Having just begun a new year, it’s probably a good time to step back and evaluate the state of our souls. What do we live for? What makes our hearts sing with joy? Are we more interested in the things of the earth or the things of heaven? Perhaps the question that lies behind all of these is, What defines your life?

It’s common in our day to separate the “spiritual” from the “material,” as if physical possessions somehow contaminate a person who wants to live like Christ. The fewer possessions we own, the better we rate in the sight of God. With this in their thinking, many Christians evaluate the state of their souls according to how non-material they are.

Sometimes Christians even use this evening’s text to support their dichotomy between spiritual and material. But our text says no such thing. Ownership is not the issue here. Abraham and Job had great possessions, but they were also commended as examples of great godliness. The two are not mutually exclusive. The issue, rather, is our attitude toward our possessions. It has to do with what we treasure. In fact, although the word treasure occurs only three times in our text in the KJV translation, it actually appears five times in the Greek: three times as a noun (θησαυρός; vv. 19, 20 and 21), and twice as a verb (θησαυρίζω; vv. 19 and 20).  Jesus instructs his people not to treasure up treasures on earth. Instead, we are to treasure up treasures in heaven. And the reason for this is that the location of our treasures exposes the condition of our hearts.

Our text, in other words, confronts us with the necessity of knowing the state of our souls so that we can treasure up treasures that are pleasing to our God.

The Transitivity of Earthly Treasures 

In our text Jesus started, as he often did, with the negative: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.

The reference here is probably to the Pharisees, who not only tended to be incredibly covetous, but also used their religion to increase their wealth. They believed that God promises material prosperity to every single person without exception whose life pleases him. They sought earthly treasures because they regarded such things as confirmation of God’s favor toward them. As long as they were amassing personal fortune, they could claim that God was on their side and liked what they were doing.

Now, of course, it is true that God blesses his people materially. As a matter of fact, there are several indications of this in the context of the passage we’re studying today. For example, in verse 11 Jesus taught his disciples to pray for their daily bread. Daily bread is a material blessing, and the fact that we ask God for it shows that it comes from God. Likewise, verse 32 affirms that God knows that we need material things —food, drink and clothing, to name just a few. Other verses of Scripture are even clearer. Paul wrote to Timothy that God giveth us richly all things to enjoy (I Tim. 6:17). We can, therefore, rejoice in our labor and in the profit from our labor. We can rejoice in our wives and in children. We can rejoice in the church, which the Son of God purchased with his own blood. And yes, we can count it all joy even when we fall into various trials because we know that the trying of our faith produces patience (Jas. 1:2–3). To go even further, we required in Scripture to lay up for our future as much as we can, i.e., we should work hard while we have strength, so that we will not lack when our strength fails. Parents in particular are expected to put aside an inheritance for their children. Paul wrote, For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children (II Cor. 12:14).

Having the blessing of God upon our lives is not a problem. It becomes a problem only when the things that we lay up for ourselves become treasures of our hearts, when we exhaust our time pursuing the things of the earth , make them ends in themselves or allow them to take the place of God. When we let such things happen, we have effectively transformed God’s blessings into idols. We will know that this has happened when we realize that we desire the things that the world desires — money, power, fame, pleasure, worldliness — more than we desire God. Martin Luther once wrote, “What a man loves, that is his God. For he carries it in his heart, he goes about with it night and day, he sleeps and wakes with it; be it what it may—wealth or pelf, pleasure or renown.”

But we might wonder whether it is even possible for Christians to cherish idols in their hearts? Sadly, it is. Even in our regenerate state, since we have not yet been perfectly sanctified, we sometimes carve out small areas of our lives where we don’t want God to have any control. For some it’s intellectual pride. For others it might be an unwillingness to submit to the wisdom of Christian brothers even in small matters or excessive worries about one’s finances, not trusting God to provide for us more than the birds of the air or the lilies of the field. An idol could be almost anything. But listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians: Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry (I Cor. 10:14). And John wrote, Little children, keep yourselves from idols (I John 5:21). Our text speaks to this as well. The prohibition against laying up treasures on earth in verse 19 uses the present tense of the Greek verb (μὴ θησαυρίζετε), which means that you are not to continue doing what you are already doing. It assumes that you are laying up treasures on earth — idols of vanity, and it commands you to stop doing this.

There really is no doubt about what this verse requires of us. It is a prohibition against overvaluing earthly things, trusting them to satisfy our deepest needs, looking to them to as proof of the fact that God favor us. But the question is, How do we stop overvaluing these things? How do we turn our minds and hearts away from the things of the earth? To begin with, we must not think we can wean ourselves from such gradually, giving up a little bit now and a little more later. Nowhere does the Bible allow you to continue in less sin so that you can eventually give it up entirely. In fact, the reverse is usually what happens. Paul wrote, Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God (I Cor. 15:33–34 NKJV). He wrote this a church that thought it was okay to snuggle up to sin. Instead, what you need to do is assassinate the desire for sin. Anything and everything that interferes with your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ must be nailed to his cross. In another place Paul wrote, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Col. 3:5).

Why would you not do this? The world advises you to accumulate earthly treasures because they will provide you with security. But can they really do this? Is it in their power? To find the answer, just ask anyone who planned to retire in the next six months how secure his retirement investments were.

Earthly treasures do not provide the security that men look for because they cannot. Why? Because the things of the earth do not last.

Sometimes earthly treasures succumb to natural forces — things like moths and rust. Jesus said that moths and rust cause earthly treasures to vanish or become disfigured (ἀφανίζει; the same word appears in v. 16) and therefore lose their value. James extended this thought in his epistle, nothing that not only do the forces of eat away at earthly treasures, but they also eventually consume those who put their trust in them. He wrote, Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire (Jas. 5:2–3).

But even when earthly treasures escape the ravages of decay, we must not assume that they are safe. They can still fall prey to the sinful desire of other men. Thieves break into our homes and steal our most prized possessions. Here the word translated break through (διορύσσουσιν) literally means to dig through because in the first century burglars often dug holes through the clay walls of houses to seize the treasures inside. In fact, the Greek word for a burglar (τοιχωρύχος) literally means a “wall digger.

 In any case, the Lord mentioned moths, rust and thieves as representatives of things that causes worldly treasures to lose their value.

The prophet Isaiah understood the vanity of prizing earthly things. He asked, Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? He then invited his readers to enjoy that which truly satisfies: Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isa. 55:2). Real security can only be found in the promises of God’s Word.

The Permanence of Heavenly Treasures

Instead of accumulating the transient treasures of earth, verse 20 encourages you to seek the permanent treasures of heaven. Unlike the treasures of earth, these treasures are not subject to decay or loss. I Peter 1:4 says that our inheritance is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Perhaps the one adjective that is most commonly used to describe our heavenly treasure is everlasting, which means that it has no end. Not moth, nor rust nor thieves can touch it. It is reserved and preserved by God himself.

In the gospel of Luke, after Jesus instructed his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God with the promise that God would bless them abundantly for doing so, he immediately explained why. He said, It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you his kingdom. This means that God wants to bless you. He loves to shower you with all kinds of treasures —temporal and eternal, material and spiritual. But the Lord also said that we have a responsibility to seek that heavenly treasure. He said, See that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

What are these heavenly treasures? What is it that we should lay up for ourselves? First, we need to understand that heavenly treasures are not “things” that we’ll need in heaven. Everything that we’ll need there will be more than adequately provided for us, and some of these things will be material since we will still have physical bodies. We’ll find a greater fullness in our Savior than we can imagine here below. Rather, the heavenly treasures are the rewards that God’s grace bestows upon us according to our obedience. They are not earned, as if our obedience obligates God to show us favor. Rather, it is simply God delighting in his grace. He brings us to faith in his Son and causes us to walk in righteousness, and then he blesses us for doing what his grace has accomplished in us.

As a matter of fact, some of these rewards are mentioned in this very chapter. According to verse 6, God rewards faithful prayer: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Verse 18 adds that God also rewards fasting in the same way. According to verse 33, God showers blessings — temporal and spiritual — on those who seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

The verses in Matthew 6 are but a small sampling of what the Bible has to say about heavenly treasure. Let me cite just a few from elsewhere. One would be the Rich Young Ruler, who wanted to store up treasure in heaven, but, like the Pharisees, he didn’t what to give up his earthly treasure. His priorities were all wrong. Jesus told him, Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me (Matt. 19:21). On another occasion, Jesus explained that men act according to their natures. He said, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45). Here we see that what comes out of a good treasure, i.e., a heart that is devoted to following Christ and keeping his commandments, are good deeds. And, again, this is exactly what another rich man forgot in a parable recorded in Luke 12. This man tore down his barns to build bigger barns so that he could gather even more earthly treasures, and then he prided himself on the life of luxury that he had established for himself. But that very night he died and all his treasures were taken away from him. Jesus said, So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:21). As far as storing up heavenly treasures goes, a generosity of good works toward God, done out of a sincere gratitude for all that God has done for us, is the only thing we can accumulate that matters. Proverbs 10:2 says, Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

The ninth chapter of Acts gives a wonderful example of someone who laid up heavenly treasure. Verse 36 says, Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. What strikes me here is that this woman didn’t just have good deeds or do good deeds. Luke says that she was full of them. The Greek word means that she was complete, lacking nothing. And she wasn’t the only one. Paul told the church at Rome that he was persuaded that its members were full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another (Rom. 15:14).

Verse 20 of our text exhorts you to do exactly the same thing. Once again, the verb here is present tense. This means that you should always be busy laying up treasures in heaven. You should never miss an opportunity to serve your God.

But unlike the Pharisees who tried to increase their own value before God by their accumulating earthly treasures, heavenly treasures become ours only as a heaven-sent gift. Remember that it was God who was rich in mercy toward us and gave us his treasure in the person and work of Jesus Christ. In Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3); in fact, every treasures of any value can be found only in him. Paul wrote, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8–10).

Treasures: A Window to the Heart

Aside from the practical considerations give in verses 19 and 20 for accumulating the right kind of wealth, verse 21 gives a theological reason, viz., that the treasures we collect reveal the state of our hearts. As the people of God, our hearts should be one of our chief concerns. Solomon wrote, Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23).

But what are our hearts? The word heart occurs 954 times in our English translation. Aside from the passages where it clearly signifies the organ that pumps blood, about 85 percent of these passages use the heart as a synonym for the mind or the spirit. Sometimes the emphasis is on the intellect (the mind applying itself to what we think) and other times it is on the will (the mind applying itself to what we desire). In this instance, both are in view. What we value discloses both what we think and what we want. If you want to know what’s in a man’s heart, where his loyalties lie and what he lives for, all you have to do is find out where stores his treasures.

Where do you keep your treasures? Do you spend your money, energy and time collecting things here on earth — things that won’t last and have no chance of increasing God’s favor toward you? Or do you give yourself entirely to the service of Jesus Christ and find your treasures in him?

Ultimately, today’s text is driving home one point, viz., that Jesus Christ, the sovereign ruler of the universe, demands that your hearts be devoted entirely to him. You can’t have two masters. Verse 24 makes that clear: 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 beginning of a new year gives you an opportunity to evaluate everything in your life — to review your priorities, to consider how much time and money you’ve wasted on enterprises that really have no lasting value, and to direct your attention anew to the one who richly gives you all things to enjoy.

Where are your treasures? Where is your heart? If your answer is Jesus Christ, then I encourage you to hold fast to what you have. Even more than that, I plead with you to know him even better. And if your answer is anything other than Jesus Christ, then the Word of God commands you to put your trust in him this very day. Don’t let one more minute pass by in which you continue to lay up treasures on earth. Come to the Savior and learn how to lay up treasures in heaven. Amen.