Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - How Money Makes Us Fools

Episode Date: December 27, 2023

Jesus addresses a crowd with some things he wants them to hear, but he also gives them some things he wants them to overhear. Jesus wants the crowd to overhear him talking to his disciples about their money. And I’ve begun to realize that one of the main ways you will come to know and understand who Jesus is and what he’s done is if you see him talking to his disciples about their money.  If you’re not sure what you believe, Jesus is not asking for your money. But if you want to understand him, you need to hear what he says to his disciples. This passage shows us three r’s: 1) a request, 2) a refusal, and 3) a rebuke.  This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on November 16, 1997. Series: Stewardship, Generosity and Money. Scripture: Luke 12:13-21. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Money can be an uncomfortable subject for many of us, so you may be surprised to know that Jesus spends a good bit of time in the Gospels talking about it. Why was the subject of money so important to Jesus? And what does it mean for our lives today? Today on Gospel and Life, Tim Keller explores how the hope of Christ transforms the way we view our finances. After you listen, please go online to GospelandLife.com and sign up for our email updates. When you sign up, you'll start receiving our quarterly newsletter with articles written

by Dr. Keller as well as other great Gospel-centered resources. Subscribe today at GospelOnLife.com We're going to do a little mini-series this week and next week out of Luke 12. This is Jesus' teaching in Luke chapter 12. Let me read you verses 13 to 21. Someone in the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Jesus replied, Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? And when he said, then he said to them,

Watch out, Beyond your guard against all kinds of greed, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them this parable. kinds of greed, a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them this parable. The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop, and he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.

Then he said, this is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain in my goods. And I'll say to myself, you have plenty of good things light up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool. This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?

This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself, but is not rich toward God. This is God's word, unfortunately. Now what I'm going to do, we're going to do two weeks on an interesting subject in the book of Luke chapter 12, there's a great deal of teaching by Jesus Christ on the subject of the attitude and the use that we should have in his mind toward our possessions and toward our wealth. Jesus teaching on our attitude and our use of our wealth and our possessions.

Now, if you've been here over the years, you'll know something, and that is that traditionally, and very consciously, I stay away from the subject in preaching on Sundays. Usually, once a year, traditionally, at the end of the year, near the end of the year, I preach this sermon on some passage of the Bible about how God wants us to view our money.

Last year, I didn't even do that. And the reason I have consciously done this over the year is, years is pedagogical. It's pedagog. I'm a pedagog, which sounds terrible, but I am. And a pedagog is not a demagogu, please. It's a teacher. And as a teacher, I know that you always

have to do first things first. It redeemer we continually have, and this is one of the most satisfying things about being here, is that we always have in every meeting at every service people at every single stage in the spiritual journey, every stage. And that means there's always significant people who are trying to come to grips with who Jesus is and how they relate to Him. And if you haven't already got a grip on the basic foundational principles of who Jesus is and what your relationship is to Him, of course, then the principles that the Bible lays down on our internal motivation and our external guidelines for our giving and our

use of wealth won't make sense. They may be offensive, they may be a turn-off, you see. If you don't know who Jesus is and you don't have a grip on that relationship, then the implications for how you use your money won't make much sense and as I said, it might actually be misleading. So I always said first things first and I've sort of said away, then I was brought up very short by this chapter. And in the very beginning of the chapter, which we didn't read, there's a fascinating setting verse. In the very beginning of many of these chapters,

the gospel writer gives you the setting. Explains, is it on a mountain or on a plane? You know, the sermon on the mount, the setting is a mountain. In the very beginning, in Luke chapter 12 verse 1, we're told, when a crowd of many thousands gathered, trampling upon one another, Jesus Christ began to speak to His disciples. Now one of the most amazing things about 12, I'd never seen this in my whole life, I've read the material before, is that a crowd gathered thousands of people

trampling on each other, and Jesus Christ begins to speak to his disciples. And there's a number of times in which he speaks directly to the crowd, but very often he speaks directly to disciples, but always so that the crowd can hear. And that's one of the reasons why Peter himself gets kind of confused at one point down in verse 41. He says, now Lord, master, are you telling us this or Are you telling the crowd? And here's what I suddenly realized, Jesus Christ addresses a crowd, people who believe, people who don't believe, and people who don't know what they

believe. And he not only says something to them directly, but he also chooses certain subjects that he wants them to overhear him talking to his disciples about. Very interesting. He not only gives the crowd things he wants them to hear, but he also gives them some things he wants them to overhear. And most of the material on giving and stewardship and other relationship to our possessions that Jesus Christ wants his disciples to have, He wants the crowd to hear. He wants the crowd to hear.

Jesus wants the crowd to hear Him talking to His disciples about their money. Now, we'll get to why that might be true, but I suddenly began to realize one of the main ways you will come to know who Jesus is. And you will come to understand who He is and what He's done, is if you see Him talking to His disciples about their money. And therefore, we're going to look and see what he says to Christians about their money. And if you are here and you're not sure what you believe, then here's my suggestion. Let nothing I say and nothing I tell you, Jesus says here today.

Let none of these things, let nothing here, be interpreted by you as a request for your money. Jesus is not asking you for your money. I certainly am not asking you for your money. If you're not quite sure where you stand with him, I certainly am not. You will be asked for something, as we will see, but it's not your money. But if you want to understand him, you need to hear what he says to his disciples about money.

Isn't that something? So I've been brought up short. Let's talk about it. If you want to understand this passage, there's three hours, not reading writing and arithmetic. The three hours, there is a request, a refusal, and a rebuke. And when you ask why the request, why the refusal, and why the rebuke, all sorts of things come tumbling out. So first of all, there's a request. Teacher, see, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with us. Why that request?

Why was that asked? Now, this is the shortest of the points, but let's look at it. When, why would this man come to Jesus Christ and say, look, my brother and I were left in inheritance from our parents? And my brother has possession of it and is not giving me my fair share. Please come and settle it. Now, why would he request that of Jesus? Now, there's a general answer that we have to certainly take into consideration.

Notice he calls them teacher rabbi. And in those days, and at that time, civil suits like this were not taken to some, there were no secular judges, in that sense, you would go to a rabbi. And the rabbi would apply the biblical law and make the adjudication of the case. But that can't be enough of an explanation for why he would do this, because Jesus was not.

He was not on the Sanhedrin. He was not one of the trained accredited rabbis who would sit in the temple courts and would adjudicate questions and issues and civil cases and so forth. He was not part of the system. So why was he being asked? Here's why he's being asked. He's being asked because if you would be willing, and I don't know if you would, if you'd be willing to read through the book of Luke, or actually all the gospels, but just the book of Luke in one sitting, the thing that would immediately amaze you, is the fact that Jesus talks about money more than he talks about any other single subject except maybe

himself. But even there, I don't think so. He talks about money relentlessly. He talks about wealth and possessions and justice and mercy with money constantly. It's a constant emphasis. I mean, I don't even know how to begin to go about telling you about it.

Most of chapter 12 is about it. Most of chapter 11 is about it. Most of chapter 16 is about it. Back in Luke 3, when John the Baptist is asked, for example, how do I repent? He's told, what does he tell them? He says, don't be greedy. We content with your wages. When the Pharisees were being denounced in Luke 16, they're called lovers of money.

When Zacchaeus' life is completely transformed in Luke 19 by Jesus Christ, he immediately gives away 50% of his wealth. Luke 11 is the only place in the Bible where Jesus Christ affirms the tithe as a standard forgiving, a tenth. Luke is continually talking about it, and of course 11 out of Jesus 39 parables are directly on money and on what we're supposed to do with our money. And that means at least 28% of the time that Jesus Christ opened his mouth and maybe more he was talking about money. And that's the reason why this man asked this question. Because Jesus is continually talking about the proper use of your wealth.

And so he asked Jesus, he says, we'll help my brother with this. You know, it's like many of us. We sit in a sermon, we listen to a sermon and we say, I wish so and so we're here. Okay? Well, that's the reason why the man is doing it. sit in the sermon, we listen to the sermon and we say, I wish so and so we're here. Okay? Well, that's the reason why the man is doing it. The man is so used to hearing Jesus say, be generous, so used to hearing Jesus say relentlessly continually, talking about money and wealth, and how we should use it, that he says, fine,

would you talk to my brother about this? Now, before we move on, he say, okay, that's interesting, but let me apply this. Let me screw this in for a minute. Those of you who get our newsletter will read about this when it comes to you. One of the things that has amazed me recently, as I've been looking again at what the Bible says about giving, and trying to come to grips with why Jesus would talk this much about it, and frankly, coming to grips with why I talk so little about it. Why I'm afraid, and why Jesus talked constantly about it. I began to realize that giving is not just a duty, that lays here along with the other duties, like worship and evangelism and prayer and loving

others and helping the poor. No, actually giving is at the heart of, the reason Jesus talks about this is the giving of your money. Generosity of your money is at the heart of every single thing a Christian is and does. If you look at the whole scope of everything the Bible says about everything that a Christian is and does, giving is at the heart of every part of it. It's not, let me show you what I mean. Let's take a look at everything a Christian is. The whole range of Christian character, faith, hope, and love, the three cardinal virtues.

Faith, open love. Why don't we give more? Let me talk personally. Why don't I give more? Number one, I don't have faith, I'm scared. I wonder whether God will take care. I wonder whether He'll really care for me if I give. See, that's not just a lack of generosity.

That's a lack of faith. Okay, hope. Why don't we give? Hope means what do you really get your value from? What do you really get your sense of worth from? Is it in Christ or is it in how we live, the restaurants we can eat at, the clothes we can wear? One of the reasons we don't give is also because of hope.

And then love, faith open love. One of the reasons we don't give is because we lack sympathy and sensitivity to the unbelievable needs out there. We don't even want to know about those needs, we get to skip. We don't feel them, we cut ourselves off from them. And therefore, the only way to build faith, real faith, not faith you say you have, giving is a reality check on every one of the virtues. You can say I've got faith, but here's how I know it.

You see, because money is quantifiable. It's concrete. It's a reality check. Hope, if you want to build your hope, you want to have hope that's real, not just sentiment, not just something you're talking about. Here's how you do it, you give. You want to have love that's not just sentiment. Here's how you do it, you give. Let's take a look at not what your Christian is,

that's faith, hope, and love, that's the range of character, but let's talk about what Christians do, the whole range of duties. And the whole range of duties is versus the serve God and other Christians in the world. And when you read what the Bible says about that, you can't serve God. Unless you say, everything I own belongs to you. Otherwise, it's just lip service. It's sentiment. It's not real.

And you can't say to other people, other Christian brothers and sisters, I love you, but I'm not going to share my material wealth with you, because then again, that's just sentiment. It's not reality. And I'll tell you, if you go to the Acts in chapter 4, 5 and 6, you will see that because Christians gave their money away in astonishing proportions, that showed the world that something real had happened to them. showed the world that something real had happened to them. If you'd say to the world, God's changed me. I'll say, fine, that's nice. I mean, everybody says that. But when the world saw Christians giving their money away in ways that nobody else did, you see, the reality of God's generosity to us will never hit the world until they see our generosity to everybody else.

Here's the point, reality. Giving is not just something over here. It's at the heart of everything. You can't worship God. You can't love your brothers and sisters. You cannot change the world without radical giving. Giving is not just a lack of giving. I'm just being kind of stingy. It's at the heart of everything.

It's a lack of faith. It's a lack of hope. It's a lack of love. And the way to build faith's open love is through the giving. You remember two weeks ago, if you were here, in Exodus 33 and 34, God came to the children of Israel and He said, I will help you, but I'm not going to be real to you. Remember that? He says, I'll be a concept to you.

I'll do things, but you're never going to have my glory. You're not going to have my reality, my palpable presence. And remember what Moses said and what the people said? They said, we don't just want the idea of God. We want the reality. We don't just want the sentiment of God or the insignia of God or the symbol of God. We want the idea of God. We want the reality. We don't just want the sentiment of God or the insignia of God or the symbol of God. We want the reality of God.

What did Jesus, what did God say? Remember, He said, strip off your ornaments. Your wealth, He says, put your wealth at my disposal. Do you see what He's saying? He says, if you want me to give me, if you want me to give you my reality, I want you to give me your reality. You can say you give me your heart.

You can say you give your brother and sisters your heart. You can say you've given the world your heart, but until you put your wealth on the line, there's a reality check that's the only way I know you really have done it. Giving is at the heart of real Christianity. The reason Jesus Christ is talking about all the time is because it's not one subject. It's not like, gee, here's the giving subject. When is he going to get to the other subjects? It is all the subjects. It's at the heart of all the subjects. It cuts through everything. That's the reason the man asks the request.

He asks the request because Jesus was always talking about money because there's no way that community reality of God in your life, there can be any reality in your community with other Christians, there can be any reality of impact on the world, in a way you can have the reality of God's character in your life unless concretely we treat our money differently than anybody else does. We treat our money differently than anybody else does. We are remarkably different. We are visibly different. We are concretely different. That's the first.

That's why this man asked the question, because Jesus never stopped talking about this. Okay, number two, that was a request, but then why the refusal. You know, in some ways, the big surprise of this whole passage is when Jesus Christ refuses to do it. And you see, it's not just a surprise that it refuses considering Jesus is very concerned

about social justice, he's very concerned about it. He's concerned about issues of justice, he's always talking about it. That's why the man asked. But the way he says it, what does he say? It's really almost a rebuke. It's kind of, and he says, man, who appointed me, a judge or an arbiter between you or over you? Now, the reason that's so confusing,

let me, if you're not confused, let me help you. My job is to first confuse you. I hope, first of all, Jesus is continually saying he's a judge. I mean, all through the gospels, he says that on the, that judgment won't happen until he comes back and then he will be the judge and he will sit on the throne of the universe and the nations will be gathered at his feet and he will divide the sheep from the goats and all that. And of course, not only does he say he's a judge, but here's the thing that's important in

this very chapter. In this chapter 12, he says, he is an arbiter. Now for some reason, I can see why, the new international version translates this word arbiter, like an arbitrator, arbitration. But the Greek word is a word that really means divider. It means a divider. And it's a Mariston, which means a divider. And down in verse 51, in this very same chapter, Jesus seems to completely contradict himself

and or Luke does because he's putting this all together. And you see, in verse 51, Jesus says one of the most dramatic things he's ever he ever says He says I came to set the world on fire. This is verse 51 49 to 51 he says I came to to Set the world on fire and by the way, this is a very interesting verse in light of this Christmas season starting to come up He says think not that I came to bring peace on earth Whoa, he says I came to put fire on the earth and I came to divide people.

He says, I will divide mother from daughter. I will divide father from son. Jesus Christ says he's a divider. And the reason he's a divider is because he's always talking about himself. Think about this. How would you like to be with a person who was constantly interrupting you? Saying something like this. Well enough about you. What do you think of me? Jesus Christ was always doing this and He had to. And the reason He had to, if He was right about His claim.

If He's right when He said the universe is divided into, there's a huge concrete slab between the real and the ideal, between what we are and what we want to be, what we need to be, what we hope to be. And it's a slab and we can never get through it, but somebody has. Somebody from the eternal world has come through. The great captain, he's broken through,

he's open to cleft, see, as Lewis says, he's broken through, he's opened a cleft, CS Lewis says, he's broken through. Someone from the eternal world has come to earth, the creator, the judge, the son of God. And that's the reason why Jesus can always say, if that's true, then your relationship to me is more important than anything else. If you've got an eye offending you, if you've got a hand that's keeping you from me, you've got them off. There are nothing compared to me. If you've got an eye offending you, if you've got a hand that's keeping you from me, you've got them off. There are nothing compared to me. If you have me, you conquer the universe.

If you have me, you're all outshined the stars. If you don't have me, you'll be nothing, but the wind, the chaff that the wind drives away. Jesus was always making those kinds of claims, enormous claims, and therefore, he was dividing people constantly, who say, choose me me or reject me. But see, there's nobody who makes these kinds of claims that you can just treat casually.

There's a person like this, a person who made the claims that Jesus Christ made. You could either have to worship him and throw yourself on the ground and say, come and me, or else he would run away in fear and in hatred. As you probably know, the end of the year is an important time for ministries like ours. And it's your generosity that allows us to continue to grow and share the gospel with more people. When I've spoken to others about the potential

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So he was a divider. He says he was a divider in verse 51. What's going on here? Are you confused now? Good, now we can keep on going with this sermon. You have to be confused. You don't get any drama here. The reason he would say this, unless you think he's an idiot or that Luke was an idiot, and let's assume that they're not, that in the very same chapter,

they would just totally contradict themselves, using the very same word. I'm not a divider. I am a divider. Here's what he means. He says, I was not appointed. See this? For this kind of division. What he is saying, or this kind of judgment, what he is saying is, if you come to me, asking me to divide your inheritance before, you ask me to divide your life, or if you come to me asking for anything

before you have given me your everything you don't understand me you don't know what I'm appointed to do you don't understand my mission well what is this a mission what is he appointed to do he says right here be on your guard against all kinds of greed a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions now literally in the abundance of his possessions. Now literally, in the Greek that this is translated from, it actually says, you do not exist in your possessions. That's what it says. They don't translate that way because it would sound very odd.

Jesus literally says, you don't exist in these things. And now we see. Jesus is saying, my job is to tell you what life is. And my job is to show you what your life really consists in. He says, what you have done, Mr. is you've come to me and you believe your life consists in this. Everybody has something that they are existing in. And if you come to me saying, I know you're a teacher, or if you come to me and say, I know you're the Son of God even. If you come to me and say, I even know you're God. And you ask me without knowing what that thing is that

you think your life consists in. If you don't see it, if you haven't unveiled it, that's my job to show you what it is. And then you come to me, then you're actually not serving me. You're using me to get that. See, he says, you think your life exists in that. And if you come and ask me to get this or that for you, do you know what's going on? He says, you haven't understood what I'm here for. I am not here to get you

things that you think will make your life. I'm here to be your life. Jesus is here to ask you a question. Much more fundamental questions than we want to ask. We always go to Jesus Christ and I know there's plenty of you here. We go to Jesus Christ like this. We say, I'm thinking of becoming a Christian. I've got a lot of investments. Lord, tell the stock market to stop gyrating. I'm thinking of becoming a Christian. I've got a lot of investments. Lord, tell the stock market to stop gyrating. I'm thinking of becoming a Christian. Lord, tell him or her to marry me. I'm thinking of becoming a Christian.

Lord, tell the firm to make me a partner. I'm thinking of becoming a Christian. Lord, tell the critics that I'm a great singer. Same thing. You come in at this level. You see, you come in at this level and say, Lord, I'm thinking about kind of getting to know you and I see you're a great person and, oh, I can't live without you. Lord, get me the thing that I know is my life. And Jesus Christ says, no, no, no, I come in at this level. I'm not appointed to talk to you at this level. I'm appointed to come down here and say, I have not come to give you things that you think are your life. I have come to become your life, to be your life.

I came to set your life on fire. I came to revolutionize your life. I came to give you all, not to help you get to your agenda. I came to give you an entire new agenda. And don't you see, you will just be chaff. You won't last. You'll just be blown away with your money, or blown away with your singing, or blown away with your spouse, or whatever you think is your life. These things are going to go and you will go with them. I said, I'm not appointed to do this.

You see, he says, I'm not this kind of divider. If you come to me, ask me to divide this and give you these things before you have given me your very self. Before you have seen that what you're living for is all wrong, that what you're living for is a bubble, you're a bubble boy, you're a bubble girl, you're living your life on a bubble, these bubbles are going to burst. That's the reason why you're coming with this franticness. That's the reason why a lot of you are at Redeemer today.

Because you know that you're living on a bubble and you're actually saying, I'd like to find Jesus, maybe Jesus will help. And Jesus says, the only way I will help is not if you say, oh Lord, come and help strengthen my bubble. But oh Lord, I want to live for you. See he wants your all, he wants your whole life. Now before we move on to the last part which is important, don't you see what's going on. If you're not sure what you believe, Okay? Never make this mistake. Jesus Christ never says to a person

when they first show up, give me your money. If you give him your money before you give him your life, it's death. Plenty of people do it. They give their money to build orphanages. They give their money to build hospitals. They give their money to the poor. They give their money to the church.

They give their money to build a church. And they say, maybe then God will listen to me. Oh, you see what's going on? That's literally death. If you give them your money, before you give them yourself, he's not after your money, actually, because you say he realizes that if you give them your money before you give it to yourself, well, you're actually using him, you're not serving him. And Christian friends, for a minute, just realize this, anything, not just money, anything

we come and say, Lord, tell this to happen, tell that to happen. We'll get back this in just a second. We're doing that. And Jesus Christ says, not that these things are unimportant, but they're not primary. It's priorities. That's the whole point. The reason for the refusal is priorities.

And there's an awful lot of us who definitely are saying, Lord, tell the circumstances of my life to get into order. And Jesus Christ is saying, I didn't come for that. And you know what, if I did it for you, it wouldn't help you a bit. It wouldn't help you a bit. It would help you for a month, it would help you for a year, it would help you for a whole life. But there's more to you than this life. That's what he's saying. So there's the reason for the request. And there's the reason for the refusal. But then finally, there's a rebuke. Now we just said that you can build your life on anything, and that's bad. But you see this particular passage is about money and how money blinds you

the reality. And what we're with the great rebuke is in verse 20. You know, I didn't look out. I didn't go through the Bible I should have because I wanted to come and say, this is the only place that I know where God calls somebody a fool. And I'm not sure. I didn't look it up. But sure, it isn't very often. How often does God come and say to somebody you fool? Now, see, the word fool in the Bible is a very significant word.

The word fool in the Bible certainly does mean it does have a rational aspect. See, a full in the Bible is somebody who's not thinking. Somebody who's not thinking out. Somebody who's not out of touch with reality, out of touch with reality. But there's also a spiritual aspect because in the Bible a full foolishness is not the absence of mental equipment. It's the presence of an outlook that hates God's definitions of reality. It's not just rationally being out of touch with reality, it's a hatred for God's definition of reality. And what we see here is that money made this manifold. Money made it the fool, meaning money spiritually blinded him to God's reality in two ways.

And if we look at the story, we see the two ways. First of all, I'll just tell you what the two ways are, so I get back to make sure. First of all, money blinded this man to the existence of spiritual reality. And then secondly, money blinded this man to the very principal of spirituality. Here's what I mean by existence. Very important. Notice that this man saved as if this life was all there is.

Notice, it's interesting. It's all about savings. I don't know why savings and loan people don't use this passage in their advertisement. Because notice this man is communing with his heart. And he says, I can have ease, and I can have joy. Why? I've saved. He says, I've stored up.

And not only that, it doesn't just say, stored up. He says, he stored it up everything. See? Verse 18. I stored up all. Because he's saved, he's happy. But God says you're a fool, and here's why. Because he stored up as if this world was all there is.

As if there wasn't a spiritual reality. As if the material world was all there is. When actually, there's an immaterial world as well. Another way to put it would be, obviously, if there is a physical world and there is, then to save nothing is stupid, it's foolish. But if there is something besides a spiritual world, then to save everything is stupid and foolish, because God says, you fool, you're dying tonight, look at that great question. Who will get? Who will receive? Now who will get what you've prepared? He didn't think of any way of sending it on.

And see what we have here is something pretty important. We have here the idea that money tends to make us think of this. It pulls us on in. What God is actually saying here is that money you spend on yourself cannot go with you. If you spend money on clothes, the clothes burn up eventually, they either fall apart here or when the world ends, everything will burn up. If you put money into houses, they crumble, they burn up. But there's some things that never stop. The Bible says, for what? God's kingdom doesn't stop.

It says in Isaiah, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord abides forever. The word of God doesn't stop. People don't stop. In Luke chapter 16, we're told that about the unjust steward who comes with senses and he makes friends for himself with his generosity and then Jesus has the audacity to say, and therefore, make friends for yourself in heaven with your money. So you'll be welcomed into heavenly mansions. And what he's talking about is this, people ask forever if you put your money into people.

You're putting your money into something that lasts. See, this man said, I am smart. If somebody gets the lottery and makes a million dollars and immediately goes out and spends it all on cowboy boots, you say you're a fool. You need to put your money into savings, you need to put your money into investments into something that lasts. And here, of course, Jesus Christ is coming along and saying,

if you take your money and put it all into barns, put it all into the savings, does that last? The banks fall apart. Everything falls apart here. Put your money into God. Put your money into God's kingdom. Put your money into God's Word. And put your money into people. And that lasts forever. You see, that's

the important thing. And that's the first point. Money is a tendency to blind us to half a spiritual reality. It tends to blind us to it. But it's pretty interesting. I was reading a very, very interesting old document called the Letter of Diagnetus. And the Letter of Diagnetus was written after biblical times, but in the earliest part of the church, when the church was growing rapidly and taking over the Greek, Greek, a Roman world. And then the letter to Diagnetus, he says, one of the things that makes us so different is this. Christians share their table with all, but they don't share their bed with all.

Though poor, they make many rich. Now what was Diagnese saying? That culture in that day was losing its sense of the gods and of the eternal. And here's what was happening. When you become completely concentrated, when you can concentrate completely on this world, which is what happened to that the pagan society, what happened was he said, Christians share their table with all but not their bed with all. If this world is all there is, sex is no big deal. Somebody asked for it,

you give it to them. But money becomes holy. Money becomes sacred because money is the only way, just like this guy, the only way I can know I can have ease and I can be merry. And see, if this world is all there is, sex is no big deal. You give to who asks and money is a big deal and it becomes holy. And I don't want anybody asking me for it. I don't want anybody to make me guilty about it. And it's very personal, it's very private.

And if somebody asks me, I'm not going to give them anything. Christians, because they believe both in a material world and in a material world, totally reversed that. They gave their money to almost anybody who asked and they only had sex with one or none. Totally different, total change. Now, what about this culture? Howard Stern, who has no problem talking about everything he does with his wife in bed, stopped his

political campaign. Remember a couple of years ago? Because they asked for financial disclosure. Sex, hey, money. Not too many years ago, I talked to a couple, a married couple. I remember this very clearly. And I was amazed. We were counseling them. I was very amazed because they were willing to tell me all kinds of very intimate details. They weren't even blushing.

How about their sex life? And I think they weren't even blushing. And I was sitting there. Wow. At one point, I was sitting there and wow you know. At one point I said well you know what I think there might be some tension in the area of finances. Let's talk about money. Suddenly the shutters went down and they said if you make us talk about income or savings

or investments or anything like that that's too personal the counseling is over. Well what is that? If this money now is sacred, money now is holy. Sex is no big deal. Money, see, money is sex, are reversed. If you see all of reality, all of reality, if you got it. Hey, listen, Christian friends, many of us are like this. This is one of my problems too.

We live in a secular world and in our minds, we still believe, yes, there's the material and the immaterial, there's earth and there's heaven. But we're affected by this, are we not? We're affected by the foolishness that says, this world is all the reality. This world is all there is. And as a result, when you start to treat your money that way, when you don't want anybody talking to you about it, some of you may be offended today.

So how do I mind if he's talking about love and telling me I'm selfish and telling me I'm not humble and telling me I'm not loving? But when you start to tell me that I'm spending too much money on myself, that's personal. You're imbibing the spirit of the world. Money's made you a fool. Now the second way, money blinds us is not just to the existence of spiritual reality, but it also blinds us to the very principle.

What do I mean by that? The Bible over and over and over says that in the spiritual realm there is one principle for progress. And you know what it is? It's the exact opposite of what the world says is the principle for progress. And you know what it is? It's the exact opposite of what the world says is the principle of progress. The world says, store up, and the Bible says empty your barns. It says it many ways. When Jesus says, the one who wants to find himself

must lose himself. What? But you see what the Bible says is, the way to real honor is to humble yourself. The way to real joy is to repent. The way to real riches is to empty your barns. The way to real... everything. See, the way to real power is served. And of course the world says that's utterly ridiculous. It's a war of Sanities, a war of Sanities. But see Jesus puts it right out here when he says,

in verse, right here at the very end, this is how we'll be with anyone who stores up for himself. That's the world's way to strength, but is not rich toward God. See, obviously rich toward God must mean. The principle of spiritual progress is empty your barns. Give it away. Well, now how do we know this is true? Who's sane?

You see, God says to the person who's storing up, you're a fool. The world says to Christians or anybody who follows this principle, this says, give away your honor. You see, admit when you're wrong. Serve other people, sacrifice, surrender, give it away. They say, you're a fool. Who's the fool? Jesus shows who's right. Do you realize who Jesus is?

The rich fool is the person who stores up, but Jesus Christ on the cross is the ultimate fool, at least as far as the world's concern. That's the reason why Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 1 in a very, very stark way. He says, the foolish, pardon me, he says, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us being saved, it's the power of God. For foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Jesus Christ has proved it. When He went on the cross,

He won through losing. He was filled through emptying. He got glory by emptying Himself, it was glory. He was proof. Here's a man in sandals. Here's a He was proof. Here's a man in sandals Here's a man without home. Here's a man that had no money Here's a man had no organization. Here's a man had no publicity and today he is the most influential man Who's ever lived and his followers are still the power in the history of the world without a doubt

He's proven Who's saying. He's proven who's crazy. He's proven who's a fool. And you know the gospel works that way. You know what the gospel is? The gospel is that Jesus Christ came with his spiritual riches and it says in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9, Jesus Christ though he was rich became poor, so through his poverty we might become rich. Do you know what it means to become a Christian? Every other religion says, store up.

Do your good deeds and at the end say to God, I'm full and God will let you in. That's Christianity says, no, no, no, no, no, no. We have to do, if we want to unite with Christ and be Christians, we have to do exactly what Jesus Christ did. If you go to God and say, I'm full, he'll say you're empty, but if you go to God and say, I'm empty, he'll say, I will not fill you. If you come to God and say, I have nothing. I have nothing that can merit your salvation.

I am weak. You see, I am meritless. I don't deserve it. Then God says, come in. It's the same thing. Money, though, will blind you to that. And once you see it, it'll change your attitude towards your money. Now somebody says, okay, well, then how do I overcome this? Jesus says, and this is the final point, you have to become rich toward God. But what does that mean? I'll tell you what it means. In 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9, it says, though he was rich,

he became poor, so through his poverty, we might become rich. Right? Well, what does that mean? That's just sort of, that's metaphor. But in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, same book Paul says, God made him sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him and that's it. Jesus Christ gave up his entitlements. He came to earth, he was entitled to be protected, and he was blasted.

He was entitled to access, and he was cut off. He was entitled to glory, and he got ashes. He was entitled to these things. He lost them so we could have them. When you become a Christian, you become rich. And here's how you know you really have become rich. Here's how you know that you have experienced this, that you've seen what Jesus has done, that it's melted your heart,

that you have actually come to God not full but empty and he's filled you. Here's how you know that he's changed your standing, he's changed your status, he's given you the protection, he gives you the access now because of what Jesus has done. You're clothed in his righteousness, you're wholly emblameless before God. You're rich, here's how you know. Charles Spurgeon, the old Baptist preacher says,

the one way you know that Jesus Christ is precious to you is that nothing else is. Everything else is expendable. Your money isn't precious to you anymore, your possessions aren't precious to you is that nothing else is. Everything else is expendable. Your money is in precious to you anymore. Your possessions aren't precious to you anymore. These things don't have a hold on you anymore. Don't you see? If you're in your right mind, you can look at the world and you can say this, world, you owe me nothing and you cannot frighten me. I don't care what the stock market is doing. I don't need this or that from you because I'm rich.

I'm rich beyond the dreams of a wildest billionaire. And as a result, it doesn't matter what you do. It doesn't matter. Okay. I'm rich. Now, let me conclude. Do you understand why this is so important? Those of you who aren't completely sure where you stand with Jesus. You say, are you after my money? No. How many

times have I got to tell you that? But here's what I want you to look at. And with all due respect, Jesus Christ, as I mentioned, in Luke chapter 11, has a fascinating place where he says, he curses the Pharisees, he says, woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe, you give a tenth of everything, but you neglect the love of God and justice. He says, woe to you Pharisees because you keep the outer part of the cup clean, but not the inner cup. Now you know what he's saying? First of all, he says, what do you Pharisees? You tithe, but you neglect the love of God.

You give the outer cup, but not the intercup, and then he says, you should do the former and not neglect the latter. That means A, he's saying the Pharisees you should give 10% of your income. That's the way you know. You be giving far more than the rest of the world. That's the way you know your faith and love and hope are gonna grow. That's the way you know you be giving far more than the rest of the world. That's the way you know your faith and love and hope are going to grow. That's the way you know it.

But then he curses them for only tithing. You know, I've read that passage and I said, why? And here's what he's saying. Unless there's an inner passion, unless the inside of the cup has been revolutionized, unless you are so emotionally wealthy revolutionized unless you are so emotionally wealthy that you can empty your barns. He says, you're not really giving in a way that God wants. Thank you for joining us today. If you were encouraged by today's teaching, please rate and review it so more people can discover this podcast. This month's sermons were recorded from 1994 to 1997. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were preached from 1989 to

2017, while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC