MATTHEW 6:19-24
WHERE’S YOUR TREASURE? THERE’S YOUR HEART!
#18 - SERMON ON THE MOUNT
“The three sons of a lawyer, a doctor, and a minister, respectively, were talking about how much money their fathers made.
“The lawyer’s son said, ‘My father goes into court on a case and often comes home with as much as fifteen hundred dollars.’
“The Doctor’s son said, ‘My father performs an operation and earns as much as two thousand dollars for it.’
“The minister’s son, determined not to be outdone, said, ‘That’s nothing. My father preaches for just twenty minutes on Sunday Morning, and it takes four men to carry the money!’”
Money will buy:
A bed but not sleep
Books but not brains
Food but not appetite
Finery but not beauty
A house, but not a home
Medicine but not health
Luxuries, but not culture
Amusement, but not happiness
A crucifix, but not a Savior
A church pew, but not heaven
Herschel Hobbs – “Make money honestly – lots of it; and dedicate it religiously, every last cent of it.”
John Wesley – “Earn all you can; save all you can; give all you can.”
John D. Rockefeller Jr. – “The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money.”
Henry David Thoreau – “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
If a pastor wants to get people upset, all he needs to do is talk too much about money. As you know, I have been teaching systematically through the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus talks about money. If you chose to be upset with the topic this morning, take it up with the Lord Jesus!
Jesus summarizes the message of these verses in
Matthew 6:21 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Jesus is saying, “Where’s your treasure? There’s your heart!”
Whether you have a lot of money, or very little money, what you do with it is indicative of what’s important to you. How you spend your money tells you what’s really significant or important in your life.
This morning let’s look at five things concerning riches:
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES – Vs. 19
CERTAIN RICHES – Vs. 20
CHALLENGING TRUTH – Vs. 21
CRITICAL ILLUSTRATION – Vss. 22-23
CONVICTING FACT – Vs. 24
I’d like to share two important thoughts with you before we get to our text.
· Thought #1 – NO MAN HAS EVER BOUGHT HIS WAY INTO HEAVEN, AND NO ONE EVER WILL!
Jesus said in John 14:6 …I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus says that He is the only way to Heaven.
He made the way to Heaven through dying for your sins and failures.
He made the way to Heaven through His death burial and resurrection.
All you must do is believe on Him as your Savior, allowing Him to come into your life. He will give you a new life now, and eternal life through out all eternity.
· Thought #2 – GOD HAS CREATED THINGS FOR OUR ENJOYMENT
God gave the variety of foods.
God gave us marriage.
God promises food and clothing.
God created a multi-colored universe when he could have used black and white.
1 Timothy 4:4 - For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
God wants us to enjoy things. The problem comes when we overboard.
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES – Vs. 19
We are not to lay up treasures on earth.
We are not to accumulate a large amount of wealth that you and your family don’t need.
Have you ever stopped to think what is going to happen to your money?
Either, you will spend it.
Or someone else will spend it.
Or, it will be taken in taxes.
Have you noticed what we in our materialistic society tend to do with our treasures?
We as a society invest our treasures in things.
· Not just a car, but a nice car
· Not just a house, but the nicest house possible
· Not just clothes, but new, fashionable clothes
· The hottest computer, the fanciest television and stereo
And notice what happens to these things according to verse 19. The moth and rust corrupt. Rust here means eating.
Earthly treasure is eventually destroyed. It is eaten up.
John R. W. Stott – “Thus in those days moths would get into people’s clothes, rats and mice eat the stored grain, worms take whatever they put underground, and thieves would break into their home and steal what they kept there. Nothing was safe in the ancient world. And for us moderns, who try to protect our treasure by insecticides, rat poison, mouse traps, rust proof paints and burglar alarms, it disintegrates instead through inflation or devaluation or an economic slump. Even if some of it lasts through this life, we can take none of it with us to the next. Job was right – “Naked I came into my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return.”
We must realize that our society is great at producing corruptible riches.
When I was in college, white levis were the rage.
The college students spent a fortune on them.
Where are they now? They are gone!
And what happened to CB’s, fondue, cabbage patch dolls and 8 tracts? They are all gone, but many spent lots of money on them!
And what about computers? You no sooner buy one, and they have produced a more sophisticated one.
Am I saying that it is wrong to own things? No!
In fact, when you visit us, you will find that God has been very good to us as well when it comes to things.
Much of what we have was given to us.
The point is, if our treasure is laid up in things alone, all we have at the end of our lives are things which will ware away and disappear.
Corruptible riches mean nothing for eternity.
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES
CERTAIN RICHES – Vs. 20
We are told to lay up treasure in Heaven.
The treasure which is laid up in Heaven is incorruptible.
How do we go about laying up certain riches in Heaven?
Heaven is free!
Wealth will buy no one a spot in Heaven. It is only through faith in Christ that we will enter.
After securing our place in Heaven through Christ, we may earn rewards. These rewards are earned through our faithfulness to God and our good works.
1 Corinthians 4:2 - Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The context in this passage however is obviously money.
How do we use our wealth to lay up treasures in Heaven?
We lay up treasures in Heaven by using our money in ways that please God. We invest our money in what is important to God!
One such way is giving to those who are less fortunate than we are.
Proverbs 19:17 - He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
We shouldn’t give to those in need to earn a reward. We should do it out of compassion.
God promises to pay us back.
God also wants us to share with those in need out of appreciation for what he has done for us.
1 John 3:16-17 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [17] But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Not only should we share with those in need, but God has chosen that you and I should give to God’s work.
The ministry of the local church and of reaching the world for Christ takes money.
God has not ordained that this money come from His children, not from dinners and bingo!
Someone has well said, “You will never win the world to Christ with your spare cash!”
Turn please to 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
Vs. 6 – Notice the principle that God lays down in the natural world, and in the world of giving.
If a farmer sows sparingly, he can only expect to reap sparingly.
The more seed the farmer plants the more likely he is to yield a plentiful harvest.
When it comes to giving to God’s work, the same principle is true.
If you give a little to God’s work, you can expect little in the way of dividends.
If you give generously to God’s work, you can expect plentiful results.
Please bear in mind that God thinks of little giving and generous giving in proportion to what you have.
You might recall reading of the day Jesus and His disciples stood outside of the treasury in Jerusalem, where people came to give to the Lord.
The rich people put a lot of money in.
Then a poor widow came along and put in two mites, a very small amount of money.
Jesus said of her in Mark 12:43-44 …Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
What little this woman had, she gave!
2 Corinthians 9:7 – God wants us to purpose in our heart what we will give. It is our decision.
May I suggest that a good place to start is the tithe? If the Old Testament person was required by law to give at least 10%, shouldn’t we under grace be willing to start our giving there?
And notice that your giving is to be with the right attitude.
If you can’t give and be glad about it, don’t give at all!
You shouldn’t be reluctant when you give.
You shouldn’t give because you have to.
You should give because you want to!
God loves a cheerful given. The word cheerful carries the idea of “hilarious”. The church offering should be one of the happiest times in the church service.
2 Corinthians 9:8 – When you give the way God wants you to give, there will enough to do all that needs to be done.
Certain riches come when we lay up treasures in Heaven.
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES
CERTAIN RICHES
CHALLENGING TRUTH – Vs. 21
1 Timothy 6:9-10 - But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. [10] 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.
Paul says if you live to be rich you will run into trouble!
He also says the “love of money” is the root of all evil.
MATTHEW 6:19-24- PAGE 9
In Matthew 6:21 our Lord tells us that where you money is, there your heart is also. The real you is found in how you spend your money.
Would you like a way of tell if your heart is in the right place?
Make a list of all the pleasures you have spent money on in the last year. Include everything that wasn’t a necessity.
Money spent of T.V., V.C.R. and home computers
Money spent for pool and club memberships
Money spent on sporting equipment, and sports activities, including hunting
Money spent for a car which you didn’t need, but wanted.
Money spent on cigarettes and lottery (not that we recommend either), candy bars, extra snacks
Money spent on movies and shows.
If you aren’t sure how much you spent, estimate.
Then, total up what you have given to the Lord’s work.
Include your gifts to the church and missions.
Include your gifts to the less fortunate and those in need.
This comparison should show you where you heart is.
Crucial Illustration – Vss. 22-23
The lamp of the body is the eye: If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.
N.A.S.B
This illustration is simply saying that someone with defective eyes can not see clearly.
Someone’s spiritual eyes are defective when they are clouded with a desire to have physical pleasures and things. When the primary goal of our lives is physical success our vision is clouded.
Our Daily Bread once told of a believer “who made sure he maintained a proper spiritual perspective was a merchant in Calcutta. He had just given a check for $150 to the secretary of a missionary when a cablegram was handed to him. Reading it, he turned to the man and said, ‘I’ve been informed that one of my ships has just been wrecked and the cargo lost. That will make a difference in my bussiness affairs. I shall have to write you another check.’
“‘Oh, I understand perfectly’ replied the mission representative as he handed back the first one.
The merchant then wrote another check and gave it to the him. The secretary was amazed to see the amount was $600.
‘Haven’t you made a mistake?’ He asked.
‘No’, said the merchant, ‘I haven’t.’ With tears in his eyes he added “That cablegram was like a message from father in Heaven that read, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.”
This man had good spiritual eyesight.
How is your spiritual eyesight when it comes to giving to the Lord’s work?
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES
CERTAIN RICHES
CHALLENGING TRUTH
CRUCIAL ILLUSTRATION
CONVICTING FACT – Vs. 24
You can’t serve two masters.
You will either love money and the things that money can buy, or you will love God.
When you love God, you will invest your money in God’s things.
When you love God you will give to those in need.
When you love God you will support your local church.
When you love God you will support missions.
Tell the story of Annanias and Saphira - They professed to love God, but really loved money.
How about you?
CORRUPTIBLE RICHES – Vs. 19
CERTAIN RICHES – Vs. 20
CHALLENGING TRUTH – Vs. 21
CRITICAL ILLUSTRATION – Vss. 22-23
CONVICTING FACT – Vs. 24