True Riches: Trusting God Over Material Wealth

"covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses and he spake a parable unto them saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought with himself saying what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits and he said this will I do I will pull down my bars and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul soul thou H has much Goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry but God said unto him him thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then who shall those things be which thou Hast provided so is he that layth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God" [00:39:28]

"the character of the discourse it is Solemn it is serious it's concerned with ultimate matters even with the Eternal Destiny of men and women never in a sense had our Lord spoken in a more solemn uh way and Manner and yet this is what we are told the moment as it were our Lord stopped one of the company said unto him Master speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me here was a man you see in the congregation in the crowd listening to our Lord giving this exhortation and comfort to his disciples he's there and he's listening and yet in a sense of course he's not not listening at all he hears words but they carry no significance to him why well his mind is on something else" [00:253:439]

"our Lord realizes that this man by putting his question is betraying his whole view of life and it's such a tragic view of life that our Lord feels it necessary not only to put this man right but to put all the others right the whole question is what is a man's view of life this man's view of life is it consists in the abundance of a man's possessions and that is to him the only thing that matters and our Lord is clearly so moved by the tragedy of men other men holding such a debased view of life that he doesn't even leave it at this word of General exaltation but proceeds to speak this parable of the rich fool" [00:405:4]

"the trouble with this man was that he was deceiving himself and ultimately that is the greatest tragedy it's a very sad thing when a man is deceived by others when a man is deceived by supposed friends or Allies it's a very sad thing when a man is let down by people in whom he reposed trust and confidence but after all the greatest tragedy is when a man is the architect of his own failure and that he does that because of his entirely wrong estimate and understanding of himself there are many such men you he of them in business and in Affairs their overconfidence their lack of understanding they deluded and fooled themselves it's a very terrible thing when a man fools other people but it's much worse when a man fools himself" [00:566:36]

"the tragedy of this men here is a man boasting of his great thinking and yet in his thinking he has left out of consideration the two most vital and important factors what are they well the first you see is the fact of God he never thought about God at all he thought of himself he thought of his competitors he thought of his children he thought of a Thousand and One things but he never thought about God and so our Lord brings it out with this dramatic intensity the man speaks congratulates himself Sly but God said and here he is realizing for the first time that he's never considered God and his relationship to God at all his thinking has been entirely in terms of man and the activities of men and he's never given a thought to his relationship to God" [00:937:44]

"the one fact about which all of us can be absolutely certain this evening is the fact that we are going to die and yet the modern man doesn't think about this or he thinks of many other possibilities he's very concerned about the possibility of a third world war he thinks a lot about that and the possibility of some of these terrible bombs being used he thinks it's right that he should do that in a sense and this is where the Folly becomes so extreme of course he even makes preparation for his own burial he may take out an insurance to cover his own burial he's concerned about it he about his very burial the one thing he never prepares for is his own death he thinks ahead makes provision in all these other ways and congratulates himself on doing so but he never faces the actual fact of his own death" [00:1190:6]

"the greatest men greatest Statesmen greatest generals greatest everything they all have got to Die the Paths of Glory lead but to the grave and yet you see here's a man who's never given it a thought and so many today in this modern world of ours are exactly the same they seem to think of everything else and yet they've never given a moment consideration to this absolute certainty that is there facing them and coming nearer to them every second which they breathe what can you say of such a man except that he's a fool however clever he may be in other respects a man who leaves out of consideration in forming his philosophy and his view of Life the two greatest facts of all is nothing but a fool and a simpleton such is this man in the parable such is the typical average Modern Men today" [00:1315:6]

"this man had made no provision for himself because his view of himself was so debased and So Unworthy and so round that he could not possibly have made provision for himself what do I mean well you notice the language the man uses he betrays himself he turns to himself and he says I will say to my soul so you see this is his view of man he's addressing his inous being the thing that makes aen aen and he says so you see his idea of a man what's a man well a man obviously according to this man's idea a man is just the creature an animal who's in this world to eat and to drink and to indulge his sex much Goods laid up take their KNE eat drink be merry what the world is doing tonight it lives to eat and to drink Sex being married enjoyment happiness the whole world is given to your country is my country is and they think this is marvelous" [00:1423:919]

"man is a creature made in the image and likeness of God God said let us make man in our own image and likeness man is meant to have correspondence with God he's to be the companion of God he's created for communion with God God made him that he might be the Lord of creation his representative on Earth that's man how can a man like this possibly make provision for himself and for his soul his whole conception of men is so debased and unworthy he can't make any provision and so while he congratulates himself on The Marvelous provision he has made he has actually made no provision at all now our Lord makes that abundantly clear in in in the way in which he puts it in the parable but God said unto him thou fool this night thy Soul shall be required of thee then who shall those things be which thou H has provided" [00:1611:88]

"here is a man who knows about certain types of riches but is completely ignorant about the riches that God giveth and that is the tragedy of this men here is an expert on riches who is completely ignorant about the greatest of only true riches the riches which God gives and this my dear friends is the tragedy of many similar person in this world of ours tonight men are bursting about their wealth of knowledge and of UND standing even of riches and of their possessions and a thousand and one other things and they think they have no need of God the ultimate tragedy of such people is all their appalling ignorance of the riches that God offers to his children" [00:1964:0]

"the first thing he gives us is this peace and rest of conscience a knowledge of sins forgiven you know this is beyond price this is beyond competition you can go through the libraries of the world at their best and you'll never find peace of conscience there they can give you a lot of information but they can't give you that peace which can enable you to put your pillar your head on your pillow tonight and sleep with confidence and Assurance knowing that should you die during the night all is well because you have been reconciled to God peace of conscience knowledge of sins forgiven" [00:2039:76]

"you can go through the the libraries of all the universe and you won't find it there's only one place where you'll ever find it and that is as you look at him hanging there on a cross between two thieves on calvary's Hill the Son of God the savior of your soul that's a part of the riches the world can't give it you but the gospel gives it you for nothing by grace are he Saed through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God without money without price without your works without anything you simply come in your utter helplessness and need you repent and cast yourself upon him that's a part of it but it doesn't stop there having given you that it goes on to give you these other glorious things that are mentioned in the scriptures it'll give you full Assurance of that it'll then give you the realization that you've got a new life within you a new mind a new heart you have a new beginning you are born again born of the spirit you have the mind of Christ" [00:2301:68]