Do you have resources? or do your resources have you? Consider your answer carefully. It shapes your entire outlook on life. Today, on Turning Point, Dr.
David Jeremiah offers biblical principles for making wise investments that will pay eternal dividends. And shares Jesus' teaching on the importance of investing in heavenly treasures. Listen as David introduces his message to portfolios. Thank you for joining us. Today we're in the midst of a series called Investing for Eternity.
And today we're going to examine a passage of scripture in the book of Matthew. Where the way we use our money is contrasted. If we invest it on earth, if we invest it in heaven, two different ways to evaluate what we do with our resources. It is quite amazing, very clearly presented, very easy to understand, but not often examined by the lives of many, many Christians.
So let's open our minds to this truth today. We'll get there in just a moment as we talk about two portfolios. I mentioned the title of this series a few moments ago, and it is printed on the front of the study guide that I have in front of me: Investing for Eternity. And this study guide will take you through every lesson that we're discussing during the month of January with notes and outlines and scriptures to look up and comments from other writers and teachers. It is a very wonderful way to study the scripture, especially if you're in a small group.
The study guides provide material for your group members. You can listen to the CDs, and your study guide is available. And you can be a facilitator for a small group, and it's really fun to do that. It's much more beneficial to talk about what the Scripture says than it is to talk about how you feel.
So, let me encourage you to get involved in the study of the Word of God and use the study guides from Turning Point as a resource to accomplish that goal.
Well, we are very excited about this lesson because it contrasts Two Ways to Live Life. Here is Two Portfolios from the series Investing for Eternity. It seems to me that all of us, as we begin to serve the Lord, are involved in the investment process. And there are two portfolios that we're concerned about. Jesus talked about it in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 24.
And basically, if you have your Bibles and can find your place there, we'll refer to that several times as we look at that passage and a number of other passages as well. Let me just say that, in the simplest terms I know, Jesus said. That the two ways we invest are for the earthly treasures. and for heavenly treasures. Let's talk for a moment about what happens when we invest in these two portfolios.
Let's begin with the first one, which is the most obvious to us. It's possible to lay up treasures on the earth, isn't it? Portfolio number one are the treasures on earth.
Now, I want to make sure that I'm clear before we get into some of the things about this portfolio that you need to remember. That sometimes, when we talk like this and we teach these principles, we give an impression to people that what we do with our money here below on this earth isn't important, and that's totally wrong. God cares about what we do with it. In fact, numerous times in the New Testament, he gives us some instruction as to what we're supposed to do. In Second Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 14, he says, The children ought not to lay up for their parents, but the parents for their children.
It tells us that here on earth, some of the things we should be doing with our resources is to provide for our children. And obviously, you know, if you pay for a child's education, you know how important that is. But even as they get older, there are things we can do, and it's important for us to, as parents, be investing in the things that have to do with our kids. That's something we should be thinking about, isn't it? God expects us to do that with the resources we have.
The Bible actually says in 1 Timothy that if any doesn't provide for his family, he's worse than an infidel. God expects us to care for our families and to provide for them. You know, I can't imagine a Christian man who won't go out and work to care for his family's needs. And don't tell me there aren't any jobs. There's always a job someplace.
If you want it bad enough, you can go find it somehow to care for the needs of your family.
So we lay up money for our families. I learned something else in just thinking about this, reading the first part of Luke chapter 8. And I don't know if you've ever noticed these verses, but this is kind of interesting. Let me jump down to the end of the verse where it talks about the Lord Jesus, and it says here that there were some women. Who Provided for him from their substance.
Did you ever see that? That when Jesus was doing his ministry tour, that there were certain women who obviously had some resources. And they took out of their resources and it made it possible for Jesus to carry on his work. And so, obviously, there's not anything wrong with having resources that we use for various reasons while we're here on this earth. It's not wrong to have resources, but it's wrong when resources have you.
And what Jesus is saying here when he says, be careful how you make investments in your earthly portfolio, he wants us to see it in perspective. There's two ways to invest.
Now, I want you to see what's in your earthly portfolio, what kind of an investment this is going to be. There are some things that the Bible tells us we can know about investing in the earthly portfolio. First of all, earthly treasures deteriorate and depreciate. Did you know that? They do.
In fact, here in Matthew 6, it says: they're subject to ruin when the moths get them. They're subject to rust when they corrode, and they're subject to robbers when the thieves break in and steal. When you put all your money into earthly things, You discover that they have a tendency to depreciate. How many of you think the car you bought three years ago is worth the same amount today as when you bought it?
Sometimes houses appreciate, but not really when you factor in the inflation situations that go with it. Earthly things don't normally appreciate unless you're really in a good investment program and you know what you're doing. Secondly, In your earthly portfolio, you're going to discover that they demand constant vigilance and care. Thirdly, earthly treasures have a tendency to desensitize us to the needs of other people. You would think that the people who give the most to the things of God are the people that have the most, but that's never been true.
Never. Studies have been done all throughout the giving histories of God's people. And it's never the people who have the most who give the most. It's always the people usually who have the least. As we read in the New Testament, they gave out of their poverty unto God.
One of the things that happens when you get a lot of stuff is if you're not careful, you become insensitive to the needs of people who are hurting. There's a story in Luke 16 that illustrates that so well. Do you remember the beggar? who was lying at the gate of the rich man. And if you go back and read Luke 16, you will see the story is so very graphic.
This man had nothing. He was hoping just to get a few crumbs from the rich man's table. And the emphasis of the story is that he was at the gate where this man lived, and this man walked in and out of that gate every time he left his residence, and that man was laying there, and nothing ever happened to help him. His resources were so far above the poverty of this man that he never even connected at all. He was desensitized to his needs.
Now, I know a lot of very, very wealthy people who are extremely generous and so sensitive and always looking for someone to help and encourage. I'm just telling you that when you invest exclusively in your earthly portfolio, one of the things you got to watch out for is that it has a tendency, if you're not careful, to make you insensitive to the needs of other people. Let's keep going. Number four. Earthly portfolio investments don't go with you to heaven.
Did you know that? You say, well, Pastor Jeremiah, where'd you get that? That's about the plainest thing I can say to you today. Let me read this verse to you, 1 Timothy 6:7. Have you ever seen this?
For we brought nothing into this world. and it is certain we can carry nothing out. There are no pockets in a shroud. You got me? You don't take it with you.
You can send it ahead, but you can't take it with you. You just can't do it. When you invest in your earthly portfolio, it's for here and now, but it doesn't go past. The grave. Number five, earthly treasures.
can drive you to do things you don't want to do. Isn't that interesting? I know a lot of folks who have a lot of things, and I sometimes get the impression that they just like to go back to the simple life, but they can't. They're stuck. They just end up doing a lot of stuff they don't want to do.
In fact, in the same passage we just read from, 1 Timothy 6, 9, and 10 has some interesting things to say about the problems that happen when you've got a portfolio that's full, and it's the earthly portfolio only. It says, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. And the many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Listen to me.
It's possible to go all the way through your life. And have so much in your resource fund that you get caught up in it and you get off the track. And that's why in the Bible it often says stuff like it's harder for a rich man to enter into heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I've heard people try to explain that as the needle gate in Jerusalem. But you know what I think the Lord's just saying?
That you got to be careful when you have lots of resources because if you're not careful, the power and the prestige and the sense of presence that you get from that gives you a false sense of security and makes you think you have something you don't have. and it leads you astray. I remember reading the script of the movie Wall Street that was published in one of the newspapers. The Mui script said something like this: the problem with money is that it makes you do things you don't want to do. And that's true.
It can be a slave driver in a direction you don't want to go. Number six, earthly treasures don't satisfy us even now. You say, wait a minute. Have you ever heard people say, well, you know, if I just had this and had that and had more of this and more of that, then I'd be happy. But you know what?
You're never happy. How much money is enough? Let me tell you. I'll tell you how much is enough, just a little bit more. Isn't that true?
Am I telling you the truth? Is that true? It's that way. It doesn't make any difference. We got $10 or a million dollars.
How much is enough? Just a little bit more. And you know, it's a game that we've been playing forever. You know where it started? As far as I know, it started as early as Solomon.
Solomon was the richest man who ever lived, the wisest man who ever lived, and he wrote a book called Ecclesiastes, in which. He described what life was like if all you had was an earthly portfolio. It's literally called life under the sun. What that means is, as if God weren't in the picture. In other words, Solomon said, Here's what I discovered about life when I put everything I had into my earthly portfolio.
Now, watch this.
Solomon was one person who had enough resources to do everything he wanted to do. There were no limits. I want you to listen to this passage out of the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, which is Solomon's diary during this experiment that he had when he was pouring everything he had into his earthly portfolio. He said, I made my works great. I built myself houses and planted myself vineyards and made myself gardens and orchards and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
Made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove, acquired male and female servants, had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers with the delights of the sons of men, the musical instruments of all kinds.
So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me.
Now, watch this.
Whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. He got everything he wanted. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. For my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor which I had toiled, and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
Wow. Is that powerful or what? He had everything he wanted. He took it to the furthest extent. When he got to the end of it, all he had was his earthly portfolio, and he opened it up, and it left him hungry, like grasping for the wind.
So if all you have is what you invest in the here and now, In the gracelands of your life. you're going to end up really disappointed. You say, well, so you guys are worried about heaven. You're going to be happy there, I'm going to be happy now. You're not going to be happy either place.
If that's all you got. Number seven. Earthly treasures. Are doomed to ultimate destruction. Did you know that?
It's all going to burn up someday. I'm not going to take us to the passage in 2 Peter, but you can look at it and you write it in your notes. But basically, it says the whole world's going to be burned up and everything in it. And you know what? Everything.
The only two things that survive, and we've said this before, are the eternal souls of men and the eternal Word of God. I can't tell you what a thrill it is every morning when I get up, and I try to think about this every day to thank God that I get to spend my life on the only two eternal things there are. The eternal souls of men and the eternal word of God. What a thrill. I mean, I got the best job in the whole world.
to be able to do that.
Well, you know what's going to happen one of these days? You're going to all go up and smoke.
Somebody told me: if you want to keep a good perspective on all your earthly possessions, get a red tag and write on the red tag, soon to be burned. and tie it on whatever it is you've got. And every time you go out and look at it, you'll just sort of think: well, you know, this is nice for now, but it's not going to be here forever. It's all going to go up in smoke. Whatever you put in your earthly portfolio, my friends.
is doomed to destruction.
Now let's talk about the other one. And I'll do this quickly. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, said the Lord, where moth and rust and robbers can't get to it. Let me tell you things about heavenly treasures that you could put down in your heavenly portfolio that will encourage you as you begin to tithe and as you begin to give to God and get involved in what He's doing in your life. Number one.
Heavenly investments are constantly appreciating. Did you know that? The stock keeps going up. Listen to this. Mark 10:29 and 30.
So Jesus answered and said, Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake in the gospels who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. Jesus said, When you invest, you're going to get a hundredfold back and it just keeps appreciating out into eternity. I haven't figured out what 100 fold is, but it's a lot. I guarantee you, you're not getting an investment like that right now, no matter what you're doing. Jesus said, You can never give to him and not get back.
you will be Watching this thing. Just Go on and on and on as it appreciates. In fact, Luke 6:38 says that when we give, God gives back, but He has a much better way of giving. Notice this: give, and it will be given to you. Good measure.
Press down. Shaken together and running over. In Jesus' mind, he's talking about the giving that was involved in the gift of grain. Grain was a commodity that they used in the transfer of resources. And Jesus said: when you give to God, He gives back to you, and He gives back to you at the measure.
You know what He does? He puts the grain in there. Watch this now. And he presses it down. Then he shakes it together, then he lets it run over, and then he gives it back to you.
Can you imagine? How God loves to maximize your investment. When you put investments in your heavenly portfolio, it's always appreciating. Number two. In your heavenly portfolio, your heavenly investments are cared for by someone else.
Praise God. Can I get a witness? You don't have to worry about them. You don't sit around worrying about, well, I wonder if God's taking care of my investment up there. No, whatever you got up there, God's taking care of it.
It says right here in Matthew chapter 6 that when you put your investment in heaven, It's not subject to ruin, it's not subject to rust, and it's not subject to robbery. It can't be touched because God's taking care of it. Number three, heavenly investments continue. For eternity. It isn't something that's going to stop.
In fact, John 6:27 has it wonderfully placed. He says, Do not labor for the food which perishes. But for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. When you invest in eternity, you invest in eternity. Whatever you give to God will never ever go away.
Never. Because whatever you invest in is eternal, right? You invest in the Word of God, it lives and abides forever. You invest in someone's life who's a Christian, their soul goes on for eternity. When you invest in evangelism, God uses that to bring many sons to Himself, and what happens?
They go to heaven. When you get to heaven, you're going to walk around throughout eternity clipping coupons off of a lifetime of investment. Won't that be fun? Won't that be exciting? Because we're investing in the Heavenly portfolio.
Number four. Heavenly investments cause God to be pleased. You know, I know that for a fact. The Bible says it so very plainly in Philippians 4:18. Listen to this.
Paul is writing about a gift that he got from the believers. And he said, Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. Watch this. A sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice.
Well pleasing to God. When we give, God's pleased. He's blessed. If we were to sit down as Christians and say, what is my goal?
Well, I don't know what your goal is, but I sure would like to please the Lord. I mean, I'm kind of into that. I would really be blessed if I could know in my heart I'm pleasing God.
Well, here's something you can do. When you give to the eternal investment priorities of the Word of God, the Bible says God is pleased. Secondly, in that same passage, you will see another principle, and that is that heavenly investments create joy in the body of Christ. When you invest in your eternal portfolio, not only does Jesus and God get blessed, but the people around get blessed. Paul said that when he got this offering that was directed through the church to him as a part of an eternal investment, that it was a matter of great joy to him, that he was filled with joy.
Those of you who have been involved in investing, you know exactly what I'm doing. Do you get a joy in your heart when someone comes forward to get saved, when you witness a baptismal testimony? Do you feel, you know, I had a part in that? God, let me have a part in that. What a thrill.
Finally. Heavenly investments certify your passion in life. Did you know that? There's two verses in Matthew 6 that I want you to look at: verse 24 and verse 21, and then we're almost finished. Matthew 6:24 says that you can't serve two masters.
You've got to decide which one you're going to serve.
Now, it doesn't say you can't have money, it says you can't serve it. You can have money if you don't serve it. But if you serve it, you're the servant. And it's in control. But Matthew 6:24 says, you have to decide where you're going to put your priority and how you're going to look at life.
Then Matthew 6:21 says, For where your heart is, and watch this, that's where your treasure is. Did you know that? Your treasure. Is like an anchor that pulls your heart in the hole after it. You know, isn't that true in life?
Do you have any treasures? I got some treasures. I'll tell you what, my treasures are not necessarily financial, my treasures are my family. My treasure is my wife and my children. We're here.
Treasure is, what's the rest of it? Your heart is.
Now, why do you think God wants us to put some of our treasure in heaven? Does he need our treasure? No, but he needs our hearts, doesn't he? When you put your treasure in heaven, your heart follows it.
So, you're always wanting to find out what God's up to because you've invested in the economy of eternity. Are you getting that message?
So, there's two principles of investment. When you're trying to make your investment, whether it's the earthly portfolio or the heavenly one, here are the two principles. First one's the principle of desire. Where is your heart? Where do you want your heart to be?
You say, well, I wish I had more concern about spiritual things.
Well, let me tell you how to get it. Put your treasure in spiritual things, and all of a sudden you'll discover you got more concern about spiritual things. Amen. If you don't have a heart for things, here's how you do it: you get your treasure there first. You want your heart to be a heart that has a spiritual value and concern to it.
Let me tell you what you got to do: the action comes before the feeling. You don't get the feeling first, you take the action first. If you put your treasure in the things of God and then watch your heart follow it, it'd be exciting that it happens. I see people come to Christ and just kind of get into the faith and get started. Then they start showing up at all kinds of things.
They're showing up at meetings they didn't even know existed before they got saved. And I asked him, What are you doing?
Well, you know what they're doing? They're keeping track of their investment. That's what they're doing. They're checking out what's going on because now they've got some investment in it. I just want to tell you this.
The Bible doesn't say you're not supposed to have earthly treasures, it says you're not supposed to let them have you. It doesn't say you can't have them, it says you shouldn't trust in them. When you look at the two ways you can invest in the earthly portfolio and in the heavenly one. Jesus says at the end of this passage that you need to have a single eye.
Now, here's the final principle. It's the principle of direction. And it simply says this: that through whichever lens you look, that's the direction you will go. You have a choice. You notice, I know a lot of people that look at spiritual things through their earthly portfolio.
And it usually comes out like this.
Well, I'm going to see how everything works out down here, and if I have anything left that I can do, then I'm going to do some things for God. But I'm going to take care of this first. The other way to look at it is to reverse that process and seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and look at everything you do through God's portfolio of eternal investment. and then watch what happens. It's altogether different way of looking at things.
And God begins to take control of your life and give you joy and excitement in all that you do. These are the most exciting days I've ever lived as a Christian. without question. We've had some great days in the past, but I just feel like I'm living on the edge all the time, waiting to see what God's going to do. I'm going to tell you something.
I have a lot of faith, I think. I think God's maybe giving me a gift of faith. I was in my office, my administrative assistant called me, and she asked me if I could come over right away. And I said, Well, I can't come right away. She said, well, you need to come before the end of the day.
And I said, why? She said, well, and I won't tell you this person's name because I don't want to embarrass them, but somebody came in and they brought something. They want to give it to you, and they want to give it to the church and to its ministry. She tried to give me a little more information and so I came over. It was about five o'clock in the afternoon, and I went up and I looked in there, and I don't know if I can tell you this without tears, because it's such a meaningful thing to me.
It was a bag full. of gold coins. $27,000 worth of gold coins. that a man had bought for his retirement. And God spoke to his heart and said, I want you to put that in the eternal portfolio.
And part of me wanted to pick that bag up and go put it in my car and drive up to his house and say, We can't take this, you've got to take this back. But I know better Nat. Because I know what God's going to do in his life. He made an investment for eternity. I don't have any idea what that meant to him and to his loved ones.
But I know what it's going to mean. and he's going to be reaping dividends from that investment. like you will not believe. I am so honored, and not just because that's a particular and not any more important than any of the other investments that were made in this, except that it came in such a unique way at such an unbelievable time when I'm studying all day about these two portfolios, and on the day I'm studying it. God gave me the greatest illustration I could have found in any book if I'd have researched every library in the country.
that when we put God first and we seek Him first. we put ourselves in a position where we can just sit back and watch the adventure. and see what God is going to do.
Some of you have made decisions and you're scared. And you should be, because if you don't have a little bit of scare, it's not faith. Mm-hmm. But take the step and believe what God says is true. He will not disappoint you.
He will do for you what he's promised he will do. and this is going to be an exciting year in your life as you trust him. Amen, amen. You know, the Bible is so great, isn't it? I mean, it makes things so easy to understand when you really get serious about it.
Here's God saying to us, Here's two options for you: live for now or live for then, and here's what's going to happen if you do each one. And then we get to make the choice, but if we're Christians, there really isn't any choice. We are not materialists. We believe in the spiritual truths of the Word of God, which puts God first, as we have already learned, and makes Him the Lord of our life, which means He's the Lord of our pocketbook as well as the Lord of our life. That's what we're learning as we study investing for eternity.
Tomorrow, part one of Sowing and Reaping, one of the signal principles of stewardship is the sowing and reaping concept. We'll be looking at Galatians chapter 6, and I hope you'll join us then. Hey, don't forget Turning Points Magazine and Devotional is available to you with Really wonderful ways to get into the Word of God every day and articles to help you grow. Ask for your copy today when you get in touch with Turning Point. Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr.
David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. Reach out and tell us how this ministry helps you grow by writing to us at TurningPoint, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Visiting our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. or calling 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's new book, What God Promises You, 7 Truths That Will Change the Way You Live.
It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also view over 1200 of Dr. Jeremiah's sermons on any screen anytime you like. On our Turning Point Plus streaming service for a monthly gift of any amount, visit turningpointplus.org for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah.
Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Investing for Eternity on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
