Through the Eye of the Needle Part 1

Lord, we do come to you in the name of Jesus, and we worship you this morning. We thank you, Lord, that you are a great God. We thank you that you care.

Lord, we feel so small compared to you and how great you are, and we're awed by your creation and the things that you have put into place. Lord, we just lift up this family and probably lost loved ones, different families, where this plane went down. I just pray, Lord, your comfort.

I pray that you give the church wisdom on how to move forward, and I just pray you'd use it for good among the communities. Lord, I also pray for my brother, Roger. Thank you for his willingness to preach your words, to study, to come up here and speak to us.

And I just pray you would anoint him, Lord, with your spirit, help him to be broken. Lord, help him to have faith. And I pray you'd use him mightily and your power would flow through him.

Also, anoint our ears, help us to listen from our hearts and be willing to change, willing to repent. Pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. Well, good morning. It's good to be here.

If we could, let's stand and sing one more song, number 581 in the purple books. 581. There is a story ever new.

I'll tell it o'er and o'er. I want to love him more. Number 581 in the purple books.

There is a story ever new. I'll tell it o'er and o'er. How Jesus gave his life for me.

He did so very much for me. I want to love him more. Verse two says, the prince of life, yet as a babe, he came in days of yore to bring goodwill and peace to men.

I want to love him more. The story ever sweeter grows, how on the cross he bore my sins, and by his stripes I'm healed. I want to love him more.

Verse four, let's sing it. Oh, how he suffered on the tree. No love like that before.

I know and feel I love him, yet I want to love him more. I want to love him more. I want to love him more.

He did so very much for me. I want to love him more. Amen, you can be seated.

You just sang a statement, I want to love him more. I suppose titles of messages can change with time. We'll see what happens here, but for now, the title of the message I have is how to love him more.

How to love him more, or if you want to change it a little bit, how to love God more. This week coming up is an important, memorable week for me. It's the anniversary, 15th anniversary of something that happened in my life that was very significant then, and it has gone on to continue to be significant.

It really started eight years before this when I was challenged by somebody to look at something that they thought I should look at. They thought I should look at, take another look at the subject of economics and what Jesus said about it. That was back in 1998, and that began in my life an eight-year journey of study, looking into what Jesus said about the subject of economics, and I was absolutely stunned as I read things in the Bible I didn't know were there.

At the end of that eight years, I felt led to, well, write it down in a book, and the only problem was I was busy. I had a young family. I had a job, actually several jobs, running a little business, plus working a not-quite-full-time job, and anyway, it was a busy time of life, so how am I ever gonna find time to write this book that God seems to be laying on my heart? Well, God solved that problem too.

He gave me more time. He did it by the way of a little baby, a little fussy baby who woke up in the middle of the night instead of waking up in the morning like she was supposed to. She woke up in the middle of the night, and so Mom was tired, so Dad got to rock this baby.

Well, that was perfect time, not quite perfect, but almost perfect. It was at least more time to work on this book, so I remember getting the laptop computer and setting it on the table and holding this baby and rocking her while I'm typing away at this book, and it came together fairly quickly, started in March of 2006, came together about by June of 2006. I had a rough draft.

I sent that rough draft off to my friend John D. Martin in Pennsylvania, and I didn't know what to expect. I kind of thought this might die. It was a fun project, but it's probably it.

I probably will, you know, it'll just be something I'll put in my file and quit there, but we'll see, so I sent it off to them and waited to see what would happen, but July 8, 2006, I got an email from him. He says, I got your package. I read it, and he says, this is good.

You really should publish it. He says, I'll help you. He says, we have a publishing arm back there of their church.

We'll help you. I'll help you copy edit it, and I just remember getting that email and thinking, thank you, Lord. This is something that, you know, well, maybe God can use this in other people's life, and that's what happened, apparently.

I got, you know, a lot of, after it was published, that was 2006. It didn't actually get on the market. You know, it takes a while to get all the copy editing done, and so a year later, summer of 2007, it went to market, and people, you know, testified afterwards, sent letters and so forth saying, thank you for writing this.

It changed, you know, changed things in my life, gave me a new look and look at what Jesus said, and so anyway, I'm praising God for this. It felt, as I was writing it, it felt like it wasn't really me. It felt like God was pushing me forward, and but you know, there's still people that haven't read it, and as I went, you know, the last few years, I've heard a few people say, people close to me, even my own children say, you know, dad, we knew you wrote this book, but I've actually never read the book, and so I thought, well, that's interesting, and they kind of know what it's about.

At least they think they know what it's about, and this is actually the result of what was developed. It's called Through the Eye of a Needle. This was the book that was published back there in 2006 and seven, and this was the first cover.

Eventually, it got changed, and they upgraded a few times, and now this is what is sold today, a different cover, almost exactly the same interior. There was a few mistakes like there usually is on a new book, so those were fixed, and this is now what people buy, but anyway, after hearing my children say that, you know, dad, we never really read the book, I got to thinking, this is a precious part of my own spiritual journey. I would like my children to read the book, so I thought, well, I'll just take a couple Sundays here, and we'll read it, and we'll go through it, and probably won't be able to get quite all the way through it.

We'll probably fast forward, but I thought, we're gonna take this, and it's now the 15th year anniversary of the birth of this, and I want my children to hear it, and maybe there's others that can benefit from it as well. It is good news. It's part of the gospel, what Jesus said, so I want them to have their good news.

I'm also, to the point in life, my children are getting older. They are to the point where they have their own money now. They've got to make some of their own decisions.

They have their own bank accounts, you know, and I could just say, well, look, I know what God wants. I'll just take that, and I'll make your decisions for you, but it seems like Jesus' teachings imply that we're making our own decisions, at least at some level, at some point, and so I want them to make these decisions, and I want them to know what Jesus said about these things, so we're gonna go through this, and then, by the way, I have asked Jeremy for two Sundays to preach in a row instead of just one, and we might actually, I'll tell you what let's do. I might quit at 12 today, but just in case, we're gonna go ahead and push the ending time of today's service off to 12.10, just so nobody starts wiggling before that.

You don't get restless. You can get restless after 12.10. I may quit early, though, so we'll see, but that's the closing time today. I'd like to ask somebody to help me.

Let's see, John, you wanna help? You're right close and so handy there. I got a job for you. Here is a box of the books, and there is not enough for everybody, but there's enough here probably for about every three people to have one, maybe two per bench, something like that.

If you just hand those out and try to spread them as good as you can, and if you all would do the favor and get as close as you can so you can share it with maybe one or two other people, that would be good, and I have a reason for doing that, and that is because when we get to scripture in this book, we're gonna all read them together, okay? And at the end of today, we'll return these books to the box because we're gonna need them again next Sunday, but when we get to scripture, we're gonna all read them together because you see, we have two goals here this morning. Goal number one is that there is a yes, no question that we wanna answer. That's goal number one.

Goal number two is we wanna be familiar with scripture, okay? Now, actually, to be honest, I'm not sure that we're gonna get to this one here. I don't know that everybody, if you come to this morning and you don't know the yes, no answer that we're gonna get to here a couple chapters in, I'm not sure I have the ability or there's enough time to come up with that yes or no question. I'll tell you what it is when we get to it, but I think regardless of whether we get there, I think there's no question that we can come away from this morning and a week from this morning more familiar with the scripture, and if we do that, it will be a successful morning.

We will know better what Jesus said about this subject. So getting familiar with scripture is a goal number two, and at least we want to do that. So like I say, we'll gather up the books at the end.

You know what? I actually do have one extra. Is there anybody who can't see one? I've got the old book. The page numbers don't quite match.

There's a few typos in it. Does anybody not have one that would like one? They're all gone in here? Well, I'll just set it right here, and if you can't see one, you should come up here and help yourself. It's on the front bench.

All right, so we're gonna open the books up, and we're gonna go ahead and get started. We're gonna start with the introduction. Before we do this, let's bow for prayer one more time.

Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus, and I thank you, God, for gathering us here, and I thank you for your word, and I thank you for the gospel of Jesus, and I thank you for the gospel of Jesus as it relates to this subject of economics, and I thank you for my children that are here this morning, and I thank you for other young people, and every member, every visitor that's here. We just pray that you'd bless them, and I pray, Lord, that you would just let your words, especially your scriptures, come alive in our hearts. We just, I just thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, this is the introduction. First of all, it doesn't have a page number at the bottom. I think it's supposed to be called, well, anyway, it's less than one, it looks like, because we're not yet to page one.

So let's read the introduction. It says, the teaching you're about to read is radical. At least it will seem radical to you if you've never heard this teaching before.

It seemed extremely radical to me the first time I heard, and by the way, that's true. I was shocked when I started studying this, and yesterday, as I was preparing for today, I got shocked again. So if you're shocked, don't be surprised, because I am too, still am.

However, being radical was not new to me. Growing up in a conservative Anabaptist church had always been taught that as Christians, it was our duty to obey the commands of Christ, even if doing so made us stick out from the people around us. We were taught especially that Christ's Sermon on the Mount was meant to be practiced today and not to be put on hold until some future era.

This sermon was the basis for our distinctive teachings about divorce and remarriage, non-swearing of oaths, and non-resistance. We were not afraid to stand out from the people around us, both Christian and non-Christian alike, on these issues. This belief in the necessity of obedience for salvation and the place of the Sermon on the Mount in our present-day lives is the foundation for believing in the doctrine of non-accumulation.

If, however, you are a Christian who believes that salvation is by, quote, faith alone and that obedience is not a necessary part of it, please allow yourself to be challenged by skipping forward and reading Chapter 4, Thoughts on Interpreting Scripture. Perhaps you won't change your mind after reading this one chapter, but I at least ask you to open the door of your heart, especially where God's word is quoted, and examine the things you've always believed to be true. And as in every controversy, let God be true, but every man a liar.

Turn the page, Chapter 1, What is a Doctrine? In 1928, Daniel Kaufman compiled a book entitled Doctrines of the Bible. In this volume, he identified and expounded on roughly 62 different Bible doctrines, such as the Trinity, the Atonement, Baptism, non-conformity, non-resistance, and the second coming of Christ. Some might question the purpose for such a book.

Why can't we just read the Bible and believe what it says? Why do we have to take these broad biblical truths and distill them down into these neat little packages we call doctrines? This question is a valid one. The Christian church certainly spent an enormous amount of energy through the centuries developing, articulating, defending a huge variety of doctrines, both true and false. And much of this energy, no doubt, would appear to God as an utter waste of time and resources.

On the other hand, to identify a particular set of ideas as a doctrine does provide several important services. First, it provides us with that line in the sand that individuals or churches can examine, and then ask themselves this question. Do we or don't we accept this doctrine as a true Bible doctrine? The answer to this question, in turn, gives us a concise way to communicate our beliefs to others.

It's far easier to say, for instance, we believe in the doctrine of the Trinity than it is to give a detailed explanation of exactly what the doctrine of the Trinity teaches. If a doctrine has been defined well, the decision to accept it or reject it becomes a simple yes or no question. The answer should be either yes, we accept it as a true doctrine, or no, we reject it as a false doctrine.

So that's our yes or no question right there. Is it or is it not a true doctrine, if it's defined properly? And we'll get to the definition after a bit. There shouldn't be much room for saying, well, I accept part of it, or, well, there's some truth to it, but it needs to have some balance.

These statements may be appropriate when it comes to the practical applications of the doctrine, but they are not a valid response to the question of whether we accept the doctrine itself as a true doctrine. The fact that two different individuals may agree to embrace a particular doctrine as true doesn't mean they will practice the doctrine exactly the same. Different people are often in different places practically despite their agreement with one another doctrinally.

These differences, however, are never to be used as a basis for accepting or rejecting the doctrine itself. Second, defining a set of beliefs as a doctrine provides a sort of theological guardrail against future apostasy. This doesn't mean that the provided guardrail cannot be crossed.

It simply means that future generations will be slower to drop a doctrine officially accepted by a church body than to discard a set of beliefs that has never been defined in this way. So the purpose of this book, then, is threefold. First, it aims to define the doctrine of non-accumulation, thus draw that line in the sand that we as Christians or groups of Christians can examine and then decide, do we accept the doctrine as a true doctrine or do we reject it as a false doctrine? Second, for those of you who up until now have not accepted the doctrine as true, I want the opportunity to influence you to do so.

At a minimum, I want to ask whether you be willing to consider the possibility that the doctrine of non-accumulation might be true and give yourself to the study of God's word to discover the truth about this question. Third, for those of you who have accepted it's true, I want to strengthen you in that belief and perhaps provide you with a few suggestions regarding its practical application. So you're trying to introduce a new doctrine to us? I can hear some of you asking.

The answer is no. The doctrine of non-accumulation is not a new doctrine at all, not by any stretch of the imagination. It is a doctrine as old as Christianity itself.

However, it's a doctrine that's been lost to most of today's Christians, including those who would call themselves conservative. In the future, will these Christians continue to let go of Bible doctrines they've previously held, or will they choose to recover this doctrine that's been lost? My fear is that, in the long run, it must be one or the other. Chapter 2, what is the doctrine of non-accumulation? A teacher at a Bible school for young people stands up and announces, in our class in Christian stewardship today, we're going to look specifically at the subject of financial management and some biblical principles about how we're to handle money.

He then goes on to teach about long-range planning, especially emphasizing the benefits of discipline ourselves to put at least a small amount of money each month into savings. He demonstrates mathematically the tremendous power of compound interest, especially for someone who starts saving at a young age. If at age 20, you would put $10,000 in investment that earns an average interest rate of 8% by the age of 65, this investment will have grown to about $320,000.

And that's true, even if you don't add anything more to it. What about those of you who don't have $10,000 to invest at age 20? Well, you could instead decide to set aside just $60 per day or $60 per month or $2 per day. And if you put in the same investment, it too will have grown to around $320,000 by the time you reach age 65.

Next, the teacher gives the illustration. Two families, the bigs and the smalls. Both couples start out with similar incomes, similar personal needs.

Both couples have $1,000 to spend on housing each month. There's been some inflation since this book was written, by the way. The bigs' first house is an expensive one with a mortgage payment of $1,000 per month for 30 years.

The smalls decide to start out smaller with lower monthly payments and to put the difference into savings. Several years later, they trade up to a house equal to size of the bigs and then continue to make payments at $1,000 per month. The end result is that by the time the bigs get their house paid for, the smalls have not only paid for their house but have also built up a savings account worth several hundred thousand dollars.

The students here at the Bible school noticeably impressed take part in the ensuing class discussion about how a person can, by a little hard work and consistent self-discipline, build up for himself a nice nest egg for the future. This money will then be available to care for his personal needs, to give to his church, or to pass on to his children. Another teacher at a different Bible school makes this statement.

When Jesus gave the command, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, he literally meant, as his followers, we are not to accumulate unused wealth on the earth. The teacher then goes on to bring other scriptures to the discussion, including the reasons Christ has forbidden us to accumulate wealth and the consequences we'll face if we do it anyway. So what's the reason for such a stark contradiction between these two messages coming from two men who would agree with each other on so many Bible principles? The answer lies in the difference between their views on one particular Bible doctrine, the doctrine of non-accumulation.

The second teacher accepts this doctrine as a true doctrine. The first teacher does not. So what is the doctrine of non-accumulation? Quite simply, it's a doctrine stating that Jesus forbids his people to accumulate wealth on earth, but rather commands them to distribute those possessions they do not currently need for the needs of others and for the spreading of the gospel.

Or, to condense it into a few words, this doctrine says Jesus commands us to distribute rather than accumulate earthly wealth. That, in a nutshell, is the definition of the doctrine of non-accumulation. This definition by itself does not address any of the questions about how or to what extent we are to put this doctrine into practice.

All such questions, may we do this? Or must we do that? Or what about this situation? Must, for now, simply be left hanging. The primary question we address at this point, rather, is simply this. Is this doctrine, as stated, a true doctrine or a false doctrine? It has to be one or the other.

It cannot be both. This book's purpose is to help you, the reader, find the answer to this question. Chapter three, stop, consider.

Perhaps after reading the definition of this doctrine, chapter two, you're ready to throw the book aside as rejected as a bunch of nonsense. Of course I don't believe such a doctrine, you might be thinking. I've never heard it taught in my church, so it must be just another new heresy coming down the pike.

I'll take my stand against this doctrine just as I would any other false doctrine. Or, perhaps, you've taken a quick mental inventory of what it would cost you personally to accept this doctrine as true. And you've decided it'd be easier to reject the doctrine as false from the outset, rather than risk investigating it further.

But before you throw this book down and discuss, please consider what has cost other people to reject a doctrine before they've given it a fair hearing. Consider some of the beliefs you espouse that others don't. You believe, for instance, that the only way to God is through a man named Jesus of Nazareth, to someone else, however, this view may seem egotistical and narrow-minded.

Yet, what is the cost to that person if he throws the idea away without examining the evidence for it? Or, maybe you could look at some of the finer points of your Christian faith. And by the way, my book originally, in the introduction, it said I'm writing primarily to Anabaptist people. The editors made me take that out.

They said, we don't wanna limit where you're gonna get this read. But that is kind of what I had in mind when I wrote this. I grew up among Anabaptist people.

They already have some of these core thoughts. And so, that's primarily who I had in mind when I first wrote it. So, let's keep going.

Or, maybe you could look at some of the finer points of your Christian faith. Perhaps you believe in the doctrine of non-resistance, that a Christian cannot take part in war if he's to be obedient to Jesus. Consider, however, how hard it would be for your patriotic neighbor to accept this idea.

He's been taught all his life about the importance of patriotism, that God expects us to support and defend our country. Consider, especially, how hard it would be for him to accept if he's actually in the military himself and has only a few years left till he can receive full retirement benefits. Yet, what's the cost to him if he rejects this doctrine on that basis? Or, if you've accepted Jesus' teaching against divorce and remarriage, you would rightly conclude that anyone who wants to join your church would need to accept this doctrine as true.

Yet, think of what this would mean to someone who's actually in a divorce and remarriage situation. It's no wonder that in today's society, most Christians reject this idea as being too radical. Yet, what is the cost to those who do reject it? Consider, also, the story of the rich young ruler.

This man once stood at a crossroads similar to the one you may now be standing at. In the end, he rejected the command of Jesus to sell and give. I don't know what all his reasoning was.

Perhaps he thought this really wasn't God who was giving the command. Perhaps he thought he would eventually find some less costly way to obtain eternal life. Perhaps he even recognized that he was giving up his opportunity for salvation, but he decided it was worth it if he could keep his riches.

For further discussion on this story, read the chapter in the book entitled The Real Mistake of the Rich Young Ruler. That's on down chapter 17 or 18. We'll get to it eventually.

Whatever his reasoning was, it caused him to reject the very son of God. And how much did this rejection really cost him in the long run? Finally, consider whether there's really any danger in reading on. Suppose you come away from this book convinced that the doctrine of non-accumulation is a true doctrine.

If so, it's a gift to you from one whose love for you is infinite. It's been given for your benefit, not for your harm. Is that anything to be afraid of? If, on the other hand, this doctrine does not stand the test of scripture, you can just reject it and go on with your life.

I therefore urge you to continue reading the book to the end, not to get a message from a mere human such as me, but rather consider whether God himself has a message for you, a message that you may have never considered before. If nothing else, at least read the scriptures contained in this book. We can at least have to recognize that they come from God.

I would guess some of the verses mentioned in this book are verses you'd never realize were in the Bible. At least that's how it was for me with these verses. And we certainly can't say we've given honest consideration to the doctrine unless we've looked at all the scriptures that pertain to it.

All right, we're ready for chapter four, thoughts on interpreting scripture. And I considered, maybe I'm still considering doing something at the end of this, and that is open up for questions. It's pretty dangerous to do.

I don't know if I will or not. I may be too scared, but I might. So if you have questions, you can at least keep in the back of your mind.

We're ready for chapter number four, thoughts on interpreting scripture. If we're going to be looking into God's words for answers to this study, it seems we ought to establish from the outset some basic principles on how to interpret what we read. So here are a few principles I intend to follow to the best of my ability.

Principle number one, to accept as the correct interpretation the one that is the most literal when taken in context of all the other New Testament verses that pertain to it. Number two, to begin with the very words of Jesus as the foundation for our study, we'll then move on to the remainder of the New Testament, which if interpreted correctly, will build upon but never contradict the words of Jesus. Principle number three, to recognize the differences in dispensation between the Old Testament and the New Testament that Jesus clearly overruled some of the commands in the old by some of the commands he gave us in the new.

Principle four, to recognize that obedience to Christ is a necessary part of a saving relationship with him. If we do not abide in Christ in obedient, loving, believing relationship with him, our father will cut us off from the vine and we will lose our salvation. And number five, to recognize that Christ's Sermon on the Mount is meant to be lived out by us in this day and age.

It's not to be set aside for some future time. In my own religious background, conservative and a Baptist, we've always believed that these basic principles. We were taught that following the Sermon on the Mount was an integral part of following Jesus.

We were taught that obedience was necessary, not optional if we're gonna call ourselves Christians. And we were faithfully warned about the danger of falling away even after having begun the Christian life. Those of us that were taught all these things in our life, taught these things all our lives, in some respects have an advantage as we begin to study.

For us, the foundation's already been laid for accepting this doctrine as true. We already believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God. We already believe that obeying him is necessary.

We already believe that the Sermon on the Mount is meant for us to be put into practice today. If, however, you're a Christian who does not believe in any of these aforementioned principles, may I challenge you to examine your beliefs in light of the following scriptures. First, what is the role of obedience to Christ in our salvation? Is obedience to him really necessary or is salvation simply a matter of believing in him without any real commitment to obey him? Let's all read together.

We're ready for, and when we read together, we'll skip the reading the reference. We'll just read the actual words just for the sake of time. So here we are, page 11.

We're getting to the first scripture now. So let's all read together. Ye are my friends.

If ye do whatsoever, I command you. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon the rock.

All right, second question. What is the condition of those who do not obey Jesus? All together. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven.

He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon a sand. Third, if obedience is necessary, then which of Jesus' commands are we supposed to obey? This question at first may seem a little silly. Of course, once we've determined that obedience to Christ is necessary, it only makes sense to say we're required to obey all of his commands, correct? Well, let's try this.

One of the commands of Jesus was, go wash in the pool of Siloam. Are we supposed to obey that command? No, obviously not. Therefore, it must not be right to say that we have to obey all the commands of Christ.

Does that mean then that we just get to pick and choose which commands we wanna obey? Again, the answer is no. So what is the right way to know which commands apply to us? The answer to this question lies in Jesus' words in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. Let's all read together.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even into the end of the world. Jesus was talking to his disciples in these verses. In these five words, whatsoever I've commanded you, he gives the key to knowing which commands we're expected to keep, namely those commands he gave to his disciples.

If a particular command was given to his disciples in a teaching context, it was meant for us as well. If on the other hand, the command was given to some other individual, we are generally not required to obey it. This is the basis for believing the Sermon on the Mount was put into, for us to put into practice today.

At the beginning of Matthew five, although a multitude was present, it's clearly stated that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. This entire sermon, therefore, fits clearly within the whatsoever I've commanded you given in Matthew 28. To summarize then, this study is built on the belief that we are to obey the commands of Christ, the commands Christ gave to his disciples, including the Sermon on the Mount, if we wanna call ourselves his people.

And now we're ready for chapter five, the first main pillar. The two commands of Jesus serve as the primary pillars on which this doctrine of non-accumulation is built. The first is found in the Sermon on the Mount in the sixth chapter of Matthew.

Here, Jesus gives this command, let's read together. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth. I had always heard Matthew 6.19 explained to me that Jesus is telling us what kind of attitude we're supposed to have about our possessions.

Not necessarily what we're supposed to do with them, but because Jesus uses the word treasures in this passage, he's speaking only about those possessions that we quote treasure in our heart. A simple word study, however, will show that this is not the case. The word Jesus used has been translated as treasure simply means wealth.

The words lay up simply mean to store up or to accumulate. The most literal interpretation of this verse, therefore, is that Jesus forbids his followers to accumulate wealth on this earth. But we might ask, what exactly does it mean to accumulate wealth? If I have $1,000 in the bank, am I guilty of accumulating wealth? How about $100 or $10? Jesus does not give many specifics about putting this command into practice, but he does give one example of someone who violated this command.

This is found in the parable of the rich fool in Luke chapter 12. We all know the story of how there was a rich farmer, how he made a large profit farming, how he decided to tear down his barns to build greater and about how God rebuked him and told him he would die that very night. And we've heard many explanations about this parable and what the mistake was of this man that God called a fool.

Some have said that his mistake was he forgot to pray and ask God's advice before making plans for the future. Others said his mistake was pride or maybe laziness or self-sufficiency or his failure to accept Christ. Thankfully, we don't have to speculate about what his man's mistake was because in this particular parable, Jesus provides us with the luxury of an explanation about what it meant.

It's found verse 21, it begins with the words, so is he. Now, if Jesus said, so is he who forgets to seek counsel from God or so is he who is proud or so is he who fails to believe in me, then we would have our answer about the meaning of this parable. But Jesus doesn't say any of those things.

Instead he says, so is he that layeth up treasure for himself. Sorry, thank you for remembering there. Let's read that again together.

I'll slow down a little bit. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. And the rest of that verse goes on to say, and is not rich toward God.

So this man's actions clearly fit in the category of laying up treasures in violation of the prohibition Jesus gave in Matthew 6. Note that Jesus does not condemn the man for earning the profits nor specifically for owning the assets necessary to make the profits. It was the laying up of these profits on the earth that brought him into condemnation. This man had earned an income, paid his expenses and converted the remainder to commodities that could have been given to those in need, but he chose instead to store them up indefinitely for himself.

In doing so, he proved he loved himself more than he loved others. He proved that his heart was here on earth with his treasures rather than in heaven with God. And he missed forever the opportunity to invest in something that could never have been taken from him.

There's some very natural questions that will tend to arise if we decide that this command of Jesus, not to store wealth on earth, was meant to be taken literally. What if we have a large medical bill? What if I lose my job? What if I become disabled? Jesus anticipated such questions would arise and therefore he gives us this instruction. Altogether, therefore take no thoughts saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles see.

In other words, Jesus says, I forbid you to ask this kind of question. Why? Altogether, for your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. The response of true faith is first to obey and then leave the consequences in the hands of our all loving, all powerful creator.

The idea that the word treasures refers only to those possessions that we treasure flies in the face of another statement Jesus made. Whereas this idea says we need to look first at our heart to determine whether our possessions or our treasures are not, Jesus says exactly the opposite. Altogether, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

In other words, says Jesus, look first at your treasure, where you're making your investments. And that will tell you where your heart is. Don't try to look first at your heart.

It's too deceitful and probably won't give you an honest answer anyway. Look instead at your possessions and then you'll know where your heart is. Many of us tried to deny this statement.

We deny that this statement applies to us. We say that although we own an abundance of material things, our heart really is not in our possessions. Yet when the test actually comes and we're faced with giving up those possessions, one by one, we all prove that our heart actually was in them.

For example, there's many people who have a large savings account or who own a number of investment properties. And when asked about the purpose for owning these assets, they say it's to take care of themselves in case of a calamity, such as a large medical bill. When that large medical bill comes, however, and these same people lament sadly that they had to, quote, dip into savings or sell off property to pay their bill, as though it were some sort of tremendous hardship to do so.

To summarize, it seems clear that Jesus' command in Matthew 6, 19, lay not up, is a command not to accumulate wealth on this earth. It doesn't appear that our Lord is placing limits on the amount of money we earn. Rather, he's restricting what we do with that money once we've earned it.

Specifically, he is forbidding us to accumulate it, to invest it, to store it up here on this earth. Perhaps, however, you'll respond to this suggestion much the same way others have done, but I just don't believe that's what he's saying. If that's your response, then I thank you for being honest.

But before you ride off into the sunset with this as your opinion, please allow me to ask you two simple questions. First, if Jesus doesn't really mean don't accumulate, then what exactly does he mean by this command? What exactly is it that he's telling us not to do? Second, if Jesus would have wanted to forbid the accumulation of earthly wealth, how else could he have said it? What words could he have used to make himself more clear? Chapter six, the second main pillar. In this chapter, we look at the second of two primary commands on which the doctrine of non-accumulation is built.

But before I give you the reference for this verse, please take a little test regarding your Bible knowledge. In chapter four, we discuss how we're to know which of Jesus' commands are for us to obey today. We answered based on the authority of Matthew 28 that it consists of those commands Jesus gave in a teaching content to his disciples.

Therefore, we could divide all of Jesus' commands into two categories, those he gave to his disciples, category one, and those he gave to other people, category two commands. Category one commands, such as those given in the Sermon on the Mount, are binding on us today. Category two commands, such as those given to the blind man or the woman at the well, do not necessarily apply to us today.

Here, then, is a test. When I quote the words of a particular command of Christ, you try to identify either category one or category two without looking it up. Ready? Here's the command.

Sell your, oh, let's read it together. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Was your answer category one or category two? If you're like most Christians, you said this is a category two command.

You recognize immediately it's a command given to the rich young ruler, because then it's given to someone other than Jesus' disciples. It must not apply to us today, correct? Actually, wrong. You see, I was not quoting from the story of the rich young ruler found in Luke 18, Matthew 19, Mark 10.

Rather, this quote comes from Luke 12, verse 33, and Jesus was speaking to none other than his disciples. The command reads, depending on which translation you use, as follows. Let's read together.

Sell that ye have and give alms. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Sell your possessions and give to charity.

Whether we like this command or not, there it is in the same Bible you've been carrying to church with you every week. And if you're like many Christians I've talked to, this may well be the first time you've really noticed this command. Whatever it is that Jesus meant by this command, we can know for sure it was given to us by God Almighty.

Whatever it is he means, it's just as much a command as love your enemies or swear not at all. Whatever it is that he means, disobedience to this command is just as much disobedience as adultery or murder. Whatever it is he means, Christ's question to those who ignore this command is, why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? We could have read that together, I guess.

Let's keep going. This second main command is also found in Matthew 6, though different wording is used to communicate essentially the same message. Jesus has just given us the negative command, lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.

Now he tells us altogether, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. In today's terminology then, he's telling us to accumulate wealth in heaven, to invest in heaven, to save for retirement in heaven. He's telling us in essence to make investments in heaven in much the same way that people of the world make investments on earth.

But how do we do this? What do we physically have to do to lay up treasure in heaven? Luke 12, 33 gives us the answer. Let's read together. Sell that ye have and give alms, provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

So it's by giving alms that we can make a real investment in a real place called heaven. And this investment is totally secure from all the problems, thieves, rust, recessions, inflation, and stock market corrections associated with earthly investments. What's more, the rate of return is far better than that which any mutual fund manager has ever been able to consistently produce, a hundredfold according to Matthew 19.

The doctrine of non-accumulation therefore means more than simply don't accumulate. It also means, according to Luke 12, 33, we are to practice lavish generosity. There are many people who don't accumulate earthly wealth, but at the same time, do not really practice biblical non-accumulation, perhaps because of either laziness or else excessive spending.

They simply don't have any resources available to accumulate. Maybe they've even read Jesus' command not to lay up treasure on earth, and in response, they've cut back on their work, or they've started to live in luxury, or have otherwise begin to squander those funds they formerly had been putting into a savings account every month. In these, in other words, they've stopped laying up treasure on earth, but they have not started laying up treasures in heaven.

They simply are not laying up treasures anywhere. But that is not biblical non-accumulation. This doctrine rather urges us to behave in many ways, just like the people around us who are diligently saving for earthly retirement.

We should work just as hard as they do, provided of course our other responsibilities don't suffer. We should limit our personal spending just as they do. We should sell off poor investments just as they do to free up money to invest in something better.

The primary difference is where we invest our money once we have it available to invest. Instead of putting on earth as they do, we make our investments in heaven, and this is done through our giving. Most Christians, even very wealthy ones, would state emphatically they would be willing to sell their possessions and give away the proceeds if God asked them to do so.

In no case would they walk away sadly from Christ as the rich young ruler did. In other words, they're waiting for some sort of triggering event, maybe a voice from the Lord, so to speak, telling them to sell and give. Although they don't really expect this triggering event to ever happen, if it ever should happen, they say they would willingly obey without any delay.

Perhaps this describes your attitude. If so, then I commend you for your willingness to do anything for Jesus. I only urge you to stick by this commitment if this triggering event should ever come to pass.

I do have one question, however. What exactly would qualify as a triggering event? If a voice from the sky thundered out, sell and give, would that qualify? If you saw a handwriting sell and give on the wall above your head, would that be enough to convince you God is speaking? What about Luke 12, 33? Would reading that verse for the first time qualify as a triggering event? Page 24. Are we saying then that Jesus' command to us in Luke 12, 33 means exactly the same as the command he gave to the rich young ruler? Perhaps not, because there are differences with the language used in these two commands.

On the other hand, perhaps so, because these differences are extremely minor. As we compare Luke 12, 33 command with the command given in the story of the rich young ruler, here's what we find. The command to the rich young ruler in Matthew's account is virtually identical to the command given to us in Luke 12, 33.

The commands given to the rich young ruler in Mark and Luke, however, contain the added word all that thou hast, or whatsoever thou hast. Does this added word then prove a significant difference between that which God expects of us and that which he required of the rich young ruler? Was Jesus telling the rich young ruler to sell and give everything he owned, whereas he only wants us to sell and give part of what we own? I'm not sure I'm ready to give an answer to this question once and for all. I will suggest an explanation, however, that seems to resolve this question and deal fairly with all the scriptures involved.

It seems that Jesus, in both his command to us and his command to the rich young ruler, is telling us to distribute whatever possessions we do not currently need. In other words, sell and give those possessions that are clearly of an investment nature as opposed to a tool. Sell and give those possessions that qualify as riches as opposed to basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

For someone as wealthy as the rich young ruler, this included virtually everything he owned. For someone who owns only two coats, in Luke 3.11, this would only be half of what he owns. Whatever it is that Jesus meant by his command in Luke 12.33, he doesn't intend for it to bring us into bondage, but rather to set us free.

If we will but submit ourselves to this command, it becomes a doorway to some of the most wonderful opportunities we could possibly imagine. Once Jesus set us free from the idea produced by the society in which we live that we need to be building up our earthly wealth, and as he's explained to us, that giving to charity is actually an investment rather than an expense, we will begin to look at giving in an entirely new light. The opportunities in almsgiving are far more varied and exciting than earthly investing could ever be.

You know, and maybe we question that. You know, people talk about Tesla, Microsoft, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, all these opportunities. If only I could have bought at this price and, you know, see these things go up, that would be exciting.

You know what? I agree, it would be exciting. Some of those numbers are mind boggling, but look at this. This is far more exciting than any of those.

Here's just a few examples of the opportunities. Christian Aid Ministries is able to get one Bible printed delivered to Christians in China for a small sum of $2. The revival going on there right now in that country has produced more Christians than there are Bibles.

It has been estimated that for every Bible that goes into China, potentially 10 people will give their lives to Christ. GFA can print and produce eight New Testaments and send, sorry, can print and distribute eight New Testaments to India and surrounding countries for a donation of just $4. That's only 50 cents each.

CAM has a program in which nearly $300 of material aid can be distributed for every dollar contributed. Lighthouse Publishing produces a booklet, Loaves and Fishes, which is distributed free in prisons around the country. The hunger for this sort of reading is great and there's enough requests that thousands more of these could be passed out each year if funds would be available.

$1 enough to print and ship one booklet to a spiritually hungry prisoner. MZL has recently had some wonderful opportunities open up in Cuba and Latin America for distributing gospel literature. And remember that the, oh, thank you so much for that water.

Is that in the name of Jesus? Thank you. Remember the impact of, one Booker tract is much greater in places where God's word is restricted than in America where we're saturated with Bibles and Christian books. This ministry provides subsidies so this literature can be taken to these countries and either given away or else sold at a greatly reduced price.

And finally, CAM's seed project is used to distribute vegetable seeds and gospel literature free to the needy individuals in poverty stricken countries. A contribution of $25 to this program provides 15 families with enough seeds to produce a semi-truckload of vegetables. This is just a sampling of the giving opportunities we have available, but they're enough to make the words of Jesus come alive when he said, it's more blessed to give than to receive.

Could there possibly be any earthly investment opportunity as exciting as those I've listed here? All right, going on to chapter seven, testing the pillars. And we're gonna skip through some of this chapter because it's gonna be repeated a little bit later in a more condensed version. But so far we've looked at the two main commands of Christ which on which the doctrine of non-accumulation is built.

Let's read them together. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth. And number two, you did good, I'll help you this time.

Sell that ye have and give alms. But how do these two commands stand up when we compare them with the rest of the New Testament? Does it still seem biblical to say that it'd be taken literally? Or do other scriptures, quote, balance them out enough to prove they really don't mean quite to what they seem to be saying? A number of other passages help give us some answers to these questions. First, what did John the Baptist preach? John came preaching repentance, warning people to flee from the wrath to come and urging them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.

But the people wondered, what are those fruits of repentance? Here is John's answer in part. Altogether, he that hath two coats, let him impart unto him that hath none. And he that hath meat, let him do likewise.

I wonder how many of us have asked to list the evidences of true repentance would list this action in our list, would include this action in our list. This verse also gives some clues regarding the question, to what extent we should obey Luke 12, 33. Does the command mean that we may not own anything at all? Are we somehow supposed to renounce the ownership of the very shirt on your back? No, says John, but rather give away that portion of your possessions that is in excess of what you need.

And yes, it's true. That does require us to make a judgment call. We go on to what did the church in Acts teach? If a command as radical as Luke 12, 33 were really meant to be taken literally, it seems logical we would have some sort of record of this command being put into practice by the first Christians.

Here's a couple of passages that might throw some light on what the early church believed about the command to sell and give. Altogether, and all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the priors of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles feet and distribution was made to every man as he had need.

But I can hear some responding, this practice didn't continue long. This was a short term situation that took place only during the transition period. Although I've heard this claim numerous times, I don't really see how it could be proven with scripture, but even if it could, that doesn't address the real question.

The real question is whether the Luke 12, 33 command is meant to be taken literally or not. These Christians believe so and were doing their best to put into practice in one way or another. Do we have the freedom to do any less? We go on to what other examples do we have and of obedience to Luke 12, 33.

We have the example of Zacchaeus. I gave away half his goods. The poor widow gave away her last two mites.

We have the Macedonians. We won't read it, we'll read a part of it later in second Corinthians eight. What other commands did Christ give? Again, we'll read some of those a little bit later.

What did Paul teach? You have passages there from Corinthians. Let's skip over to page number 31 and we'll read Galatians 6, 10. Starts with as we have.

Altogether, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Can we honestly say that we've done good as we have opportunity? If we have money parked permanently in a savings account, a retirement plan, at the same time that there are needy people in the world? Next verse, let's read. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out and having food and raiment, let us be there with content.

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and snare into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things.

The Christianity of Paul's day required men to err from the faith if they wanted to covet after money. The Christianity we've developed allows men to covet after money and still consider themselves to be in the faith. Let's read the next part.

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. In other words, charge them to be willing to obey Luke 12, 33. But what's the purpose for their obedience to Luke 12, 33? Next verse, laying up in store for them a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

And then we have a couple other questions we'll answer later as well. What does the scripture say about those who are poor? What does the scripture say about those that are rich? You know, there's widely held beliefs. It's no advantage to be poor.

It's no danger to be rich, no disadvantage. But what does it say? Well, let's go on down to the bottom of the page, Matthew 19, 24. It is easier.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. If we really believe this verse, we'd have to recognize what a tremendous harm we're doing our children by trying to leave them financially wealthy. Next page, all together.

Go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eating. Your gold and silver is cankered.

And the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat at your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped together treasure for the last days. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton.

Ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter. It's worth noting that the riches mentioned in this passage are heaped together assets as opposed to income simply passing through a person's hand. Jesus warned in Matthew six that this kind of laid up treasure will become vulnerable to the moth and rust.

And that's exactly what happened here. This rust in turn will rise up against the owner as a witness that he's violated the commandment of Christ. We've already read first Timothy.

Let's read revelation all together. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knoweth not that thou are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. All right, we'll go on to chapter eight here, a lesson from history, running out of time.

Let's see what happens here. The year 1525 marked the beginning of one of the most powerful revivals in the history of the Christian church. Beginning with three men who baptized each other contrary to the teaching of the state church.

This revival swept through Europe like wildfire, stressing renewed focus on Christ as Lord of our lives, unconditional love for all mankind, literal obedience to the word of God. These Swiss brethren, also labeled as Anabaptists, preached the gospel of Jesus everywhere they went. By the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony, these men relentlessly spread the word of truth through a hungry society and repentant sinners joined their ranks by thousands.

However, they also incurred the wrath of the governing authorities of the day and a horrible persecution broke out. Thousands upon thousands, these believers were slaughtered in the most gruesome ways imaginable. In response, the survivors began to flee from city to city and country to country, always carrying with them the radical message of the kingdom of God.

The revival soon spread to the country of Holland where another group of Anabaptists began to form called the Mennonites. They also preached the gospel faithfully and experienced the same rapid growth as the multitudes. One by one, humbly bowed the knee and surrendered themselves to the Lordship of Jesus.

But they also faced intense persecution. At one point, all criminals, including murderers, in the country were offered freedom, a pardon from the emperor, and 100 guilders if they could deliver the Anabaptist preacher, Menno Simons, into the hand of torturers and executioners. Eventually, however, the persecution ended and these Dutch Mennonites began to gain acceptance as upstanding members of the society.

Their outstanding growth continued for a time so that by the late 1600s, there were approximately 160,000 of them living in Holland. This wonderful time of peace, together with strong work ethic and a frugal lifestyle, led these Anabaptists into a time of great prosperity. Many of them were soon ranking among the wealthiest members of society and wielding great influence in the social and political realms.

By all appearance, God was pouring out blessings on his church as never before. The years of hardship were over and success, it seemed, had finally arrived. But in the midst of this peace and prosperity, something strange began to happen.

Instead of the amazing growth these Anabaptists experienced in their early years, their numbers started to decline drastically. Instead of pulling people in from the world around them, making them disciples of Jesus, it seemed that they had all they could do just to keep their own children in the faith. This trend continued until within a period of about 100 years, their numbers had shrunk from 160,000 to less than 28,000.

What was it that went wrong? What caused the sudden powerlessness in this group of Christians called the Mennonites? In what way were the Dutch Mennonites of the 1600s different from the Swiss Anabaptists of the 1500s? If you'd ask a young Mennonite minister in the year 1680 to describe the difference between his beliefs of his church and the Swiss brethren 150 years earlier, I can imagine his answer would have gone something like this. Well, doctrinally, we believe everything pretty much like they do. Practically, however, we certainly do some things different than they.

But would that have been true? Were the main differences only in practice or were there major doctrinal differences as well? The answer to this question finally comes down to our definition of the word doctrine. We humans have a tendency to simply change our vocabulary as the culture changes. When the practical outworkings of a particular teaching becomes unpopular, we simply stop labeling as a doctrine.

Thus, we can continue to glibly say that our doctrine has not changed. In truth, there were doctrinal differences between these two groups. The early Swiss brethren had both taught and practiced the doctrine of non-accumulation, and the 17th century Dutch Mennonites seemingly didn't teach or practice it.

One writer, he gives a quote there from Horst that describes some of their attitudes. In July 25, 1659, T.J. van Braak wrote an introduction to his book Martyrs' Mirror. In this introduction, he warned the people, the Dutch Mennonites, that the danger they were facing from prosperity and worldliness was far greater than the dangers their father had faced from martyrdom.

Was van Braak correct? Was it true that a wrong view of earthly possessions was a leading cause of the spiritual decline? Or were the two totally unrelated to each other? Would faithful teaching of the doctrine of non-accumulation provide at least a small barrier to the tragedy these people faced? As Christians living in a country such as the United States of America, what lesson would God want us to learn from this account? Chapter nine is beware of covetousness. I'll just read a couple paragraphs here. We may not get through all of this.

Jesus commands in Luke 12, beware of covetousness. What does he mean? Covetousness has traditionally been interpreted to mean a desire for something that belongs to someone else. Although that certainly is a dangerous desire, it's not exactly what Jesus is warning us to beware.

Rather, covetousness that Jesus is warning us against is simply the meaning of a desire for more. If that's true, then that's a serious warning to those of us who live in a country such as America. Whereas the former definition says, give me what's yours, the latter says, you can keep what's yours, I'll get one of my own.

This latter form of covetousness can be gratified without breaking any laws or harming another person. It's exactly what we're encouraged to do in our capitalistic society. The true test for covetousness and therefore is not the question, do I have a desire for something that belongs to someone else? Or even, do I have a desire to be rich? Most Christians answer no to these questions.

The real question we should be asking is, do I have a desire to be richer than I am right now? Or to put it another way, do I desire to own more possessions a year from now than what I do today? The opposite of covetousness is contentment. Hebrews 13 tells us to be content with such things as you have. 1 Timothy tells us to be content with food and raiment.

Yet how many of us claim to be content while at the same time are struggling mightily to increase our level of wealth? The twin commands of Jesus lay not up and sell and give, they strike right at the heart of this deceptive sin of covetousness. And what if we choose to ignore these warnings? Can we still consider ourselves to be part of the body of Christ? Here's what the scripture says altogether. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you.

And then there's some other verses there as well. Chapter 10 is the why of non-accumulation. I'll just read these reasons without reading the explanation.

God has given us some reasons. Number one, because it keeps our heart on things above. Because mammon or wealth is an alternate God.

And you know, that's so true. Mammon or wealth, it promises so many of the things God wants to give us. Because it allows us to really love others as we love ourselves.

Because it follows the example of Jesus. Because it sets us free to truly seek the kingdom of God. Because it builds faith in God.

Because it draws us closer to each other. Because it moves a major source of jealousy. Removes this major source of jealousy among brothers.

And because God has promised to supply our needs. Because to accumulate on earth is a waste of resource that could be used to build God's kingdom. And finally, to accumulate on earth is simply a poor investment.

Actually, there's one more. Finally, because to accumulate on earth robs the owner of their right to enjoy the fruits of his own labor. Just like that farmer, he got snatched from his hands.

And then there's a bunch of objections. Verse 11, 12, 13. We can maybe do those next Sunday.

We've got just a couple, four more minutes here, I think, that if we close at 12.10. Here's what I wanna do. Instead of reading another chapter, let's go back to the back of the book, to the appendix. And here, I want you to help me read this.

It is after page 98, so I guess it's page 99 and 100 and forward. And I'd like you to be ready to read these verses. Maybe you feel this book has been dominated by man's opinion rather than by what the Bible says.

Just in case that's true, I've included this appendix made up almost entirely of New Testament verses that deal with the subject of economics. If you decide to throw away the rest of the book, go ahead. But first, tear out this chapter and keep it.

After all, you're already carrying around these same passages with you if you have a complete New Testament. So I'm gonna ask the question, and then we'll skip the reference, but we'll read the actual words. So question number one, what are Christ's commands? Altogether, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Make no store of wealth for yourselves on earth. This night thy soul, this is still scripture, keep reading.

This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then, who shall those things be? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. Take therefore no thought for the morrow.

Beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. But thou, O man of God, flee these things.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Question, I'm sorry, there's a couple more here. Covet, am I on the right page? Yes, I am.

Sorry, let's get together again. Covetousness, let it not be once named among you, but seek ye first the kingdom of God. And then number two, under that command altogether, sell that ye have and give alms.

Sell your possessions and give to charity. Give what you have, I'm sorry, give what property you have in exchange for money and give the money to the poor. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

Give to every man that asketh thee. And if any man sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. Lend, hoping for nothing again.

Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves. As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. But rather give alms of such things as ye have.

Thank you. Question number two, what are the principles behind Christ's commands? Altogether, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Ye cannot serve God and mammon, for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

The love of money is the root of all evil. He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Blessed are you who are poor.

Has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom? And the rich hath he sent empty away. But woe unto you that are rich. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. My God shall supply all your need.

Question number three, I think it is. How important is it to obey Christ's commands? Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them shall be likened unto a foolish man.

Sorry, doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man. And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Fourthly, what classes of people should obey Christ's commands? Altogether, charge them that are rich that they be ready to distribute. Yet lackest thou one thing, sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor.

He was very rich, Zacchaeus, he was rich and said the half of my goods I give to the poor. This poor widow has cast in more than they all. He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none.

In their deep poverty beyond their power gave. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working that he may have to give to him that needeth. To what extent should we obey Christ's commands? Altogether, for if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not.

That your abundance may be a supply for their want that there may be equality. And sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. Neither was there any among them that lack for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and distribution was made to every man according as he had need.

For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men.

All right, and then lastly, what are the consequences for not obeying Christ's commands? Go to now ye rich men, weep and how for the miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.

Thou in thy lifetime receive as thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. The deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becometh unfruitful. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.

Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. So then because thou are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire for I was in hunger and you gave me no meat.

And that servant which knew his Lord's will neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes. Let's bow for prayer. Thank you God for your word.

Thank you for the scriptures given. Thank you for Jesus coming and offering us a new life. And thank you so much for the gospel.

And thank you for this part of the gospel. The part of the gospel regarding money, finances, possessions. Thank you that it is good news for those who accept it.

And I pray that we would accept it as good news and put it into practice as you lead us, give us grace, guide us through this day, through this week. We commit ourselves to you in Jesus name, amen. All right, we're ready to close.

I'll just, I said I might open it up for questions. We are out of time, but if somebody has a question burning on their heart, I'll just open it up for a second here before we close. Is there anyone? No.

Yes. No. Good, that's a relief.

Thank you. Why don't we stand? Do you have anything? Any announcement, Jeremy? Everything's been announced? Okay. Let's pray one more time and we'll be dismissed.

Lord, we just commit ourselves to you. We commit this day to you. We commit this morning today to you.

Thank you for your patience with us. Thank you for the audience here and their patience with me in going a little bit past. Thank you for all the provisions you poured out upon us.

I pray that you would teach us how to be channels to glorify you. Guide us until we meet here again. In Jesus name, amen.

Thank you again for your patience and you're dismissed.