Do You Have an Eternal Perspective?

(Luke 12:13-21)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
As Jesus was speaking with His disciples
About the very real costs of discipleship/of following Him,
Someone in the crowd tried to enlist His help
To get his brother to divide the family inheritance with him (v. 13).

Jesus first pointed out that was not His responsibility

No one had appointed Him either judge or arbitrator over them (v. 14).
They would either have to find one
Or work it out themselves.

But then He used this encounter

As an object lesson for His disciples
To beware of greed
Every form of it
How much they had of the worlds things really didnt matter
Because it couldnt give them what was most important
Eternal life
It couldnt save their souls (v. 15).

To further illustrate this,

He told them a parable of a rich man

Whose land was producing so much (v. 16),

That he didnt have a place to put it all (v. 17).
Instead of putting this wealth to good use
Such as sharing it with those less fortunate
He decided to keep it.
He planned to tear down his existing barns
And build larger ones to store it (v. 18).
With so many goods to sustain him,
Now he could rest easy for many years (v. 19).

Basically, he had done well for himself

And was looking forward to an early
And he thought, secure retirement.
Whats wrong with that?

His problem was he hadnt taken care

Of what was most important: his soul.
Before he could build his bigger barns,
Store his goods,
And take it easy,
He was going to die,
And he wasnt ready.
Now someone else would enjoy his retirement plan,
While he would go down into hell.

Its no wonder God called him a fool (v. 20).

Jesus said to His disciples,

And He says to each of us this morning,
So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (v.
21).

It doesnt matter how successful you are in this life,

If you dont turn from your sins and trust Jesus,
If you dont serve Him with your life,
You too are a fool.

B. Preview.
I think this highlights
The importance of having an eternal perspective
Of looking beyond the here and now,
To consider how the decisions you make
Will affect you and others in eternity.

Lets consider two things this morning:

1. You need to look ahead for your own wellbeing.
2. And you need to look ahead for the wellbeing of others.

II. Sermon.
A. First, you need to look ahead for your own wellbeing.
Your life doesnt end

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When you leave this world
It continues.
You are going to live/exist forever.
No one youve known
Or ever will know
That has left this world
Has ceased to exist
They are all still very much alive.
The same will be true of you
Your life here is merely the beginning
Of an endless existence.

Jesus knew this was true

Which was why He often talked
About what would happen to Him
After this life.

He knew that after He died,

He was going to be raised again,
He said to the Jews, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The
Jews then said, It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it
up in three days? But He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:1921).

He knew after He was raised

He would ascend again into heaven.

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When His larger group of disciples complained
About His telling them
They had to eat His flesh and drink His blood
To receive eternal life
Which He didnt mean literally,
But spiritually, by faith,
By trusting Him
He said, Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man
ascending to where He was before? (John 6:61-62).

He knew He would rule and reign there

As the Lord of all creation.
He said to the elders of Israel when on trial, But from now on THE SON OF
MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD
(Luke 22:69).

He knew He would judge all men at the final judgment.

He said to the Jews, For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all
judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the
Father (John 5:22).
And to His disciples, But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the
angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be
gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His
right, and the goats on the left (Matt. 25:31-33).

And He knew He would enjoy

The blessings of heaven with His redeemed people
Throughout all eternity.

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He prayed in His high priestly prayer,
Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am,
so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me
before the foundation of the world (John 17:24).

This perspective
This view He had,
That this wasnt all there was,
That there was a heaven, a reward, glory to be gained,
His Father to honor,
An eternity to prepare for His people
Helped shape what He did in this world.

This was the time to work,

Rest would come later.
This was the time to humble Himself,
That He might be exalted.
This was the time to suffer,
That He might gain the reward.

Jesus didnt work to store up treasures on earth,

But He lived to gain treasure in heaven.

Do you have that kind of perspective?

Are you living for the life that is coming,
Or only for this life?

What difference should it make?

First, youll make sure your soul is safe
You wont do what the rich man did
Set your eyes on the things of this world
And neglect your soul.

You will turn from your sins

And trust in Jesus Christ
In His perfect obedience, for your failure to obey;
In His death on the cross as payment in full for your sins.
Youll make sure youve taken care
Of the most important things first.

Youll also avoid the other mistake the rich man made
Thinking that the things of this world are valuable,
And so working for them,
Rather than working for the things that really have value.

John Gerstner, in his book on the theology of Jonathan Edwards, wrote, Today, in
America, a mans worth refers to his financial assets. But Edwards preached
that this life is so short and so inconsiderable that it is no matter who prospers
here and who does not. The only thing worth considering is who it is who
prospers in an eternal state. God commonly gives this worlds things to the
wicked because God knows that they are worthless and despises them.
How long will you live in this world? Seventy, eighty, ninety, a hundred years?
How long will you live in the eternal state? Seventy, eighty, ninety, a hundred
trillion years?

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Actually far longer than that!

What you do for the Lord here

Has a direct impact on how you will prosper there.
Only what you do here can impact it.

Do you take that into account

In your decision making process?
When you make choices?

When you plan out your day, your week, your year,
Youre looking ahead with regard to your time.

When you make a budget,

Or plan for retirement,
Youre looking ahead with regard to your finances.

How often do you look ahead

And plan with regard to eternity?
The rich man didnt, and look what it cost him.
Jesus did, and look what He gained.

Think about what youre doing with your life.

What vocation/work youre seeking to do.
If youre already working,
Whose glory youre seeking in it.

Think about how youre using your time,

Your strength and energy,
Your spiritual gifts, your natural talents,
The resources the Lord has placed at your disposal
Are you investing yourself in the Lords kingdom
So that you can reap the blessings forever?
Or are you investing yourself in this world,
In this life only,
Where whatever benefits you might reap
Will all be lost when you leave?

Think about what youre doing

With eternity in view,
And begin working towards
Doing all that you do here for Gods glory,
As Paul exhorts you, Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).
This is how you will prosper in the eternal state.

B. One very good way to do this

Is by looking ahead for the wellbeing of others.

Jesus looked ahead

To the glory and honor that would be His.
But how would He gain it?

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Not by serving Himself,

But by serving others
By laying down His life for His people.

After the mother of the sons of Zebedee

Came to Jesus, asking for the two seats of greatest honor for her sons
Upsetting the rest of the disciples
Jesus said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but
whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever
wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt.
20:25-28).

Jesus lived for others.

There is a sense in which
He lived His whole life vicariously
Not for Himself, but for you
And for all who would trust Him
As your representative,
For your benefit.
Thats also why He laid down His life on the cross.

He did these things not only to benefit you,

But to be an example for you.
Jesus said to His disciples, This is My commandment, that you love one another,
just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down
his life for his friends (John 15:12-13).

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Jesus laid down His life for you.

You are to love others
By laying down your life for them.

As you look ahead to what the eternal state holds for you,
Think also about what Jesus calls you to do for each another.
How you are to love one another,
Serve one another,
Care for one another,
Build each other up in Christ,
Try to outdo one another in showing honor to one another.
As you do these things,
You make the eternal state that much better.

But as you look ahead

Dont forget about your neighbors
Who are still in darkness
Who are ignorant of the Gospel.
Think about what will happen to them
If they dont hear the Gospel,
If they dont repent and trust in Christ.
They will suffer in hell for all eternity.

Think about what you can do

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To save them from that fire:
You can share the Gospel with them.
Not only is there a very real possibility
That God will save them,
But you will be able to look forward
To an even better situation in eternity,
Just for making the attempt!

May the Lord help us

To live always in view of eternity. Amen.

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