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Omega Productions

All the World Marveled

G. Edward Reid

Preparing For the Lion’s Den

Unmistakable Signs Of the End

Preparing For the Last Temptation

What I want to tell you tonight is something quite important actually, and that is for some reason God talks more about money management than any other single topic in the Bible.

Some 2, 000 verses, Kathy and I had the privilege of studying under Larry Burkett and Judy Burkett many years ago, and Larry's passed away now of course, but we have, we did with Howard and Beverly Dayton as well, and we just appreciate very much people who have studied these things out.

And I am thankful that God has blessed us with the opportunity to study as well.

So believe it or not, we're going to look at a text tonight that lets us know that everyone who leaves this earth alive at the time of the second coming will have gone through a period of time, according to the Bible, when they cannot buy or sell.

So what I'm gonna talk to you about, are you thankful that God's told us that ahead of time?

If it just came on you all of a sudden, what in the world would you do?

So we're preparing for the last big temptation.

And I'm gonna give you a few of the Bible texts that I have in mind.

Matthew 6, 19 and 20, to 19 to 21 actually, is kind of interesting because this is part of Jesus' famous mountainside sermon.

And Jesus, if you understand this amazing thing, This is right in the middle because this chapter is 5, 6, and 7 of the Sermon on the Mount, and right in the middle of it Jesus talks about the importance of our treasures.

So he says, do not store up treasures on this earth where moss and rust corrupts and thieves break in and steal.

So big question, why does God tell us not to store up treasures on this earth?

The right answer is because it's not safe here.

It's not because it's so wrong, it's just plain stupid.

But then he says, do store up treasures in heaven, doesn't he?

Where moth doesn't rust and thieves don't break in and steal, it's safe there.

So how do you store up treasures in heaven?

Kathy and I, we shop at Sun, or not shop, we bank at SunTrust Banks.

It just happens that was the bank we used in Maryland, they're original banks, and we come to Strawberry Plains, Tennessee.

Believe it or not, they have a SunTrust Bank there, so all we had to do was change our address and we're all set.

But anyway, when we go there, they have a little drive-through where if you wanna deposit a check, you can put it in this little vacuum tube and press the button and it shoots over the top into the tellers on the inside.

Does God have 1 of those vacuum tubes somewhere?

So how do we get money stored up in heaven?

You're going to find out tonight in this pretty interesting story.

I will tell you ahead of time, there's 2 ways to do it.

Help other people and help advance the cause of God, and that stores up treasures in heaven.

But How could the Bible's author and editor justify devoting twice as many verses to money than to faith and prayer combined?

How could Jesus say more about money than both heaven and hell?

Didn't he really know what was important?

So a large volume of scripture teaching on the subject of money demands our attention.

Why does God give us all this instruction on money and possessions?

With so much to be said, so much he could tell us that we really needed to know, why did Jesus, the Savior of the world, spend a full 15% of all of his recorded words on this 1 subject?

Why did Jesus say more about how we're to view and handle money and possessions about any single thing?

And the enigma deepens when we look how closely Jesus linked money to salvation.

So I'm going to close with that as well, but I want you to see this interesting story.

Well, we know that he was a chief tax collector.

Now please understand what I'm talking about here.

Early in Jesus' ministry, there was a leper along the side of the road where Jesus and the disciples were traveling.

And 1 of the guys hollered out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me.

And the disciples said, Jesus, do not touch this guy.

The guy had said, if you just touch me, I would be healed and could be clean.

Wouldn't that be the yearning of your heart if you were a leper?

Now you understand this is incredible because of the stigma of leprosy in those days, the disciples told Jesus, let us tell you, if you touch that guy, your ministry is history.

It'll get back to the Pharisees and you're gonna be unclean, nothing's gonna happen from here on.

But Jesus parted through the disciples and he reached out and said I will and he touched him and he was healed instantly.

There was another time Jesus was traveling to the home of his friend Lazarus who had already died and I believe this may have been when he was going to Jairus's daughter.

But anyway I think that's what the situation was.

Big crowds were around him and he was headed that way and some lady said, I don't want to have him touch me.

Jesus stopped and asked about it and so on.

The disciples said, people are bumping you everywhere.

So you have to understand that Zacchaeus worked for the IRS.

He was either a CPA or an attorney who dressed in business clothes like I have on.

He goes into his office and looks in the Wall Street Journal and realizes with his local paper that Jesus is coming to Jericho, his hometown.

So he sets this little clock in the window, be back at 02:00 and locks the door and heads off in his suit to see Jesus.

Does everybody understand that there were no places in Palestine big enough to hold the crowds that came to see Jesus.

That's why he preached on the mountainside and from a ship and all of that.

The most amazing thing is that when he went to the main street of his town, it was packed up, just packed with people.

Kind of like Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena when the Rose Parade has come.

People spend the night there ahead of time, you know, that kind of thing.

But he said, please give way, I'm a short man.

Besides, he was somebody and he was dressed up in a suit and they said to him, you should have thought about that yesterday, we're not giving you our place.

He ran ahead, he's a grown man, not a little kid in shorts and tennis shoes, but he's a grown man in his suit, and he climbs up in a tree, because he just wanted to see Jesus.

The amazing thing about the Bible and about Jesus, when you want to see Jesus, he wants to see you too.

And this is an incredible experience because this series of miracles happened.

But Jesus walked right underneath the tree, and I'm gonna put this up here so you can see it.

He planned to pass through, he came to Zacchaeus, he looked up and he called Zacchaeus by name though they had never met.

This is incredible and this is kind of interesting because Jesus did something that I would never have done I don't think.

He said come down I'm going to your place for lunch.

Now I'm going to tell you something interesting many of you know my wife Kathy.

She is an excellent cook Whenever I called her this morning and she had invited since she had to stay at church with the children's program and so on She invited 3 of the single ladies of our church home for dinner She was setting the table ahead of time because she had planned this.

Series

All the World Marveled

Preparing For the Last Temptation

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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