Treasures in Heaven - 9

Ben Witherington III (Paraphrased): One’s “treasure” is the ultimate expression of who we are. Therefore, we should set our allegiances so that God’s priorities become our own.

Matthew 6:24 (NIV84)

24“No one can serve (be a slave of, hcsb) two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

“I don’t serve two masters. This doesn’t apply to me.”

Let’s make sure that it doesn’t.

Serve = δουλεύω douleuō = to serve as a slave; to be a slave.

“serve as a slave”—to give total allegiance to.

One cannot give absolute allegiance or undivided attention to two different persons or things.

Masters = κύριος kyrios = a person who has general authority over others (slaves or subjects); often as an owner as well as authority figure.

No one can live as a slave under two ruling authorities, for a slave belongs wholly to his master.

His heart, loyalty, and obedience cannot be divided.

He will attach himself to one, valuing, loving, and faithfully clinging to that master.

He will neglect, slight, and treat the other with indifference or contempt.

When pressures and crises come, what he truly treasures will be revealed.

The master he esteems most will receive his full devotion, and the other will be abandoned.

What happens is not that you possess things, but rather that they come to possess you and become your master and you their servant.

James 1:5–8 (NIV84)

5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;

8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Double-minded = δίψυχος dipsychos 2x (James 4:8) = two-souled. – Ethelbert W. Bullinger

Such a person suffers from divided loyalties. On the one hand, he wishes to maintain a religious confession and desires the presence of God in his life; on the other hand, he loves the ways of the world and prefers to live according to its mores and ethics.

It implies half-hearted allegiance—an attempt to combine the service of God with the service of self and the world.

Either we must put God first and reject the rule of materialism or we must live for temporal things and refuse God’s claim on our lives.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NIV84)

19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

God has absolute ownership of those in whom He dwells.

In every sense believers are his special possession, a people of his very own, because he purchased them as his slaves along with their freedom from all iniquity.

As a result of that purchase, they belong to him totally, and only to him, a comprehensive ownership that his slaves voluntarily embrace.

He is their absolute and exclusive Master. His rights over what he purchased are unlimited and he tolerates no rivals to his lordship, for no slave can adequately serve two different masters.

Proof of purchase, or the mark of this ownership, is the presence and activity of his Spirit in the believer’s life.

1 Corinthians 7:22–23 (NIV84)

22For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.

Slave = δοῦλος doulos = a person who is legally owned by someone else and whose entire livelihood and purpose was determined by their master.

As servants (slaves), we must always be aware that we have a master in heaven, and that we are not our own.

We have been bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20) and everything that we own is his. Therefore, we must always recognize that we are but humble stewards of the resources of God. We will be held accountable for how we steward our time, family, friendships, careers, and even the Word of God.

Revelation 3:14–22 (NIV84)

14“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Of all the seven churches, there is no redeeming feature in Laodicea.

Are lukewarmness and double-mindedness related to each other?

What are the signs of one being lukewarm?

Is there an answer to not being lukewarm or double-minded?

The water in Laodicea was terrible. It came from an aqueduct six miles away. The cool water from the mountains and Colossai would be warm by the time it reached Laodicea. In the valley, near Hieropolis, were hot springs with boiling hot water. By the time this water reached Laodicea, it had become lukewarm.

Lukewarmness is a condition of independence.

For liquid to remain cold, it needs an outside source of ice to keep the liquid cold, or

if the liquid is to remain hot, it needs an outside heat source to remain hot or else it becomes lukewarm.

The believers didn’t take a stand for anything; indifference had led to idleness. By neglecting to do anything for Christ, the church had become hardened and self-satisfied, and it was destroying itself.

As a result, Christ was about to spit them out of his mouth.

Both hot and cold are understood positively. Together, they characterize works of perseverance, faith, and love and are synonymous with commitment.

Tepidness is a contrast to both hot and cold and signifies complacency.

Cold and hot are taken as equally commendable alternatives, so it is not logical to conclude that antagonism toward God is on par with fervor for God.

There is no biblical support for such a conclusion nor that the indifference of a nonbeliever is preferable in God’s sight to a half-hearted believer.

If the Christian neglects the fire of the Lord in his life, he too will become lukewarm.

We cannot live the Christian life without a close walk with the Lord.

If we are not God dependent, we will begin to decay spiritually and become ineffective for the Lord.

Proverbs 3:5–10 (NIV84)

5Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.

8This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

9Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;

10then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Listen to this statement: Rather than trusting in your own judgment, you place complete confidence in God and recognize his guidance in every decision.

This isn’t passive resignation—it’s active trust that redirects your resources toward God’s direction rather than your own calculations.

John 15:5 (NIV84)

5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Apart from God’s empowering presence, genuine spiritual fruitfulness is impossible.

You become like a branch drawing life from a vine; your vitality flows from connection to something beyond yourself.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (NIV84)

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When we acknowledge our weakness, we are not relying on our ability to be spiritually fruitful.

When you stop pretending to have all the answers and admit what you genuinely struggle with, that’s actually where God steps in to strengthen you.

James 4:6–10 (NIV84)

6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Here is the key: The more you humble yourself before God, the more you receive the fullness of God’s grace.

God “gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Not to the strong, but to the weak. Not to the self-sufficient, but to the dependent. Not to the proud, but to the poor of spirit.

You humble yourself by realizing the majesty of God, worshiping Him as the mighty God.

Humbling yourself does not belittle your self-esteem or worth to God.

It positions you to receive your sustenance from the Source of all good things, Jesus Christ.

The steps to humbling oneself is spelled out in verses 7-10.

Submit to God, resist the devil, come near to God, wash and purify yourselves, grieve, mourn and wail, and humble yourselves.

Grieve, mourn and wail. A truly repentant person not only changes their attitudes and actions (4:8) but experiences emotional pain when they come to understand the effects of their envy and pride on God and others.

Proper repentance will show appropriate signs.

Inwardly they should grieve: a “What have I done!” feeling.

This inward sorrow will be expressed outwardly as they mourn and wail, a mark of all true revivals.

Modern evangelism has tended to short-circuit this process by promising peace before a person has fully realized the seriousness of his or her condition.

Matthew 15:1–9 (NIV84)

1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,

2“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

6he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8“ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

9They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

The external rules and traditions of these hypocrites set aside the true principles of the Word of God. They taught manmade rules as if they were God’s commandments.

Colossians 2:16–23 (NIV84)

16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?

22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

These verses point out the futility of asceticism, which is the attempt to achieve holiness by rigorous self-neglect, self-denial, and even self-infliction.

Since it focuses on temporal “things which are all destined to perish with use,” asceticism is powerless to restrain sin or bring a person to God.

It has no eternal value, and the extremes of asceticism serve only to gratify the flesh. All too often, ascetics seek only to put on a public show of their supposed holiness.

All these external rules “lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” They do nothing to change you from within; there is no transforming value.”

Romans 12:2 (NIV84)

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Only God’s Word has the power to transform you; not rules and regulations.

Transformed = μεταμορφόω metamorphoō = to change the essential form or nature of something; to become, to change, to be changed into, to be transformed.

Romans 1:16 (NIV84)

16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

The gospel is not a “one-time” manifestation of God’s power for salvation. Whenever the gospel is believed, which includes believers, there is a salvation that occurs that results in a continuing transformation of our souls.

Gospel means “good news.” What makes it truly good news is not just that heaven is free, but that sin has been conquered by God’s Son.

Sadly, it has become stylish to present the gospel as something other than a remedy for sin.

“Salvation” is offered as an escape from punishment, God’s plan for a wonderful life, a means of fulfillment, an answer to life’s problems, and a promise of free forgiveness.

All those things are true of course, but they are by-products of redemption, not the main issue of the gospel itself.

When sin is left unaddressed, such promises of divine blessings cheapen the message.

Joel 2:12–13 (NIV84)

12“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Let’s close with these Scriptures.

Hebrews 3:12–13 (NIV84)

12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Psalm 86:11 (NIV84)

11Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

“We can’t do it without your help, O Lord.”

Selah.

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