Finding Spiritual Wealth — Anton Bosch

Jesus’ Warning Against Covetousness

We're continuing in Luke chapter 12, Luke chapter 12, and technically it's an easy passage that we're dealing with this morning, but spiritually it is always challenging. The Word of God, somehow it's always a challenge.

I can never get away from the challenges of the Word, and so Luke chapter 12 and verse 13 through 21, Luke 12 13 through 21. Then one from the crowd said to him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge or an arbiter over you? And he said to them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist of the abundance of the things he possesses.

Then he spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? And so he said, I will do this.

I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said to him, Fool, this night your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? And so is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.

The passage begins then with this guy coming to to Jesus and saying, Help me in my fight with my brother about the estate. This was not an uncommon thing those days. People would go to the rabbis or to the priests to help them in the resolution of disputes.

So what this man did was in a sense recognizing Jesus as a teacher, but at the same time he wasn't recognizing that Jesus wasn't there to resolve human disputes. He had a far greater mission. And of course Jesus' answer is, Who made you an arbiter and a judge over you?

Yes, he is a judge. He will be the judge on that great day of the judgment, but he's not here to resolve human disputes. But, you know, I was challenged obviously by this statement because this is a very real part of life.

As much as life is real, death is real, and with death comes the issue of inheritances. And I want to spend a few minutes speaking about that this morning. And obviously my message is that don't give your money to your kids, give your money to me.

No, that's not what it's about. But the problem when someone dies and there is something to be inherited, and it doesn't have to be a lot of money, it can just be a couple of sentimental things, causes even Christians to become the most terrible people that you can imagine.

And folks, this is where our real Christianity is often revealed. I have seen in the years in the ministry, I have seen the most despicable stuff happen when something is to be divided. Doesn't matter how little it is or how much it is.

And, you know, I could horrify you for hours with stories. Two sisters in a church once, 50-year-old people, claimed to have been Christians for 30 years, physically coming to fisticuffs, beating each other up, coming to church with black eyes, calling the police over a sofa.

What have we come to? God help us that our covetousness, because that's really the issue, doesn't drive who we are. And so Jesus now tells the parable that deals with the issue of covetousness, and obviously we're going to speak about that.

Wills, Inheritance, and Christian Unity

But let me just say, as a matter of practicality, that every single one of us should have a will. Now, you never thought you would hear a preacher speak about that. But that's the only way you can often preserve the unity within the family.

You have a duty to preserve the family by making sure you have a clear will. And don't tell me, well, I'm only 50 years old. This man that Jesus is telling the parable about was in the prime of his life, and he was doing well, and he had these big bonds.

But that night, the Lord required his soul of him. We never know when it's going to be. And I know that there are some folk here this morning, and this is not a spiritual thing, but this is an important thing for the sake of unity within the body of Christ, and for the sake of unity within the context of families.

But I'm sure, and I know that there are those who are listening to me this morning, who have been putting off drawing up a will for a long time, and still haven't done it. Now, I'm not going to get into the technicalities of how you do it.

It doesn't have to be an elaborate process. But please, while you're alive, divide up your goods in an equitable and in a fair way, so that there is no argument and no debate once you die. And don't use your will as a form of manipulation.

I knew another so-called Christian who would change their will literally every month, depending on which kids visited, and which kids smiled at them, and which didn't. I mean, folk, really, is that what Christianity is all about?

And yet, that's what we come down to. So God help us, that we may be wise. And as I said, it doesn't matter, even if you have a sofa to bequeath. Make sure that there's no argument about the sofa, or about your wedding ring, or whatever it is.

Sometimes it's the smallest, most insignificant thing that somehow has some sentimental value to everyone, that causes the biggest trouble. And obviously, when it comes to serious money, it becomes, and houses, and land, and other things like that, it just becomes impossible.

So God give us grace, that we might be wise in preparing and providing for the future, not in terms of finances, but in terms of making provision for some kind of clear and fair distribution of the things that you leave behind.

Covetousness as a Spiritual Threat

All right, I want to move on from that. And it's a pity the passage begins with that, but that's where we begin. So Jesus says to the man, man, and really, you know, it's a statement of disgust. I think that if we translated that into modern English, he would say, dude, man, who made me a judge and an arbitrator over you?

Jesus had not come for that purpose and for that reason. And clearly, what this man was doing was, he wasn't asking Jesus to make a fair judgment. Now, we don't know what the background is. We don't know who was the cheat in this process, whether his brother had taken more, or whatever, or who was older, who was younger.

But clearly, he wasn't asking Jesus to come and make a fair judgment. He was asking Jesus to come and judge on his, take his side. And Jesus says, that's not what I'm on about. And then Jesus begins to speak about the issue of covetousness.

And so he said to them, verse 15, take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Now, obviously, we need to speak about covetousness, and it's something we've spoken about many times in the past, simply because it is all over the New Testament.

It is a major issue. But I want you to notice this truth, because, beware of covetousness, because one's life does not consist of the abundance of the things he possesses. Now, you tell anybody in the world today that, and they'll say, they just don't understand that.

My woodworking and metalworking buddies have a saying, he who dies with the most tools wins. Now, it's very funny, but it's very sad, but it's very true. It's not about how many tools you have by the time you die.

It's not about how much land you have, how much money you have. That's not what it is. He says, that's not your life. And yet, that is life today. A man's status is measured by his motor car, and by the suburb or the city in which he lives, by the size of his house.

I don't hear this often here, but in South Africa, one of the favorite conversation issues would be, how big is your house? And everyone would know to the exact square meter, or square foot, the size of his house.

Because that determines your position in the pecking order. That's not what life is about. It's not about how many motor cars, or what motor cars, or what brand of motor car, or whatever you have. I think we've all seen in the news, the recent spate of robberies of people wearing $50 ,000, $60 ,000 watches.

While I don't encourage robbery, I have no sympathy for anyone who walks around with a $50 ,000 watch. So you better hide your watch quickly. What is life about? About a $50 ,000 watch, or a $500 ,000 motor car?

That's not life. And yet, that is what the world tells us. And unfortunately, many Christians buy into that idea. Now, the issue of covetousness, the problem here is that we say, well, you know, it's not a big deal.

And for Christians, are covetous. Christians are greedy. And all of us have it, to some extent, or the other. There are very, very few Christians who do not, who are completely content with everything that they have.

We all want better and more. And of course, our society tells us that you've got to have ambition. And we've imported that into churches. I saw a senior, so-called apostle, advise a young man that he needs to have a picture of his dream in front of his desk where he studies at home.

And his dream was a Lamborghini. Folk, is that what Christian young men need to be driven by? I'm not, I'm not suggesting that if God opens the way for you to get a good job and to do well, that you shouldn't do that.

I'm not suggesting we shouldn't work hard. I'm not suggesting that Christians shouldn't be educated and do the best that they possibly can. But if that is what drives you, if that is what your life is all about, you have lost it.

It's not what it's about. What has a man profited if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? And the problem with covetousness is it is so insidious. And it is, it is such a white-collar sin. How's that for a new term?

A white-collar sin. We all know what white-collar crime is. You know, that's crime, it's, you know, it's not like murder or rape or, you know, it's not dirty like that. It's just fiddling the books and stealing, you know, on paper.

And I think as Christians we have white-collar sins. Well, it's not like adultery. It's just, I just, I just need more. And I want us to have a very quick look and we could go through dozens, literally dozens of scriptures in the New Testament and in the Old Testament.

Remember this is part of the commandments, part of the law, part of the Ten Commandments. The Tenth Commandment is you shall not covet. And it's interesting that it's part of the Ten Commandments because the other nine commandments deal with practical things like stealing, murdering, worshipping idols.

Whereas covetousness is an attitude, it's a spiritual thing. It's not something, obviously it has evidence. The evidence is, you know, people who can't stay off Home Shopping Network and can't stay off Amazon .com and, you know, just have to buy, buy, buy, buy.

People who've just been incredibly frustrated this last year because they can't get into the stores to buy the stuff they want. And it becomes a sickness. But because it doesn't have a real physical manifestation, you can be covetous and really hide it very well.

We say, well it's not a big deal. And yet it is part of the Ten Commandments. And it's the one commandment that every Jew, irrespective of how much he claims to have kept, all of the commandments failed on.

And remember that covetousness does not just deal with money or material things. It can be spiritual things. Preachers covet other preachers' churches, their popularity, their fame. Christians covet the fact that somebody else can pray better than them, or that somebody else has some kind of office in the church that they don't have.

I've always coveted people who could sing and play a musical instrument. Roger knows what I'm talking about. And I think that there are some things that are good to desire. We sang about one of those things this morning, Ode to Be Like Thee.

That's where we should be coveting. We should be dissatisfied with where we are at spiritually. I want more of Jesus. But unfortunately, the more that we want is obviously, is often other things. So I want to just look at three scriptures in the New Testament to try and get across how serious this thing is.

Covetousness in Romans and the Ten Commandments

So Romans chapter 1, and we know Romans 1 well, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And then he says that the consequence is being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, and so on.

And I'm not going to give you the other verse. Can you see that he is listing together with sexual immorality, maliciousness, murder, strife, covetousness. This is not a white-collar sin. This is in the same category as sexual immorality or adultery.

Same category. And somehow, and I don't know how we do these things in our minds, but somehow we're able to filter out and we say, well, I'm not a murderer. I'm not an adulterer. I'm just never satisfied.

Church Discipline and the Seriousness of Covetousness

And yet Paul is saying these things are the same. And then in 1 Corinthians 5 .11. Now I want you to look at this. The problem here is that, and I touched on this yesterday, is that we don't really believe the Bible.

We say we believe the Bible, but we don't really believe the Bible. Now watch this verse. I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother. He's clear. He's not speaking about the world.

He's speaking about Christians. Not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or covetous or an idolater, a reviler, a drunkard, an extortioner, not even to eat with such a person.

Now, folk, if we have to exclude everyone who is covetous from the communion, because when he says not to eat with such a person, it includes eating the Lord's Supper. If we have to exclude everyone in the congregation who is covetous, and I'm glad I'm not the policeman who has to figure out who is and who isn't, I wonder how many would be permitted to come around the Lord's table.

It's that serious. When he says you're not to have company with them, they're not even allowed to be part of the church. Now, folk, I've heard about people being excommunicated for all sorts of things, and excommunication is a legitimate form of discipline.

When someone does not repent of their sin or brings error or heresy into the church or division into the church, those are the main things. But I have never, and I've known some really abusive churches, but I have never come across a church or an instance where someone was excommunicated for covetousness.

So do we believe the Bible? No, clearly we don't. In 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, it gets even more serious. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists will inherit the kingdom of God.

Wow, that's rough. Do we believe the Bible? He's literally saying if you're covetous, you won't go to heaven. Now, let me just clear this up. All of these things, because he goes on and he says, such were some of you.

But all of these things, we are guilty of some of those things at times, and we don't lose our salvation when we slip. And I don't want to make light of sin, because it is sin. But there is grace, there is forgiveness, as we confess our sins, he's faithful and just.

But what he is dealing with here is a lifestyle, a lifestyle of drunkenness, a lifestyle of partying, a lifestyle of covetousness. If that is what defines your life, plus all the other stuff in verse 9, he says you're not going to go to heaven.

New Birth, Contentment, and Satisfaction in Christ

Now, let me just deal with the theology, because I know there are detractors who listen to these videos and say, well, you know, I'm teaching a works salvation, that you're saved if you do the right stuff.

We're not saved because we do the right stuff. We do the right stuff because we are saved. If you are born again, you will not be a drunkard. You're not born again because you don't drink. You're not a drunkard because you're born again.

You're not a murderer because you are born again. We don't steal because we're born again. It's a consequence of being born again, not the other way around. And the Christian who is born again is not covetous.

And here's the reason why. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, your behavior, your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, because for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

How can we be content with whatever we have or however little we have? Because we have Jesus. Because in him we have everything that we need. How can Christians in persecuted countries be content? And they are content because they have Jesus.

How can Christians who are literally dying of hunger in some parts of the world today be content? They are far more content than us in the Western world are, because they have found Jesus and they find in him everything.

And obviously that doesn't fill their stomachs, but it gives them peace. And we're able to deal with the challenges of life because we found our fulfillment in Jesus, not in our stuff, in our things. But here's why this is so serious.

If we are covetous, we are essentially saying we are dissatisfied with Jesus. He is not enough. You say, well how do you get there? Well it's based on this verse. Be content because he said, I will be with you.

I will never leave you nor forsake you. And you remember the people of Israel as they came out of Egypt, God provided them the manna. And the manna was everything they needed. It wasn't everything they wanted.

It didn't taste like steak and it didn't taste like Rocky Road ice cream. But it was everything they needed. But they didn't want the manna. They wanted the stuff of Egypt. And the manna was a picture of Jesus.

Jesus is everything we need. And when they rejected the manna, they effectively were rejecting the Lord Jesus. Be content. And folks, I've said this before and I say it again. I wish as Christians we were content with our material possessions.

But that we were discontent, dissatisfied with our spiritual standing. And that's the crazy thing. Is we need more of Jesus. We need more of his word. We need more of his spirit. We need more of his nature.

We need more, more, more of Jesus. And yet we're satisfied with just a little bit of Jesus. But we're never satisfied with our material stuff. We need to get this thing swapped around. We need to get to a place where we are content with whatever we have.

And discontent with our situation. Because we can never... Remember Paul. Paul had met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He had been caught up into the third heaven. He says, I saw him as one born out of due time.

God had used him in a powerful way to establish the New Testament churches in the Gentile countries. To write a lot of the New Testament. And yet Paul comes near the end of his life. And he says, oh that I may know him.

That I may know him. He wasn't content. He had revelation and understanding of Jesus that none of us will ever have until we see him on that day. Nobody since him has had it. I have endless books on my shelves of theologians trying to understand what Paul understood.

And we still don't fully understand what Paul understood. So he knew more than all of us put together. And yet he says, I'm not satisfied. I want to know him more. I want to know him better. And I want to be more like him.

That I might be made conformable unto him. That I might be shaped more into the image of Jesus. That's where our greed should be. That's where our hunger should be. That's where our craving should be.

That's where our lust, if I may use that word, should be. Desiring with an intense desire more of Jesus. More of his word. More of his likeness. And then Jesus spoke a parable to them saying, and I'm not going to analyze the parable because the parable is not intended to be analyzed.

It has one point. And I'm going to make that one point. That's good news for you this morning. He spoke a parable to them saying, the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. So what happened?

The Rich Fool’s Self-Centered Investments

Well, it was a good year. The rain was right. The sun was right. The weather was perfect. And God gave the increase. At the end of the day, the farmer can do everything. If God doesn't make it grow, it doesn't grow.

So the Lord blessed him. God blessed him. And remember that he was rich to begin with. He was not a poor guy. This is a rich guy who's now getting richer. And he thought within himself saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops?

I'm sorry, I forgot to write it down. But in the Greek, the word we appears, if I remember correctly, three times in this passage. And the word I appears eight times in this parable. He thought within himself.

His conversation is with himself. He's not talking with God. He's talking with himself. And he says, what shall I do? Now, I want us to notice a couple of things. The first is that he did not get what he got by deceit or by robbery or by fraud.

What he got was legitimate. It was, he farmed, he farmed wisely, and he had a great crop. So his possessions were not ill-gotten. They were fair. But I also noticed that he doesn't say, thank you, Lord.

You see, because that's the problem, is when we are content, we are grateful. Thank you, Lord, you've blessed me with the little that I have, or the much that I have. It's your goodness. It's your blessing.

It's your greatness. But he just wants more. So what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops? And so he said, I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I store all my crops and my goods.

See, that's the very nature of covetousness, is it is self-centered. It revolves around me and I and myself, the things that I want. Covetous people are not generous because they don't see anyone else.

They don't see other people's needs. They have no desire to help or bless anyone else. Their only desire is for themselves. And obviously we must contrast this with Jesus, who though he was rich, for our sakes became poor.

Gave away his glory. Gave away his position in heaven. Gave away the angels who served him and became a helpless baby in Bethlehem. And lived as a man, not as a king or as a ruler or as a rich man, but as a poor preacher.

Carpenter originally and then as a preacher. But this man says, well, what will I do? Well, I need to get some new investments. My current investments don't work so good. I am now in the big leagues. Let me get better investments.

Let me pull down my barns and build greater ones. And I will say to my soul, soul, nothing so ridiculous as somebody having a conversation with himself as if there is no one else in the world. But there is no one else in the world.

You have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink and be merry. How does a soul eat food? Obviously it can't. You see, because he got it so messed up that he thought that material things could feed his soul.

Material things can't feed your soul. Only spiritual things can feed your soul. He doesn't say, well, Lord, you've blessed me. Here's a portion of what you've given me. Let me give to your house. Let me give to you.

Well, let me give to the poor, something, at least the scraps. No, it's all about how much can I gather? How much can I have? How much can I have? And that's the problem with covetousness is it is never satisfied.

It is never satisfied. You know, I'm just absolutely abhorred when I read about some of the celebrities in Hollywood just over the hill. You know, I can't retain these things because they so, they're so gross.

But having, just buying five of the same Rolls Royce in one go, how many can you drive at one time? Carroll seems to be doing pretty fine without a car right now. But five of the same motor car? For what?

Because you're never satisfied. And that's the problem. It's a drug. And we know how drugs work. It's never enough. You've always got to increase the dose. You've always got to have more, more, more, more.

And folk, when we start going down that road, it is a terrible road. Because it's a road of incredible unhappiness. Because it doesn't matter what you have, you will never be satisfied. True riches, the really rich guy, he's just happy.

Earthly Wealth Cannot Secure the Soul

He's not constantly driven for more. And God said to him, now he wasn't speaking to God, but God was speaking to him. God said to him, fool. What a statement. Fool. As far as the world was concerned, this guy was a, was a achiever.

He was doing great. He was doing wonderfully. And, and I'm sure his neighbors were looking at him with envy and saying, look, look how he's prospering. He, he was rich to begin with and now he's super rich.

And God looks at him and he says, you fool. And folk, what has a man profited? Let me quote that verse again. What has a man profited if he gained the whole world and lose his soul? What will a man give in exchange for his soul?

He had made his stuff, his God. This night, your soul will be required of you. Then whose will those things be which you have provided? This passage does not teach us to not be responsible with our possessions.

It doesn't teach us to not provide for retirement. Those are good and necessary things. So that we don't become a burden to our children or to others. Ending where we began. But if that is what life is all about, you are wasting your life.

Because at the end of the day, we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out. We have a saying that says that the death shroud has no pockets. And maybe you can try and stuff your pockets with all your possessions or get your, to go back to the world.

You can tell your kids to put all your money in the coffin with you. Well, it's just going to go into the ground. It's not going to go any further than that. And you're going to have to stand before him on that day.

And he's going to say, what did you do with your life? Oh, well, Lord, I made a couple of million. He said, I don't recognize that. Lay up not for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt.

Thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And this guy was a good investor. If he lived in today's time, he would have known what shares to buy in the market and what kind of portfolio to have and how to invest.

But there is no investment like the investments in heaven. Whatever we have in this world will ultimately crash. If the stock market doesn't crash, the world will come to nothing. And that money will be gone.

But what is laid up in heaven will endure forever. That's where we need to be investing. And that's why this man is a fool. Because he's investing in the wrong place. If somebody came to you after the meeting and came off the street and said, look, give me all your money.

I have a scheme. I have a system. And you'll double your money in six months. I promise you, you'll double your money in six months. Would you do that? Well, unfortunately, some people are so greedy that they would.

But hopefully we're not that stupid. But if we were, we would be a fool to put your money in somewhere where you don't know that it's even safe, let alone going to bring a return. And yet that's exactly what we do when we invest in this world.

And in this life, because it's not going to pay in the end. So is he who lays up treasure for himself. In other words, he is a fool who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. I don't believe that Jesus is against the rich people.

I don't believe that riches. And remember that relative to most of the world, all of us are rich. I don't believe that riches is a sin. But it's our attitude towards our riches. And whatever savings you have, whatever money you have, whatever house or possessions you have, it's not that you have those things.

I don't want anyone to feel guilty because they happen to have a reliable motor car or live in a comfortable house. That's not the problem. The problem is that we are not rich towards God. That is the problem.

Resisting Consumerism Through the Word of God

And so God help us to get this thing right. Because here's the problem we have. I may preach on this once a year. I don't know how often it comes up in the text because you know I only teach what's in the text.

I may speak about this once a year, let's say. But when you go home and you turn your television on, you are going to be bombarded by hundreds by the end of today. By the time you go to bed tonight, you're going to be bombarded with hundreds of adverts telling you not to be satisfied with your motor car, with your house, with your furniture, with your television, with your cell phone, and even with your husband or your wife.

Buy my stuff and you can have better. You can have more. And so I'm spitting against the wind. You may hear me speak about this once a year. You're going to hear that message a hundred times today still.

As you drive home, they're going to be billboards that tell you, you've got to have this. You've got to buy that. You've got to go here. You've got this and the other thing. That's the problem we have.

And so folks, as Christians, our challenge is to somehow allow the Word of God to dwell within us and to form a set of eyeglasses through which we can see these things for what they are. Many of us grew up in the days when cigarette ads were legal.

And I think those of us who never got into smoking were never fooled by the Marlboro Man and his beautiful woman and beautiful cars and horses and whatever else. We obviously in South Africa saw American ads.

There was one called Life, I think, cigarette called Life, promising you all sorts of things, fame, fortune, beautiful woman, nice stuff. Just smoke the cigarette. Now, folk, I think in telling you that this morning and the young people who didn't see those ads would say, well, you know, how can anyone be fooled by that?

Well, many people were fooled by it. Thousands of people were fooled by it. But you see, when we understand the issues of cigarettes and what it does to you, that it doesn't make you more attractive, it makes your fingers yellow and your teeth yellow and your breasts stink, so you're not more attractive to the pretty girls.

When we understand that, the ad has no impact on us. So you can look at the ad and you say, oh, these guys are nuts. And that's what we need. We need God to deal with our minds so that we can understand these things, so that when we see the promises of the commercial world and of the advertisers, we recognize them for what they are.

And we're able to filter it out and say, no, this is a lie. Driving this kind of motor car is not going to make me more popular or whatever they promise. Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, it is real, it is practical, and Lord, it does deal with the way we live our lives.

Prayer for Spiritual Riches and Contentment

And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be more heavenly minded, Lord, without condemnation, but Lord, there is not one of us this morning who do not have areas in which we are dissatisfied with our current estate, who want something more, something better.

Lord, I thank you for your goodness towards us that you don't deprive us of good things. You do give us good things, and we thank you for that. We thank you for this beautiful building in which we're able to meet, that you've provided this for us by your goodness and your grace.

Thank you, Lord, for the nice cars that we see in the parking lot. It's your goodness. But Lord, we pray that you would help us to get these things in their right place, that they are not what life is about.

And Lord, as we've proven in these last nine months that we've been able to meet outside without the benefit of this building, and we've still known your blessing, we've still heard your word, we've still worshipped you.