Two Kinds of Treasure

Introduction

I don’t know about you but there are things that bring me stress in my life

named storms bring me stress

When I lived in Winston-Salem during the 1989 tornado outbreak

I was in college and we had six tornadoes touch down in the Winston-Salem area

The downtown area where I was had an F-3 tornado blow through

I was doing a show downtown and the twister blew through downtown

I was on the seventh floor of the building where the follow spot operators were

I walked out to the mezzanine and looked over the balcony

I remember seeing the rain pour into the theater building looking like a waterfall

The backstage area was filled with water because someone decided to open the backstage door to look out

and after it blew by the entire city was in blackout except for our building

we actually finished the show because it blew through during intermission

and we were the only building that didn’t lose power

The crew went up to the roof of the building after the show and noticed

concrete capstones were all over the street

some on some of the cars

a normal 15 minute ride from the downtown theater to the campus took almost 2 1/2 hours

due to downed power lines and trees

The next day we walked all over campus and saw twisted trees and broken down buildings

I’ve lived in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of tornado alley

While there, we spent the first month it feels like in the basement of our home

every time the tornado sirens would go off

But that was before we owned a home, had kids, etc.

and not once did a tornado touch down on the house

When we moved to Wilmington in 2001

There was a storm that hit

I remember sitting in the house and hearing the thunder and watching the lightening

Shannon was looking out the back sliding door of the house and said this storm looked different

It was about that time my ears popped

I watched the purple explosions of transformers blowing up in the distance

and seeing the explosions getting closer

We grabbed Arthur and the pets and sat in the laundry room of our house for what seemed like an eternity

I had done this before

but this time it was like a train was passing by the back of our house

and suddenly we lost power so you could hear everything going on outside

From that point on, when a storm comes, I get a little nervous.

What’s interesting about stress is that it comes from things that are out of my control

I don’t stress out when I’m prepared

One of the things I did for therapy is to make a go bag.

it has candles, handkerchiefs, lighters, knife, firearm, a Lifestraw water filter, a couple of days of prescriptions, you name it.

Most of it is out of date now, but occasionally I’ll go through it and pull it all out and replace things.

The preparation makes storms tolerable.

They still stress me out, but when I remember my bag, I’m good to go.

All this may sound ridiculous

like I need a security blanket to get me through a named storm

and I’m not ashamed to admit that

but this morning we are going to begin a series called Stress Removal

What kinds of things in life stress you out?

named storms, natural disasters? rising flood waters?

medical decisions? job decisions? the threat of job loss?

church business meetings?

The wild thing is none of these things are within our control

except maybe church business meetings, to a point

but what I’ve noticed mainly from my own experience

is I tend to get stressed out over two things

Two Reasons We Stress Out

We are going to break all these things down into twos

This way it makes our choices simpler

and these things are easier to remember

I think the times we stress out is because of two major factors

We stress out when

#1 Things are out of our control

I know when I don’t have control over something

and I know it’s coming and inevitable

I can get a little anxious

I don’t care if it’s a named storm, a medical procedure,

a new pain in my body, a confrontation with someone

a tickle in the back of my throat

all of these things have a tendency to stress me out

because they are out of my control

When this happens, My mind tends to run on autopilot

and it runs in many different directions

I get wrapped up in things like Chicken Little

and wind up living for what may happen instead of what really happens

and neither of these are within my power to control

The problem is

When I do this I train my body to stress out

every time one of these events take place in my life

So when the storm was coming, matter of fact

just to be honest, when hurricane season gets here and a storm is named

I’m praying it goes somewhere else

but my body goes into hyper mode

just because there’s a storm on the map

I live and die by spaghetti models

and my mood is dependent on the weather

Here’s another reason why we stress out

and it’s somewhat tied to the first one

#2 We Think We Will Lose Something of Value

Why do people play the lottery? Because they hope to win

Why do people put their children into travel ball

because they hope that they will be a professional athlete someday

Everything is a gamble in life when it comes to this world

It doesn’t matter if you get a lottery ticket or get into your car

it’s all a gamble of what’s going to happen

There are people in this world that stress out because they overthink everything

If I get into my car today, I might crash and die

If I eat this food, I might get sick

If I don’t wash my hands three times I might catch a germ

If that person doesn’t say hello to me, they must hate me

All of these are worldly gambles that we may lose something of worldly value

There are genuinely times when people have reason to stress out over value

The loss of a loved one is a huge loss of a treasure here on earth

This loss may not be compared to any other loss that takes place

but it’s a great example of where we place our value or our treasures

Even the loss of someone close to us shouldn’t be a paralyzing factor in our lives

if we have followed through with making sure that person will spend eternity with us

We’ll talk about this in a moment

Jesus began this part of the Sermon on the Mount sharing this verse

Matthew 6:1 (ESV)

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus is going to continue on the theme of rewards and righteousness

last week we spoke about fasting and Jesus ended it this way

Matthew 6:18 (ESV)

18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Jesus is going to spend some time telling these folks on the hillside

all about choices

the choice for eternity or the choice for living for right now

The choice for living for the world or for living for eternity past this earthly existence

eventually He will get to the choice for following Him

or following what the world tells you is true

It’s all about where are you going to place your rewards

And Jesus gives us choices between two different things for every example

Two Kinds of Treasure vs 19-21

Two kinds of eyes or sight vs 22-23

Two kinds of masters vs 24

two different perspectives vs 25-33

And the bottom line of all of this

spoiler alert! is Matthew 6:34

Matthew 6:34 ESV

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

There’s two things that Jesus wants us to know through this entire series

Two Things Jesus Wants Us To Understand

#1 Don’t Worry About Tomorrow

I realize I’m starting with the end of this series

but this is the bottom line of this

Focus on what’s happening today

and make plans for tomorrow

but be flexible about what may happen

and then don’t worry about it

There are so many things our of our control

Who knew that the Debbie was going to hang around an extra day and dump all that rain

who knew the precise place it was going to make landfall

who knew that some health issue was going to show up in your life

who knew that a software update would effect the entire country a few weeks ago

and people couldn’t get home on an airplane for days

who knew any of that?

The wisest man ever to live wrote this to help us

Ecclesiastes 1:2–3 (ESV)

2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

ecclesiastes 2:24-25

Ecclesiastes 2:24–25 (ESV)

24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,

25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

I always think about the last day of vacation

When we are on vacation, the last day is always the worst

we know that tomorrow we are going to pack up and go home

the long car ride home

so on the last day we are all moping around

waiting for the day to end

so we can say goodbye to the vacation

and it feels like we’ll never go back again

gloom and doom, gloom and doom

why? Because we are so concerned about the next day

we forget to enjoy the day we have

So don’t worry about tomorrow

live for today and enjoy the day you have

Maybe even more important than that is

#2 Put All Your Value into Eternity

Here’s where we are going to land the plane today

We have a choice to make

We can either stress out about all the stuff we have right now

or we can put all our value into eternity

knowing with full assurance and promise from God and His Word

that nothing is going to happen to it before we get there

and that when we do arrive, all that value and treasure is going to be there waiting for us

That begins with our own eternity

If you were to stand before God right now at the gates of heaven

and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you in?”

What are you going to tell Him?

Because you were a good person?

Romans 3:10–12 (ESV)

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

So if there are none that are righteous enough

and no one that does good according to the Bible

what else you got?

Well, I may not have always done good things, but I’ve done some good things

Have you done bad things?

Have you ever lied, cheated, stolen anything

and it doesn’t have to be tangible things that you’ve stolen

it could be someone’s credibility by talking bad about them

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (ESV)

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

The good news is that the Bible does tell us how to make that choice to enter into heaven

Romans 6:23 (ESV)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You can choose to pay for your sins on your own

The payment for your sins is death, but not just a physical one

there needs to be a perfect death.

One who was sinless that died for your payment

otherwise anyone could just die and pay for their own sins

Jesus died a sinless death for everyone

and it’s a free gift extended to everyone

that’s the main choice for eternity

if you’ve never made that choice, let me or Luke help you

at the end of the service, or right now if you want

But the story of eternity doesn’t end there

I heard a podcast this week from Priscilla Shirer

She was explaining on how people can have accountability in their lives

and it’s all about surrender

she said Christianity is all or nothing

She said, “Discipleship is not only about issues of sin, those black and white issues we can point to clearly

but sometimes they’re just issues that are related more to what has more priority in our lives other than Jesus

What’s the strongest voice?

What’s the strongest influence?

And how willing are you to let go when Jesus says to surrender it?

What’s the response time in us really being willing to surrender it to Him

and trust Him with the outcome

That’s what discipleship is all about”

She then said this chilling statement we all know to be true

“The reality is you can be a Christian and not be a disciple because salvation is free, but discipleship costs.”

The bigger question with that is then

are you truly a Christian?

How many aren’t willing to take the next step toward eternity because it may cost you something?

Maybe it will cost you some pride

maybe it will cost you some humility

maybe it will cost some time

can I tell you that sometimes God will ask you for it up front

but He will take it from you if you aren’t willing to release it?

So Jesus gives us a choice on the treasures we want to keep

Two Kinds of Treasure

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)

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.

Here are your two choices about treasures

#1 Treasure on Earth

Matthew 6:19 (ESV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

The description of the treasures on earth paint a picture

There is not a thing here on earth that is going to last

For the past several years we have a car show

and I love to look at all the cars that have been restored

that are older than I am

But can I tell you that those cars didn’t just restore on their own

The amount of resources that it takes to restore a car is phenomenal

But what may be even more costly is

the amount of resources is takes to keep that car restored

why? It’s a car made of metal, rubber, chrome, paint, vinyl, etc.

there is nothing on that vehicle that is made to last

eventually rain, rust, dry rot, all of it will become dust in the ground

There’s nothing wrong with car restoration.

One of my bucket list items is to have my classic 1995 Jeep restored

but I also know if I put that in the way of anything that lasts for eternity

I’m not following what Jesus is saying here

He says right from the gate

Do not lay up treasures on earth

The words “lay up” mean to store, gather, save

Jesus is literally saying, Stop storing up stuff here on earth

Things that can rot or fall apart

or things that can be stolen

why? Because material wealth is no good beyond this life on earth

The way this reads in the original language is

Stop making a treasure for yourself

So is Jesus saying that we can’t have nice things?

Is He saying that we should live in poverty instead?

IS He really saying that we shouldn’t enjoy the things here on earth?

Not at all

Jesus is saying that worldly-mindedness and the concentration on prosperity in this world

to the neglect of all else is wrong

That the aim of earthly success should not be the point of our labor

It’s the attitude toward our possessions that is important

Instead this is where Jesus says to store up

#2 Treasure in Eternity

Matthew 6:20 (ESV)

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Jesus first tells us to store treasures again

this time we should store up treasures in heaven

why? Because those treasures in heaven will not be destroyed or stolen

That begs the question, what are those things that can be stored in heaven

Spiritual treasure can be as broad as possible

anything from like holiness of character, obedience to God’s commands

souls won for Christ, disciples nurtured in the faith

We may not be able to bring things with us to heaven

I’ve never seen a U-Haul on the back of a hearse

But the things we can bring with us from this life

We bring our own walk with Jesus with us

and maybe even better, we can bring people with us

What an incredible valuable thing to bring with us to heaven

Then there’s the bottom line of what Jesus is trying to say

Matthew 6:21 (ESV)

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Beyond what we can store up or what we can’t

The Bottom line: What you worship shows up in what you are storing

Again, does that mean we can’t enjoy things in this life?

no, but if they overtake the worship of God

worship is where you spend your time, talents, and treasures

then yes, it’s wrong

Along with doing a little celebrating the ServeNC event this evening

We are talking about worship this evening

let me invite you back to hear about that at 4:30 for snack and 5:00 for Bible study

but the bottom line of worship is all about where you place your treasures

the only treasures we truly have here on earth are our time, talent, and money

and guess where they come from?

They come from God.

So why would we be greedy with our treasures and not want to give them back to God

Here’s what the Bible says about those things

1 Corinthians 3:11–15 (ESV)

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—

13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

These are the things that will go to heaven

all of our works.

As a believer, none of our sins will be presented

they are paid for by Jesus

but all the worthless things we did on earth will be

wasted time, energy, effort

all of that is wood, hay, and straw

all very flammable

The other stuff godly character, gospel presentations, disciples made

all precious in the eyes of God and valuable

also non flammable materials

Where you treasure is, your heart is also

If worship is where you place your treasure

Do you worship your car restoration

your kids softball career

your boyfriend or girlfriend

your own career?

Or do you worship the One true God who makes all things possible

the one that gives us the very breath of air to do the work to support all these other things

the one who knitted you together in your mother’s womb

for his workmanship?

This is the first choice you have to make

Are you going to stress out trying to hold onto things that are going to eventually rust, rot, or be stolen?

things that will eventually be given to someone else at the end of your life?

or can you remove the stress of trying to store material things

and begin to store up a retirement fund in heaven

where nothing can touch it

IT begins with your salvation

when you place your salvation in heaven, no one can touch it

1 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

Regardless what you may have been told or taught

your salvation cannot be lost according to this verse

So salvation is the first and greatest treasure

and takes the stress off not only where you will spend eternity

but the stress off your family of where you spend eternity

The rest is your choice

you can spend your existence stressing out about things that aren’t in your control

and will eventually rot away, blow up, rust out, or be stolen

or you can spend your days in the peace and joy of knowing that

what you are doing is going to make an impact for the Kingdom of God

and will be saved for you in heaven when you get there