Date of Sermon Delivery: 6. 2. 2022

Place of sermon Delivery:  Delhi, India

Sunday Worship Service

Speaker: Ashish 

 Bible - Matthew 6:19-21, 24.   Title - Following God more than money.   Key verse - 6:24.               

 Praise the Lord everyone.  I welcome you all  In today's day, may God bless everyone who is present.  I believe that all of you are doing good work in your respective places.  Because when we live in this world, we believers should do what God likes.  Believers should not be on the way of this world, but like those who are pleasing to God.          

As in today's word.  The words of today are spoken by Jesus.  Jesus says do not accumulate wealth on earth, where moth and moss destroys, and where thieves break in and steal, but gather for yourself riches in heaven, where neither moth and moss destroy, nor thieves break in.   (19-20).          

We have to understand very carefully what Jesus meant.  Jesus did not say that you should not have money.  Or you should not be a rich person.         

 You should have a good job, a good home, good health, you should also have your luxuries.      

  But what Jesus mean is this while in a pursuit To fulfil all these things, you should not stray far away from God.  As verse 19 says, do not accumulate wealth.  Because in order to accumulate wealth, we do such things many times.  Which God doesn’t like.  Or we get so busy in accumulating wealth that we don't even know or notice when we are getting away from God.  We need money to live a good life, but more than money, we may be pleasing to God.  Because this is worldly wealth.  It may end, it is not forever.  We cannot use it for eternity.  That's why God says to collect wealth in heaven.  Because we will use it till eternity.  That's why you also have to understand how you can accumulate wealth in heaven.  Because we all know how to accumulate wealth in the world.  But through today's message we will learn how to accumulate wealth in heaven.        

But there are some things which we have to understand first.      

1. We should not make money by wrong means.   

  2. To earn money, we cannot give up those things which bring us closer to God.     

3. We have to use the money we have in the way Jesus told us.            The Bible tells us about some people in which we see that people have collected money by wrong means and they were abandoned by God and their end was very terrible.           

 1. (Joshua chapter 7) If you see there, it is written about Achan, how he kept what he had offered, he coveted money and gave importance to money more than God's command.  This was not liked by God and he and his family were punished with death.            

 2. (Acts 5:1-11) This is also a family that valued money more than service to God and was sentenced to death.  But I thank God that God has mercy on this day.  He does not intend to destroy us.  He is merciful and gracious to us.  He wants us to repent and become perfect from our works and He also gives us a chance to rectify our mistake.  He loves us because of which He wants to give us through Jesus the way through which we are qualified to enter the kingdom of God.        

I want to tell you something about myself.  I was facing some financial problems due to covid 19.  Though God has kept me very well but my savings were getting less.  As you all know that I am a shopkeeper.  And sometime back I thought that I should increase my savings.  And for that I did some planning, I should increase my stitching charge, material rate.  And in many other ways I have improved my fee (rate).  I used to give concession to some people also.  whose financial condition was weak.  Then those of old age whose life was dependent on pension.         

But I thought that I will not give any concession to anyone now.  Because I want to fulfil my needs.  And I should also increase my savings.  And I started working according to my plan.  I didn't think I was doing anything wrong.  Since this is my job, I can take my service charge as much as I want.  And I started all this.  And I was sure that I would consolidate my savings again.  But after a few days, I felt something that no, I should not do this.  This may be true according to this world.  But to be a Christian it is not right.  By doing this I can accumulate wealth on earth, but not in heaven.  I feel like maybe this method is not right.  God will not be pleased with this.  And I restrained myself, and improved myself.          

I think that whenever this happens to any of you, then stop and think about what you are doing.  What you are doing is it right or wrong.  We all have that talent in us with through which we can accumulate wealth.  But when we come to Christ we leave this kind of life.  And we connect your life with the journey of Christ.        

 But when we live in the world then we also collect some wealth.  We are in such a place that along with money we can also help the people around us.  We should use money not only for ourselves but also for the kingdom of God and to meet the needs of the people.  As told by Jesus Christ.  (Matthew 5:41-42) Give whatever you ask for.  This is the good work by which we can help people.  Because only by doing this we will be able to accumulate wealth in heaven.                  We all need to understand that which way of life we are living on earth.  Do we want to be rich like the people of the world or please God because today's key verse says you can't do two things.   You cannot please two masters.  We all need to please God.  Because the life of the earth is of some time.  Whatever we do here, we will get the reward according to it.  And heavenly life is of eternity, so do such things so that you can accumulate wealth in heaven because we are called to inherit heavenly life.            .