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INVESTING. F O R. ETERNITY. Dr. David Jeremiah. Part 2. Two Portfolios. Matthew 6:19-24. Matthew 6:19-24.
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INVESTING F O R ETERNITY Dr. David Jeremiah
Part 2 Two Portfolios Matthew 6:19-24
Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-24 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Portfolio 1: Earthly Treasure • Myth 1: What we do with our earthly treasure is unimportant. • $2,000 to $7,000,000 • Myth 2: God does not care about our earthly treasure (the 90%).
2 Corinthians 12:14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
1 Timothy 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Proper Perspective • Managing your earthly wealth requires a proper mindset for healthy functioning: • The law of deterioration. (moths) • All earthly wealth depreciates in value. You cannot maintain it with willpower. • The law of vigilance. (thieves) • The more you have, the more effort it will cost you maintain, insure, or protect it.
Proper Perspective • The law of desensitization. • The more wealth you accumulate (and focus on), the more detached you become from the real-world needs of those around you. • The law of immovability. • Earthly wealth cannot follow you into heaven. • The law of compulsion. • Earthly wealth can drive us to do and consider things we previously wouldn’t have.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Proper Perspective • The law of dissatisfaction. • It is hard to be satisfied with what you have, and impossible to be completely satisfied with just a little more. • The law of destruction. • 2 Peter 3:10(b) - the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 1: Dramatic Appreciation • Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Mark 10:29-30 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 2: Heavenly Caretaker • Remember the laws governing earthly treasure? They do not apply. • No moths, no thieves, no rust, no worries!
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 3: Eternal Investment • Do you know where the concept of retirement age (social security) came from? • Most of us attempt the actuarial science of saving for as long as we’ll be alive. • What is stored up in heaven is stored up for eternity.
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 4: Pleasing to God • Philippians 4:18(b) - I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. • How many of your current investments have “pleasing God” as their primary objective?
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 5: Create Joy in the Body of Christ • Cows, goats, and wells. • Back to 1 Timothy 5:8. Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? • (Whoever does the will of God – Matthew 12:49) • Not all heavenly investments are intangible. Not by a long shot.
Portfolio 2: Heavenly Treasure • Law 6: Certification • Heavenly investments certify whom we serve (God or money). • They also certify our passions (there our hearts will be also).
Where is your heart? • As we discussed last week, the key here is the ordering of your priorities and the placement of your heart. • Give first to God, and let all other things be subordinate. • Question: how does this mindset prepare you for the time when He will ask more of you? • Do not give to God out of your leftovers. • What would you serve Him for dinner?
Roth or 401(k)? • Pay taxes now, or pay taxes later? • Do you give off of your gross or net earnings? • Does giving to God after Federal and State governments have had their share satisfy bringing him the first 10%? • If you are giving from gross, are you struggling with God’s next challenge?
Return on Investment • God wants your heart more than anything else. • Is He your first passion, hobby, and investment? • Next week: • Demonstration of how God puts your giving to work to impact His eternal kingdom.