LOC 056 Acceptable
Treasures....
We have been looking at the first principles of life in God’s
Kingdom as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples. He has recently called the twelve to commit
themselves to follow him in order that they may learn from him of his ways and
his truth.
Jesus laid the foundation of the perspectives they are to have
with the beatitudes, then he went on to apply them in various ways. In our passage this morning, Jesus makes an
important transition to a general listing of important kingdom truths. Jesus
relates his basic concerns to a number of matters the disciples would have to
face and then he went on to tell them of true righteousness lived out in the
disciples life.
This morning we will look at Matt 6:19-24 to see what acceptable
treasures disciples may seek to acquire as they follow the Lord Jesus without
detour to the concerns of the world system around them.
Let’s read the passage: Matt 6:19-24
We find in outline form:
1. A Rebuke
2. An Instruction in
Righteousness
3. A Practical Lesson
4. A Lesson from the Eye
5. No Split Allegiances in
God’s Kingdom
1. A Rebuke
Matt. 6:19-24 “ ¶ Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
2. An Instruction in
Righteousness
20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal.
3. A Practical Lesson
21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
4. A Lesson from the Eye
22 “ ¶ The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is
good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will
be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!
5. No Split Allegiances in
God’s Kingdom
24 “ ¶ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
Let’s look a bit deeper into the text:
1. A Rebuke
Matt. 6:19-24 “ ¶ Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
Jesus is giving them a command to eschew the way of the world
around them--the inhabitants of the earth.
They must not, they ought not, acquire as the prized things in life for
their enjoyment now, or as security for the future, the corruptible stuff of
this world.
Jesus isn’t addressing the rich of the world, he is talking to his
disciples, men who have already been travelling with him and some who just came
from among the multitudes that have been following him for some time. He is speaking to them. They are ordinary
people with an extraordinary calling to follow Christ. Jesus knows there will be other things to
tempt them away from their main focus in life.
Jesus tells them here and he tells them plainly what they are to not
do. They are not to take the things,
even valuable things of this existence and make them the things they really
value. They are to not put their
confidence, nor security in the things of this earth.
Jesus also tells them why they are not to do this. These things don't last, they are
temporary. He added:
where moth
Clothes, beautifully ornate clothes, were considered a part of
one’s total worth. They would put clothes
away as security. Many times the moths would find them, get into the clothes,
lay their eggs and as the larvae emerged, they would eat the material. Moths can get into the smallest and strangest
places to provide safety for their eggs.
When the eggs hatch the material is all there is to eat and they eat
well. The people of the ancient world could not store up items made of cloth
with the assurance they would retain their value because there was always the
possibility of destruction or damage by the moths.
and rust destroy
All of us know about the destructive forces of rust and
corrosion. Metal statues, metals that
had been melted down, even many coins, could not be stored away with great
confidence in their enduring existence.
If they had any access to air, they would corrode, they would rust. Years ago a singer entitled an album, “rust
never sleeps.” That is so true, once rust starts to oxidize and corrode, it
keeps on going. Something put away with
a beautiful appearance can be pulled out of storage in a couple of years,
having succumbed to rust. It is a slow,
but powerful destroyer.
and where thieves break in and
steal;
And, then there is the thief who makes it his vocation to provide
for himself by breaking God’s Law as he breaks into dwellings in order to take
what is not his. They didn’t have the
same sort of security systems that we do today.
You trusted the presence of and goodwill of your neighbors to keep your
house safe. Thieves would lurk in the darkness for opportunities to steal
anything of value. Nothing was
completely secure. They couldn’t go to a
bank to buy a safe-deposit box. They
didn’t have the ability to get a storage locker for themselves at the nearest
do-it-yourself storage depot (which are not really safe anyway). Their earthly stuff of value was perishable,
temporal and actually unimportant. They
were to not spend a lot of time on what was not of eternal and heavenly
importance. Jesus gives them the alternative:
2. An Instruction in
Righteousness
20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven,
Don’t store up treasures on the earth, but store up treasures in
heaven.
This concept is hard to grasp for materialists, and most of us are
radically affected by materialism. It is
the worldview that says what we can see and feel is most important. It says that the stuff of this world, is all
there is and therefore is of utmost importance.
Materialism in our day is defined by the bumper sticker that says, “The
one who dies with the most toys, wins.”
There is a way to store up important treasures with God in heaven
knowing he will preserve and protect what is of utmost importance. In heaven, the things that can be so
destructive on the earth have no effect.
where neither moth nor rust
destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
It is really very basic.
The life to be lived in God’s kingdom under the rule of Christ does not
entail storing up material stuff to give us false security. We need to lay up treasures in heaven.
It seems so harmless to us to spend the lion;s share of our time
on our business. After all, most jobs require at least 40 hours a week. Jesus is instructing the disciples in this
manner because people tend to get things out of balance. They get caught up in the stuff of this
existence and forget to lay up for themselves treasures with the heavenly
Father.
Even the disciples, who had relatively nothing were going to be
tempted with materialism. Think about
that. These were men who had to pray for
their daily bread. These were those who were commanded about not taking certain
treasured articles of clothing when they went on evangelistic missions. These guys had nothing--yet Jesus teaches
them the importance of a life in balance.
Pursuing the realities of heaven, even in this life, is of greater
importance than pursuing wealth and riches.
It goes to motivation. Do you
work to provide stuff for you, or that God’s glory through Christ’s Kingdom
might be extended using the means you have been entrusted with. A person can be rich and well-off in the
things of the earth, and use the material wealth to store up treasures in
heaven. This can be done by doing what
is good and right with our particular stewardship. Those who have more have greater temptation
to store up here for themselves, than to use what God has given for his glory
and to show his grace.
The disciples were to be motivated by a zeal to see the Kingdom of
God manifest among men. The Kingdom was at hand--they could reach out and touch
it. They were to live in a heavenly manner, while upon the earth. They were to use the stuff of this world in
proper balance--to enjoy their daily bread, but also to show mercy and to
sustain the work the disciples were given to do.
Their lives were not about acquiring stuff, it was about acquiring
the tools to serve their master in every sphere of their lives. Jesus gave them
an axiom, a pithy saying to drive this home.....
3. A Practical Lesson
21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
The affections and actions of a person demonstrates what that
person really values. People will do
what they want to do because what they do shows what is important to them.
What do you really treasure?
Your name vs God’s Glory—In this life, do you do more to promote
yourself and to increase your own prestige among men, or do you seek to promote
God’s glory? Your heart will be with
what you treasure.
Work vs Family—Do you spend almost every waking hour doing some
type of work to better yourself in this life while neglecting your family and
their emotional and spiritual needs?
Work is good, but without the right motivation it can be successful, but
damning to your soul. Your heart will be
with what you treasure.
Children & spouse vs self—In that same vein, in your leisure
time do you indulge yourself in your own pursuits, or do you minister grace to
your spouse and family. Someone might
say, “I’m home every evening” yet fail to nurture what he has been entrusted
with. Then when the children get older
and rebel, the one wonders, “WHAT WENT WRONG?” When it was a simple problem
with complex effects, an earthly minded self-indulgence in order to enjoy and
treasure the stuff of this world, as we failed to do those righteous things
that store up treasure in heaven.
We teach our children what is most important to us, by what we
do. We teach our children by what we
do. Your
heart will be with what you treasure.
Our children can see what we really love, and what we put our treasures
in better than we can.
Study vs indulgence—I sometimes here, I have no time to study the
word, or to read good books. I am too busy.
I often ask, doing what? And invariably it is a lot of stuff done to
store up treasures upon the earth. Our
primary concern should be to use what we have here--including time--to store up
treasures in heaven. We are captors of
the tyranny of the urgent. What is in
our minds now, we feel as though we have to do.
We need to break old habits and put new ones in their place. Don’t lay up upon the earth, but in heaven. Your heart will be with what you really
treasure.
Hobbies vs holiness—Life gets so busy people want to be
distracted. People pick up hobbies. Yet, they don’t pursue holiness with anything
like the interest they have in the material thing they do. It becomes another thing with stuff to grab
away our attention and affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. Working on cars, knitting, pottery, painting,
reading, etc, are not necessary sinful in themselves, but if they take us away
from a proper pursuit of holiness they contribute to our sin. We need to store up treasures in heaven. Your heart will be with what you treasure.
Sports vs Sabbath-observance—Where are your affection on the
Lord’s Day. To the time when you worship in expectation that you will be in
God’s presence with his people. That you will be allowed to sing and pray unto
a holy God who delights to fellowship with his people. DO you love to come to the place where God
will come down and instruct you as his Word is read and proclaimed? Or, is your
mind on the kickoff at 1:00 or 4:00 with hopes that your team will do well this
week. Do you memorize the stats, but
forget the verses that are so important for the prosperity of your soul. Your
heart will be with what you treasure.
One who truly loves Christ will desire to be with him, no matter
what. May it be family, or work,
baseball or football (of the English or American varieties) it needs to be put
in its proper balance. If any of these
things keep you from obeying God, they must be put aside in order to store up
heavenly treasures.
Craziness vs Christ—There are a million activities offered to us
by the world around us. There are many
that are legitimate pursuits for the Christian family, as they are done in
balance. But, all too often professing
Christians get caught up in the craziness of what life on the earth offers, and
this they allow to the detriment of their souls and the should of their
children. So the parade is Sunday
morning at 11. What is of greater
importance to the welfare of your soul and that of your family, to see the
parade, or to hear the Word of God. What
excites us more, what entices us to store up yet another earthly
experience? We need to have the same
zeal for Christ and demonstrate what we really love by what we do and where we
are. Where our hearts are, what we
really love will be shown by what we treasure.
Worship vs our own way—The Bible says, Is. 53:6 All we like
sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;
This is the natural tendency of all flesh. It is to turn from God’s appointed ways in
order to pursue one’s own way. All of
you know how easy it is to do what you want to do, to do what you love to do,
rather than to do what is right.
Jesus had to teach the first twelve disciples to not be
materialists, but to be heavenly minded.
We should not think of ourselves as having a lesser need in this area,
but a greater one. It is for this
tendency of going our own way, that the Father sent his son. Keep reading in Isaiah 53:6. ....
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
If we are honest, and really want to love God with all of our
hearts, minds, souls, and strength, we need to hear these things as well. Jesus came to save us from ourselves and our
natural desire to live a life that does what we want and that pleases
ourselves. The death of Christ provides
for believers that we might not go our own way.
But, that we might be put on the way to life, living as Christ’s
disciples, testifying to his heavenly grace and life in his Kingdom. DO you
live in such a way that your faith is attractive to those who know you? Do you life in an earthly manner, or is it
evident that you are storing up treasures in heaven. Where you heart is will be your true
treasure. You will do anything to get
what is most important to you. Is it
Christ of something less? Skip down to
verse 24. This is why Jesus follows this teaching up with an illustration of
singlemindedness from the use of the eye to effect the entire man and goes on
to tell his disciples that there are to be
5. No Split Allegiances in
God’s Kingdom
24 “ ¶ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
Jesus says, you can’t have it both ways! It is impossible to serve
two masters. You will be loyal to one
and come to despise the other. You cannot serve two competing Lords. A disciple cannot serve God and the stuff of
this world. It is either one or the
other.
We fool ourselves into thinking we can serve two. We serve one on weekdays, or weekends, or
whenever we want the comforts and pleasures and securities of this world, as we
leave a little time for God. All the while thinking it is really the little
time we give to God that actually defines what we are REALLY all about. What Jesus calls his disciples to is a life
that follows Christ in all things no matter what.
It would be better for men and women to give up all they have and
are to follow Christ than it would be for them to continue with split
allegiances and sin. You’ve gotta serve
somebody....who will it be? Will it be a
heavenly service where all is brought captive to Jesus in order that you might
live as unto heavenly realities, or will you let this world continue to be your
master? You can’t serve two, but only
one. From you remind you will know its
right to say you will follow God, but is that where your affections truly
are? Don't say you’ll serve God and then
mind the stuff and concerns of the world. What you really love will be evident
in how you live.
What do we teach our children by the commitments we keep and
break? Church, work (“sick” days),
family, friends, etc. Our word, our standards, our ethics? Do we teach them to
be HYPOCRITES as we justify our actions before them? Or, do we teach them the importance of
following God no matter what. Do they
see Christian loyalty and resolve, have they ever watched you suffer for the
sake of the son of Man? A life lived
storing up treasures in heaven will teach us and all the important things of
this life as we prepare for the life to come.
What do you treasure? What is the most important thing to
you? Listen to Matthew Henry:
“Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin
can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a
profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as
the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things.
Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other
world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in
them. There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to
make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all
things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with
nothing short of it. It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances
of time, an inheritance incorruptible. The worldly man is wrong in his first
principle; therefore all his reasonings and actions therefrom must be wrong. It
is equally to be applied to false religion; that which is deemed light is thick
darkness. This is an awful, but a common case; we should therefore carefully
examine our leading principles by the word of God, with earnest prayer for the
teaching of his Spirit. A man may do some service to two masters, but he can
devote himself to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart,
and will not share it with the world. When two masters oppose each other, no
man can serve both. He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God;
he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world.”
God is a jealous God:
Deut. 4:24 “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a
jealous God.
He can be provoked:
Deut. 32:21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by
their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger
by a foolish nation.
There is hope:
Josh. 24:19 But Joshua said to the
people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for
He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions
nor your sins. 20 “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign
gods [which is what we do when we store up treasures on the earth--they take
the place of God in heaven], then He will turn and do you harm and consume you,
after He has done you so much good.” 21
And the people said to Joshua, “No,
but we will serve the LORD!”
22 So Joshua said to the people,
“You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for
yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said,
“We are witnesses!” 23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among
you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and His
voice we will obey!”
Will you put away the stuff of this world in order to follow
Christ as a faithful disciple. Will you change your motivations to do what you
do that God might be glorified and that the Kingdom of Christ might
expand? Will you store up treasures in
heaven where they remain for godly uses?
Will you purpose, after due consideration, to serve the Lord our God and
obey his voice without split allegiances? It is what discipleship demands. May God grant the grace that we may obey.
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