What are you investing in?

Matthew 6:19-21

a. Don’t store up treasures that will fade (6:19)

b. Store up treasures that will endure (6:20-21)

1. INTRODUCTION

a. The topic of investments are now being discussed by our Lord. Jesus starts this section in the Sermon on the Mount to discuss what and where we are investing in. This is an important section for us because investments deal with contracts. So Jesus here is asking the question or making statements about what are you investing in?

b. In dealing with that question, Jesus gives us two factors to consider when we think about investments. Jesus is making sure to tell us that we will invest no matter what. Everything in our life is about investments. Plainly speaking, are we investing in things that fade or things that endure?

c. Remember the context of what Jesus has been speaking about in Chapter 6. Chapter 6 deals with righteous living. Jesus has been outlining godliness, but specifically, the right way to be godly versus the wrong way of being godly. This chapter is not telling us what we should do, or what we shouldn’t do. But really, the heart of Jesus’s message is to ask us, why do you do what you do? If we speak about godliness, why do we choose to live godly? Who are we doing it for? That is the essence of the Christian life.

d. We say we are Christian. But why do we make the decisions we make, and why do we do the things we do? Ultimately, it comes down to 2 answers. Are you investing in yourself where things will fade, or are you doing it for God where it will endure.

2. BODY

a. Don’t store up treasures that will fade (6:19)

i. So with that in mind, verse 19 starts with Jesus’s statement on what not to invest in. It’s important we understand what this text is saying and what it is not saying.

ii. First we want to go over what it is not saying. In the first place, the subject of 6:19 is ‘treasure’, not earthly goods in general. In the second place, the verb, ‘to treasure’, refers to accumulation, not simple possession. We are not saying that Jesus has some type of hostility towards wealth. Having wealth is not evil or because someone is wealthy that they did something inherently evil to accumulate wealth.

iii. The issue Jesus is raising here though is, are you hording it? Is your life’s purpose to make wealth? This is why Jesus says in verse 21, where your treasure is, that’s where your heart is also. Jesus is making the point that if all you desire is wealth, if your stability and security in your life is behind your wealth, then something is wrong.

iv. At the heart of why people desire wealth, it’s because they find their security in it. Having wealth makes life better in a sense of enjoyment but does having wealth make a life successful? Is life fulfilled because we have wealth? I think the general consensus is that the answer to these questions are no. Wealth can’t bring about happiness. Wealth can’t give us purpose. It can make life easier in a sense because we will have less stress but having a Bugatti versus having a Nissan or a Honda or a Toyota, doesn’t really make a difference. Yes, the bells and whistles are nice but it doesn’t give you a great sense of pleasure.

v. It’s like the children’s Christmas present. When we first buy the present, we love the gift. But as we continue to play with it, we lose the enamor and we want our next gift. This tells us very clearly that it doesn’t have a lasting satisfaction, but a temporary one. The same type of satisfaction that Jesus here is speaking of.

vi. If we don’t know already, there is a book in the Bible that deals with this whole topic. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us of the vanities of life. Solomon outlines vanities of having the things of the world. He goes into detail in Chapters 1-2 where at the middle of chapter 2, verse 11, he concludes that all his labors in which he did with his hands were vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

vii. This caused Solomon to strive for wisdom then quickly realizes, that the fool and the wise will both die alike. Solomon ends chapter 2 with an important point. The basic things of life are sweet and good. Things like to eat and drink and his labor are all good but the thing that spoils all of these things is our hunger to get out of them more than they can give. You see, Solomon’s statement here at the end of Chapter 2 is to remind us that the things in life that have any lasting effect are the things that God has given to us. It’s the basic things of life. They are there to remind us what He has provided and what He has given and we are to be thankful. It becomes vanity when we start to think that the things we are given are things we are to amass. It becomes vanity when the things that we are given become things that we must gather and collect. The simple truth is, have enjoyment by receiving God’s kindness and His gifts and enjoy them. Don’t live your life striving to earn and try to get more out of them. They were never meant to be things you strived to find security or purpose from.

b. Store up treasures that will endure (6:20-21)

It does not mean to build the church primarily. Building the church is the result of storing treasures in Heaven but building the church is not to store up treasures in Heaven.

i. So what is the contrast? Verse 20 starts with But store yourselves treasures in Heaven. If I were to ask you, what are treasures in Heaven? We start to think about investing in people, investing in the kingdom, things of that nature. But if I ask you specifically, what does it mean to store treasures in Heaven, what would you say? Ultimately, it means to treasure your love for God.

ii. Remember the contrast that Jesus has been teaching up to this point is are you living for your own joy and your own presentation and reputation, or are you living for God? Are you living your life to please yourself or are you living your life to please God? That is at the heart of Chapter 6. The simple question is, where is your heart? This is why Jesus says in verse 21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus is addressing our hearts.

iii. Storing up treasures in Heaven simply is understanding that ultimately, what we should be investing in, is living to please God. It is acknowledging that being in God’s presence, to know God, to be known by God, to be loved by God, is the greatest privilege and purpose in life. Solomon makes the same point in Ecclesiastes. The thesis of the book is found in 2:25. For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? The one who says it is from the hand of God. The one who acknowledges that all that He receives is the grace of God and lives enjoying the things of life because he acknowledges everything is God’s grace?

iv. So then we have to ask the question what is grace? What does it mean that we receive the grace of God?

1. Paul explains what grace is. In Ephesians 2:8, Paul writes “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Now if I ask you, what is the gift? Is the gift grace or faith? If you said grace, you are correct. So if I asked you a second question, what is grace then? We have been saved by grace. What does that mean? Most of us understand grace as some type of currency. We think that God gives us grace, it’s something that is apart from Him. But the reality is, when we say we were saved by grace, we were saved by Him. He gave Himself to us. We were saved by God Himself, in that He sent His One and only son to die for us. We receive grace, by receiving His son. It is only through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in which we have been cleansed from our sins. And not only through the blood and death, but because of His resurrection, that we have newness of life in Jesus Christ. It is because of His resurrection that we too, will be alive with Him when we die.

2. So if we refer back to what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:25, to receive the person of God is what brings value in this life. Solomon realized nothing in life has permanence. Everything will fade. Solomon realizes, that the only thing that has lasting effect is enjoying God and living in His presence. It has lasting value and worth because we understand that it’s not our possessions or gifts that we receive our worth, but rather, to be with a person.

v. This is exactly what Jesus is stating here. Storing treasures in Heaven is understanding that our greatest treasure is God and to live to please God. There is no greater treasure. It is to keep God as the forefront of our hearts. Everything we do, should be for His glory. Everything we do, should be for His honor. This was what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians 10:31. Whether we eat or drink, do all for the glory of God. Everything should be for God’s glory. Why? Because those are the only things that will last.

vi. Now if you ask the question, why do those things last? Why does living for the glory of God last? Some can say I’ve lived my whole life for God and I am still miserable.

vii. Why is this the case in these situations? The reason we feel this way is because we view our relationships with God as a contract. We serve God hoping that He will give us the things we want. Then when we realize that God hasn’t completed His part of the bargain, we start to feel miserable. We might think this is not right but this is the case we view most relationships. We have the tendency to think of all relationships as some sort of contract where if the other person does what we want, then we will continue to invest because we are seeing a return in our investment. But, if we are to invest and we don’t see a return in our investment, then it is likely that we will give up the investment and cut our losses.

viii. When Jesus calls us to store our treasures in Heaven, it means to do things beyond contracts. Jesus calls us to store our treasures because ultimately, that’s where our heart is. If we simply view our relationship with God and with others as simply contracts, where if they give us our returns, and that’s what dictates whether we will keep investing or not, then ultimately, it means that we are investing in treasures that will rot.

ix. But what Jesus is telling us to do is, invest Heaven, invest your time in God and recognize priorities. Jesus is focusing on our hearts and the things we value. We should value as the greatest priority, who God is, what He has done in saving us. That focus, that truth should dictate and guide the way we live. That is Jesus’s focus because ultimately, that hits at the heart.

3. CONCLUSION