Living In The Kingdom 16 Series

Living in the Kingdom 16

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24; Proverbs 4:23; Mark 7:20-23

This is a continuation of my series, “Living in the Kingdom.”

This morning we will examine what Jesus says about riches in His Sermon on the Mount. We will look at verses nineteen through twenty-four which says, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light. 23But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24No 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. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:19-24)

Before we go into the heart of what Jesus said in these few verses, I want you to open your minds up as to the definition of “riches.” When we read this scripture, we often apply the term “riches” to money only, but that is not an accurate depiction of everything included in what Jesus was talking about. As you listen to this message, think about riches as anything that you hold dear; something extremely valuable to you. With that in mind, let’s look at what Jesus said about these riches. The first thing He says is “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) Jesus says that we should not store up treasures for ourselves here on earth. So what does He mean? Some people assume this means that you should not have a savings account or a 401K for your future retirement and that you should spend what you have to fully enjoy life while you are here on earth. These people do not save nor do they have a plan for how they will live in retirement. They do not understand this is not what Jesus is talking about. The term “treasures” in the Greek means wealth, but Jesus is not talking about the wealth itself, but our attitudes towards it. He is speaking to the greed and the hoarding of the wealth because most people, including Christians, have an unbalanced love for it. To lay up treasures in heaven is to consecrate fully to God and to help all men who have need – something that few will do with what they truly treasure.

As I said at the opening, riches are more than just money. When Jesus spoke this, Eastern treasures consisted of fine clothes, polished armor, weapons of war, gold, and jewels. Moths and rust were as destructive to most of them as thieves. What is important to note is that what one person might value as something to treasure might not be what another person would value. Think about it this way: your treasure is probably not the same as mine. It’s yours, whether you possess it or not, because you love it. What Jesus is referencing in these verses is not just “riches” as in money or material things, but what we “treasure” and place a lot of value on. He is talking about whatever each of us thinks is so valuable that we work hard to eagerly attain it and, once we have it, we dread losing it. In other words it is something that is most valuable to us. When we have it we feel blessed and without it we feel discontent. This is the treasure that Jesus is talking about and for some it could be money or material things and for others it could be something totally different, like their physical appearance. What we need to understand is that whatever it is that we “treasure” is a treasure because of what’s going on in the person’s heart that makes it a treasure. Jesus was once again speaking to a heart issue.

You see, He said that we should, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” He was telling us to be heavenly focused versus earthly focused. In heaven, mansions and furnishings are secure from moths and termites; metals are free from rust; precious stones are free from thieves; and all hearts are safe from fear or loss forever. Jesus was commanding that whatever we have here on earth not to be more valuable to us than Him. If we are truly laying up treasures in heaven then those things of value that we have here on earth can be used for His kingdom. We are not hiding it and treasuring it to the point that we cannot freely give it away for the Kingdom of Heaven. Colossians 3:1-4 says, “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.” Because we are risen with Christ, we are to now set our affections (treasures) on things above (heaven) versus here on the earth. Why is this so important? Jesus told us when He said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”