Matthew chapter 6 in your Bibles contains two of our verses we're studying today. And this is part three, the final installment of the generosity journey. And I hope that this has been a blessing to you as teaching and you haven't felt coerced or guilted or shamed. We doing okay with that? And today I want to ask the question and answer it.

What are you taking with you? What are you taking with you when your life is over?

Not your house, not your phone, not your retirement plan. Jesus says in Matthew 6, do not lay up treasures on earth.

Why does he say that? Because none of it makes it past the grave. So here's the question. Are you living for what you're going to leave behind? Or are you living for what you will carry into eternity?

This message is not about giving. It's not about losing money. It's about living on mission. It's not about guilt. It's about gain.

So today going to talk about how to invest your life in what really lasts. Does that sound like a good plan? Yes or no? And the Bible gives us three instructions, three of them to answer, what are you taking with you? Number one, stop hoarding.

What won't last.

This is Jesus in Matthew 6:19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. So our Lord here starts with a sober command, don't lay up treasure here. Now when he says that, is Christ scolding hard work? Yes or no?

Is he trying to sway us away from saving money? Yes or no? No. He's confronting misplaced trust. The issue isn't what we have, it's where we stash it.

He says everything here is vulnerable. What about moths? They ruin your fine clothing. What about rust? It corrodes your tools and your cars and your trophies.

What about thieves? They take what's not theirs. And sometimes they never get caught. Translation Earth is a bad safe. It's an unreliable vault in which to store your treasure.

If we keep our treasure here, brothers and sisters, we're always one disaster away from loss, a job cut. Do those happen, yes or no? Do stocks plunge? Do diagnoses come? Do tornadoes hit all the time?

Here. All it takes is a moment and it's gone. A few years ago, a man in Illinois attended a public storage unit auction. You've probably seen this kind of thing, storage wars and others. When people stop paying the bill on their storage locker, the facility has the right to sell off the contents.

Most of the time it's a gambler. You might End up with somebody's broken treadmill or three boxes of Beanie Babies. Who knows? But this man bid $70 for a dusty, unclaimed unit, and he won the bid. And when he opened it, he found some old furniture.

He found a couple of dusty boxes, but tucked away in the back was a rusty safe. He pried it open, and he could not believe his eyes. Inside was over $500,000 in cash, tightly wrapped bundles, crisp $100 bills, untouched. Well, word spread of that quickly. The news crews showed up.

The investigators combed the unit. Nobody could confirm the original owner's identity, and nobody knew why that kind of money would be there. One thing was clear. Someone stored a fortune and never came back for it. That safe sat in the dark for years.

The original owner, we don't know, may have died. Here's what we do know. He didn't forget the combination. Just forget it and leave it there. But he never came back for it.

Maybe he died suddenly, I don't know. But they didn't come back later. And in the end, a stranger walked off with their treasure for 70 bucks. This is not an advertisement to go auction off storage unit lockers. It's not going to happen for you.

But what we think we're saving might be what someone else ends up sorting through. I went to my first estate sale a few weeks ago, and watching people just go through this lady's drawers was hard for me. It just felt wrong. What felt secure may have just been buried in a box, never to be opened by you again. So Jesus says, don't live like this world is your forever home.

One of the richest men who ever lived was King Solomon in the Bible. And he gives us a picture. In Proverbs 23, verse 5. He asked this question, will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings.

And if you don't know that, have some children, and they fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

If you've ever watched a congressional tax bill make the circuit through Washington, if you've ever incurred an unexpected medical expense, if you've ever had an emergency repair bill gut your bank account in one swipe, then you have lived. Proverbs 23:5. Your stuff can just mount up on wings like eagles and fly away from you. Money doesn't just drift, brothers and sisters. It disappears.

It vanishes quickly. Is Solomon mocking wealth in this verse? No, he's warning us not to trust it.

Hoarding is tempting. We collect a few things that we like and others find valuable, and we're like we got to hold on to this. But it's also exhausting and in the end it's futile. Stop hoarding what won't last. In 2018, a man named Rick lived in a town, I kid you not, called Paradise, California.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Paradise, California, a small town that would soon make national headlines. When the wildfire that they named the campfire tore through paradise with deadly speed. Rick was a passionate baseball card collector. Any collectors in here?

Anybody? You're afraid I'm going to stay for anybody? All right, he's a baseball card collector. He had spent 30 years carefully building his collection. He had signed rookie cards.

He had autographed baseballs. His memorabilia of was worth tens of thousands of dollars. In his house, he built a temperature controlled room just for the collection. Every piece was cataloged. Every single unit was protected in its own covering.

And he used to say it was his retirement plan. He joked that since I don't have children, these cards will take care of me one day. But when the campfire came, it moved faster than anybody expected. He only had minutes to collect his wife. Glad.

He grabbed her and a small bag and they fled. Everything else left behind. The fire burned so hot that it melted the allegedly fireproof steel vault. All of it Rick's life's passion reduced to ashes. Later, in an interview, Rick said, I thought it was all so valuable, but now I realize I gave the best of my energy, the bulk of my weekends and my heart to pieces of cardboard.

And then he said something powerful in the interview. He said, a wish I had invested that passion in people, not possessions.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Is Jesus saying money is bad? Yes or no? No. He's saying it's fragile.

And if our hearts are wrapped around fragile things, what happens when those things break? It breaks our hearts too. So don't stockpile what can burn. Send it ahead where the fire can't touch it. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6, 7, for we brought nothing into this world, and and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

When you were born, you had exactly zero dollars and zero cents in your pockets because you were naked and didn't have any pockets. And when you die, you're going to have zero dollars and zero cents to take with you into the next world. That's not cynical. It is liberating. It is a reminder.

Your house, your accounts, your reputation, they're not going with you, but the way you use them if you did it for others, if you did it for the Lord Jesus, that will go with you. We can't keep our stuff, but we can convert it into eternal reward.

When I was studying for the sermon, I read about James and Cheryl. They lived in a beautiful home outside Dallas. Five bedrooms, custom kitchen, big kitchen, custom everything, big old Texas size home. And when their kids were grown and now their mortgage was almost paid off, they were beginning to wonder, what's our next logical step and the American dream is more comfort for us. But something began stirring in their hearts.

They were studying the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter six, much like we're doing today. And it hit James and Cheryl together. And here's their quote. We don't want to live out our final chapters stockpiling more stuff. We want to invest in the kingdom, end quote.

So they did something countercultural. They sold their dream house and they downsized into a modest home. One of those that if you drove by, it wouldn't turn your head. Just enough square footage for the two of them. And what did they do with the proceeds?

Well, they didn't just pad a savings account, brothers and sisters, they gave it away. They funded the planting of two new churches. They paid off the medical debt for five families in their community. They helped a seminary student finish school without any student loans. And they supported missionaries in three different countries.

When somebody asked James and Cheryl if they missed their old house, if they regretted the decision they made, James smiled and said, I want to clarify something for you. We didn't lose comfort. We found purpose.

They stopped hoarding what wouldn't last. And they started giving what could not be lost. They believed Jesus when he said, the treasure you give now becomes joy. You will celebrate forever. So I want you to hear our Lord clearly this morning, friends, stop hoarding what won't last.

And now number two, start sending what can't be lost.

Listen to me. Jesus is not anti wealth, he's anti wasting it.

He gives us a radical truth and we say it this way. We learned this from Randy Alcorn and he learned it from Jesus. You can't take your money with you, but you can send it on ahead. We call that the treasure principle. Well, our first verse that we looked at was Matthew 6:19.

Matthew 6:20 is the positive application of the negative warning of Matthew 6:19. Here's 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. I don't know if you've noticed this, but the Lord Jesus is making an investment recommendation here in this verse, and he's not pitching stocks and he's not selling real estate. He's talking about eternity.

He says, do you want real security in your life? Then stop stashing your treasure where everything breaks and everything rots and everything gets stolen. Put it where nothing can touch it. In the ancient world, moths ate your clothes, rust ruined your tools, and thieves stole your peace of mind. Not much has changed, has it?

Markets still crash, insurance falls short, passwords get hacked, people lose their debit cards, and even the stuff that you do manage to keep, you eventually lose it when you die. Because you die. But friends, what about heaven? Heaven is safe. You've never seen a heavenly foreclosure or a for sale sign in heaven.

Nothing rots there. Nothing rusts there. Nothing gets repossessed there. The accounts in heaven never close. And here's the kicker.

Every gift given in Jesus name ends up there.

So the Lord is not trying to rob us of earthly joy by saying, give your stuff away. He's trying to rescue you from earthly loss. He's saying, why settle for what's temporary when I'm offering what is eternal Man. I think one of the most important verses in all the Bible when you teach a congregation about generosity is Philippians 4:17. Are you ready for this?

Paul writes to the Philippians, not that I seek the gift. I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. That's a verse for everybody who's skeptical and thinks that a preacher like me is preaching a sermon like this to separate you from your money. I would say to you, I am not seeking a gift today. I am seeking the fruit that abounds to your account.

Paul just dropped a financial phrase into a church letter and he said, look, here's. Let me put this in modern language. Not trying to get something from you. I'm trying to grow something for you. That's what.

Not that I seek the gift, I seek the fruit that abounds to your account means. Let me say that again. I'm not trying to get something from you. I'm trying to grow something for you. In other words, the Apostle Paul is not playing fundraiser here.

He's not buttering them up so that they'll write another check or send another gift by Venmo. He's after something deeper. You know what it is? He wants them to get a return on their spiritual investments.

R O S I the word he uses in our verse is account. That word in the original language is literally a financial ledger. Term. So Paul's painting a picture. Every time we give, God writes it down in our ledger, in our account, in his ledger.

And he doesn't do it out of obligation, he does it out of joy. And we are accruing eternal dividends. It's fruit that compounds with every faithful act. And I don't want you to miss the apostles tone here. The Apostle Paul is genuinely excited for these little churches.

He sees their generosity as proof that the gospel is working. Their generosity is proof that grace has gone deep. And it's proof that their hands have joined with their hearts. Let me ask you something, is this manipulation? No, it is multiplication he's saying.

I'm not chasing your money, I'm cheering for your harvest.

Let me illustrate this from the Old Testament. In the middle of a three years long devastating drought famine that caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Israel, a widow in Zarephath, across the Jordan river was down to her last little handful of flour and a few drops of oil left. She wasn't planning a feast, she was preparing a farewell. One last small little itty bitty meal for her and her son. And then as she put it, and I quote, that we may eat it and die, end quote.

That was the only bullet point on her to do list for that day.

It's hard for me to even imagine that kind of desperation in someone. The kind where you're rationing out crumbs and facing the end with no help in sight. Then the prophet Elijah shows up and he's sent by God. And I just still can't believe what he asked this lady. It's full of audacity.

It astonishes me. It makes me honestly, if it wasn't for the Bible, I'd be really, really awkward about this.

He says to that lady, bring me a small cake first, then make something for yourself and your son first. There's not enough to make two.

That's an impossible ask until you remember who's doing the asking. It's the prophet Elijah. And who does he speak for? You're in church and it rhymes with shmod. Nailed it.

Somehow through faith in this woman that we're not told much about. She obeys the prophet. She gives a little of the little she has before. She knows what God will do my soul. And the Lord honors that act of surrender.

You know, the Bible says that the jar of flour never ran out and the oil never dried up until the famine was over for her. We call that a miracle. It wasn't hard for God Day after day, there's enough we pray. Give us today our daily bread. She gave first, and God provided faithfully.

The order matters. She didn't hoard. She didn't hedge. She gave and God multiplied. That's the heart of generosity.

It's not about giving out of surplus. She didn't have any surplus. It's about trusting God enough to give even when you feel stretched thin. Elijah was not trying to exact a gift from that poor widow to benefit himself. He was seeking fruit that would fill up her account in heaven.

That is the Old Testament story of Philippians 4:17.

So let me say it again. Start sending what can't be lost. And then finally, today, number three, the third instruction. Give yourself before you give your stuff. This is Second Corinthians 8:3:5.

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. Who is the us? In these verses, Paul's talking about the Macedonian churches. Let me tell you about the Macedonian churches. No buildings probably would have filled up.

Maybe this section of people in each of those churches, and that was it. Tiny, tiny congregations. No money, no wealth in it. Probably no ministry talent, probably weak leadership. Just a little ragtag group of folks trusting in God because who else could they trust in?

They were poor and persecuted and overlooked, and yet they became the model of generosity that the Apostle Paul writes about in his Treatise on giving in 2nd Corinthians 8:9. He says, they gave beyond their ability. Remember, I'm preaching about generosity. But that's not even the most stunning part. The line that jumps off the page is this.

They first gave themselves to the Lord. Before the offering plate passed by, before the missionary trip left, before the monthly tithes came in, they gave their hearts. Now, was their generosity motivated by guilt? Was it motivated by pressure? No, it was worship.

They didn't just give money, they gave allegiance. And Paul says that's what unlocked everything else. Let me give you a part of the verse of Romans 12:1. Present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Paul urges us to present our bodies, which is our whole selves, as living sacrifices.

Friends, that's more than a poetic phrase. It's a personal call. Let me tell you. Present your bodies equals give yourself. It's the same idea.

We don't just give our finances. We give our hands. We give our time. We give our presence. We give our platforms.

We give even our relationships. You just say Lord, I'm on the altar. Use all of me.

Does God want your wallet? No. He wants way more than that. He wants you. Once you're his, your stuff naturally follows.

You know what else happens? Your preferences change to his preferences.

A businessman sat through a mission sermon. He was convicted by what he heard, but he was unsure what to do with it. He didn't feel called to preach. He didn't know how to sing. He already gave a lot of money, but his life still felt detached somehow.

So after praying, he opened his digital calendar on his phone and he held it up above his head and he said, lord, I give you this. These hours are yours. He cleared his lunch hour twice a week and he invited a few young men from his church who just kind of came at church. They didn't do anything there. And he began discipling them one by one, pouring into them his wisdom and his concern for them.

And within two years, five of those young men, now all were serving in the church somewhere. Two of them went into full time ministry. One of them baptized his own father. All because a man didn't just give his money, he gave himself.

I want to ask you again, do we have to be rich to be generous? Yes or no? We simply must be willing to submit to the Lord. Say, not my will, O Lord, but thine.

Because when our hearts are surrendered, generosity ceases to be a strategy and it becomes a symptom of our walk with God.

When we stop asking, well, how much do I have to give? And we start saying, how much of this can God use? And that's when everything changes. So Paul says, give yourself before you give your stuff. In conclusion, do you believe me?

I ain't lying to you. At the end of our lives, someone else is going to get our money. Someone else is going to sit on our furniture. Someone else is going to drive our cars. Someone else is going to log in with our passwords.

But what about our sacrifices? What about our generosity? Those go with us. Jesus says, there's a treasure that can't be destroyed. There's a treasure that can't be stolen.

There's a treasure that cannot be diminished. So don't ask, how much do I have. Ask, what am I taking with me?

You're not giving things away, you're sending them forward. And here's my last word to you. Listen to me very carefully. Five minutes after you see Jesus face to face, you will never regret what you gave to him.

You received that word today. Well, let's all close our Bibles. Make all the Noise. We can right now. I mean, just do it.

Look, I want you to look on that ministry card.

Some of you need to become Christians. Some of you need to become a part of our church. You need to find your way back to God. You need to be baptized. On the screen, I think we have this graphic.

If you can find it, there's one with a QR code on may come up there. If not, mark that on your card. If the QR code comes up, you can scan it and it'll help you walk. There it is, right there. Or you can text the word grow.

But if you just scan that QR code, you need to make one of those decisions on that card. It'll walk you through that, give you some resources, and get you going in our queue to help you. Let's stand together. Prayer team. Ministry members, come to the front.

We're gonna pray for people after the service.

Y' all, come on now.

Look, you know that the third week of every month is gonna be a little bit longer of a church service, but it did feel long to you. You okay? I appreciate you being. You know, we wouldn't want to give God a few more minutes. I mean, right?

You know how that goes.

As we pray for people today, we're going to. I'm going to pray. We're going to be dismissed. And look, enjoy your small groups this week. We had one of the largest attendances of any small group week in the history of our church last week.

And there's room for you. Let's bow in prayer. Father, we thank you for all the ordinary means of grace that happened in this room today. We give you glory for it. We want to walk with Jesus.

Don't let the enemy steal the seed that was planted today in Jesus name. Amen. See you next week.-

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Come and join us this Sunday at the Great Commission Church for a truly remarkable and uplifting experience.  Great Commission Church is a family-friendly church in Olive Branch, MS. Great Commission Church is not just any ordinary place of worship; it's a vibrant community where faith comes alive, hearts are filled with love, and lives are transformed. Our doors are wide open, ready to welcome you into the warm embrace of our congregation, where you'll discover the true essence of fellowship and spirituality. At Great Commission Church, we are more than just a congregation; we are a family united by a common mission – to follow the teachings of Christ and spread His love to the world. As you step inside Great Commission Church, you'll find a sanctuary that nurtures your faith and encourages you to be part of something greater than yourself.

We believe in the power of coming together as a community to worship, learn, and serve. Whether you're a long-time believer or just starting your spiritual journey, Great Commission Church welcomes people from all walks of life. Our vibrant services are filled with inspiring messages, beautiful music, and heartfelt prayers that will uplift your soul. Every Sunday at Great Commission Church is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God and connect with others who share your faith and values.

At Great Commission Church, we believe that faith is not just a solitary endeavor but a shared experience that strengthens and enriches us all. Our church is a place where you can find purpose, belonging, and the encouragement to live a life in accordance with Christ's teachings. Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church and experience the transformative power of faith in action. Be part of a loving and supportive community that is committed to making a positive impact in our world. Together, we strive to fulfill the great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. We look forward to having you with us at Great Commission Church this Sunday, where faith, love, and community intersect in a truly amazing way.

Great Commission Church is a non-denominational, family-friendly Christian church located in Olive Branch, Mississippi. We are a short drive from Germantown, Southaven, Collierville, Horn Lake, Memphis, Fairhaven, Mineral Wells, Pleasant Hill, Handy Corner, Lewisburg and Byhalia. Great Commission Church is conveniently located, making it easy to find and attend. Many people have even called it their go-to “church near me” or the "Church nearby" because of how accessible it is and how quickly it feels like home.

See you Sunday at Great Commission Church in Olive Branch, Mississippi!