Where your treasure resides there dwells your heart

Worldliness the enemy of Righteousness

I want to begin with a verse from Jesus made nearing at the end of his ministry John 17:9-21   In John 15-17.Jesus mentions the word “World” 35 times  In Verse 11 “I am no longer in the world but they are in the world” and in verse 16 Jesus says “The world hated them because they are not of this world, just as I am not of this world”.  This has led to the common statement that we are to be “In the World but not of it”.

In verse 18 Jesus says “As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the World. The Lord was pretty emphatic that they were to stay in the world, they were sent out as Light and salt to the Glory of God. as we saw in Chapter 5.  This statement comes before the great commission, a clear indicator that we have a definite purpose for being left in the world.

Worldliness, was one of the problem that crept in to the Christian church from its inception and is still with us today, it affects all of us to some degree or other, it is the curse of our life and it is one of the main tool of Satan to disrupt and distract the believer from the work God has given us to do.

In many cases the truth is We are in the World and OF the world!   If i am truthful I don’t want to be in opposition to everyone, I don’t want to be hated, I don’t want to be set apart, I don’t want to be in constant conflict with my earthly desires and my spiritual desires.  If this goes on for a long time without repentance and correction we get to the point where we don’t even know when we are living in a way that is of the world.

Satan is well aware of this struggle of the human heart and used it in the Garden to entice Eve away from obedience to God and he used it again when tempting Jesus in the Wilderness.

 You can act independently of God your father because you are the son of God so go ahead take care of your hunger you can do a miracle why is God being so cruel why would you trust a Father like this.  Or throw your self off this tall building you are God and if he loves you he will send his angels to protect you.   Or I can give you all the kingdoms of the world if you bow down and worship me. Jesus knew if he gave in to any of these temptations he would be serving satan and the system of this world and not his Father.   Jesus told satan Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.  Worship and Serve, in other words what you worship you serve,

In his prayer Jesus asks the Father to Protect his own Children Jn 17:15 Don’t take them out of the world Father but protect them from the evil one.  So that the world may believe you sent me.    He encourages us then by telling us about how much God the Father loved him and how much he loves us.    There are days I don’t want to be left here I want to be with Jesus, but obviously the job is not yet completed. 

So as Christ followers we are to be “in the world but not of it” in fact if we fail to understand our real relationship to this  world we are most likely heading into a worldly life style, it goes back to the Beatitudes Blessed are the poor in Spirit for their is the Kingdom of Heaven, if you do not know you are poor in spirit you most likely are not.  

Our Righteousness is based on the Truth that we are justified by Faith and nothing we can do will make us Righteous in Gods sight accept the death and resurrection of Jesus.

But living righteous lives depends on our complete devotion and obedience to God in the power of the HS.   It is our heart that has to be changed.  True Righteousness then or right living has two parts that are clearly seen in Matthew 6.   This whole chapter is devoted to these two aspects, True Righteousness then is seen in the believers relationship with God and his right relationship with the world. 

Brian in his study last week captured for us the first part which has everything to do with our personal relationship to God through our  devotional life or if you like our Worship of our God.  This, Jesus said, has to do with our Giving give to God not for show.   It has to do with our Praying, pray to God and do not babble to be seen by men.   Then he showed them a model for prayer, start with deep worship and respect, Then long for his rule on earth, trust Him for his provision of all that we need, forgive others because we know we are forgiven,   protect us from the evil one.  It is seen in our Fasting what we do in secret with the Lord

Now we come to the Second Part of the Lords teaching which is given in the form of a command in Matthew 6: 19-24

I think one of he reasons why Jesus gave this teaching at the beginning of his ministry was because he was going to show them over the next 3 years that every day was going to be a fight, a fight for their lives a fight for their souls, they were going to have to put to death the desires of the flesh within them selves, they were going to have to fight against the pull of the world they would have to fight against relaxing their guard, of getting weary of always being hated oppressed, mocked and criticized They would would have to resist taking the easy road the road of least resistance.

His teaching takes two forms

The negative and the positive

First he speaks to the negative

Do not store up treasure here on earth.   Many other passages. James 5:1-6,  1 Timothy 6:6-12, Matthew 25:35-46.  Luke 16:9-13,Hebrew 13:5-6, an obscure verse in Ecc 2:26  Proverbs 23:4-5

It would be a mistake to assume Jesus is only speaking to rich people, the original hearers might be tempted to think that, but as he goes on through this section they would begin to get the message that this applies to everyone. It was well known that the religious leaders were wealthy and were lovers of money Luke 16:14

What was Jesus not saying? 1. Jesus was not saying that wealth is wrong although he does say it difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God Luke 18:24 2. Neither is he saying it is not good to save money or to store money which I hope we all do to a lesser or greater degree   3. Nor is he saying we should not make interest on our investments Parable of the talents Matt 25:14-30 4. Nor is he saying that treasure here only refers to money.The Greek word for treasure is thésauros literaly our word today would be treasury a place where wealth is stored. It might be things of great value, documents, belongings,

Do not store up things on Earth

So what is he saying? 

What do you think storing your treasure here on earth looks like?  On the basis of what was shared what does this look like

If you were honest in the last few months have you found your self storing up treasure on earth even for a moment?

1. That storing things on earth as a general policy is not a wise place to invest your treasures.

Life can change in the blink of an eye.   Nazi policy to rob the Jews of everything, every possession, every house, every art collection, every priceless artifact and eventually their life's blood.  Closer to home in the early part of the 21 century Quest  went bust and along with it took millions dollars of peoples pensions Luke 12:16-20 Build more barns "Beware of covetousness; for the life of a man," that is, the happiness of it, "does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesseth.

The price of property in Seattle has dropped by 33% in the last month. Judging by verse 2   “Where moth and rust destroy”.  Moths like cloths and I think this is referring to fine garments, expensive garments perhaps woven with gold thread worn so that others can see their wealth and prestige.   Rust destroys, cars and appliances rust out making them worthless, houses fall apart nothing really lasts that long on earth.   Thieves break in and steal.   The more you have the more you need to protect it, umbrella policies to insure everything.

The problem then is how does a Christian handle wealth if it is not wrong in itself how can we know we are not becoming worldly?  so i guess the main thing is having a right relationship with our wealth. 

John Wesley says:  " without question the same purity of intention "which makes our alms and devotions acceptable must also make our labour or employment a proper offering to God. If a man pursues his business that he may raise himself to a state of honour and riches in the world, he is no longer serving God in his employment, and has no more title to a reward from God than he who gives alms that he may be seen, or prays that he may be heard of men. For vain and earthly designs are no more allowable in our employments than in our alms and devotions. They are not only evil when they mix with our good works," with our religious actions, "but they have the same evil nature when they enter into the common business of our employments. If it were allowable to pursue them in our worldly employments, it would be allowable to pursue them in our devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an acceptable service but when they proceed frond a pure intention, so our common employment cannot be reckoned a service to him but when it is performed with the same piety of heart."

Jesus was warning then about the spirit of the World creeping in and pressuring them to cave into to its ideologies,   Your treasure is what ever captures your heart and causes you to lose your focus on the kingdom, not necessarily money it might be your job, a relationship , a need you don’t know how to meet or a debt you don’t know how to repay.

What are these ideologies?

If you do this you will be happy,   If you get the worlds honor you will be satisfied, if you get this next promotion you will be fulfilled.   If you win the lottery all your problems will be over.   The world says you need power, you need recognition the world says you deserve it, you have rights. The foolishness of storing up treasures on earth.

And art thou born to die,

To lay this body down?

And must thy trembling spirit fly

Into a land unknown?

-- A land of deepest shade,

Unpierced by human thought;

The dreary regions of the dead,

Where all things are forgot?

Jesus then says the positive

Store up treasures in Heaven where nothing can destroy them or rot them or steal them. What do treasures in heaven look like?

Clement: 193-217    He was the ethical philosopher of he Christians; ,"He sketches in outline the reformations which the Gospel imposes on society, and which nothing but the Gospel has ever enabled mankind to realize.

For to the pure in heart Jesus  now becomes the way. But into the impure soul the grace of God finds no entrance. And that (soul) is unclean which is rich in lusts, and is in the throes of many worldly affections. For he who holds possessions, and gold, and silver, and houses, as the gifts of God; and ministers from them to the God who gives them for the salvation of men; and knows that he possesses them more for the sake of the brethren than his own; and is superior to the possession of them, not the slave of the things he possesses; and does not carry them about in his soul, nor bind and circumscribe his life within them, but is ever labouring at some good and divine work, even should he be necessarily some time or other deprived of them, is able with cheerful mind to bear their removal equally with their abundance. This is he who is blessed by the Lord, and called poor in spirit, a meet heir of the kingdom of heaven, not one who could not live rich.

Laying up treasure then is having an attitude that all things come from God, all things belong to God, and i must with all intent use all things to His glory and for the betterment of others.   Holding loosely to possessions lest He should dictate their removal from my care.

Acts of sacrifice, acts of kindness,  whenever I display the fruits of the spirit, whenever I am unselfish, obedient, going the extra mile. when my focus is laser like on God and his Kingdom, persevering in the fight against the flesh and the world.  When ever I don’t yield to temptation and when I do I repent quickly.   Your heart will follow what ever is your treasure.

Clement also said:  But he who carries his riches in his soul, and instead of God's Spirit bears in his heart gold or land, and is always acquiring possessions without end, and is perpetually on the outlook for more, bending downwards and fettered in the toils of the world, being earth and destined to depart to earth, -- whence can he be able to desire and to mind the kingdom of heaven, -- a man who carries not a heart, but land or metal, who must perforce be found in the midst of the objects he has chosen? For where the mind of man is, there is also his treasure.

The eye is the lamp this seems kind of strange to me or at least an odd place for Jesus to put this in

What we see we want,  keeping our eyes on the Lord on his word his kingdom the future glory awaiting us our body will fall into line, our bodies will be full of light, but focus on the wrong thing and there is nothing but heart ache awaiting us. 1 Timothy 6: 6-12

You cannot serve two master it is impossible. You cannot serve God and Money.  Luke 16:13-15.  You cannot serve God and the world our relationship to the world is one of constant warfare, serve God in the world, enjoy what God blesses us with in the world, but do not love the world   1 John 2:15 “Love not the world or the things in the world. if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him”