Rich Toward God — Where Your Treasure Really Lives

About This Message

In the closing verses of 1 Timothy, Paul speaks directly to those who have wealth — not to shame them, but to redirect their hope from what is uncertain to the God who richly provides. Through the stories of Zacchaeus and Matthew, and Paul's beautiful wordplay on the word 'rich,' this message invites us to loosen our grip on earthly treasure and invest in the only thing that lasts: people brought closer to Jesus.

Key Points

1. 1

   Before God ever asks us to open our hands, He already opened His — the gospel doesn’t begin with a command but with the gift of Christ who became poor so we could be made eternally rich.

2. 2

   Jesus called Zacchaeus and Matthew out from behind the very things they were hiding behind, and that same call comes to us today: come out of shame, greed, and isolation and into relationship with Him.

3. 3

   Paul uses a striking wordplay — rich, richly, rich in good deeds — not to kill our desire for abundance but to re-aim it toward the things that truly satisfy and endure.

4. 4

   The human heart is an idol factory, and greed is the one idol the world applauds — diagnosing it requires asking what we daydream about, what we fear losing, what triggers our anger, and what we reach for when we’re empty.

5. 5

   The treasure we store in heaven isn’t stuff but people — every meal shared, every gospel conversation, every act of mercy has a face on it, and those faces will be part of the eternal crowd worshipping the Lamb together.