Treasure in Heaven

Jesus begins a new section that continues to the end of the chapter. His intent is for us to take our heart off of this world and set it on heavenly things. In these three verses He tells us: What not to do, what to do and why we do what we do. That is how we will break up this section.

What not to do

Jesus warns us not to lay up treasures on the earth. To understand what Jesus means it is important that we define “treasures”. Simply put treasures are those things that bring you pleasure and comfort. Usually money is what brings people pleasure and comfort. Money buys the things we need to be comfortable and it also keeps us from worrying about not having those things that bring us pleasure. In order to properly interpret Jesus words we also need to be reminded about what the Bible says about money. Remember that money is not evil within itself.

* God gives us the power to get wealth (Deut. 8:18).

* He promises to bless hard work (Prov. 28:19) “He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread”.

* He encourages us to save. “Go to the ant thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide overseer or ruler provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest” (Prov. 6:6-8).

* He says that wealth is the result of wisdom. “Through wisdom is a house builded; and by understanding it is established: and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (Prov. 24:3-4).

* He says in 1 Timothy 5:8 “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house he hat denied the faith and is worse than an infidel”.

1)Don’t find your pleasure in wealth. It is clear that Jesus is not teaching that we should have no regard for money or possessions at all. Great men of God such as Abraham and Job were extremely wealthy. Jesus is warning us not to find our pleasure in the abundance of things that this world offers. The story is told in Matthew 19 of a rich young ruler who came to Jesus. He wanted to know what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor. The man refused to because he “Had great possessions”. Jesus then said in Matthew 19:24 “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” It wasn’t money that was keeping this young man out of heaven. It was his love of money. He found his pleasure in it. Rich people are often deceived into thinking that the greatest pleasure is found in money or possessions. For this reason it is difficult for a rich person to see their need for Christ.

2) Don’t stockpile wealth. “lay up” refers to stacking up one’s money. It implies that one has far more money than they need. The perfect illustration of this is found in Luke 12. A prosperous farmer was blessed with an abundant crop. Instead of sharing his blessing he stockpiled it. In fact he had to build bigger barns to contain it all. That very night God took his life and the wealth was left behind. Churches and individuals are guilty of stockpiling wealth. If a church saves $1 million dollars and Christ returns what good will that money be? Will the chairman of the finance committee present a check to Jesus showing their appreciation for all He did for them? Of course not. Money and possessions are to be used in the here and now to win souls to the kingdom. Luke 16:9 says “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive ye into everlasting habitation”. It should not be our goal to see how much money we can save. We are to invest our money into the kingdom so that souls will be saved.

3)Don’t make self the center of your world. The key word in this verse is “yourselves”. It is an unhealthy love of self that causes us to spend all of our time and money on ourselves. If we are not careful we feed ourselves too much, buy ourselves too many cars, too many toys, too many homes and give little attention to the poor or to the work of the kingdom. What we don’t realize is that when we pamper ourselves in this way we are piercing ourselves. 1 Timothy 6:10 says “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”. When we make self the center of our world we do more harm to ourselves than we could ever imagine.

Jesus ends the verse with the reason we should not lay up treasures on this earth. In short, everything on this earth will pass away (5:18). Jesus gives three examples of how treasure can slip though our hands on this earth.

*Moths. Clothing was a valuable possession in Jesus day. All clothing, no matter how great the quality, would eventually be destroyed. Moths were one of the most common ways that clothing was destroyed.

*Rust. The word used for rust is “brosis”. It means “an eating away”. It can refer to both corrosion and literal eating (the type done by mice and insects). Precious metals as well as grains and other foods will all eventually be eaten away.

* Thieves. “Break through” describes the removal of dirt or digging. It could refer to someone digging through the clay walls of a home or digging up a treasure hidden underground. At any time all we have could be stolen from us.

Jesus point is that our belongings are not safe on this earth. They are in constant danger of being taken from us by moths, rust or thieves. In the blink of an eye all we have stored up could be gone. If all we have stored up is on this earth then we will be in serious trouble when it happens (See James 5:2-3).

What to Do

In verse 20 Jesus tells us what to do. He tells us to store up treasures in heaven. I want to say three things about treasure in heaven.

1) It is possible. The greatest treasure we have in heaven is the Pearl of Great Price, the Lord Jesus Himself. It is possible, however, for believers to have rewards in heaven. Scripture teaches us we will be rewarded according to our works (Matt. 16:27). It is not easy to determine exactly what these rewards are. I believe it could be souls that are saved as a result of our witness. I personally believe that more than anything it relates to our capacity to worship. The more faithful we are on earth the greater heaven will be, I believe. The degree in which we worship could be increased by our faithfulness. In Revelation 4:10 the 24 elders cast their crowns before the Throne. Crowns are used in Scripture to speak of reward. The casting of the crowns represents worship. The more crowns one has, the more they can worship. Those who are greater could experience a deeper worship. Daniel 12:3 says “They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever”. I believe the more people we win in this world to Christ the brighter we will shine for the Master in heaven. Our level of brightness on this earth determines our level of brightness in heaven.

2) It is personal. Our rewards will be experienced only by us. They are kept by God for us personally. The Bible seems to indicate to me a specific way we can lay up personal reward. It is by giving to the poor (Matthew 19:21, Luke 12:33; 18:22, 1 Tim. 6:18-19). When we give to the poor they have no way of paying us back. God holds our reward for us in heaven. Of course this is not the only way. We lay up rewards by being faithful to God primarily.

3) It is safe. There is nothing to corrupt our reward in heaven and there is no one that can steal it away from us. It is kept by God. The knowledge of our works and faithfulness are forever in His mind. The safest place to store your treasure is in heaven. Of course you can’t store just any treasure in heaven. It must be spiritual. It cannot be anything physical. This means that nothing physical is safe because it cannot be stored in heaven.

Where is our treasure?

Jesus explains that our heart and our treasure are in the same place. If we want to examine our hearts we should simply find out what it is we treasure. Our hearts are set on either this world or heaven. Consider the following truths:

* Our treasure occupies our thought life. We should take a sober look at what consumes our thoughts. For some it is family. For others it may be finances. Some are consumed with thoughts about their hobbies. The believers’ thoughts are to be set on heaven because that is where Christ is (Col. 3:2). We do not have to manufacture this type of thought life. It will come naturally to the person whose treasure is in heaven. What occupies our thought life?

* Our treasure is something we cannot live without. If it is taken from us we will be miserable. For many who treasure self above all they may find that the removal of comfort makes them miserable. For us, the removal of heavenly things should make us miserable. The loss of prayer time, Bible study, fellowship with the saints and fellowship with God should take our joy. As an example, sin robs us of fellowship with God and therefore should bring misery into our lives. What makes us miserable?

* Our treasure is something that we put time and effort into. The world is putting their time an effort into physical things that will not last. The believer spends his time and effort on heavenly things because he treasures them. He does not see serving God as a waste of time but as an opportunity to show gratitude toward God and store up treasure in heaven. What do we spend our time and effort on?

* Our treasure is something we spend money on. The world puts money into things that will benefit them only in this life. Believers put their money into eternal investments. Tithing is therefore not a chore. They know that their money is being used to build the kingdom of God. Giving is not a chore either because they know that in meeting needs they are helping the saints or reaching the sinner. What do we spend our money on?

There are a lot of people who are poor on this earth but who are rich in heaven. As well, there are many who are rich in this world but poor in heaven. It should be our goal to make Christ our chief treasure. In doing this we store up treasures in heaven.