Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

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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.

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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/.