Are you making the right investments

Introduction

Matthew 16:24–27 CSB

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done.

Now

Here are the seven biggest investing mistakes they say are the most common.

Constantly watching the markets.

Chasing the trends.

Following bad advice from social media.

Not giving your investments time to grow.

Investing money you'll soon need.

Having unclear investing goals.

Delaying investing altogether.

Always

-Your eternal destiny will be determined by your decision to invest your life in eternal matters rather than earthly matters.

I. What is the right Pursuit?

Matthew 16:24 CSB

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

(v.24) “If Anyone wishes to pursue me (marry me)” universal call. This means the door is open for anyone to get married to Jesus.

(v.24) “he must deny himself” This means to relinquish your dreams, goals, and pursuits for something else…..He must also be willing(salvation like a marriage is a commitment to do something) to do something else.

When I got married my personal goals, dreams and aspirations all had to be changed to reflect my union with my wife. Even though I am the leader in our marriage.

Getting saved means you are giving God the permission to change you from ground up.

(v.24) Take up his cross and follow Me.

a. Take up his cross-This is a willingness to be obedient to whatever your new Master ask you to do even if death is the result

b. Follow Me-This is to willingly pursuit to follow Jesus wherever he goes. If Jesus is truly your new Husband then Marriage to him requires a commit to go where he goes.

Matthew 16:21–22 CSB

21 From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”

(v.21-23) There was a reason that Peter said Jesus you cannot go. Peter believe that the Kingdom was being setup right then and that he would be sitting next Jesus in the New Kingdom.

-After Jesus Death, Burial and Resurrection Peter was the leader of the NT church. He suffered greatly for the gospel and he was crucified upside down believing that to be crucified right side up would be disrespectful to our Lord.

-You see in the end Peter denied himself his own interest, his own plans, his own destiny and put it into the hands of his Jesus. This led to his death, but it also lead to his exaltation.

II. What is the wrong Pursuit?

Matthew 16:25–26 CSB

25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

(v.25) “For whoever” (Universal Call) “wishes”-----Jesus says I have a personal message for you. 

(v.25) “to save his life will lose it” Those that hold onto their life pursuits, possession, and passions will lose them all. Salvation is essentially giving back to God what’s due him. And that is your life.  He created you so he is well within his rights to ask for your life back, but he is so loving that he lets you make that decision.

That word “lose” is: apolumi: which is a permanent destructive lose. Like watching your phone fall in the ocean, or watching your house burn to the ground..This is not like losing your keys, which can be found again. It’s like missing an opportunity to tell a dying family member “You love them” once they leave its lost forever.

Can you imagine all of your life pursuits just going up in smoke. Everything you have accomplished reduced to rubble. I was a good father garbage, I was a diligent worker garbage, I was a gracious philanthropist garbage, I was a watchful neighbor garbage, I earned a PhD garbage,I retired with over 2 million in my 401k garbage, I was faithful to my wife our whole marriage garbage, but I thought that’s how you enter the pearly gates or whatever heaven is, nope Garbage.....Matthew 16:25 tells us how you enter in and none of it is based on the previous stuff I just mentioned.

(v.25) “but whoever loses his life for my Sake will find it” You must make decision to put all of your pursuits to death, and then take on the pursuits of your new Husband(Jesus). You see marriage and children are the best way to understand Salvation via analogy. Being married says “I cannot live like a single person anymore, It says my hopes and dreams must be sacrificed if they conflict with the purposes of my marriage.(Let me get messy,,married people keeping separate accounts) The Marriage supersedes your personal life pursuits because your marriage has a higher priority than personal life pursuits.....Same with your children.

Matthew 16:26 CSB

26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

Jesus then asks two penetrating question.  These questions are not meant to be answered but meditated on.

a. Question #1-“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

What stands out to you in this question? 

what does it profit a man to marry a beautiful woman without character?

Character>Beauty.

-Jesus wants you to meditate on the stupidity of chasing all this world has to offer, at the expense of your relationship to him, then losing it all when you die!!!! That is a bad investment because there is no return on this!!

Your relationship to God>ambitions.

b. Question #2-“Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Jesus is essentially asking you to come up with at least one thing that you would exchange your soul for.

What in your life is keeping you from making a decision to follow Christ?

What thing in your life are you holding onto that’s worth eternity in Hell rather than eternity in Heaven with God?

Beloved you are made up of three parts: Body, Soul and Spirit. When you die only your body dies. Your Soul and Spirit continue on past the grave.

So from an investment point of view since your body(dies) but you soul and spirit continue on Where should you put your primary focus at in this life?

III. Why Does it Matter?

Matthew 16:27 CSB

27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done.

illustration: Young boy keeps jumping off a high porch and Mom and Dad see it. Mom and Dad both warn him, but young boy keeps jumping off the high porch. When he falls and is crying, and bleeding most Mothers will go provide some measure of attention and care. The Father however will let his little butt bleed out! Both of them are motivated by Love but the Father Love is this case is mindful of the future. He has his eyes fixed on 15 years later when its no longer porches he is jumping off, but reckless behavior that would kill him.

One of the things that Father have a tendency to think about more the Mothers is how current decision affect future outcomes. God has essentially wired Women(not all women) in their maternal instinct to be concerned about their children present reality rather than whats going to happen in the future. Sometimes that perspective is the right call. But generally a Father is always looking future:

Well God is just like that in this scripture. In the Bible you can see God act like both and Mother and Father, but in this case he is straight Father. Notice the verse!

When he came to Earth the first time he was Momma!!!

When he comes again he’s going to be Daddy!!!

(v.27) “for the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels” This is a promise from Jesus himself, that I am going to die, then I am coming back not alone but with the Holy Angels.  I am not coming down as the humble carpenter from Nazareth, but as the ferocious Lion of Judah.  

(v.27) “and will repay every man according to his deeds” This part right here is terrifying.  Especially if you have spent your life pursuing your own desires, needs, and passions.  You might say well I should be alright I am a good person: “There is none good no, not one!

-No one is in hell now because of greed, lust, pride or anger. These are all just symptoms. People in hell because of idolatry. The root cause of all sinful behavior is idolatry. When a person rejects Jesus hand in marriage they are saying other things are more important than Jesus, which is the defintion of idolatry.

MATERIALISM

George W. Truett, a well-known pastor, was invited to dinner in the home of a very wealthy man in Texas. After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.

Pointing to the oil wells punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty-five years ago I had nothing. Now, as far as you can see, it's all mine." Looking in the opposite direction at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That's all mine." Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They're all mine." Then pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine."

He paused, expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success. Truett, however, placing one hand on the man's shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?" The man hung his head and confessed, "I never thought of that."

Our Daily Bread, October 24, 1992.

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