Today we continue our study in the Word of God in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 to 21. We study then the words of the Lord Jesus that we are doing systematically week by week. And if you wonder why we are studying this portion today, the reason is quite simple. It's because we have in our systematic study come to this particular passage today. And I would like to welcome any persons who are here for the first time, who are new in our midst. I hope you really do feel at home with us.
We are today in Matthew chapter 6, verse 19. The passage up to verse 18 we studied already before we studied the Lord's Prayer, as you may remember. And so we will come now to verse 19.
We read Matthew chapter 6, verse 19: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
In these words, we will have to examine some very important things that the Lord Jesus says to us, and very appropriately at Christmas, where we have become very accustomed to the whole commercialized thing of Christmas. It's all things, it's all presents. And everywhere the department stores and the shops are screaming at us, telling us what a marvelous bargain they have right now. All kinds of sales are trying to tempt the money out of our pockets. So by the time we are finished with that, I guess there isn't very much left that we can store up, at least not in the way of money, maybe in the way of things that you don't particularly need anyway and can keep till next Christmas.
So we have to look into these words. When Jesus says to us, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth," at this point, we want to examine this in some detail, because it's going to be very important for our lives. Because what Jesus is doing here is that He is presenting our faith with a powerful challenge. Let's continue to see what kind of challenge this is.
You see, the reason why we store things up, why we store up money, why we store up property, is for the sake of security. And anyone who wants to serve God, but is concerned about securing his future, I can tell you right now, dear brother and sister, you are no use to God at all. Because your faith does not meet the challenge. You are no use to God. You can forget about serving God. Because such people are just no use in God's work. The Lord Jesus in this passage is going to face us with a tremendous challenge to our faith. And as we go on, I think you will begin to see what the Lord Jesus means.
The Lord Jesus uses our everyday life problems — big everyday problems — to shine a spiritual X-ray on whether our faith is genuine or not. Many people say they are willing to serve the Lord, but they feel insecure about their future. They say, "Let me first store up a lot of money, or at least a few thousand dollars I can put in the bank, and then I will come out to serve the Lord." How do you know two thousand dollars is enough, or four thousand is enough? Maybe four thousand is not enough, or twelve thousand is needed. Twelve thousand — how long can that last? Maybe it's not enough for my family. If I'm a single person, no problem. But with a family of several mouths to feed, it won't do. So store some more money — where do you stop? I say to such brothers and sisters: you have already failed in the Lord Jesus' challenge of faith. People like this — God does not want to use you. Don't say you want to serve the Lord, because the Lord doesn't want to use you. You have no faith to serve the Lord. How can you do the Lord's work? You cannot withstand His spiritual challenge. You have already failed the spiritual exam.
Earthly treasure is corruptible and it is vulnerable. Corruptible, that is, moth and rust do attack it and destroy it. As many times mentioned, look at your beautiful car outside there. See how shiny it is? And within a year or two, the salt, the rust, the water will have done its work and you'll have great big rusty holes in the side of it. No matter what you do with it, how you fight against it, the rust will win. The day is just a matter of time. If it's not the rust, then it will just wear out. It is vulnerable because the thieves, the robbers are there waiting, like vultures to descend upon it.
Last year, shortly before we left England, there was in the newspaper a great flash of a story. And that was that a bunch of very skilled robbers had gotten down into the American Express vault in London. These underground vaults secured with all kinds of electronic safety devices. Oh, we have clever crooks in these days who know a lot about electronics, you know. You've got electronics men trying to prevent people stealing your stuff, and you've got electronics men trying to get in and steal your stuff. And in the battle of the minds, all too often it's the crooks that win.
Well, what these crooks did in London was that they hired a flat neatly in position next door to the American Express. And there's no law against hiring rooms next door to the American Express. And from there they went through the floor and down into the vault, sideways and into the American Express safe. They disarmed all the electronic devices and they made off with nobody knows how many millions. Because as you know, safety boxes are entirely confidential. Not even the bank knows what's inside the safety box. We only knew when some reporters asked some of these desperate people, "What did you lose?" Well, what they cared to tell us, if they were not afraid of the tax man going after them, was already staggering. One lady said she had lost a quarter of a million pounds in deposits of diamonds, jewelry, gold, whatever it was she had inside there. A quarter of a million pounds at that time was over $500,000, half a million dollars. All her savings, all her riches was put into this, what she thought was absolutely safe. Down there, underground, even the bombs came down and wouldn't have hit it. Ha! Who knows, the crooks got in. Exactly as it says, they dug a hole and got inside, exactly using the words that Jesus used. They dug their way right through the wall and made off with all the valuables.
To this day, as far as I know, these people were in court. And what is more, the reporter made a point of asking some of them, "Were your valuables insured?" And of course, in most cases, they were not insured because they thought that the bank vault was very safe. No crook can get in there. But they did. So the riches in this world, always remember, are vulnerable. And they are corruptible. One way or the other, you're going to lose them. And if you don't lose them in one of these two ways, then when you die, you are not going to take one single cent with you. As the Bible says, "Naked I came into this world, naked I go out. I take absolutely nothing."
It makes me think of another interesting incident, that every time I think about it, I can't help smiling. It was an incident that my father told me about. In the war years in China, in war years, if you don't get robbed, then the enemy soldiers might do the job for you. And there was this gentleman who decided on a very clever way to carry his fortune around with him, such fortune as he had. And this fortune he reduced to a number of small gold bars. It was very easy to carry in gold bars. And having done so, he thought of a brilliant idea. At least he thought it was brilliant.
He bought himself a bamboo walking stick. Now, bamboo is hollow inside, isn't it? So all you have to do is use the hollow inside there, and stuff your gold bars in, making sure, of course, it's well wrapped so there's no sound when you shake it. And you stuff those gold bars into the walking stick. Now, nobody wants to steal a bamboo walking stick. It's worth nothing. Nobody wants to steal that. And he thought, this is a brilliant idea. You put it in your coat, somebody might steal your coat. But who wants a walking stick? Especially a cheap-looking bamboo walking stick. Nobody wants it. So he stuffed them in the walking stick, and there he went.
And then, at one stage, he came into a Japanese checkpoint. And he had to line up at this Japanese checkpoint there. And of course, some people got a little bit unruly in the queue. So the Japanese officer coming around, noticing these people, looked of course for the nearest stick that he could get hold of, with which to beat these people into line. And there he saw this bamboo stick, so he just grabbed the bamboo stick and went off beating the people into line. But you can imagine, of course, that this good man saw the last of his walking stick, and all his gold as well, which was stuffed inside the stick. So it is with earthly treasure. No matter how secure you thought it was, it still disappears.
So this is what the Lord Jesus is warning us about in His teaching: don't put your treasure on the earth. Where should you put it? Put it in heaven. You say, "How do I get it up to heaven?" Put your treasure in heaven, and there is no danger. No one can steal it, and it will not decay. So the first point in this teaching, the Lord Jesus warns us: if you put all your treasure on earth, then in the age to come you will be poor. Because you cannot take even one cent to the other world. You will be very, very poor.
The second point the Lord Jesus makes here is this: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Think about it — if your treasure is in that walking stick, you will be constantly watching that walking stick. When you sleep, you hold onto that walking stick. When you wake up, you're still holding that walking stick. Wherever you go, you clutch that walking stick. Where your treasure is, there your heart is also. This is very hard. So if your treasure is stored in that underground safe, your thoughts and your heart are in that underground safe.
The second point we see is this: Jesus says that your treasure always seems to be more secure on the ground than above the ground. Those treasures have a way of going downwards and bringing you downward as well.
Now the third point the Lord Jesus says here is this: you cannot serve two masters. What two masters? Well, we are going there briefly to verse 24, where Jesus says you cannot serve two masters. You see, we saw that where your heart is, that thing is going to be your master. It's going to consume your attention, your energy, your time, your devotion. You think how devoted that man is to that stick? You try to imagine that. Can you imagine you have your gold bars in that stick, you'll be devoted to that stick the whole time. Other people will be wondering, "What's special about this bamboo stick?" But you are devoted to that stick. And so in the same way, you'll find that that becomes your master. Whatever occupies your attention, your energy, your time, that's your master. And where your treasure is, that's going to become your master.
But we have here another question briefly to ask, fourthly: how do you have treasure in heaven? The Bible tells us very plainly. We are not left in any doubt about this. In Luke chapter 18, verse 22, the Lord Jesus says to the rich young ruler, "Take what you have and dispose of it to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven." Aha! Now we know how we get riches in heaven. The way to have riches in heaven is to take what you have and supply it to the needy person. In doing so, you are giving to the Lord. The Old Testament tells us, "He who gives to the poor is giving to the Lord." Give to the brother and sister who is in need. Why do you store up what you don't need when he is going in want? You have too much and he has too little.
You say, "Well, that's life in the world." But Jesus says that's not life in the church. The church is not going to be like this. The church must be a place in which nobody has want. That my excess will supply the needs of someone who does not have enough. This is the principle. And here we begin to see where the challenge of faith is. Faith involves obedience to God. And God commands us to love one another. It's so easy to say, "I love my brother and my sister." We think that love means that I put on a smile for him and I shake his hand. That's loving him? But the Bible tells us that's not loving him. A non-Christian also smiles and shakes your hand. Loving him means being concerned about his needs.
But the Lord Jesus tells us, in Luke chapter 18, verse 22, He says, "You want to have treasure in heaven? I'll tell you how you get it. You take your surplus and your excess and you convert it to help somebody in need — your brother and your sister. If your brother and sister doesn't have any need, if nobody in the church has any need, then help the non-Christian outside. He also is in need. He also is deserving of your help. We don't love only fellow Christians; we love anyone who is in need." That is the scriptural teaching, including our enemy. That is the way you have treasure in heaven.
Do you see what I mean by the test of faith? When the Lord Jesus tests our faith, He says, "You think it's easy to obey my teaching? You think that to get to heaven is an easy business? Well, I'm going to tell you now, this is what I require you to do. I'm going to see whether you really have faith or not, whether you are prepared to obey my word or not."
The Lord Jesus is telling us how to turn earthly treasure into heavenly treasure. After hearing this, you may say, "I don't like this method." Whether you like it or not is your business. The Lord Jesus has told you very clearly how to turn earthly treasure into heavenly treasure. The reason you don't like it is because you don't like His teaching. Is that not so?
Now at this point, I want to examine in some depth a number of questions which are very important, in order not to be in any way superficial. It's very important to understand the teaching of the Lord Jesus correctly. Have we understood the words of Jesus correctly here? Does Jesus mean what He says? When He says, "Don't store up treasure on earth," does He mean what He says or not? Well, when did Jesus ever not mean what He says? When Jesus says, "Don't store up treasure," is there any other way to understand it? Could you tell me, is there another way to understand His words? I can see you thinking of another idea. I would be interested if you could tell me — when it says not to store up treasure on earth, maybe it means something different? Maybe it means to store up a little bit of treasure on earth? You see, we don't want to face the full force of Jesus' words. It makes us uncomfortable, doesn't it?
The responsibility of the preacher is to tell you what Jesus said. I have not skipped this passage because I know it's going to make many people uncomfortable. I thought, well, it's Christmas, you know, we don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, let's move to the next passage. No, we have to look at Jesus' teaching and face it honestly. It speaks to me as much as it speaks to you.
Has anyone here heard over the years a whole sermon devoted entirely to this one statement? Probably not. Why is that? Because preachers don't want to say things that offend people. This saying is hard to accept: "Don't store up treasure on earth." How can that be done? Is it even practical? Maybe in the society of that time it could be done, but what's different about their society and ours? Were their difficulties not the same as ours? Their needs were not the same as our needs? So try as we might, the meaning of the Lord Jesus' words is as clear and simple as can be. No other meaning can be found. So even if we want to escape this saying, there is no way to escape it.
But what constitutes storing? Storing is that part of our income that we don't really need. That part of our possessions that we don't need. You can store what you don't need. You cannot store what you need. What you need, you have to use. You store only that section of your income that you don't need. Supposing you get $3,000 a month, to use an illustration. And you only need, for the whole month's supply, paying your electric bills, gas bills, telephone bills, whatever bills, only $1,000. You have a surplus of $2,000. That surplus of $2,000 is what you can store. You don't need that money. That is your economic fact, if you like. Stored away, you don't have to use it. So there is no question about anything difficult here, to understand what Jesus means by storing.
But you may say, "Well, what I don't need today does not mean that I may not need it tomorrow." That is to say, okay, my needs for this month are met, and next month are met, but maybe one day I'm going to be sick. And you've got to be practical. When I am sick, I may face the doctor's bill of $2,000 or $5,000, and I've got to find the money from somewhere. So I've got to store it up for a rainy day. You see, here we try to get around the Lord's teaching. But that is storing up, is it not? And Jesus, whether we like it or not, says you have to use what you need now, but you do not store up.
Because storing up, by very definition, is for the future. Of course you don't need that $2,000 now, but you store it up for the future. But storing up is always for the future. Since when did you store up something for today? The very definition of storing up is for the future. And it is precisely this that Jesus does not allow. Is it not so? Is it not very plain?
Now that is where I said is the challenge of faith. It cuts at the very foundation of our faith. It leaves us insecure. You see, what we store is our security. In fact, the English word "security" means what we have stored up for the future. And God takes away our security. We've got no security. Doesn't that make you feel uncomfortable? We've got no security left. Now, how do you think about it? Do you think Jesus' teaching is impractical now?
You see, what do you think? Maybe Jesus is healthy. He never gets sick. He never needs a doctor. I am sick. I get sick. I need a doctor. You see, I've got to store up something for the rainy day. Well, you please yourself. I'm just telling you what Jesus said. I'm not telling you what I say. What is my opinion is of no value. But look at Jesus' word. He faces us with the future and with the challenge of faith that removes all our earthly security. Is that not so? Is it not very plain, brothers and sisters? He does not allow us to trust in any earthly security. He leaves us only in this challenge of faith, that we become totally dependent on God.
If you become sick, Jesus is saying to you, you are going to be dependent on God. No security to fall back on. Does your faith stand up to that? Are you willing to cope with that? You say you have faith? Then Jesus wants to look at it. How is that for a test? These words of Jesus test you at the point where it's painful, isn't it? You say, "Why did I come today to this church and listen to this message? I was feeling so happy until now, and now you take all my security away." Well, brothers and sisters, I do apologize, but I am not the one that is saying all this. I am telling you, and you can examine for yourself if this is not what Jesus is saying, not me.
You say, "That's nonsense." Yes, in human eyes, this kind of faith — relying on God — is nonsense. It's irrational. It doesn't make sense. But the Lord Jesus tells us to trust God completely. The Lord Jesus' challenge is this: "Trust My word, and I guarantee to supply your needs. That is My challenge." You say, "I dare not accept this guarantee. I think the rational approach is better — I'll store the money there, and when I need it, I can take it out. That is rational." Fine, that is human reason. But there is no faith here. The Lord Jesus' teaching is exactly this.
You say, "Oh, I came to church today to be encouraged, and you preach this message that makes me very uncomfortable. You tell me the Lord Jesus says I cannot store up money. I don't want to do that. I can't do it." Well, whether you want to do it or not is your business. My responsibility is to proclaim God's word clearly to you. What you do is between you and the Lord, not between you and me. The word of God must be proclaimed clearly, whether it pleases people or not. That is a separate matter. If those who preach the gospel are always trying to please people, just to keep their job — such people shouldn't be preaching. They fundamentally have no faith.
We want to store up for our security. Jesus says, "I don't allow you to have security. Your security is going to be Me. I am your security." Am I good enough? If you don't trust Me in this life, how can you trust Me for eternity? You don't trust Me for a bowl of rice or for your physical needs, your medical needs. How do you know I am reliable when it comes to the matter of eternal life? Have you ever thought about that? How do you know Jesus' word is true, that you are going to have eternal life? How do you know? You don't know, because you don't know whom you have believed. But if you know whom you have believed, if you trust Him for eternity, why don't you trust Him for the few years of your life on earth?
Now there you can see why the non-Christian says to you, "You hypocrites! You say you believe in God? I guarantee you don't believe in God." And they are right. You dare not trust Him for the few years of your life, but you trust Him for eternity? Oh, no, no. Now you see what I mean by the challenge of faith. Jesus turns on His spiritual X-rays and looks into your life. And He sees whether you believe in Him or not.
# Lay Not Up Treasures on Earth (Part 2)
Many people come not to hear a message but to hear stories. After hearing a story, they think it's nice, or they remember one interesting story to tell their friends next time, and that's good enough. Then they come to this church and sit there for an hour and a half on a hard bench, thinking, "I'm so tired, and no one is performing." Or at least a few people singing a nice song — not even that. They come and hear the Lord's word and feel so uncomfortable. Never mind. I tell you this because I know that in the end, the people who remain in the church are those who truly want to know God's word. The others, I know, will sooner or later leave. I don't hold them back. I know they can be more comfortable elsewhere. But I know that those who remain have the most fervent hearts. That church becomes a spiritual church. The foundation of that church can be laid firm.
The Lord Jesus said to us, He is examining our faith, and we are building a church with people in it whose faith can stand up to examination. And so those people who do not wish to be put through this kind of a spiritual X-ray Sunday by Sunday, of course, they will look for another church. They will go to a church where you have a very short message, where you don't have to sit on a hard bench for one and a half hours, and after that grueling session, where you didn't even have the relief of one or two nice soloists to sing a nice song for you. After one and a half hours, you say, "Oh, no, no, no. After this I feel so — the word of Jesus has made me so uncomfortable. I look for another church where I can hear some nice stories. Twenty minutes of it is over. We have a nice few songs from a beautiful choir." And you guys don't even have a choir. And then after this, "Oh yes, I know where to go." Okay, that's fine with me. But I am aiming to preach the word of God. If not one person wants to hear the word, it's okay with me. I'm going to preach the word of God as Jesus wants me to preach it. And in the end, I know that this church will be full of only that kind of people who are not afraid to be spiritually X-rayed, who really mean business with God. And then we are going to have a church built on a solid foundation.
So then we see that Jesus has challenged our faith. Jesus has examined our faith and said, "Is your trust in Me or in your earthly security?" How do you answer that question? I will not be surprised if the majority of us, of those here, are going to confess, "Well, I believe in God and I believe in the earthly security. I'm going to have both. I'm going to make sure that I have a road to retreat on. If God doesn't help me out in my difficulty, at least I can get back on my earthly security." And that you call faith? That is faith according to your definition. It's a wonder the world looks at the church and says, "Oh, these kind of people say they believe in God? In what way do you believe in God?"
This preaching is not just a matter of drawing breath and giving a long discourse. I myself, through many years of trusting the Lord, have lived out this passage of Scripture in my experience. If I had not lived out this Scripture, I would have no right to stand here and speak to you. I myself would be a hypocrite. But I have lived out this Scripture. My own life is lived according to this Scripture.
You ask me, "How do you know God is real?" Why do I preach the gospel here? Is it because I can't find a bowl of rice anywhere else? I preach the gospel because I know the gospel is true. This word is true. God is reliable. How do I know God is reliable? How do I know His word of eternal life is reliable? I have put my life in God's hands for many, many years. If you talk about savings in the bank — my income has often been very meager. But year after year, I have seen God's supply. I know my God is real, because I rely on Him. I rely on Him and I have seen that He has never once failed to help me in my difficulties. If I were to share my experiences over many years, I could talk for several hours.
During those three years in mainland China, how did He supply my needs daily? I had not a single penny. I would get up in the morning not knowing how I would eat lunch. I never ate breakfast anyway — there was no breakfast to eat. But at least I needed to eat one meal at lunchtime. One meal a day was necessary. And God supplied my needs day by day, every day. Every morning when we got up, not knowing how we would manage, we would kneel down and say, "Lord, today I have no food. Lord, supply my needs. You supply the needs of the birds of the air, the grass and flowers of the field — surely You will supply the needs of Your child." Never once did God fail to supply my needs.
So when I speak to you, brothers and sisters, it is not just empty words. I know the God of whom I speak. His word is faithful and reliable. To this day it remains so. Relying on God, walking step by step — if today I had no income, if humanly speaking I were unemployed, within a few weeks we would be destitute. We would have to sell everything we own. How long could I survive? I have no earthly treasure to sustain me long-term, to supply my own needs or my family's needs. As for retirement — I would have nothing to retire on. Probably the church today thinks about how a pastor will live in retirement, but we probably don't need to retire. We'll go straight to heaven.
In some company in the world, when you work there, after you retire, they still give you money every month. Otherwise, what would you eat in retirement? But when I accepted this job, did anyone say, "Before I accept this position, first write down how much I'll get after retirement"? Or, in a few decades when I retire, how will I manage? Also, in the world, whatever job you are in, every year they adjust your income because of rising prices and such things. A pastor's income stays the same year after year. So I've found over many years of the Lord's work that what I received five years ago is still the same five years later. If you don't rely on the Lord to live, you can't do the work of preaching. It would have been impossible long ago. But we see that unless you trust in your God, how will you survive? Or for the sake of your old age, maybe you shouldn't preach at all.
And how He supplied all my needs in China for those three years. How many times I got up in the morning not knowing where I was going to get my lunch. Never mind breakfast. I never have breakfast. To this day I don't eat breakfast. I have no habit of eating breakfast anymore. Every day I look to God and I say, "Lord, here is Your child. I don't know where I'm going to get my lunch, my food, but You are my Father. I look to You for my supply." And never once did He fail me.
How many years I lived in England. The English government, because I'm a Chinese citizen, would never allow me to work. And yet God supplied all my needs. You think I don't want to work? Sure I want to work. But God would not allow me. He was going to teach me this lesson year after year after year. Right through college, through university, everything, God supplied all my needs. I look only to Him. My God can be trusted. And the amazing things that He does.
When I was going to come to Europe from Hong Kong — when I came out of China, I stopped for a short time in Hong Kong. How was I going to get to Europe? I had no money. The Chinese government allowed me to take out ten Chinese dollars. And how far did ten Chinese dollars get me in Hong Kong? I don't remember what the exchange rate was at that time, but I think it was maybe twenty or thirty Hong Kong dollars. How was I going to live in Hong Kong, never mind get to Europe? And yet God, when I prayed and waited upon Him, made one thing clear to me: "I am going to take you to Europe. I want you to go there."
And so I did all kinds of things, looking for jobs. Because I know that Christians don't sit there and wait for the food to drop down from the sky. The birds don't open their mouths and the food drops out of the sky. You speak about the birds — the birds go around and look for the food. Sure they do. God never taught us to be lazy. Laziness is a first-rate crime in the Christian life. I had unfortunately dismissed one of my co-workers in England because of laziness. We don't tolerate laziness. And so we find that God wants us to work and do our part, but God has a way of teaching us to trust in Him.
And so I looked for jobs. And I got some jobs, but none of them were the right things. None of them would have earned enough for me to get very far. A mission school offered me 160 Hong Kong dollars. Imagine how you're going to live on that. I got another very good job that offered me near a thousand dollars a month, Hong Kong dollars, that is, at that time. This was a long time ago. But the Lord wouldn't allow me to take it. You see, they wanted somebody who was permanent. And as a Christian, I felt I had to be honest with them. I told them that I would not be permanent. In Hong Kong, there's so much unemployment. Of course, the ideal job was a permanent job. And yet here was I who could only work for a year because God wanted me to go to Europe. So I said, "I'm a Christian. I'll tell you honestly: I'm going to work only for one year." And so they asked me to reconsider, and if I didn't reconsider, I could not have the job.
And having gone through this, I went onto the ships to talk to the captains, to say, "Look, can you give me a job as a cabin boy? Sweep the deck, whatever you like. I'll work in the kitchen, engine room. I'd like to go to Europe." And some of them, very kind, but they said, "Look, we have a full complement of crew. We can't take you."
But God did a wonderful thing. Beyond all my expectations, He spoke to a woman in America. I think I shared this with some of you before. He spoke to her in her time of prayer and said, "I want you to go to Hong Kong." She said, "What for?" He said, "You go there first and I'll tell you then." God always leads one step at a time. She came to Hong Kong, saying, "What does the Lord want me to do here?" She's quite a wealthy woman. And finally, the Lord made it clear to her. Her job was to get my passage and pay my passage to Europe. And then her job would be finished.
She came all the way from Portland, Oregon, in the United States, to Hong Kong, to fix my fare, my passage to Europe. And the day I got on the ship, the next day she flew back to the States and said, "Praise God, now I know what God sent me here to do." I thought to myself at that time, isn't it amazing? Could it be that there is nobody in Hong Kong who can hear God's voice? That God has to send somebody over from Portland, Oregon, all the way from the other part of the world, to do just one job? From that time afterwards, I never received anything from her. Just to do that one job — to send me to Europe.
Isn't that amazing? God took me out of Shanghai to Hong Kong, and brought a person from America over to Hong Kong to send me to Europe. It's only when you know God's way — and there's much more to it than that, and I have to be very brief right now — when you know God's way, you know He never fails. If He tells you to do something, He's going to see that you get it done, if you are willing to walk with Him. God can be trusted. But if you never start, how do you know He can be trusted? What is your faith based on? Now Jesus is challenging you to say, "Trust Me to supply your need." You have a family to look after — sure you do. So does the preacher. Some people seem to forget that the preacher also has a family. And so God supplies their every need.
God is completely faithful and reliable. In my experience, over many years, I have tested and experienced the reliability of God — not only in those years in China, but also in England. Because I was a Chinese citizen, I could not work in England. How did I live for so many years? God supplied all my needs. Did I have many friends in England? I had not a single friend. When I went to England, I didn't know a single person. Through Bible college, through university, through seminary — through all those years of study, you can imagine how great the expenses were. God supplied all my needs. Thank the Lord, God is faithful. So if you rely on your earthly treasure, you will never experience the wonders of God. The spiritual challenge the Lord Jesus gives us is this: test Me and see whether I am faithful. You dare not test, and yet you say you believe in God. You dare not live according to His word.
What I shared just now was how God supplied my needs in Hong Kong and got me to Europe. When I left the mainland, I had only ten Chinese dollars to my name. All my possessions in mainland China were completely lost. I brought out ten dollars, and God supplied all my needs year after year. But how was I to get to Europe? I had no money at all. God supplied. How? I'm not saying that because God supplies, you just sit there and do nothing. Being a Christian does not mean you can be lazy. A great sin of the Christian is laziness. In England, I had to let go of a co-worker because he was too lazy. He didn't do enough work. I was very sorry — I loved him very much — but I said to him, "If you continue like this, there is no choice but to let you go." Every Christian should be a diligent person, not a lazy one.
But in Hong Kong, the Lord was training me. I kept looking for work, but the Lord did not open those doors for me. I needed to get to Europe. Something very wonderful happened: from Portland, Oregon in America, God sent His servant to Hong Kong. This person was not a missionary but an ordinary sister, a woman in her sixties who loved the Lord very much and had a very close relationship with the Lord. In her time of prayer, God spoke to her and said, "I want you to go to Hong Kong." She said, "What for? I've never been to Hong Kong. I've never left America." God said, "Go. I want you to go. When you get there, I will tell you what to do." God leads step by step — everyone who has followed God's leading knows this.
So she went to Hong Kong, trusting God's leading. When she arrived, she said, "Lord, now I'm here. What do You want me to do?" After waiting a few weeks, God told her: "I want you to send My child to Europe." This lady had some funds — not her own, but her husband's — and God wanted her to use those funds to send me to Europe. Isn't that wonderful? God brought me out of China, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and then brought her from America to Hong Kong to send me to Europe. I had never met this person before, and never received money from her afterwards. God's work was simply to have her do this one thing: to send me to Europe.
How amazing is that? At the time, I thought to myself: is there really no one in Hong Kong who can hear God's voice? Does God have to send someone all the way from America? But God's ways have their own purpose. He got me to Europe.
And if we talk about going to America, I can also share this about trusting God and following His will. While I was in Hong Kong, an American organization approached me. They said, "We are very interested in you." I don't know where they heard about me — I had just come out of the mainland, a nobody. How they heard of me, I don't know. But they came and said, "We need someone with your talents. We want to send you to America." I said, "Send me to America for what?" They said, "To study." I said, "Study what?" They were a church organization. I said, "What do you mean, 'study what'?" They said, "Whatever you want to study. You want to study medicine, study medicine. You want to study engineering, study engineering. We will supply all your needs." This sounds like a jewel dropped from heaven! But I knew that if I accepted, looking back now, I would have had no opportunity to rely on God for many years, because this organization would supply everything.
I prayed about this matter, and God said, "You may not accept this scholarship." I asked this church organization, "What are the conditions for receiving this scholarship?" They said, "No conditions." I said, "Do I have to pay the money back afterwards?" They said, "No, you don't have to pay anything back." I said, "What do you want from me? You're giving me this for free — what does it mean?" They said, "It means nothing special. We know you are a Christian. We think you have good talent. We just hope that when you become a leader in the church one day, you'll remember us. Or if you become a great doctor or engineer, you'll remember us and perhaps help us financially or in other ways."
But after I prayed, I did not accept. They probably thought it was very strange — such a good scholarship, and I refused. But the Lord did not allow me to accept. He wanted me to walk a more difficult path, but a more beautiful one. After this, the Lord opened the way and sent that lady over to send me to Europe. Over many years in Europe, I saw God's power. I've shared this personal testimony with you, brothers and sisters. God is completely reliable. But how do you know? You've only heard my words. How do you know? You haven't experienced what I've experienced. My experience is not your experience. God has a different way in each person's life. God wants to give each of us a chance to see whether He can also supply your needs.
I thank the Lord. God's works are very, very wonderful. He gives us a spiritual challenge. Are you willing to accept this challenge?
So today, as we examine this together, let me briefly ask another question. The Lord Jesus says these words here — is it a law? Does "do not" mean the same as "you shall not"? He says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth." Is this a law? Is it that a Christian is forbidden to do this, and if he does, he is sinning? Is this a commandment? It is not a commandment. How is it different from a commandment? You say, "It's not a commandment? My heart is at ease now. I'll just leave and forget about it." Not so fast. Don't jump to that conclusion too quickly. It is not a commandment, but it is still a principle — a spiritual principle. What does that mean?
A commandment has legal force. That is to say, if you don't obey it — for example, a law of the land — if you don't obey, the police will come after you. But there are other things which, though not a legal commandment, are just as important. What kind of importance? We all know that if you eat a lot of fatty food, it is dangerous. You can get heart disease; your life is harmed. Or if you drink too much alcohol, you can get heart disease and all kinds of illnesses. But there is no commandment that says, "Fat is bad for your body; you shall not eat it." No. Because if there were such a law, every time you eat butter, the police would arrest you. "You ate butter — that's forbidden!" There is no law saying I can't eat butter. So I'll just eat as much as I like. Is there no danger? Of course there is. Because there is a principle of life at work.
A principle of life works like this: if you violate the principle, you yourself suffer. You pay with your own life. This can be more severe than a commandment. A commandment might fine you — you park in the wrong place and you get fined a few dollars. That's a commandment. You violate it, you lose some money. But when you violate a principle of life, you stake your own life on it.
The Lord Jesus is teaching us here a principle of life, not a commandment, but a principle of life. When you don't live by this principle of life, you are staking your life on it. If I know that smoking can damage my lungs and cause tumors, even though the government doesn't say, "You are forbidden to smoke," I know the principle of physical life: if I smoke, I may develop a tumor. Does every cigarette kill you immediately? No. Does the police come to arrest you? No one comes to arrest you. But you are staking your own life. You are endangering your own health. That is what a principle of life means.
The Lord Jesus is not giving us a commandment here, but He is giving us a principle of spiritual life. When you violate this principle of spiritual life, you are gradually staking your spiritual life on it. So don't say, "It's not a commandment, so I don't need to obey it." A principle of spiritual life is even more important. When you don't live according to this principle of life, your spiritual life — your eternal life — is endangered.
It is not a legal commandment. Jesus did not say, "I legally forbid you, under the moral law, that you may not store up treasure on earth." If you store up treasure on earth, you have not technically sinned, because it is not a commandment, a moral commandment, in terms of law, in a legal sense. And you may say, "Well, that's fine. In that case, I don't have to obey it. That's fine, I'm feeling good now." Not so fast. What is not a legal law is nonetheless important, because here we are dealing with a principle of life. You may not break a law, but you have violated a principle of life, and when you violate a principle of life, you threaten your life as much as breaking any law — in fact, even worse. Breaking a law may not cost your life. Breaking a parking law may mean some dollars taken away in a fine. That's not very serious. But breaking a principle of life endangers your life and, in this case, your eternal existence.
So for example, there is no law which forbids you to smoke. But you know that smoking endangers your lungs. It increases the probability that you are going to get lung cancer and that you are going to get a heart attack. So every time you smoke, what happens? Does the police come and grab you? No, because you haven't broken any law. But does that mean that you are safe? Not at all, because you have done something that violates the principle of physical life. You are doing something dangerous. The same would be true of alcohol, of drugs, of all these things. In the case of alcohol, there is nothing illegal about drinking the strongest drink you can get hold of. No police will come to grab you if you go to the shop and buy fifty bottles of the most powerful drink. There is no law against it. But if you drink that thing down, you have broken a principle of life. You endanger your life.
So then, Jesus is teaching us the principle of life: how to walk with God, how to come to know that He is the living God. He is giving you the challenge. I have said before, it is not God who is afraid of the challenge; it is we who back out. He says, "Prove Me and see. I will never fail you in your physical need if you are obedient to Me. You do what I tell you to do, and I will do My part." Isn't that a fair test? Everybody says, "I want to be able to prove God's word is true." God gives you the chance to prove it. Go ahead and try. My God never fails. I know this to be true. May God speak to each one of our hearts.
Let us now be quiet before God and pray. May each one of us, after hearing God's word, be still and think, and ask the Lord to speak to each of our hearts. Thank you.