You know, that's been my experience, is that sometimes I may confess a sin and discover that it's much deeper than I think it is because the Spirit points out something that I need to confess and agree with God about. Now, when you talk about praying once and leaving it there, or fasting, that all is a consequence of the Christian life. I believe that we should fast, and during that period of time, I'm sure that God shows us other sins that need to be confessed. But there is a difference between the confession of sin and prayer, and the giving of ourselves to the Lord, our committal to the Lord. All of that is part of a package, but the actual confession is us coming before God, admitting our sin, agreeing that we have sinned, and agreeing that he has a right to take it from us, because we are in total agreement with God.

That's the bottom line. Now, there may be times when you need to confess this sin with others and so forth, depending on the relationship, depending on the situation, but confession itself, though painful—it's hard for us to admit that we've sinned—though painful, is quite simple. It's simply agreeing with God about our sin. Thank you, Alex, for your question. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for your counsel. If you'd like to hear your question answered, you can. Just go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Think about it. There's no U-Haul following your hearse to the cemetery. You can't take it with you. Jesus told a story about a man who had a lot but wanted a lot more. The parable is chilling. That night, the man's life was demanded of him. Next time on Running to Win, don't miss Getting Eternity Right. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.