Transcription
Do the right thing and honor where honor is due. And welcome Pastor Joel Morales as he comes to bring the word today. Come on. You can do better. There it is. There it is. Hang on. Yeah. Yeah. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on.
All right. Um, so how many of y'all know that Caleb is an apostle? How many of you know that Caleb's an apostle? Okay. Okay. So, um, he doesn't know I'm doing this. Um, an apostle. I was, as we were just kind of getting ready to reenounce the fact that Caleb was going on a well-earned sabbatical, um, the Lord spoke to my spirit and I just heard the Lord say, "An apostle's final test of validation is not in the fruit of his presence, but in the fruit of his absence." The Bible talks about this. The Apostle Paul was saying, you know, to the church about how, you know, hey, you've been so diligent to obey God in my while I'm here in my presence, but I really, really want to see you obey God in my absence. And so, this isn't just, you know, a chance to give our friend a chance to rest. This is actually the final validation, public validation, and testimony of the Holy Spirit of his apostleship. And so, I'm just going to pray for him one more time. Can you join me, please? Thank you for my friend, Lord. Thank you for our friend. We say yes to the call that you have on this man's life. We bless him right now. We ask, Lord, that in this time of rest, that he would walk and return to us upgraded in his ability to be sensitive to your voice. Thank you, Lord. We say yes. We stand behind you, Caleb. We stand with you. And we thank you, Lord, that you're leading us all as a family, as an apostleship and congregation. We bless you now and forevermore in Jesus' name. Everybody settle. Give it up one more time for Caleb Hires, everybody.
All right. Now you got me. Good morning, Resting Place Church. My name is Joel Morales. Um, I'm just happy to be here with you guys. You guys look great. All right, how many ready for the main point? The main point for today is that when it comes to building lasting wealth, the kingdom system beats the mammon system every single time. Oh, y'all going to get the word today, baby. When it comes to building lasting wealth, the kingdom system beats the mammon system every single time.
About three and a half months ago, the Lord had put me on kind of an assignment, if you will. He just spoke to my spirit. He said, "Joel, I want you to focus on two things until further notice." I said, "Okay, Lord, I can count to two." He said, "I want you to focus on two things. I want you to focus on fitness and I want you to focus on finance." Those are the two things that the Lord just kind of put in my focus for the next, until, until he says otherwise. Now, on the fitness side, I'll have you know, I've lost over 20 pounds in the last three and a half months. No, please don't. But on the finance side, I've been really digging in what does it mean to build lasting kingdom wealth, wealth in the earth. Now, as many of you have been around here for a little while, you know that we're in the Sermon on the Mount for the remainder of the year. Yeah. At least until next August, I think. Yeah. So, I have found in my study of the Sermon on the Mount that Christ has actually given us the blueprints of building lasting wealth right there in probably the most important sermon in human history. I'm going to start by reading this. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24. "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." It says in the New King James Version, the next one, it says, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the other or hate the one and love the other, or else you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon." Okay. I love it when like old English translations kind of make it a little more confusing. You know what I'm talking about? Anytime the Bible's confusing, by the way, it's an invitation for you to come a little closer. Yeah. We're not supposed to be reading the Bible with a carnal mind. Or it's every time that we run into something in the Bible we don't understand, it's actually an invitation to come a little closer to Yeshua to understand his nature a little bit better because we cannot understand the book apart from the author. So, I, as I was taking my time and I've read this a million times in my lifetime, but this time in particular, after taking some time to read the Greek definitions of this actual verse, the proper way, in my humble opinion, to read this passage is: "No one can serve two masters. Either you will love and esteem one less and or you will show affection and pleasure with the other. You will cling and support to one and despise and hurl insults at the other." That word despise means to literally hurl insults. You cannot serve both God and greed. The mammon word there is actually the word avarice, which is the word we use for greed. You cannot serve both God and greed. Of course. Doesn't that make more sense when you say it that way? When you hear it that way? I mean, of course, you can't serve both God and greed at the same time. They're in absolute conflict with one another. Would you agree, church? Now, when it comes to the difference between serving God and serving greed, it all goes down to what you treasure most in your heart. Somebody say, somebody say, "Ah, okay. I'm glad you're awake. I'm just kind of testing you a little bit." Okay. Understanding treasure. Jesus actually confronts us in the Sermon on the Mount by literally asking us the question, "What do you treasure the most?" In your work, in your business, in your family, how you spend your time? What do you treasure? We know that it says in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures here on where?" Where? Where moths eat them and rust destroys them. Where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths cannot, where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For, say it with me, "Wherever your treasure is, there..." This is more than financial advice. Oh, y'all asleep. I'm going to say it to this side. I'm going to try this side. This is more than financial advice. There we go. I got you. I, I'll give you another chance. This is about the posture of your heart. Treasure isn't simply an object, like a diamond or a bank account balance. Treasure is whatever the human heart considers precious. Some of y'all treat money like Gollum treats the ring. Ples. I really wondered if I was going to do that or not. I did it. I was like debating back and forth. I was like, "Should I do my my Gollum?" Whatever. I'm doing my Gollum and I'm going to do it in the next gathering on the recorded line. Diamonds illustrate this perfectly. Diamonds throughout all time have just been hard rocks until humans decided one day to make them valuable for jewelry. The object itself didn't change, but the value did because of the heart.
So, let me help you. Who wants some help? All right. Money in itself is neutral, inanimate, and immoral. It doesn't bless or it doesn't curse until the human heart gets involved. Now, once, watch this now. Once the human heart gets involved, money can either become a wonderful servant used for kingdom purposes, or it can become a terrible master enslaving us to mammon and greed. Y'all going to learn today. So, Matthew chapter 6, Jesus isn't necessarily just telling us to avoid material things. He's calling us to align what our hearts consider to be treasure with what heaven considers to be treasure. Store up your treasure where? In heaven. Another way you could say is, align your treasure with heaven. Now, when it comes to money and treasure, there is a kingdom system and there is a mammon system. How many are ready? Say yes. Say it louder. Say yes. The kingdom way versus the mammon way. The mammon system. Historically, mammon has been illustrated as more than just money. We understand that mammon is in fact a spirit, a demon spirit that demands worship. Watch this now. I can find out real quick what you worship based off of how you spend most of your time, energy, resources, affection. I'll find out real quick just by watching your life for a couple weeks what's actually at the center of your life. And mammon, historically speaking, has been represented as a demonic, like, uh, creature that demands to be treated as deity. And watch this now. The way you worship mammon is actually by worshiping yourself. Did you know that in the sects of Satanism, LaVeyan Satanism, that particular sect, the core principle of LaVeyan Satanism is the worship of self. This is why the kingdom of darkness has no power over a believer who has died. Because the self died. Oh, Jesus killed me. Like, I'm who I am. I'm alive in Christ. The old man is dead. Y'all, somebody need to clap right now because this is some good truth. Somebody need to clap right now. Somebody. This is why the kingdom of darkness has no power over someone who doesn't bow to the idol of self. Come on, somebody. Mammon pro, mammon is a system that promises security but only delivers slavery. In the mammon system, watch this now. Are you ready? Time, energy, and people. Time, energy, people, and resources are used to serve money. In the mammon system, money becomes the master, and people become the tools. And yes, even in the mammon system, we might be confused enough to even ask God to become a tool to serve our money. Here's the kicker, though. Ready for the kicker? In the mammon system, money always runs out. Because when you chase money, it always flies away. Proverbs 23:5, what does it say? It says, "When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly does what? Makes itself wings like an eagle and flies towards where?" Interesting. If we were to personify money, I think it knows it shouldn't be worshipped. Some of y'all weren't ready for that. That's okay. But do you catch this so far? When you make money the object in the mammon system, you use people to serve money. How many of y'all know there's a better way? Only three people. How many of y'all know there's a better way? The kingdom system. In the kingdom system, time, energy, people, and money are used to serve people. So in the mammon system, we use people to serve money. But in the kingdom system, we use money to serve people. Tell you what, y'all going to get the word today. In God's kingdom, money is not the master. It is the servant. And when we align with God's kingdom, money is not chased, it is added. You want to know why I say that? Because in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, "Seek first what?" The kingdom, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. All these things, by the way, if you read your Bible, he's talking about all the things money can buy: food, clothing, shelter. Anything money can buy can be added to you if you do what? Seek first the kingdom. And in the kingdom, money is the servant used to serve people. Caleb, dog, I don't know. They weren't ready for this, bro. All right. Thank you. Notice attitude in the kingdom system. You don't chase provision. Provision chases you. Jobs, resources, and opportunities are added to you because your first pursuit is in the kingdom. Now, watch this. Now, I have actually seen the angel of provision. I have seen him. It has been revealed to me. He's these short little, like, I'm sorry, he's a Mexican-looking angel. I don't know. No wings, simple white robe, jet black hair. Anybody ever seen the movie Dumb and Dumber? The bowl haircut for Jim Carrey. He has that haircut. I've never, I've never heard him talk. I've never heard him speak. He's very, he's very poised, very calm. But about this angel that I've seen, the only thing I've always seen about him is he's always carrying a mirror-like jewelry box about yay big. He always holds it in two hands as if it's precious. And I have seen him. He can pull out all the resources of humanity needs right out of that jewelry box. I have seen this prophetically. The Lord told me one time that was the very angel that walked with uh Israel in in the desert. I have seen him walk here among us. Remember, when you're busy building the kingdom, God adds everything to you. He adds everything to your business. Why? One of my favorite definitions of the kingdom was shared by this guy named Golden. Myron Golden talks about how, um, the best definition I've heard about the kingdom is that God is king and rule over my life. Yes. And this enables me to reign as king over my assignment as I further expand the garden in the earth. Best definition ever heard of the kingdom. God is king over my life, which enables me to rule as king over my assignment as I bring forth the garden of Eden into the earth. So, what are the kingdom initiatives? The kingdom initiatives are very simple. Are you ready? Reproduce the garden of Eden in every sphere of society. Try this side. Kingdom initiatives are very simple. You ready? Reproduce the garden of Eden in every sphere of society. If you want to know what the kingdom of God looks like, you got to go back to the garden. Watch this. Now, in Eden, there was no pain. In Eden, there were no weeds. In Eden, there were no curses. All right, hold on. I gotta hover over a curse for a second. If you, if you actually read Genesis 3:17 and 18, it says, "And since uh, and he said to the man, 'Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of the fruit I commanded you not to eat, the what? The ground is cursed because of you, and all your life you will struggle to scratch a living for it. It will grow thorns and thistles, though you will eat its grains.'" This is the first mention, by the way, in the Bible about thorns and thistles. Difficulty added to produce. Being able to produce something and yet you will encounter absurd amounts of difficulty with no hope of remedy. That was a curse. That was not part of the original design of human existence. Come on, guys. Now that Christ has died, those who are in Christ are actually not just a new creation. We are in the new creation right now. We are actually the new Jerusalem an entire age early. Like the new Jerusalem will reach its fullness in anybody. The new Jerusalem will actually reach its fullness in Israel here on this earth. Nobody. Come on, somebody. Read your Bibles. Thank you. But we are actually living in that reality right now. But here's the deal. There's an entire planet of people that are not living that reality. And you have the solution living inside. Come on. What does it say? Jeremiah 12:13: "My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worn themselves out and it has done them no good." Romans 8:20-21: "For creation was subjected to frustration by and not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and the glory of the children of God." This means that the children of God are the ones responsible to bring the earth back to its Eden state. In Eden, there is no lack. In Eden, there is guaranteed fruitfulness. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and the mountains and the animals that scurry along the ground." When we all right, this is where who's in, who's in, who works in the market? Who's anybody? Okay, who here is not in full-time ministry? Raise your hand. Who here is, is in full-time ministry? Raise your hand. That's everybody in this room. Okay. It is your job, whether if you're full-time ministry or not, to build the kingdom on earth. That is your job. Whatever you do as a profession is the unique expression of your job. Your job is to build the kingdom on earth and return the earth back to the state of the Garden of Eden. That's your job. That's your job. Your profession is the expression of your real job. When we reproduce Eden in society, business, in education, in family, or government, value is created. Let me teach you about money, y'all. You learn about money today. Money naturally follows value. Why? Because in the abstract, one of the core elements of money is that money is a material declaration of, yes, it's agreement. It's me saying I'm going to materially declare yes. I shall receive what you have to offer me, the value you have to offer. I have a lot to offer. Okay? And therefore, my company has actually made a declaration, my salary, as we will receive all the value Joel has to offer us with the problems he comes to solve. It's a declaration of agreement. This is why some of y'all need to be given like money to the church. Not kidding. It's a declaration. God, I shall receive everything you have to give me. There's a declaration of partnership. This is, some of y'all immediately get offended. Immediately get offended when we talk about church and money. Stop being so immature. You want to know why you're immature? Because you have seen people who worship mammon and call it God. And then you think all the churches are like that. But we ain't. Some of y'all get offended because you have seen people worship mammon and call it the worship of God. But let me tell you something. Not all churches are like that. Especially this one. You want to know where this church puts its resources? In feeding hungry babies. Thousands and thousands of cans of, of baby formula are sent out every month to this, to this community using resources to serve people. Who gives me five more minutes? Who gives me five more? You give me five more. You give me five more. You. Okay. We're going to be here all day. All right. Hallelujah. Come on, somebody. Watch this. Now, you ready? Humanity is still desperate to go back to Eden, whether it knows it or not. Innately in the human mind, we know something's wrong. We're trying to fix something desperately. We have no, even if we're not saved, even if we're not in the church, we know something's wrong. We're desperately trying to fix a problem we cannot see, taste, touch, or feel. We're trying. We know we're out of place. Why? Because the Bible says that the Lord has written the law of God in the hearts of the, the human spirit. We know something's wrong. Humanity is still desperate to receive more of Eden in their lives. And let me tell you something, people will pay. They will declare with their dollars just to have a little bit of lasting peace, for some order. How about some abundance? All of these things are found in Eden, are they not? Are they not? Any product, this is why kingdom products are so powerful. Watch this now. Any product or service that brings a level of righteousness, peace, or joy into the earth, designed originally in the mind of God and brought forth by anointed believers, is a kingdom product. Everybody buys for the same three reasons: righteousness, peace, or joy. So, in the end, we actually all want the kingdom. Kingdom products are tangible manifestations of Eden in the earth. Bible says that the kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you something. Anybody ever been to Jake Weatherbee's Lego store? Raise your hand. You ever been to the Okay, everybody needs to clear out the Saturday and you need to go to Jake Weatherbee's Lego store. Okay, I'm just telling you right now. I have been. And let me tell you something. Lego may be the object that his store transacts, but joy is the product of his business. Joy is actually what his business produces. Listen, I walked up in that store and I was so, I was enjoying myself so much, I spent like $150 in like 30 minutes. I was like, "Oh my God, I got to get out of here." Because joy is the product of his business. Lego is just the object of transaction. He is actually bringing the kingdom as a manifestation of joy in the earth. And Lego is just the excuse to transact. Everybody wants the kingdom. Everybody. Everybody wants the kingdom. How many of y'all know, especially in Florida, that air conditioning is a manifestation of the Garden of Eden? Anybody? Let me tell you something. The Bible says in Genesis that he would walk with them in the cool of the day. All right? Not the heat of the day. That is a kingdom product. Hallelujah. So, how do we unleash the kingdom? We unleash the kingdom through, through f, uh, furious service. When we serve, we solve problems. We remove weeds. We break curses. Right? We turn chaos into peace, right? This, I mean, I mean, and here's the thing. When somebody tastes something from a kingdom product, they know it's not of this world. My, my wife, wonderful woman, how many y'all know my wife, Briana? Anybody? The sweetest thing, right? In the last 12 years of our marriage, my wife has attempted to make Puerto Rican food a few times. Let me tell you something. I have been surprised because it's surprisingly decent for a white woman. All right, y'all don't understand. My wife's parents come from the corn fields of Iowa. That is as white as America can get. Like, it doesn't get any whiter. And my sweet wife has made me Puerto Rican food a number of times and it's been surprisingly decent. I'm impressed. But watch this. Now, it's a whole different ball game when Abuelita, when my Abuelita Mildred Morales walks in the kitchen like Leonardo da Vinci about to paint a masterpiece. Okay. Like when Abuelita walks in the kitchen, she's about to cook something that's a whole different ball game. All right. How many know what I'm talking about? Some Abuelita food. Nobody. Some Abuelita. Come on, somebody. Can I get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah with a little bit? All right. Why? You want to know why? You want to know why it tastes different? Because it was made by the hands that come from the home country. Come on, somebody. When somebody sees the product or the service that comes from you, it tastes like Eden. All right, let me help you. Let me help you one more time. Your fear of the Lord and the love of God are your two greatest marketplace competitive advantages and differentiators. Let me help you. Let me help you. Hold on. I wrote it down because I'm like all over the place now. All right. The fear of the Lord and the love of God are your two greatest competitive different advantages and marketplace differentiators. Why? Because the fear of the Lord would never allow you to lie, cheat, or mistreat your customers, employees, or employers. Come on. And the love of God would cause you to serve and care for your employees, employers, and customers in a way that is not of this world. Agape is the competitive advantage. A love that is not of this world. Only agape will lead a bunch of Jewish followers to carry Roman bags. Not one mile, but two. Only agape would lead us to such insane levels of service. And this right here, the world can compete. So what's inside of you? Um, can we get Silas or somebody to play? Thank you. Let me say this. My, uh, Miles Monroe, Dr. Miles Monroe, the late Dr. Dr. Miles Monroe, one of my great heroes in the faith. He warned us. He said that the wealthiest place on the planet is not the gold mines of South America or South, yes, sorry, South, South Africa or the oil fields of the Middle East. The wealthiest place on earth is the graveyard because there lie buried companies that were never started. There lie inventions that were never made. There lie best-selling books that were never written and masterpieces that were never painted. I said it the last time I preached and I'll say it again. God is expecting a return on investment from your life. He didn't die for no reason. Come on, somebody. He died to see the kingdom built on the earth. And he is expecting the delivery vehicle to build the kingdom is the children of God. Don't you get it twisted. Y'all are around waiting for him to do your job. Enough is enough. You have to take ownership of your space. You have to understand your job is to build the kingdom. Your profession is just the expression of that. But your job is to manifest Eden in the earth. No more pain. Remove the weeds. Take out the difficulty. Bring the, bring, take chaos and turn it into peace. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of the living God. Go ahead and stand your feet. Remember Jesus says, "Don't store your treasures on earth and set toward your treasures in heaven where no rough rust or moth can destroy and no thief can come in and steal." Come on, somebody. Why does that matter? It matters because I'm shifting from mammon system to heaven system here in real time. I've always read that verse. It's like, oh, I just got to think about my possessions in a way off far place in the afterlife. No, honey. That's the difference between shifting from one earthly system to a heaven system here and now. And then what does it mean? It is the shest way to live life. Why? Because I'm building my life, my family, my business on the rock. The Bible says in the book of Matthew 7:24 and 25, "Therefore, anyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrent raged, the wind blew and beat against the house, and yet it did not fall because its foundation was the rock." I want to build something that lasts. And the kingdom system beats the mammon system every single time. Because the kingdom system is eternal. It's built on the rock, the rock of ages. My hope is built on nothing less but Jesus's blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest friend, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. Oh, Christ the solid rock I stand. Oh, the ground is sinking sand. And when he shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found. Dressed in his righteousness alone. Faultless we shall stand before the throne. Amen. Welcome up, Caleb. Let's say thank you to Pastor Joel. Come up. So good. We're going to have our prayer team come down and we always end this way, uh, where we invite people to pray, but I really feel like an an invite to action. I was sitting there and just feeling like a, a prompting on my heart and I, I felt really weird about it and then, uh, Tracy came over and she's like, "Just hearing boldness, boldness." I'm like, "Ah, okay. I think that's for me to be bold." Uh, I felt like the Lord say, "Put the giving slide back up." Not, I'm not, I'm not, I've literally never done this in seven years. Check me, Tracy. You've been here since. Have I ever done this? Never. Put it back up, man. Like, some of y'all heard that and you know your action step is to transact with heaven. Your action step is to align. You know, wow, my value system has been about me. It's been about me, myself, and I. You found, you found conviction while he was speaking there. And I just felt like the Lord said, "Give them a chance to act." So this isn't about the actual physical money. This is about your heart. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, just as Pastor Joel said. So scan it, text him. I don't know. Like, I've literally never done that. So, amen. Just feel like God wants us to to trust him on another, another level. And if you're here and you know you're hearing all this, you're like, these people, they think, you know, that Jesus is actually a real person. Yes, we do. We don't think it, we know it. We've met him. The Holy Spirit has borne witness in our hearts and we've been changed from the inside out. And that righteousness, peace, and joy that he was talking about, it's real. Even now. Even now. Not because we're good, because he's good. Amen. We actually get to be holy as he is holy. We get to do good because he is good. It's real. And you might be in this room going, "That's never been real for me." Well, let me just say something to you today. Today is your day. Today is the day of salvation. And it can be real for you. Here's how it works. Jesus is God. He came born of a virgin, miracle birth, lived a perfect life, died your death and my death, was beat to death for you and for me, taking on the sin of the world, died at the hands of his own creation, and then was laid in a tomb. And three days later, he stood himself back up, raising himself up from the dead. He appeared to over 500 people. You find any court that has 500 witnesses that say the same thing. It's written down. This is the most documented event in history. And the fool says in his heart, "There is no God." That's why my own, my favorite altar call is, "Don't be an idiot." Why would you be so foolish as to not to refuse the free gift of righteousness, peace, and joy now and forevermore? It's free. You just believe it. I love this, too. The courts of heaven are the only courtroom. It's the only courtroom where if you just confess, you go free. Yep, I did it. I got sin in my life. I did it. And he goes, "All right, because you confessed, you're free. That's it. I, you're forgiven." This team is down here to receive anyone. They're down here. They have faith for everyone. It's one of our core values. They're here to receive you. If you've never believed in Jesus like that, today is your day, friend. Today's the day. And you get to enter into that righteous, peace, and joy. Amen. They're also here if you have any pain in your body. We love to see miracles. We saw a miracle at our Bible study, uh, just on Tuesday. Healings are breaking out. We want to see more and more of his kingdom coming. There's no pain in Eden. And we're to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." So, they're going to partner with you for that. Just come down. Don't just walk out the doors. Come down and receive prayer. Amen. Amen. But let's pray before we do that. Father, we thank you for this word. Come on. Are you grateful? God, we thank you for the Sermon on the Mount. We thank you, Jesus, that you said these beautiful things. And we will, we do right now. We say yes to seeking first your kingdom. Not chasing things, but chasing you so that you can add all things that we need. You know what we need. Your word also says your Father in heaven knows that you need clothing. It knows that you need bread. You know before we ask, you know what we need. So God, we just seek you. We say your kingdom come. Your will be done in our life as it is in heaven. Thank you, Lord. We say send us now, showing us your heart. Giving us a deep well of compassion for those who are hurting around us. Helping us to care for one another on the way and leading us by the light of your truth. In Jesus name we pray. And everybody said, "Amen." Amen. Bless you. Have a wonderful day. We'll see you next Sunday. Come get prayer. Get your kids from TRP Kids. We bless you. We bless you. We bless you.