“Where To Invest” – The Word – Psalm 1:1-3

We are continuing this week to talk about investing for eternity.  Last week I started by asking you how you can know the difference between investing and wasting and we talked about how you first need to know the purpose of your investment.  I want to start today by asking how you know if you are successful in something.  How do you know if, at this point in your life, you would be considered a success?

Well, again, I think we need to know what the purpose of your life has been.  If the purpose of your life has been to make a lot of money, then just look at your bank account and your stock portfolio and at all your stuff.  Do you have a lot of it?  Well, then good for you, Mr. Success Story.

But what if your goal in life is to minister to widows and orphans like we talked about a few weeks ago?  Success in that will look way different than a big bank account.  But whatever your goal in life, you want to be successful in that.  Nobody wakes up in the morning and wants to fail at their goal.  We strive toward our goals because we believe that will make us happy, right?

I researched the winners of the lottery and found out some interesting things.  Of course, when I say “research” I mean I Googled it.  I was shocked at what I found out.  Dozens and dozens of similar stories popped up so I just grabbed one.  Bob Harrel, Jr won $31 million and started out really well.  He donated some of it and loaned some to relatives but within 2 years, he was broke.  Being broke led to a failed marriage and the failed marriage led to suicide less than 2 years after winning.  I picked that one because it was pretty tame and could be said from the pulpit.  Most of the other stories about people winning the lottery ended too gruesomely. 

It was story after story of people who had way more than enough money to live comfortably the rest of their lives.  It was financial security.  They bought everything they wanted and person after person after person said, “I wish I had never bought that lottery ticket.”  Why do you think that is?  Is it the curse of the lottery, as some people think?  The Bible tells us a lot about money.  We all know the verse that says the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil but that verse goes on to say, “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

That pretty much nails it, huh?  The richest man in the world at the time wrote in Ecclesiastes, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”  (Solomon, Ecc. 5:10)   Have you ever had poison ivy or poison oak?  It itches so bad!  But you can scratch and scratch and the itch just never goes away.  That is just how money is.  Make all you want.  It will never be enough.

So, if money won’t make us happy, where should we look?  What do we need to be doing to be happy in this world?  What if I told you I know where to look to be happy in this life and that, as a bonus, it will make you happy in the life to come?  Sound pretty good?  I know.  I ought to write a book about it, huh?  The problem is, it’s already been written and it is probably right in front of you.

Turn to the wonderful book of Psalms and let’s see what the Bible says we should do to find happiness in this life and the next.  Psalms is right in the middle of your Bible in the Old Testament.  Turn to the very first Psalm, Psalm 1, and let’s read just verses 1-3.  Psalm 1:1-3.

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers, ² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night. ³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

Have I told you before that I have the best job in the world?  I do.  I really do.  I love everything about this job.  How many of you can say that about your job?  I love it for any number of reasons but one thing I love is that part of my job is to study the Bible.  How great is that?  Doesn’t sound like much fun to you?  Let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed this past week studying this passage and it wasn’t until the end of the week that I figured out why.

The reason I enjoyed it so much is actually written in the passage I was studying.  In fact, it is the very first word.  Do you see it?  “Blessed” is the first word and almost every commentary I looked at made mention of this word.  Do you know what it means?  It is the same word that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Blessed are the meek, the merciful,” etc.

When we think about the word “blessed” I don’t think we give it enough credit.  We think it means that God gives us a condescending little smile and we are blessed.  We are blessed to be able to come here and sit quietly and we are blessed to be able to pray and stuff like that.  That’s not necessarily wrong but it just doesn’t do the word justice.  It would help if the word always came with three exclamation points and a smiley face after it.

It would help us to understand the magnitude of this word if every time we read it, we sing, “We are the champions!” afterward.  Do you want to try that?  It might help.  No?  Ok.  Let’s just say that this word is big.  It means happy.  It means joyful.  And not just a little bit.  It means satisfied and content and very happy.  So, no wonder I was having a good time this past week.  I was studying a passage that talks about how to have a good time by studying the Bible!  Duh!

So, let’s see what we have to do to be happy and blessed in this life and how it spills over into the next life.  It starts out by telling us what not to do and it shows three stages; a regression, really.  To be blessed and happy we should not walk in the council of the wicked.  It starts off with just a casual walk.  You don’t really intend to do evil or be evil or even associate with those who do but you find yourself just kind of walking in the same way.  Today we might say that you’re just hanging out.

Just hanging out leads to standing in the way of sinners.  It’s like you were walking along and somebody starts to talk to you and so you then decide to just stop and give them a listen.  You know, just for a minute so as not to be rude.  Pretty soon you find yourself sitting in the seat of mockers.  You were walking along minding your own business and stopped for just a second and you let your guard down and now you find yourself right in the middle of it.

We have all been there.  You didn’t start out with sin on your mind but before you know it one thing leads to another and you find yourself, mentally or even physically in a place you don’t need to be.  How many times have you said that?  “One thing just led to another…”  How do you feel when you find yourself there?  Certainly not blessed.  You feel miserable.  Or at least you should.  A believer will always feel miserable at this point.

I want you to think about how you feel when you are at this point; when you find yourself swept away by sin that you didn’t intend to do but one thing just led to another.  How are you going to keep that from happening again?  How are you going to keep from doing that and feeling that way again?  Is it through positive thinking?  Maybe you need to get out and exercise.  Maybe that will keep it from happening again.  Is that what the Bible says?  Is that what Jesus did?  When Satan came to Him and tempted Him did He just turn that frown upside down and think happy thoughts?  Did He just go for a jog?  No.  What did Jesus do? He quoted scripture.

According to Matthew 4, three times Satan tempted Jesus and three times Jesus said, “It is written.  It is written.  It is written.  Now get away from me Satan!”  And Satan left Him.  Once, Satan even quoted scripture to Him, trying to twist the meaning but Jesus knew scripture and set him straight.  Jesus had invested time in the Word of His Father and He knew what the scripture said and was able to remain sinless because of it.

You know how miserable it feels to find yourself in sin once again.  How do you feel when you overcome temptation?  Some of you are thinking, “I don’t really remember.  There was that time once back in ’84…”  You feel great when you overcome, don’t you?  Psalm 119 says, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word. ¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands. ¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you. ¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
    teach me your decrees. ¹³ With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth. ¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches. ¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
    and consider your ways. ¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
    I will not neglect your word.”

Now go back to verse 2 of Psalm 1.  It says don’t be like the guy who walks, stands and then sits with sinners “² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”  He starts out saying what we should not do but then tells us what we should do if we want to be blessed; if we want to be happy; if we want to be sinless and if we want to be like Jesus.  He agrees with the other psalmist in 119.  He tells us to invest in God’s Word.

Read it.  Delight in it.  Meditate on it.  Deuteronomy 6:7-9 says to “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

I heard a story that happened years ago.  When their son left for his freshman year at Duke University, his parents gave him a Bible, assuring him it would be a great help. Later, as he began sending them letters asking for money, they would write back telling him to read his Bible, citing chapter and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible--but he still needed money. When he came home for a semester break, his parents told him they knew he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by the verses they had cited in their letters.  John T. Spach, in Reader's Digest.


You’re probably not going to find cash in your Bible every time you read it but you will find the way to true happiness when you read it and apply it to your life.  Charles Spurgeon wrote about this passage.  He said, “Is your delight in the law of God?  Do you study God’s Word?  Do you make it the man of your right hand – your best companion and hourly guide?  If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.”


So, the psalmist starts off by telling us what not to do.  Don’t be hanging out with people who are going to drag you down.  Then he tells us what we need to do.  We should read, study and meditate on the Bible day and night.  Then he closes by telling us the benefits of doing what we should do.  He says the person who reads, studies and meditates on the Word of God will be like a tree planted by streams of water.


Have you ever seen a tumbleweed?  I know you’ve seen one on the old westerns but if you have ever seen one in person, you know they are all over the place.  Whichever way the wind blows is where they wind up; first over here, then over there and then up against the fence going nowhere.  Do you ever feel like that in your life?  Do you ever feel like you don’t know where you are going or what you are doing or you feel like you have no direction in your life?


Compare that to a tree that has been planted.  You have to make a bit of an investment in a good tree but when you do a good tree will last for years and years, growing and thriving and providing shade and beauty, unchanged by the wind or the hot sun or the freezing cold.  It stays put, healthy and happy.


I get asked some pretty strange questions sometimes when people find out I’m a pastor.  Rarely does anybody want to talk about what propitiation means or how to be redeemed or should we be amillenial or postmillenial.  Do you know what one of the most popular questions is that I get?  When someone hears I’m a pastor, I don’t know why but one of the most popular things to ask is, “So, what happened to the dinosaurs, huh?”  And they look at me like they really asked something profound.


Really?  Dinosaurs?  From Genesis to Revelation, that is the burning question in your mind.  I’ll just tell you right now about dinosaurs.  Who cares?  How is that going to bless me or change my life?  I look at those people who ask me questions like that and I see a tumbleweed.  I see somebody who is not grounded, planted and watered in the Word.  I see somebody who is all over the place and yet going nowhere.


I want to be a tree.  I want to be this tree that the psalmist talks about.  I want to be strong and firm and beautiful with fruit in season and a bright green leaf.  I want to prosper.  That is exactly what happens when we invest in the Word of Almighty God.  We become that tree and we become more like Jesus.  There’s nothing wrong with studying about dinosaurs and I plan to do just that as soon as I get the rest of this book figured out.


As soon as I understand all there is to know about grace, I’m gonna get on that.  As soon as I figure out how prayer works and all that we are going to do in Heaven and why God loves me and as soon as I have preached all the sermons there are about Christ and Him crucified, then I’ll check out what happened to dinosaurs but until then I want my delight to be in the love letter that is the Bible. 

I want to know more and more about Jesus so I can become more and more like Him and the more I study this book, the happier and blessed I become.  Investing in the Bible is one of those great double rewards.  Did you know that Bible study is a blessing here in this life and also in the life to come?  Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:8 that, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Serious Bible study can’t help but change you.  It transforms you into a new and different and better person.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  We are not saved by Bible study alone and Jesus didn’t die to make you a better person.  He died to make you a living person but if you want an abundant life like He promises in John 10:10 and if you want to be a strong and beautiful tree even when the harsh winds blow then you will make time for serious Bible study. 

Martin Luther said, “God is everywhere. However, He does not want you to reach out for Him everywhere but only in the Word. Reach out for it and you will grasp Him aright.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “He rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Seeking Him always begins with a relationship with Him.  You’ll never understand Him even if you memorize the whole Bible if you don’t have a relationship with Him.  I know I say this every week but don’t worry, I will say it again next week too.  It’s that important.  Jesus died on the cross to be the perfect sacrifice that the Father commands that we could never be.  You don’t have to understand everything in the Bible.  You just have to believe that.


Believe and repent of your sins.  Turn away from them and ask God for forgiveness today and invite Him into your life to be Lord and Savior.  Neither church membership nor Bible study will save you but you will never grow without them and you will never know the blessedness that comes when you invest in God’s Holy Word.

“Where To Invest” – The Church – Acts 4:32-33

I have a question for you.  How do you know when you are investing and when you are wasting?  What’s the difference in the two?  To completely answer that question, we need to determine what the purpose is of the investment.  If we are investing in the stock market, the purpose is obviously to invest money to make more money.  But that’s not always the point of investing.

Maybe you invest in a home security system.  You aren’t going to make money by doing that.  You spend money to give you and your family security.  Nothing wrong with that.  But what if you invest in a home security system and you still get robbed every weekend?  That’s a waste of money.  So, to know if you are wasting or investing, you first need to determine the purpose of the investment and then you need to see the result.

Charles Francis Adams, 19th century political figure and diplomat, kept a diary. One day he entered: "Went fishing with my son today--a day wasted." His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: "Went fishing with my father--the most wonderful day of my life!" The father thought he was wasting his time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time.  (Silas Shotwell, Homemade, September, 1987)

We recently started a new sermon series entitled, “Where To Invest”.  This is not a financial planner’s guide to making more money.  If you want that, I can give you the number to my friend Scott Parrish who can hook you up with some good places to do that but we are looking at what the Bible says about where to invest for eternal rewards.  If you could spend a few bucks and have it paid back to you every month for the rest of your life, you would say that was a good investment, right?

But what if you could spend, not just your money, but also your time or other resources and have that paid back to you for the rest of eternity?  None of us are guaranteed another breath in this life and any of us may die before we ever get to withdraw anything from our IRA’s or our savings accounts but eternity is waiting for all of us and God tells us where we should invest to make the most of our eternity.

Do you remember that old commercial that said, “When E.F. Hutton talks…people listen”?  Well, E.F. Hutton was a chump compared to the author of this book (the Bible) and when He speaks we definitely need to listen.  Last time we learned we should invest in widows and orphans and the helpless, according to the book of James.  This time let’s turn to the book of Acts in the New Testament and let’s see that the next place we should invest for eternal dividends is the church.

Acts 4:32-33.  Acts is after the gospel of John and just before Romans.  It’s on page 773 of most of the Bibles in the pews.  Acts 4:32-33 says, “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.”

Now, keep in mind what I said earlier about how to know if you are wasting or investing because I want you to test and see if the church is a good place to invest.  I said you first need to determine the purpose of the investment and then you need to see the result.   Now, when I say that the church is a great place to invest, what is your first thought?  “C’mon Ethel, let’s go.  He’s gonna talk about money again.  Money, money, money!”  Right?  Honestly, money is a part of it and I could spend the next hour talking about how you should tithe and how Jesus talked a lot about money but of all the things this church needs, I concern myself least with money.  I really do.  Do you know why?  Because God is loaded!

God Himself will invest in this church and He may or may not use you.  That’s between you and Him and so that’s all I’m going to say right now about money so you can just relax and take your hand off your wallet.  I’m not coming for it.  The first thing Dr. Luke points out in this passage is the first part of the investment equation when it comes to the church.  Look again at the first part of verse 32.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind.”  They were unified.  For a church to be a good investment they first have to be unified and that unity is a God-given gift.  That is obvious in this case, especially when you figure that there were anywhere between 5000-8000 people in the church at that time.  They still met in each other’s homes.  It wasn’t one big church meeting in a building but that makes the unity that much more amazing.

So, what does a church have to do to have that kind of unity?  Well, I’ll tell you what we have to do to have it and also what we have to do to lose it.  Did you know that Jesus prayed for our unity?  He did.  In John 17, one of the blockbuster, mega-chapters of the Bible, Jesus prays to the Father for Himself and for His disciples and also for us and what He prayed was that we would be unified.  He prayed in verses 20-21 that we may be one just as He and the Father are one.

So we too are unified by prayer because it is ultimately a gift from God but just before He prayed for unity He asked the Father in verse 17 to sanctify them, to set them apart, by the truth of His Word.  We find unity in truth.  There are any number of things to disagree about and to squabble about if you want to.  I, for one, think we have way too many vegetables at this church when we eat together but yet we can still be unified in the truth of God’s Word.

Because what is the purpose of this church?  Is it to have great lunches and parties and fun times on movie night or is it to preach truth to our community and around the world?  There is unity in truth and I pray for truth more than I pray for anything else because truth is enough!  Truth was enough to unify the first church and truth is enough to unify Christ Fellowship and Grace Fellowship and Bible Fellowship and Cowboy Fellowship down the road.

But do you know what the cause of disunity in a church is?  This may sound like a simple answer but the cause of disunity in a church is always sin.  When people in a church start fussing and fighting and leaving the church because they got their feelings hurt, you can always trace the problem back to sin if you go far enough.  It may be the sin of pride or gossip or envy or any number of other things but the best way to lose our unity is to let sin get a foot in the door.

I love and appreciate the unity that God has given this church.  You don’t have to visit too many other churches to see that our church really is unified and do you know what happens when a church is unified?  You’ll recognize this next aspect of investing in our church because this church is very much this way.  When a church is unified, it will be selfless.  Look at Acts 4:32 again.

They were unified and it says that “no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.”  That is selflessness.  They shared everything they had.  Most of you know I didn’t really want to go to Nicaragua and I had several reasons why I didn’t.  Mainly because I was selfish which is the opposite of selfless but one good reason I had was my concern for my dogs and my house.  I knew that y’all would all step up and take care of Sundays but who would take care of my dogs and my stuff while I was gone?  Also, how would I get to the airport?  These were real problems that could have been excuses to keep me home.  But enter Troy Pittman.

Troy took me to the airport at 2:30 in the morning and picked me up when I got home.  While I was gone, he fed and watered my dogs and took them for walks every day.  He mowed and weedeated my yard.  He took out the trash, got my mail, swept the floor.  He did everything that needed to be done and because I knew he was doing all that, I could relax and try to do the job I was supposed to be doing in Nicaragua.

When Acts says they shared everything they had, it includes time and talent, not just money.  Yes, money is a part of it but I couldn’t pay somebody to do what Troy did like he did it.  I know Troy cares about my dogs and he cares about my house and yard and he cares about me.  So his investment of time and energy and resources was an investment, not just in me and mine, but also in our church and in the lives of the people in Nicaragua.  It was an investment that will benefit him for all eternity.  He might even get a steak dinner out of it pretty soon too.

David says in Psalm 37 that the righteous are always generous and lend freely and that their inheritance will endure forever.  Let that sink in for a minute.  The Creator of all the universe; the owner of all the cattle on a thousand hills; the King of all kings wants to give you an inheritance that will last for eternity.  That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.  I don’t have to call my financial planner to ask him.  God said it.  David believed it and Luke wrote about it.  I’m in!

Now let’s go back to what Luke wrote in Acts 4:33 and see just what happens when the church is unified and selfless.  Look at verse 33 again.  ^“With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”  This church is a well-oiled machine.  Every member is doing what they can and what they are supposed to be doing and because the church is unified and selfless, the leaders of the church don’t have to worry about anything.  They just do what they are supposed to do – testifying to the resurrection of Jesus – and they do so with great, God-given power.

That is a church that knows its purpose.  The people were investing in themselves as a church and the church was investing in doing God’s will and God was blessing the church with power to increase for the sake of the Kingdom and that’s just fun!  Charles Kingsley said, “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”

Well I could get enthusiastic about seeing a church live out its purpose and seeing the results of that being people coming to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.  People ask all the time how our church is doing and I usually tell them how much fun it is.  It’s fun, not because we play games and watch movies but because I see you investing in this church and I see God blessing that investment and I see lives being changed and that’s just on this side of Heaven.

I see a unified church that has proven itself to be selfless in its giving; sharing what you own and giving to others that you know will never be able to repay you.  When you use the things and the gifts that God has given you to do that it frees others up to use their gifts in other ways.  Romans 12 says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously.”

Now did you catch that first sentence?  “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”  We have gifts according to His grace.  Then that takes us right back to Acts 4 where at the very end it says “…and much grace was upon them all.”  When the church is living out its purpose and getting the results that God has ordained us to receive then all the people are involved.  All the people are giving generously according to their gifts.  The church is unified in the truth of God’s Word and the Word is being taught, preached, spoken and sung and through all of that the people are blessed, the community is blessed, the world is blessed and God’s grace is the life-blood, the oil in that well-oiled machine and that’s just fun!

One day while we were in Nicaragua, Jody, the missionary, asked me to go with him to the grocery store to get some water so I went with him.  Everything about the market was different than in the states.  They sold different things and sold it in different ways and in a different language.  It smelled different.  It looked different.  Nothing was like I’m used to – until we got to the counter to pay.

Do you know how they ring things up in Nicaragua?  With a barcode scanner just like we use.  He dragged the product across the reader and it made the familiar beep and I thought how strange it was to have everything be so different except that one little thing.

I think grace is sort of like that.  We are all so different.  We look and act and smell and talk different.  We all have different gifts.  Some people even ride Harleys instead of Hondas.  It’s crazy but were all different and yet we all need; we all have to have God’s amazing grace.

G.W. Knight said, “When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award--yet receives such a gift anyway--that is a good picture of God's unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God.”

When the church is united, it becomes selfless.  When a church is united and selfless, the people start to become powerful witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ and when that church is doing all that and hitting on all cylinders, fulfilling its purpose, you start to see results because of God’s grace.  It says God’s grace was upon them all.  I need that.   You need that.  We all do because we can’t even do church like we should without His grace, nor could the first church here in Acts.

I pray all the time, “Lord, we may not be doing everything right or like we are supposed to and if that is so then please show us.  But until then, Lord, we just need your grace.”  We need God’s grace in everything we do.  He told us that the very best we can do is like filthy rags to Him. (Isaiah 64:6)

Romans 3:23 says we are all sinners.  We have all done things that displease God.  Romans 6:23 then says that what we deserve for that sin – the wages of it – is eternal death, meaning death in Hell for all eternity.  That’s bad news, isn’t it?  But the Good News is that John 3:16 says that God sent His only Son to die on the cross to pay for our sins and all we have to do is believe it and put our faith and trust in Him and we will have eternal life in Heaven.  That’s grace!  We don’t deserve that.  You can’t be good enough.  You can’t work hard enough.  It doesn’t matter a wit if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds or not.  It is by grace we are saved, through faith, so that no man can brag about it.  Have you done that?  If not step out right now and come down here and let’s talk about it some more.  There is nothing more important for us to do.  Thank you, Lord, for your grace.