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MOTHS, RUST & THIEVES
by Pastor Mike Fortune
January 18, 2014
- Earth is really broken (Matthew 6:19) Attached Father / Bride and Amy Wells / Bride Pics; Tim Keller quote
- Heaven, like earth, is real (Matthew 6:20; John 14:1-3)
- Treasure God (Matthew 6:21; Zechariah 3:2; Jude 1:23; John 10:27-29) John Piper quote
Matthew 6:19-21
19"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Tim Keller in Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
We are to meet and move through suffering without shock and surprise, without denial of our sorrow and weakness, without resentment or paralyzing fear; yet also without acquiescence or capitulation, without surrender or despair.
John 14:1-3 (KJV)
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Zechariah 3:2
2 And the LORD said to Satan, "I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire."
Jude 1:23
23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment.
John 10:27-29 (Scripture Reading)
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand.
John Piper, God Is The Gospel, page 47
Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel.