Warning about Treasure

INTRODUCTION

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been looking at the spiritual life of a believer — what Jesus believes a true disciple of Christ should look like. Tonight we’re going to read about a warning that Jesus gives. A warning that will inhibit the believer’s spirituality and witness. Let’s read our passage together and then dive in to our lesson.

Matthew 6:19–24 KJV 1900

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Jesus here in these verses addresses a thorn in the side of believers — our treasure. I believe that one of the greatest struggles for believers is our treasures/money/finances/etc. What we treasure influences everything about us. This is a truth that we’ll explore the rest of the lesson.

Tonight I have three warnings from Jesus concerning our treasure:

WARNING #1: TREASURE DETERIORATES (vs. 19-21)

Matthew 6:19–21 KJV 1900

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Quite simply — The location of our treasure determines the longevity of our treasure and the love of our heart.

Think about it:

Many of you know how much I love ice cream. Actually I told the 4s/5s on Sunday morning that ice cream is my favorite food.

Imagine with me that I go to the store and pick up some Campfire Smores Tillamook ice cream. This is my valued treasure.

What would happen if I came home and placed the ice cream carton in the oven? (it would melt) What would happen if I left the ice cream carton on the counter? (it would melt) What about in the fridge? (it would eventually melt) What about in the freezer? (it would last for a really long time.

What is this illustrating? Location determines longevity.

Similarly, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15

1 Corinthians 3:12–15 KJV 1900

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Lasting treasure reveals an investment in the spiritual.

Teens/Young Adults, every action, every swipe of the card, every motivation is depositing an investment in something that fades away or lasts for eternity. Jesus is warning us that working for treasure of this earth is futile, because it will all fade away — most and rust corrupt and it gets stolen. But working for treasure in heaven pays spiritual dividends.

What does that mean? Does it mean I can’t have any possessions? Does it mean I shouldn’t invest in a 401k?

James Boice writes, “This means that it is only as a man uses his possessions for spiritual ends that he is able to accumulate true treasure.”

How are you storing up treasure in heaven? How are you investing in something that lasts?

Think back to the ice cream. What a great treasure right? Wrong. When compared to a 401k, a house, or a brand new car, ice cream pales in comparison.

Jesus is helping us ask some great questions: What treasure are you storing up? It is something that will last for all of eternity?

Jesus ends this section with a comment about our heart — for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Deteriorating treasure reveals a desperate heart. A heart always looking for something that satisfies. Lasting treasure reveals a kingdom heart. A heart looking to invest in the kingdom. A heart longing to arrive in God’s kingdom.

Think back to the ice cream.

If I place the carton on the counter, I’m going to have to eat it right away before it melts. I’m going to be desperate to finish it so as not to waste my hard earned ice cream. I’m going to be dissatisfied when it’s all gone. And I’m going to desperate to get more once it’s done or melted.

But think about if I put the ice cream in the freezer (where it belongs). I’m going to be calm knowing the ice cream is in a safe location. A location that will make it last for as long as I want.

Again Jesus helps us think: What does your treasure or what you value or what you’re working for say about what you love? Teen are you working to be popular and are investing in looks? Are you investing in a great sports career that’ll earn you money and status? Young Adult are you trying to climb the ladder at work so that you’ll have more money and security? Are you investing too heavily in earthly financial investments? Are we all working towards being entertained through tv, video games, or social media?

Your treasure reveals what you love.

Can I just pause and address one thing. You could be sitting here tonight and be thinking, Jeremiah just doesn’t want me to have any fun. Jeremiah must think everything but reading the Bible and praying is evil and is a bad investment. Can I just say… If you’re thinking those things it might be a sign that you love something that I mentioned too much. We’ll come back to this later. Just think about it.

But not only that our treasure reveals what we love, Jesus goes on to say…

Your treasure reveals your heart condition. That’s essentially what our next point states.

Warning #1: Treasure Deteriorates

WARNING #2: TREASURE DISTORTS (vs. 22-23)

Matthew 6:22–23 KJV 1900

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Can anyone take a stab at what they think these verses mean?

The NLT reads like this, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”

What is Jesus helping us understand?

Our treasure distorts our ability to discern between what’s spiritually profitable/unprofitable. Notice the progression…

The foundation — What you see affects what you treasure. The eye is the gateway to your heart. Now, I am not saying that we should be walking around with sunglasses on or our eyes closed.

Follow along as I read this quote from William Barclay explaining these two verses:

“The idea behind this passage is one of childlike simplicity. The eye is regarded as the window by which the light gets into the whole body. The color and state of the window decide what light gets into a room. If the window is clear, clean, and undistorted, the light will come flooding into the room, and will illuminate every corner of it. If the glass of the window is colored or frosted, distorted, dirty, or obscure, the light will be hindered, and the room will not be lit up… So then, says Jesus, the light which gets into any man’s heart and soul and being depends on the spiritual state of the eye through which it has to pass, for the eye is the window of the whole body.”

Think with me for a moment. How can treasure distort our ability to discern between what’s spiritually profitable/unprofitable? (ex. sports, money, career)

But look at how Jesus ends these verses: Treasure can ultimately distort our view of our spiritual reality that we no longer perceive between light and darkness. Jesus warns us of the dangerous position of the person who’s spiritual vision is distorted by treasure.

Glasses vs. Drunk Goggles illustration. (maybe use Amanda’s glasses as an illustration.)

They both distort vision. One pair makes the vision sharper and clearer. The other makes the vision fuzzy, hazy, and confusing.

Jesus warns us that what we treasure has the power to do the same thing.

Here’s a question that’ll help us apply this point and then push us into the last point: Think about something that you love/treasure (and maybe something you may treasure too much)… What would happen if that were taken away? What if you were fired from your job? What would happen if you got in a car accident and weren’t able to run/play sports any more? What would happen if your girlfriend/boyfriend broke up with you? Your response to that happening is revealing. Some of us may be placing our identity in our treasures rather than in God. The world tells us we are defined by what we love or what we do. The Bible tells us we are defined by who God has made us to be.

Jesus leaves us with one final warning:

Warning #1: Treasure Deteriorates

Warning #2: Treasure Distorts

WARNING #3: TREASURE DIVIDES (vs. 24)

Matthew 6:24 KJV 1900

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The fact of the matter is this: You were made to serve. You will always serve.

Freedom is an illusion. You may think right now, I can’t wait to get out of the house so that I can do whatever I want. I won’t have to listen to my parents anymore. Why is that a false understanding of freedom?

Freedom isn’t found in doing whatever you want. It’s found in the protection of your master. Ultimately, you will always serve something.

If you serve money, you will spend your life chasing more of it. You will be disappointed when you never have enough. You will be enslaved to the whims of financial gain.

If you serve your relationship, you will spend your life trying to find the perfect spouse, or create the Hallmark marriage or wedding ceremony. You will be disappointed to find out that a perfect relationship doesn’t exist. There will be times of hardship and disillusionment. You will be enslaved to the fleeting feelings of love.

If you serve your athletic ability or sports, you will spend your life getting better and better at your craft only to come to a point where you are no longer able to play that sport. You will be disappointed to find out that sports do not last. You will be enslaved to the frailty of the human body.

Remember, what we treasure determines our eternal investment. But also, what we treasure divides our attention.

Teen/Young Adult, you were created to glorify and serve God. The subtlety of our human heart is that we treasure things we were meant to enjoy but not serve. And ultimately these treasure divide our service between God and idols.

Here’s the reality, Jesus is warning us that we can only have one master. We were created by God for God.

“Can anything be more insulting to God, who has redeemed us from the slavery sin, put us in Christ, and given us all things richly to enjoy than to take the name of our God upon us, to be called by His name, and then to demonstrate by every action and every decision of life that we actually serve money (or fill in the blank)?” — Boice

Here’s the lie we often believe — We can have two masters. Jesus demonstrates that’s not true.

Here’s the good news though — You choose who you serve.

Imagine with me that you’re looking for a job. You go to a job fair. A lot of times these are hosted at schools.

There’s many different jobs — Best Buy, website engineer, electrician, or CFA.

So naturally, you choose to work at CFA. Now (and I’ve worked with people like this), you begin working your job and you hate it. You tell everyone that you hate it. You hate the hours. You hate the pay. You hate your boss. You hate everything.

But guess what? You could quit any day. No one is forcing you to work there. You chose to work at CFA.

The same thing is true with us. We decide who we serve.

Does anyone have an idea what mammon means in this verse?

Mammon — “that in which a man trusts”

You serve what you trust.

What do you trust in? Do you trust video games to keep you happy? Do you trust your job for financial security? Do you trust your family for protection? Do you trust your name brand clothes and style for identity and popularity? What are you trusting in right now more than God?

This is a question that we must always be asking ourselves and diagnosing our heart with very often. It is extremely easy to serve things other than God.

Jesus warns us — Treasure deteriorates, distorts, and divides.

Here’s a challenge for next week: Why does Jesus talk about treasure in verses 19-24 and then worry/anxiety in verses 25-34? I’d love to know what you think and we’ll begin with that question next week in our small groups.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Treasure Deteriorates: What are some examples of “earthly treasures” that teens and young adults often value most? How can you tell when something good (like success or money) has started to take the wrong place in your heart?

Treasure Distorts: How can what you focus on—what you watch, scroll through, or daydream about—begin to change the way you see God, people, or your priorities?

Treasure Divides: Jesus said we can’t serve two masters. What are some “masters” that compete for your devotion today? What practical steps can help you keep your heart focused on serving God alone?

PRAYER PROMPTS:

Pray for clarity: “God, show me what I’m truly treasuring right now. Help me see where my heart has been chasing things that don’t last.”

Pray for spiritual vision: “Lord, clear my eyes to see what really matters. Remove anything that distorts my view of You or Your truth.”

Pray for loyalty: “Father, help me serve You with a whole heart. Keep me from being divided between the things of this world and the things of Your kingdom.”