Title: Treasure and the Heart
Theme:
Text: Matthew 6:19-24
Open: John 3:30
“He must increase, I must decrease”
“He must become greater, I must become lesser” NIV
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Introduction: Jesus deals with money, again
Isn’t it as much hypocrisy to say that we trust Christ and not give him our treasure as it is for any of the acts in the previous passage? Is it any difference than praying, fasting, and giving for the attention of others?
One-sixth of what Jesus preached about dealt with money. If I were to chose my sermon topics by these Biblical proportions, you would hear about 25 sermons a year on money. Although I do mention this issue in other sermons you don’t hear near as much as what Jesus gives in proportion to his teaching.
You have to remember that we do know that Jesus taught more that is written in scripture but in scripture we seem to find a summary of what is truly important in the Christian life.
The question we must ask ourselves is Why? Why talk so much about money and possessions. Why is God so concerned with how we spend our money? I was discussing the issue of tithes with a fellow who was considering taking a position in the church. I asked him did he paid his tithes? I also asked him is what he gave his actual tithes? He looked at me squarely and told me, “That is none of your business.” I would agree that I did get a little personal. But with this person it was more hitting a nerve than revealing personal information.
You see as we learn from scripture if you can commit your money to God then you are committed to God but until that time you will have a hard time talking about commitment. How can you talk about commitment in all areas when you can’t commit to the one that controls you the most.
Maybe this is what Jesus was trying to say when he said, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
So in other words where ever you want your heart to be place your treasure there. If you want your heart to be in the Lord then place your treasure in him. Now I understand this is all in due proportion.
Do I pay on gross or net?
One of the things I have pondered since becoming a Christian is the great theological question about how to pay my tithes. Many people battle this. Do I pay on gross or net. Do I pay on what I make or what I bring home. I think there is a legitimate argument.
Before I give you my opinion let me give you some advice, “When it comes to God don’t short change him.” You can’t out give him. So if you are asking this question because you are afraid that you will give God too much then you have a deeper problem than tithes and that is dependence.
Lately I have been giving this some deep thought. I have some friends and fellow Christians who pay tithe both ways. I battled this same area myself when I became a pastor and began to report my income as salary and expense. Do I have to pay tithes on my expense. I had people tell me differently.
My Answer
So what is my conclusion. As I pondered this I thought to myself that if I pay tithes on my net (what I actually bring home) then I felt I was missing two vital principles in my life. 1) I want God to always get what is first in my finances. The first thing we do when I get paid is to write out our tithe check. This is before savings, bills, car payments, groceries. God gets his money first. I felt that if I did it any other way then God would not get his first.
Secondly I thought well if I only pay on net then when I get my income tax back I could again pay on it. This is a legitimate idea it is worthy of consideration. Many people have done this. Yet I also know that most people don’t get everything back. So the portion that the government keeps we don’t pay tithes on. Is that right or wrong? That is not my decision but yours. I will not debate or argue you either way. My desire is not to make you feel bad on how you pay but to at least analyze why you do pay.
Personally what I do is I pay on my gross and when I get my income tax back I at least give a 10% offering. Not always to the church or for the church but in some work of Christian ministry.
I don’t mean to make a big deal out of this. This is not covered in scripture it is just a thought.
If anything we can say is that Jesus was adamant on giving. Not because we was an evangelists who needed money. Many times we would find him with nothing and depending on others. Not because he knew that the more he talked about it the more it would come in. No. But because he knew that if you give this area to the Lord then the other areas would be easy.
Martin Luther used to say that the last thing to get saved in a persons life is his wallet. Time would run a close second.
Story of Fanny Crosby
Jesus in this passage speaks of treasures that we have. So he is talking more than just giving but also building. We build great edifices in recognition of our selves yet it is not important what we build here but what we have built in eternity.
Many of you have heard of Fanny Crosby the famous song writer who wrote over 8,000 hymns. Hymns like “Blessed Assurance”, “He Hideth My Soul” and “Tell Me the Story of Jesus” You have probably heard that she was blind.
One day she was sitting in her house when she received a visitor. She had been up and years and had written many songs. She had made a tidy little bit off these songs. She was not rich but comfortable. This visitor came into her house. When she came in she notice that the house seemed so run down. The ceiling was dirty and the walls were peeling. The furniture did not match. It seemed to be the house of a poor person. So she questioned Ms. Crosby on this. “Why is it that your house is so need of the things that make it look so pretty.”
She replied back, “I don’t see these things so why should I fix them.” Sometimes I wish I could not see the things that I put so much emphasis on. I wish that we could all learn that it not how pretty our house is here on earth but in heaven.
Jesus said it is more important to have treasures in heaven than on earth. On earth “moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break in and steal”. But in heaven “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and no thieves can steal”. When we die what we have here will be gone. In our mind that is. It will be used by someone else. I have even learned that about a shrine given to people. One day all shrines will fall down. Even the temple of the most high God fell. Not because of God but because of this world. This things will fail but heaven will never pass away.
Oh, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be”.
Paul on his last journey to death, remembers all his suffering for Christ which turns into rewards writes,
2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed : for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
The word keep means more than just store it also means guard. As a Roman guard would guard the treasures of the palace. Paul is confident. Whereas this worlds goods will pass away the treasures in heaven never will.
Then he goes into some more verses. He almost seems to break his thought. But listen to these words.
Matthew 6:23 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness, If there fore the light that is in thee be darkness the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
It would seem that this would be a new thought on a new subject. A new parable on something different yet we go back to the same subject in verse 24
No 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
So what is he saying
Matthew 6:23 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness, If there fore the light that is in thee be darkness the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Our two eyes are important. They are handy in that they give us full vision. We can see all around us. Yet they are almost useless if they don’t work together. They must work together. I have heard of people who have had strokes which have caused blurred vision. The cause of the blurred vision is that the eyes are not working together. You can put your eyes on two different objects and understand.
This is what Jesus was trying to say. When serving the Lord we must have singleness of vision. When we are not focused on one goal and purpose then our vision becomes blurred.
I have seen people work for no purpose but to have more. They can’t see themselves worked into the ground until it is too late.
At least if you are going to not live for the Lord don’t try to ride the fence.
Many peoples vision is so blurred they can’t see anything but more money or possessions. They can’t see anything but working and gaining possessions.
Conclusion
Where are your treasures? Are they in the Lord or are they in this world? What are gaining that will be lost and you truly don’t need?
