Where is your treasure
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
What are you worshiping? You were created to worship so you are worshiping something. What do you spend your time and money pursuing? What has your heart. I know you know the correct answer but I want the Lord to search our hearts this morning. And I want Him to reveal to you this morning what are you truly worshiping. So as we turn to our text this morning we to answer the question:
What does our passage say about God?
First our passage tells us that God will judge the wicked.
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.
This is referring to eternal punishment.
The second truth about God from our passage is found in verse 4 of our text
4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
God hears the cries of the oppressed. So if you are being mistreated God hears your cries. This should give us comfort.
We must guard our hearts from feelings of hatred or revenge. Because in the end God will punish those who mistreat us. But we should have compassion because we once too walked in their ways. We all have sinned and we all have fallen short it is only by the grace of God that we are here that we are saved. This should inspire in us a thankful heart that has compassion on the lost. Our hearts should break for those who are perishing without Christ. For those who are trusting in their riches and not in Christ.
What does our passage say about man?
First, we default to storing up treasure here on earth. Look at verse 3
3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
The second truth about us is found in verse 5
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
The second truth about us is we default to self-indulgence
Self-indulgence is the act of satisfying one’s desires, pleasures, lusts, and whims, especially without restraint.
In other words, it is the practice of having or doing anything that you like or enjoy, often somethings that you should not have or do.
That is sobering isn’t it? This is our default sin nature. Everything is about us. Our wants our desires. And if we don’t actively put to death our sin nature, this will be true of us.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
What should our hearts be towards our brothers and sisters?
7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother,
The last truth about us? We are completely unaware look at the second half of verse 5
5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Think about that analogy.
Most of us here know what it is like to struggle to make ends meet at some point in our lives and it is tempting to look at the rich and long for what they have isn’t it. We dream of what it would be like to not worry about paying our bills. Wouldn’t it and if we aren’t careful we can begin to covet their riches and we may be tempted to be envious of them? But then we see the ways riches curupt the wicked.