Where is Your Treasure?

Below you will find a basic summary of a sermon I delivered this past Sunday at my church. It was a blessing to be asked and to deliver the Word of God.

Matthew 6:19-24, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But 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! 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.”

A lot of sermons have been done on this as it pertains to giving and money. Just Google the verses and you will get a plethora of returns and choices. Many of those sermons are correct in saying that as it pertains financially, we are to give graciously, lovingly, knowing it is for the work of Christ and that is where our heart is to be.

Some have used this passage as a warning against the rich and say they should give their money away, and that is not the case either. When it says laying up treasure here it is talking about stockpiling money or hoarding it. It is wealth that is simply kept for wealth’s sake.

The rich young man in Matthew 19:21 was being shown his idol, which was money. There were plenty of rich men that were not condemned for being rich, Philemon was one of them. If money is your idol then you may have to look at allowing God to direct you what to do. I am guessing it will be the same. Share it and give it.

I want us to pay attention to the last section of this verse in particular, 6:22-24, because if we are aligned with God’s will and the light is in us then we will not have to worry about our giving or our actions for that matter as our treasure will be Heaven.

The eye is another illustration of the heart, as it is the eye of the soul. When our spiritual eyes are clear then so will our souls be clear. This happens when we are looking to the eternal instead of the temporal.

A clear heart will have a single minded focus, and that is the will of God. It will follow the first and greatest commandment, Mark 12:30, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'” I like this verse because it adds with all your strength, meaning everything you have.

An eye that is bad is one that is trying to live a double life or one that is concerned more about material things of this temporal life then spiritual things. This person is selfishly indulgent, materialistic, and more concerned what the world thinks then what God thinks. This is exactly what Paul is talking against in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

What goes into our eyes and ears will impact our soul and ultimately how we present ourselves to the public and to God. If we continue to feed ourselves on junk: whether it is movies, books, or friends that live sinful lives then we will continue to only have junk in our souls. Darkness and light do not coexist together.

But if we are feeding on the things that glorify God then we will also demonstrate that in our lives. Are we in devotions to know Him deeper? Are we coming Sundays to worship or out of obligation? Are we taking everything captive to make sure it is not sin?

Money comes so much into play because it gives a great measure of where we are. It is like a barometer. Money is typically what we use for things that interest us. Whether it is to go to movies, buying books, where we hang out, or what/who we give to. If someone were to look where your money was going how would you rate? Hot, Luke Warm, Cold or Dead? Our money typically shows what is in our hearts. How is your heart rating?

It is interesting because as you prepare something like this we have to take account of our own lives, so it is convicting when we look at our check books, credit card statements and see where our money is going. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

We see this in other Scriptures as well. Again, money is used as the example, because it typically plays an important role in our selfishness.

In Luke 16:14 Jesus says this about the Pharisees, “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.” They were more concerned with worldly wealth and accolades then the Son of God staring them in the face.

2 Peter 2:3, “3By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

2 Peter 2:14, “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

To covet in Greek meant to be a lover of silver and gold. It also means to defraud. These people were known for defrauding for money and keeping money for monies sake. Not using it for God.

Verse 24 is a powerful statement as it tells us that if we let money run our lives then we are hating and despising God. That is rough.

Master here is referring to the idea of a slave owner. Who are you a slave to? A slave is totally owned and controlled by his master. They have nothing for anyone or anything else. Christ is telling us that we are to be His slaves, that there is nothing in place of Him.

You cannot serve anything else and if you do you are not serving Him faithfully and fully, if at all. Jesus is not playing around here. He is calling you and me out. We cannot claim Christ as our Lord if something else is controlling our lives.

This application can go for anything besides money. If we are allowing the public eye to control us, our peers, even our church politic over Christ then He is not our Lord.

John Calvin said, “Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority.” Our treasure is here or there and cannot be in both places. We are for the world or for Christ. The lines have been drawn and the cast has been set. All we have to do is choose.

One master asks us to walk by faith and the other master asks us to walk by sight. What will you choose? One will end in disappointment, depression, emptiness and despair. The other will end in fullness and blessing because your treasure will be forever.

Picture it: You are in Heaven and you are being greeted by so many loved ones and then someone comes up and says thank you. Thank you for what you did for me, for bringing Christ to me. You do not recognize him. He is not even the same nationality as you. You try to think where you could have met him. Finally you ask how you brought Christ to him. He tells you it was because you when God called you to give, you did and the money was used to train missionaries for village outreach and they came to my village and taught me about Christ. Had you not answered the call and donated, maybe I would have died before my village heard. Your giving provided me the opportunity to hear Christ.

Or this: Same scenario, but a young woman walks up to you next and thanks you also for your impact in her life, and for helping her in her decision to accept Christ. Again, you have no idea of how in the world you helped this girl and you ask her to how you impacted her. She tells you that she once heard you were a Christian and wanted to see what that was and watched your life. She saw you deny the things of the world, she saw you living so contently, and she then saw you stand up and not participate in watching a movie that was far from clean, or engaging in crude humor, but you lived what you believed. This impacted her and she went and asked someone about Christ and accepted Him as Savior. Because of your example not living worldly she was pricked by the Holy Spirit and came to faith in Jesus.

Or would you rather be this person: You arrive in Heaven and you are allowed for a moment to look over a chasm and there are several people looking at you and asking why you did not tell them about Christ? Asking why you were so afraid to be different then the world. They are angry because you did what they did and acted like them, but you never told them about your salvation in Christ as Lord. You did nothing to let them know you were different. You walked both sides of the fence. They did know there was difference but to be “good.” They are tormented because we did not choose to give, or go and do what we could to reach them.

How do we even look at one person knowing they are bound for Hell and not tell them about Christ? Tell them about the love of our Savior and what He has done for us and can do for them.

Where is our treasure? Is it our cars, our toys, our video games, our books, our families, or you fill in the blank. I will tell you my struggle at times, and people that know me closely will know that I buy books like a mad man at times. Now I read them, but sometimes I tend to put too much into my library then in making sure I am giving first to the church and ministries I support. We all have to look at ourselves and see.

Pastor Rick and I were talking about this and he was telling me about missionaries that have to save up for months to buy one book and I buy around 5 month at times. The comment the missionary said was, “I heard people in the states buy books they never read.” I told him I was convicted enough without all the examples. I had to look at where my treasure was. . .my library or Christ.

Is our treasure here or is it Christ. . .and all else is a blessing from above whether it be your wealth, toys, books, or families. Still not sold that video games are a blessing of any kind.

If you are rich give till it hurts! If you are poor give till it hurts! If your middle income give till it hurts! Give your time, your money, your life for the cause of Christ. That is what He demands. Then you will have treasure in Heaven that will not rust and moths will not eat.

You can take it with you. But only if you choose the right treasure. Choose today to follow Christ as Lord and build your treasure there and not here.

If you do not know Him as Savior then now is the time. Do not wait.