What's Your Treasure?
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Tennessee Titans’ center, Kevin Long [1998-2001], who played under Coach Bobby Bowden at Florida State University, said his college coach inspired the team with parables. Kevin recounted a favorite story: [Bowden] was playing college baseball, and he had never hit a home run. Finally, he hit one down the right-field line, into the corner. He rounded first and looked to the third-base coach. He turned at second, was halfway to third and the coach was still waving him on to home plate where he arrived safely. He had his first home run. He was so excited and everybody was slapping him with high fives.
Then the pitcher took the ball, threw it to the first baseman, and the umpire called him out. Coach Bowden said, “If you don’t take care of first base, it doesn’t matter what you do. If you don’t honor the Lord first, it doesn’t matter what else you do.”
Jesus has been dealing with stepping on first base spiritually in chapters 5-6. Now Jesus turns to dealing with the issue of our priorities, what we treasure in our lives. Something is always going to be first in our life. The question is, “What’s Your Treasure?”
Text; Mt. 6:19-24
Matthew 6:19–24 (NKJV)
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
1. Laying Up Earthly Treasures; 19
1. Laying Up Earthly Treasures; 19
It is a given that human beings are by nature “thing-oriented”. In the Garden, God gave Adam and Eve all He created to enjoy. If there was any couple that had wealth untold [spiritual/physical], it was them. Yet the one thing God told them not to eat of, is what they desired the most. It is no different in our culture today. People are wrapped up in seeking more and enjoying more the material possessions in life.
Treasures- (thēsauros) means “the things laid up in a treasury … something precious, a deposit of wealth.” Treasure is not just money, or material goods, but whatever each man thinks best, that which he most eagerly strives to attain, that which he most dreads to lose, that which, if he has, he thinks he will be blessed, that which, if he has it not, he believes he will be dissatisfied and miserable.”
Treasures, or wealth, among the ancients, consisted in clothes or changes of raiment, as well as gold, silver, gems, wine, lands, and oil. It meant an abundance of “anything” that was held to be favorable in the comfort of life.
Jesus is not speaking against wealth or having possessions, only the preoccupation with them. There are many men in scripture and men today that wealth was a part of their ministry to others;
Job, Abraham, David, Barnabas, Cornelius, Sam Walton [Walmart], Dave Thomas [Wendy’s Foundation], Truett Cathey [Chik-fil-A/Winshape Foundation], David Greene [Hobby Lobby].
Jesus is saying that wealth is given to us by God to be used for His glory and not hoarded as our security! Jesus gives four reasons we don’t need to lay up earthly treasures;
[19] Material things don’t last; moths and rust destroy material possessions
Moths destroy silk just like they will cotton [Walmart or Macy’s]
Rust will destroy a $100,000 Chevy just like it can a $10,000 Ford
Rust also speaks of rats, mold, mildew and worms ruining grain, oil and wine.
What the moths and rust don’t ruin, thieves can steal—or the government can take through excessive taxation. And even if they survive all that, Jesus says in;
Matthew 24:35 (NKJV)
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
If anything in this world is everything to you, it is an earthly treasure and will eventually become nothing.
[21] Focusing on material possessions bind us to earth;
Whatever we set our hearts affection on is what defines who we are! We will either be earthly minded or heavenly minded.
Achan was focused on the gold bars and garments instead of the big picture of honoring God and claiming the Promised Land, his inheritance in God.
25 And Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.” So all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
At what cost will you sell your soul?
[22-23] Concentrating on earthly things clouds our spiritual vision; “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
The eye in this context is speaking of the desires of our heart. What goes on in our heart or mind is going to affect our vision or view of life.
A good/healthy eye has a godly worldview;
John 8:12 (NKJV)
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
A bad/unhealthy eye is blind to the things of the Lord;
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
The way we look at and use our money is a sure barometer of our spiritual condition.
You can’t serve God and Mammon at the same time; You have to make a choice!
Who is your Master? That’s the one you will love, be loyal to and serve.
Master is translated Lord and refers to a slave owner. By definition, a slave owner has total control of the slave. For a slave there is no such thing as part-time obligation to his master. He owes full-time service to a full-time master. He is owned and totally controlled by and obligated to his master. He has nothing left for anyone else. To give anything to anyone else would make his master less than master. It is not simply difficult, but absolutely impossible, to serve two masters and fully or faithfully be the obedient slave of each.
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John Calvin said, “Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority”
2. Laying Up Heavenly Treasure; 20
2. Laying Up Heavenly Treasure; 20
Jesus encourages us to lay up “heavenly treasure”. The reason why is that heavenly treasure is permanent and secure!
What is heavenly treasure? Turn to [1 Cor. 3:5-15]
Heavenly treasure is the work one does with the Gospel and the opportunities afforded them by the Lord. That includes using your material possessions to further the kingdom of God.
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
A soul that you invest in that comes to faith in Christ is a heavenly treasure that is permanent and secure!
Close;
We need to be careful about treasuring money or material possessions to the point that the Lord is neglected or rejected in our life.
Money will buy a bed; but not sleep; books but not brains; food but not appetite;
a house but not a home; medicine but not health; luxuries but not culture;
amusements but not happiness; religion but not salvation;
Someone put it like this, “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” Are you making a difference for Christ with your life?
What’s your treasure? Jesus or Things