In his wonderful little book The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn invites readers to consider a thought experiment. Let’s try it. Imagine that you’re living near the end of the American Civil War. If any of you kids haven’t learned about the American Civil War yet, it took place over 150 years ago. The war was fought between the Union Army from the northern United States and the Confederate Army from the South. The North won. Now, imagine that you’re living near the end of the Civil War. You’re a Northerner, but you live in the South. During the war, you’ve become quite wealthy, but all your money is in Confederate currency, not U.S. currency, and you know that the North, the Union Army, is going to win. You know that soon your wealth of Confederate currency will have no value. What would you do with all your Confederate money? You would keep enough Confederate money to meet your temporary needs until the war was over, but the rest you’d exchange for U.S. currency before it’s too late and all your Confederate money becomes worthless.

The point of Randy Alcorn’s thought experiment is simple: According to Jesus, earthly wealth is like Confederate currency. You can’t take it with you; it’s going to zero. But you can exchange it for heavenly treasure by seeking God’s kingdom with your money right now. In Luke 12:31-34, the Lord Jesus says to his disciples, “Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. [33] Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Earthly wealth is like Confederate currency. Soon it will have no value. However, you can exchange it for moneybags that don’t grow old, heavenly treasure that lasts forever, by seeking God’s kingdom with your treasure. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Seek God’s kingdom with your treasure. Seek God’s kingdom with your treasure. In our passage, the Lord Jesus provides us with three ways to seek God’s kingdom with your treasure:

1. Be content
2. Trust your Father
3. Give away your money to magnify Jesus.

BE CONTENT

You can exchange your money that is going to zero for heavenly treasure by seeking God’s kingdom with your earthly treasure. And a life of seeking God’s kingdom with your treasure flows from a content heart. Contentment is a peaceful heart attitude that trusts and delights in God and what he gives, whether wealth or simplicity. The opposite of contentment is coveting. And in our passage, the Lord Jesus provides us with two illustrations of what coveting looks like. Luke 12:13-15 – Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” [14] But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Coveting looks like the man from the crowd. Coveting looks like desires becoming demands. The man doesn’t say, “Lord, my brother and I have a disagreement over our parents’ estate. Would you wisely adjudicate and make things right? I desire my inheritance, but I yield to your wisdom.” Contentment desires, but coveting demands. Where have your desires become demands? That’s coveting, and coveting will always keep you from seeking God’s kingdom with your treasure. That’s the first picture of what coveting is like. Let’s read the second.

Luke 12:16-21 – And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, [17] and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ [18] And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. [19] And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

Coveting looks like the man in the crowd and the man in the parable. Coveting looks like a person who believes that the key to being content is more and better: a more or better home, car, vacations, adventures, experiences, savings, and inheritance-leaving. Coveting looks like building bigger barns rather than cultivating contentment.

And Jesus says that the covetous person is a fool who is headed toward the eternal judgment of God if they don’t repent. Luke 12:20-21 – But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ [21] So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Coveting will keep you out of God’s kingdom.

To seek God’s kingdom with your treasure, therefore, cultivate contentment when it comes to treasure. Contentment is a peaceful heart attitude that trusts and delights in God and what he gives, whether wealth or simplicity. A content heart is key for seeking God’s kingdom with your treasure. There are a few ways to cultivate contentment when it comes to your treasure—money and wealth.

First, to cultivate contentment, be on guard against coveting. Remember, Jesus told his disciples to be on guard against all covetousness. Typically, we covet in three categories: material things (a house), experiences (vacations, comforts), or security (savings, investments). What is it for you? Being on guard means knowing the telltale signs of coveting: spending more time thinking about retirement fund investment allocations than ways to invest in the kingdom, thinking peace will come from more time off than a change in heart, pushing off giving until you have more, and spending more time thinking about what you want in the future than thanking God for what he has given in the present. Be on guard.

A second way to cultivate contentment when it comes to your treasure is to pray for daily bread. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that praying for our daily bread means “we pray, that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.” Praying that daily will keep your heart content.

A final way to cultivate a content heart is to prayerfully, and in fellowship with other believers, decide how big God wants your barns to be. Financially speaking, we tend to build two barns: spending in the present and saving for the future. One wonderful way to cultivate a content heart instead of building bigger barns is to decide now how big God wants your barns to be, all while giving generously along the way. How much does God want you to spend on yourself and your family? How much does he want you to save for the future, knowing another day isn’t guaranteed? Set the numbers while giving generously along the way.

Then, when each of the two barns is full—when you’ve hit the top end of what you are willing to spend on yourself and your family and how much you’re willing to save for the future—everything else is given away to the kingdom. This is called setting a financial finish line, and it’s a great way to cultivate a content heart so that you can seek God’s kingdom with your treasure.

To seek God’s kingdom with your treasure, first, be content.

TRUST YOUR FATHER

In Luke 12:22 we read, “And he said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.’”

What’s the connection between the previous section and this one? What’s the connection between coveting and building bigger barns and being anxious about the basics of life? It may be that if you give up building bigger barns in order to be rich toward God, you may be tempted to worry that you won’t have enough for the basics of life like food, clothing, and a good place to live. Therefore, Jesus now speaks words of comfort to us. Whether you’re tempted to build bigger barns or you’re more tempted to be anxious about the basics of life, to help you seek God’s kingdom with your treasure, the Lord Jesus Christ provides us with several reasons why we should trust our Father with our lives rather than being anxious about our lives.

The first reason to trust your Father with your life rather than being anxious is that your Father will feed you. Luke 12:24-25 – Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Ravens do not have jobs. Ravens don’t have savings accounts or IRAs. Yet God feeds them. You, on the other hand, work hard, spend responsibly, and save wisely. On top of that, you’re far more valuable to God than ravens. Unlike ravens, you’re made in God’s image and redeemed by the life, death, and resurrection of his Son for your sins. If God feeds ravens, then you can definitely trust your Father with your life rather than being anxious about your life.

The second reason why you can trust your Father with your life rather than being anxious about your life is that worrying is unproductive and your Father will clothe you. Luke 12:25-28 – And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [26] If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? [27] Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [28] But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

Anxiety is profoundly unproductive. Consider the lilies. They don’t worry, but God clothes them. The lilies are here for a moment and then gone. You are God’s eternal possession in Christ. Your Father will clothe you. Trust your Father with your life rather than being anxious about your life.

The final reason to trust your Father with your life rather than being anxious about your life is that anxiety is pagan, but your Father knows what you need. Luke 12:29-30 – And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. [30] For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

The final reason to trust your Father is that anxiety is a characteristic of those who do not know God as their Father through the grace that is in Christ. However, when you come to know God as your Father through the sin-atoning work of Christ, you can cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you and start seeking God’s kingdom with your treasure.

So, friends, stop worrying and start considering. Keep your eyes open and consider the birds and the lilies. They aren’t made in God’s image, but God clothes and feeds them. You are more valuable than birds. If God did not spare his Son, but gave him up for you, then you can trust your Father with your life and seek first his kingdom with your treasure, and all the things others worry about will be added to you.

To seek God’s kingdom with your treasure, be content, trust your Father, and…

GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY TO MAGNIFY JESUS

Luke 12:31-34 – Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. [32] “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. [33] Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. [34] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Give away your money to magnify Jesus. In these last five minutes, I want to zoom out and briefly survey what the whole New Testament teaches about giving away your money to magnify Jesus. A few key principles:

1. God owns everything

1 Corinthians 10:26 (quoting Ps. 24:1) says, “For ‘the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.’”

The foundation that giving your money away to magnify Jesus is built on is this conviction: Everything that we have belongs to God and is a gift from him. Every dollar and every possession is his.

2. We are God’s stewards

Matthew 25:14, Jesus said, “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.”

Everything belongs to God, and we are his stewards. Therefore, the goal is not to go from being a spender to a saver, growing in responsibility, or from a saver to a spender, growing in freedom. The goal is to go from saver or spender to steward who builds God’s kingdom with God’s treasure.

3. Giving should be cheerful, deliberate, and generous

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 – The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Giving should be cheerful. The keys to giving cheerfully are to remember that the church cannot fail (guaranteed investment), the church is the means and the end of God’s mission on earth, and cheer usually follows generous giving rather than preceding it. These are three keys to giving cheerfully to the church.

Giving should be cheerful. Giving should be deliberate. Paul says that each one must give as he has decided in his heart. That’s deliberate language. Therefore, I encourage you to plan your giving. For most of us, deliberate, planned giving will require that you create some kind of budget. Jamie Dunlop wisely writes, “When you create a personal budget, you’re deciding how each dollar of income will go off to serve God’s purposes.” This includes paying your taxes, providing for your family, modestly saving for the future (I say modestly because the Rich Fool reminds us we may not have much of a future), and giving to God’s work in and through your church.

Now, when you budget, the first expense item, even before paying taxes, should be giving generously. Paul says that we should sow bountifully, which is another way of saying, “give generously.”

Some questions you can ask to discern if your giving is generous:

1. Am I giving enough to draw my heart away from this world and toward heaven?
2. Does another faithful believer in Christ know what percentage of my pre-tax income I’m giving to the church? Do they think it’s generous?
3. What is my minimum generosity level? I suggest 10% as a great minimum place to start and build from.
4. Does the amount I give reflect the brevity of this life and the expanse of eternity?

Give cheerfully, deliberately, and generously.

4. Worldly wealth is fleeting, heavenly treasure is eternal

Matthew 6:20 – but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Eternal life in heaven is God’s gift that we receive through repenting and believing in Jesus Christ. Heaven is by grace, but there are degrees of reward in heaven. Everyone in heaven will be perfectly happy. Heaven will be an ocean of endless happiness. Everyone’s cup will be full, but some cups will be larger than others based on how generously we seek God’s kingdom with our money.

Worldly wealth is fleeting, heavenly treasure is eternal.

5. Giving should be local church centered, Jesus magnifying

The New Testament teaches that our giving should be local-church centered, Jesus magnifying. Local-church centered because the local church is where we are taught the Word, and Galatians 6:6 says, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.”

Giving is local-church centered because the church is where the Word is taught and from which the Word goes forth to more and more people. Our giving should be local-church centered because in the Old Testament, tithing was directed toward the temple work and temple workers, but in the New Testament, generous giving is directed toward church work and church workers (1 Cor. 9:13-14). The local church is the means and the end of God’s mission on earth; therefore, our giving is local-church centered.

The majority of our giving should be to the local church we belong to. Now, giving should be local-church centered, but not necessarily local-church exclusive. As the Lord gives opportunity, we should delight to give above and beyond our local church giving to those who go out to advance the name of Jesus Christ here and around the world, as well as to brothers and sisters in Christ who are materially poor.

3 John 1:7-8 – For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. [8] Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

Galatians 2:10 – Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

The world and the government will provide for people and organizations that don’t explicitly advance the name of Jesus, but they won’t typically leverage funds for those that go out for the sake of the name. Therefore, our giving is local-church centered and Jesus magnifying.

CONCLUSION

The ultimate motivation for seeking God’s kingdom with our treasure, joyfully giving our money away to magnify Jesus, is God’s generosity to us in Jesus Christ. In our passage Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).