Peter Tan-Chi - Choose Wisely
Now Jesus wants you to learn something today, I call this the theology of money. Are you ready to learn the theology of money? Three simple truths I want you to learn. This was given by Jesus to His disciples. Are you ready? So the title today is "Choose Wisely". Everybody say that with me. "Choose Wisely". He talks about two kinds of treasures. Choose what kind of treasures you want. Number two, two perspectives. Choose your perspective. Number three, Jesus talks about two masters. Okay. 2, 2, 2. Life is about choices. At the end of the day, you've got to make a choice. So he wants you to be wise.
So let's begin. What do we mean by two treasures? Alright, together, read. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal". Look at the command. This is a negative present tense command, meaning is stop accumulating treasure for yourselves. Wow, if you read this, you will think: is God against treasure? Is God against rich people? Don't jump to conclusions. Look at the Bible. What is the theology of money? But here, the command is very clear: stop laying up treasure for yourselves. What kind of treasure?
Notice he talks about, number one, moth will destroy it; number two, that word "rust" is from the Greek word "brōsis", something that will eat it away; number three, it can be stolen. What is he talking about? Jesus is a master teacher. He's talking about the wealth, how people display wealth in His time. How do they display it? Clothing. People underestimate how hard it is to make a garment. In the time of Jesus, there is no textile machine. Everything is handwoven. From cotton, you have to make them into yarn. From yarn, you have to weave them, understand? So it's difficult. So, how do they display wealth? Their clothing. And Jesus is saying, "That clothing? Moths will eat it".
What else? How do they display riches? Oh, by their stockroom. Lots of corn, lots of wheat. And Jesus is saying, "Corn and wheat? This will be eaten away by rats, by insects". Ah, what about silver and gold? Silver and gold can be stolen. So Jesus is saying listen up. That's theology number one, you need to know: God is not against money or treasure, but He wants you to choose your treasure. The desire for riches is not wrong, it's given by God. That desire for treasure is not wrong. What is Jesus saying? Well, let's find out. Together, read: "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".
What is Jesus talking about? Here is the command. Do you realize it's a command for you to lay up treasure? Ah, what a shocking reality! "Store up for years treasures". So God is not against treasure. God wants you to have true treasure. Now here's the question: how can I have true treasure? Be patient! I'm going to talk about it, but right now the command is lay up for yourselves. You have to lay up for yourself treasures. There's nothing wrong with wanting treasure. What kind of treasure? Treasure that will last.
You see, God loves you so much, He does not want you to waste your life on things that are totally meaningless at the end of your life, because you cannot bring money with you. So God is saying, "I want you to really be rich". So there's nothing wrong with riches. And then He tells you why this is so important. Why treasures in heaven? "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". This is a thermometer and a thermostat. What do I mean?
People used to say, "Well, this verse simply means your heart will dictate where your treasure will be". Yes, that's partly correct. But this verse is more than that. This verse is not just saying where your treasure is, that's where you invest. Yes, that's partly true. However, this is also saying where you put your effort and your treasure, your heart will follow. In other words, I remember I have five wonderful children. I praise God for my wife, she taught all of them to treasure each other by investing time, by investing effort. And because of that, when you invest time and effort toward each other, helping each other, you begin to love each other.
So today, my wonderful children, by the grace of God, they love each other, we are the best of friends because we have invested time and energy toward each other. Where your treasure is, for example, you are generous in supporting CCF Missions. I am guaranteeing you, if you put money in CCF Missions, you want to know what's happening, yes or no? Where your treasure is, there's going to be your money. Many of you may not realize this: CCF has invested a lot of money also in Tulong Tayo. Many of our people gave. We built houses in the Bicol area because of the typhoon. Because we invested money there, we'd like to find out what's happening. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Now, many of you may not realize this: CCF invested money to help the Afghan Christians get out of Afghanistan. Yes, you can clap. Praise God. Do you know we gave to support a group to charter an airplane; chartered by those who love the Lord, these are ex-Marines. They have to go inside, negotiate with the Taliban to allow Christians to get out, but it costs a lot of money. Think of chartering an airplane. But I praise God for CCF. The board unanimously allocated money. Do you realize CCF is helping the Ukrainian believers, the wives and the children to get out of Ukraine? Why are we doing that? God owns everything. So, because we invested there, we'd like to know what's happening.
So my question to all of you today is this: where is your money going to? So Jesus is saying where your treasure is, your heart will be there. You know, this truth became so real years ago. When somebody heard, not from CCF, somebody heard that I am spending my time full-time in the ministry, he called me. He said, "Peter, will you give me the privilege of supporting you"? I said, "Why do you want to support me"? Then he quoted this verse, he said, "I know your ministry. And the Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be. I want to invest it in you so that my heart will be in the ministry". I said, "Brother, I thank you. But God has blessed our family where I don't need for you to support me".
He's not even from CCF, but I praise God for this brother. He knew money belongs to the Lord. So, my friend, this is the principle: nothing wrong with treasure. God wants you to lay up treasure. What's wrong? This is what's wrong: "the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil". When you begin to love money more than you love God, "some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves". I've seen many people, God blessed them, but then their heart fell in love with money. Is that possible? Yes. You see materialism, greed, covetousness, is one of the most dangerous sin. Why do I say that? It can happen to anybody.
For example, in the Bible, Demas has been serving God, but at the end of his life, "having loved this present world has deserted me". Demas, who was serving with the apostle Paul, fell in love with money. It's like Judas, fell in love with money. Friend, you need to guard your heart against the love of money. Money is not bad. Money is neutral. You can use money to bless people, but don't make money your first love, because this sin is so subtle, so dangerous. You have people who have come to me. I've heard a lot of confessions. Praise God, okay? In CCF, we're very transparent. I heard a lot of men I try to mentor, women my wife mentored, I've heard people confess adultery, murder, stealing, but you know what?
I seldom hear somebody saying, "Peter, I have the sin of greed. I am greedy. I am covetous. I am materialistic". Seldom will you hear any Christian confessing that sin, yes or no? My whole point is this is a sin so subtle. Covetousness. Greed. The Bible says greed is like idolatry. So that is what's wrong. If you love money, you become covetous. Nothing wrong with money. God wants you to save money, are you aware of that? Look at the theology of money you will learn today, the Bible is very clear. "Go to the ant, o sluggard". Imagine God is saying, "I want you to learn something, go to the ant. 'Observe her ways and be wise, (make wise choices!) which having no chief, officer or ruler prepares her food in the summer, gathers her provision in the harvest.'"
Nothing wrong with wanting to save. Are we communicating? In fact, don't be lazy. Look at the ant. Don't be lazy! Work hard! Look: "prepares her food in the summer; gathers her food in the harvest time". So think ahead. It's okay, it's okay to save, it's okay. In fact, the Bible is so emphatic that you are responsible. You know, money is good. It can be used to bless your family. "If anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". Can you imagine: if you can't even provide for your own family and you keep talking about Jesus, God is saying something's wrong. You bring shame to the cause of Christ.
So you need to understand that theology of money. Money is an instrument used by God to provide needs, to bless people, but it can be used by Satan to blind you. Look, this is a problem, not just of the rich or the poor, all kinds of people are encouraged by God to do something. "He who steals must steal no longer". In other words, the Bible is saying to the church at Ephesus, "You guys, some of you are, are really robbers. Stop stealing, but you must work". So it's important you work, "performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who was need". So God wants you to use your money to provide for the needs of others. Remember: don't be self-centered. Don't just think about yourself.
Now what about the rich people? Is God telling the rich today, "sell everything you have"? Would you like to know? I'm going to tell you God's comment about rich. Everybody read now, together: "instruct" (this a command. 'Timothy, you keep instructing the rich.') "those who are rich in this present world (who are rich now) not to be proud or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,", everybody read, "who", louder, "richly supplies us with all things to", louder, louder, "to enjoy". Are you aware that God is on your side? Are you aware that God wants you to enjoy? Do you believe God has blessed us, it is not a sin to enjoy His blessing? Yes or no?
Alright, turn to your neighbor, tell your neighbor, "Hallelujah. It's not a sin to enjoy". Louder! My friend, you must understand the theology of money. Question: what do you do with your money? Is it just to enjoy? No, this is what he's saying now. Instruct them, number one, if you want to convert your earthly treasure to heavenly treasure, this is what you must do: "instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves treasure".
You know, I really praise God for many of you. I've heard many of you give secretly to different people. I know somebody who was hospitalized and when the report came to us, we talked among ourselves, this person is very faithful, he's not asking for money, can we help that person? Would you believe it, before the church can even move, the Dgroup leader already found ways to help the person. Because our people understand money is not just for us, it is to bless others. And when you bless others, listen to me, when you bless others, that's how you have treasures in heaven.
How many of you have heard of the English version of the Bible, William Tyndale? Tyndale was a man of God who was so touched by the Lord to translate the Bible from Latin to the English language in the early 16th century. You have to know, for over a thousand years, the only Bible that people were reading was in Latin. And the English people do not know Latin, but this guy says, "How can we disciple people, how can people grow spiritually, if they don't have a Bible they can understand"?
However, it was against the law. The pope has issued a decree. You cannot translate the Bible in the common day language. You cannot allow people to read the Bible. It was a crime, but because Tyndale loved the Lord, he understood the importance of the Bible, he risked his life to translate the Bible directly from Greek to the English language and from Hebrew to the English language. But because of that, eventually he was captured and he was martyred. You know why? Because it was a crime, it's heresy to translate the Bible to the English language. Before he died, he shouted a prayer. Do you know what was his prayer? It was heard by the Lord. He said, "Lord, open the eyes of the king of England". He prayed, "Open the eyes of the king of England".
Do you know, two years after his death, because he was hung and they burned his body, two years later, the king of England issued a decree that every English church must have an English Bible. Praise God! Two years later! And 70 years later, there was a king by the name of James. King James authorized the improvement of the English Bible, which is now called the King James Bible, which is the most popular English translation for around 450 years. You know why? There was a man called Tyndale. But you see most of you know this story, but you do not know how did Tyndale do it. He needed financial support. He needed a place to stay.
And praise God for a textile businessman by the name of Humphrey Monmouth. Humphrey Monmouth was the financial, the backer, of Tyndale. Without Humphrey Monmouth, the Bible will not be translated today, but today people have not heard of Humphrey Monmouth. But can I tell you: Humphrey Monmouth is certainly remembered by God. Someday, when Humphrey Monmouth will enter heaven, he will be shocked at his investment in money. And he risked his own life, do you know that he was also martyred one year later because they discovered he was financing the translation? He was transporting the Bible all over England, all over to his business, to his ship, but you know what?
I guarantee you, when Humphrey Monmouth will enter heaven, you know, who will stand up? I'm sure the angels and even Jesus would give him a standing ovation. Jesus will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant". You see, that's how you convert your earthly possessions to heavenly treasures. Now, this is very important. Two perspectives, okay? God is saying, "You choose wisely. You want earthly treasures or heavenly treasures"? What should be your answer? Use your earthly treasures so it will become heavenly treasures.
Number two: how do you choose wisely? Two perspectives? What do we mean by two perspectives? Well, let's read the Bible. "The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light". The analogy is our human eyes are like windows, and that's where light comes in. I want you to imagine you're in a room and it's dark. What will happen to you if you are walking in a dark room? Will you fall down? Will you stumble? Okay. What if I open the light but something's wrong with your eyes? Even if I opened the light, but if your eyes are dark, you will still stumble. Why? Because you don't see.
And that is the point here. "If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness (because there's no light coming in), how great is the darkness"! No wonder I want you to learn to pray this prayer because the Bible tells us your eyes: it's not just physical. The heart.
Let's read this together: "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints". I love this prayer, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. Do you know the Greek word for that word? Enlightened? That's where you have the word "photo". That's light. That you will be illuminated. You will see. And I realize I cannot force people to have their eyes open to see the truth about Jesus. I need to pray for them. You see, the theology of money tells you that money is neutral.
Money can be a blessing, and God wants you to use your money wisely. However, the Bible is telling me, you need to have the right perspective about life, about money. Until the eyes of the person is opened, he will love money, and he will not treasure heavenly stuff. You know why? For some people that's nonsense. If you look at what's happening to young people today, they don't care about the future. They don't think about life after death because their eyes are not open. That's why I like what Jesus said. In Luke 12, Jesus gives a warning about perspective. He said to them, "Beware, be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions".
God is saying, "Open your eyes. Your success in life is not dependent on how much money you have, what kind of clothes you wear". He's saying beware. Now I like the word "beware", because "beware" is in the present imperative sense. It's a command. Always beware. And the root word for beware is open your eyes clearly. You've got to see it. All the time, be careful, beware. Don't just be aware once a month, beware, present tense. Every day, beware of what's going on in your heart. Beware that you don't become materialistic. And then the next word is "be on your guard". This word, "be on your guard", has the root word of keep your eyes open also.
Everything has to do with your perspective. Why? To guard something, you open your eyes, you have to be alert. And God say, you need to choose your perspective. Be on guard. Beware. Why? Because your perspective about money is crucial. If you have the wrong perspective about money, you're going to behave improperly. So he gave a story, the amazing story of the rich farmer. If you continue reading the Bible, He now tells the story of this amazing parable. He talks about a successful farmer who became so successful that he had to expand.
Now, nothing wrong with that. The Bible tells us he was so successful, he expanded his warehouse, lots of rice, lots of wheat, lots of corn. And then he was so successful, this is what he said, okay. He said, "Wow! I will say to my soul, 'You have many goods laid up for many years to come, take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.'". Now let me ask you an honest question: is this guy successful? Yes or no? Only two people believe he's successful. Is this guy successful? Of course! Isn't that your dream? Many of you are already hoping, "Peter. I really am looking forward to the day I will retire". Yes or no? That's why you're working so hard, because you want to eat, drink and retire. Where will you retire? Boracay? Invite me when you're in Boracay. But the point is this: is that life? No. Why? Perspective.
You see, money is not just for your own enjoyment. God gives you money to be rich in good works, to bless others. Nothing wrong with money, nothing wrong with success. Do you notice this guy? He did not use his money to commit adultery. He did not use his money to go to the casino. He did not use his money to finance politicians. The guy was good. What was his problem? This is his problem. "God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you, who will now own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God".
You see the theology of money. God is saying don't be a fool. What can you learn about money? When you die, you cannot take it with you. There was this wife. Her husband told her, "After I die, I want you to put all my money in my pocket, in my casket". So the guy died. He loves money. And then everybody asked the wife, "Did you follow his written will"? There was a will: "Put all my money in the casket". The wife said, "Of course, of course". "How did you do it"? "I wrote him a check".
Friends, this COVID-19 tells me your money, you cannot bring with you. And the Bible says, "You fool! This very night, your soul is required of you". Do you know you have no guarantees that you will be here next Sunday? Theology of money tells me life is uncertain. That's the theology of money. You cannot take it with you. But you can be rich toward God. And the Bible says don't be a fool. Choose wisely. Number one, what will you choose? What kind of treasures do you want to have? Nothing wrong with treasure. I suggest, let us choose heavenly treasure. Amen? Number two, perspective. What kind of perspective do you have? Is it man-centered? Is it secular-centered? Or is it biblical-center?
I suggest learn to study the Bible and pray that God will open your eyes. And lastly, you have to choose your master. Let's read this together. The Bible says no one can serve two masters. The Bible is not saying it is hard. The Bible is not saying it is difficult to serve two masters. The Bible says no one can serve two masters, meaning it's impossible. "Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other". Everybody read: "You cannot serve God and wealth".
Now, maybe your God is not money. I don't know what is your God. But all of us have something that we place over and above God. Whatever that is that you place over and above God, it can be your family, it can be your career, it can be your prestige, it can be your name, your reputation, whatever that is, while the context deals with money, whatever is your God, provided it is not God, you are doomed to be disappointed. It's an illusion, because there's only one God, the King of kings. No wonder after this verse, do you know the next verse after this? God wants you to choose the right master, the right God. Why? Because automatically, look at the consequence, everybody read: "For this reason," notice, after saying you cannot serve God and wealth, "for this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you shall eat, drink, or clothe".
In other words, if your God is the God of the Bible, God is saying stop worrying. Grammatically, It says stop worrying. Do not be worried. Food, clothing, shelter, I realize many of our Filipino brothers, they live hand-to-mouth. The reality is many of us are struggling financially. But God is saying put God first. Notice: your God is not just our master. Our God is our, everybody read: Heavenly Father. Do you know God is your Heavenly Father? Yes or no? You see, you will not stop worrying until you trust Him, but you cannot trust Him if you don't know Him. And that's the problem today. Many Christians have not come to a point of knowing that God is their Heavenly Father.
Let me close with the true story of Bill Bright. Bill Bright has influenced many lives. Rick Warren asked Bill Bright, "how come God is using you so mightily? How come God has used you mightily"? Do you realize Campus Crusade for Christ is in 190 countries today? Campus Crusade for Christ, formerly called CCC, has over 20,000 full-time staff. Amazing ministry. In fact, they can trace over 130 million people who have really come to know Jesus by praying that amazing, simple prayer; and the Jesus film the most successful film in the history of humanity, over 3 billion have watched the Jesus film.
It was a project of Dr. Bill Bright with a budget of 6 million only. It is translated to different languages. The first foreign language translated was in Tagalog. So Bill Bright was used mightily. So they asked him: what is your secret? Do you want to know his answer? This is his answer: "I believe it was in 1951 when I made a contract with God". You see, Bill Bright and his wife made a contract with God. Would you like to know what is that contract? It is really making a declaration, that his master is going to be God. Let me read for you the contract. This is from his authorized biography. This is the contract. Let's read this together. Together!
From this day, Lord, we surrender and relinquish all our past, present, and future rights and material possessions to You. As an act of the will, by faith, we choose to become Your bondslaves and do whatever You want us to do, go wherever You want us to go, say whatever You want us to say, no matter what it costs, for the rest of our lives. With Your help, we will never again seek the praise or applause of men or the material wealth of this world.
1951. He and his wife signed that contract with God, surrendering everything. Do you realize a couple of years before he died, he received an award, the Templeton Award, $1 million. And people asked him, "What did you do with the money"? You know what he said? "That was decided years ago. In 1951, I surrendered everything to the Lord".
So when he received the $1 million, there's no struggle, because he gave everything to the Lord. And Bill Bright is very strategic. He does not just give money to any charitable institution. He gives money to ministries that will disciple, transform people for the glory of God. My friend, have you made the most important decision of your life? According to Dr. Bill Bright, that is the most important decision of their lives, husband and wife, when they surrendered everything to the Lord.
Have you surrendered everything? Is Jesus really your Master? Yes or no? I want to give you a chance as we close in prayer, that today you will make a choice. You know, the Bible tells us in the book of Joshua. This is something that I want you to consider right now. Choose today whom you will serve. The truth is you are always serving something: either money, your family, your career. But you are choosing, you need to choose who will be your master. For me and my house, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
You see, many years ago, my wife and I made a commitment. I made a personal commitment: I will do what God wants me to do, I'll go where He wants me to go. That was my commitment with God. And God never forgot my commitment. That's why when He called me to start CCF, yes. But have you met Jesus, your Master? Do you know He's your Heavenly Father?
Let's bow our heads and pray. If you have not made this choice to surrender your all to the Lord, God is saying today, you make a choice. Be wise because life is short, but you can only protect yourself when you really make the most important decision. Surrender everything to the Lord. If God has been speaking to you, or you want to reaffirm that commitment, or this is your first time, I want to pray for you.
Lord, I thank You. You are an amazing Father. You promise to provide for all our needs, food, clothing, shelter provided we seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness. I now pray we will seek first Your kingdom, Your agenda, and Your righteousness. And help us experience day by day Your blessing. Day by day, Your faithfulness. In Jesus' name we all pray. Amen. And amen.