Obstacles To Kingdom Life- What Are You Treasuring? Series

The Sermon on the Mount #6

Obstacles to Kingdom Life – What are you Treasuring?

Matthew 6:19-34

CHCC: October 14, 2007

INTRODUCTION:

In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus said, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

One of the ways we can store up treasure in heaven is with the offerings we give. Those pictures we saw on the screen represent the kind of treasure that has eternal value. I’m glad our church has the financial ability to reach far beyond our own walls into our city and state … and all around the world, from India to Africa to China to the Middle East.

It’s interesting that about 15% of everything Christ said relates to money or possessions. Why would he spend so much time on that topic? He summed it up in Matthew 6:21: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. There is a fundamental connection between our attitude toward money and our connection to God.

Billy Graham put it this way: “If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area of his life.”

Most people find it hard not to worry over their Finances. Not everyone though. I heard about one guy who claimed: “I never worry about money. I have enough to last me the rest of my life –-- unless I buy something.”

When people put too much value on possessions, their perspective gets out of whack --- like the young man who survived a major car wreck. When the policeman arrived he found the man battered and bleeding. As the officer approached he heard him moaning, ’Oh, my BMW, oh my BMW, oh my BMW’.

Looking at the young man the policeman said, "Are you nuts, look at the condition of your arm --- your left arm is broken and mangled’.

The young man looked down and cried, ’Oh my Rolex, oh my Rolex, oh my Rolex’....

1. Treasuring the World Matthew 6:19-24

People can make all sorts of things into their treasures. They may treasure their reputation or their education or their career. People treasure relationships and family connections. People tend to treasure THEMSELVES most of all … their abilities, their looks, their comforts, their plans. We reveal what we treasure by what we try to protect, secure, and keep close. So the question to ask this morning is this: What are you “treasuring”?

According to Jesus, it’s not smart strategy to treasure the things that are bound to this world. Why? Because nothing in this current world … not our money or our possessions or our status or earthly relationships … or even our mortal lives … NOTHING that is of this world is going to last. This world can give you only one iron clad guarantee: You will eventually lose any and every earthly treasure you possess. The question is not if … the question is only how and when.

So here’s the bottom line: if you’re treasuring this world, you have every reason to be consumed with stress, anxiety, worry, and fear. Listen to the illustration Jesus gave. He said, The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:22-23

Jesus is comparing “heart-sight” to “eyesight.” If the eyes of your soul are blind to the light of God, your entire perspective on life will be distorted and dark. You see only the things that are deceptive and temporary. You don’t know where you really are. You don’t have any idea where you are going. This is what it means to be a “lost soul.”

That’s why Jesus spent a significant part of this Sermon on the Mount explaining that YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIVE THAT WAY! In the Kingdom of Heaven, a new kind of life is available to you. You can stop treasuring things that you are guaranteed to lose --- and start treasuring things that you are guaranteed to keep. This is what life in the Kingdom of Heaven means. It means our attention and affection … our security and confidence … our hopes and our dreams don’t have to be thrown away on this unsteady and inadequate world.

We have a choice. We can treasure the things of this world, or we can treasure the things of God. But we can’t do both! Jesus said, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24