It is amazing to realize just how much our lives are impacted by the amount of money we have or think we have. It has a
great impact on our self-esteem, on the kind of job we pursue, and how important we view ourselves in relation to others.
For example, three boys in the school yard were bragging about who had the better father. The first boy says, "My Dad
scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, and they give him $100." The second boy says, "That’s
nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $1000." The third boy
says, "My Dad is even better than that. He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, calls it a sermon, and it takes six
men just to collect all the money!"
The amount of money we have often has a big influence on the person we end up marrying. For example, a wealthy older
gentleman had just recently married a lovely young lady, and was beginning to wonder whether she might have married
him for his money. So he asked her, "Tell me the truth: if I lost all my money, would you still love me?" She said
reassuringly, "Oh honey, don’t be silly. Of course I would still love you. And I’d miss you terribly."
Money is important. In our world, it is all-important. (It was the reason behind the WTO battle in Seattle.) As a culture,
we love the almighty dollar more than anything else. Money is the fuel in our nation’s engine that keeps everything
moving. Almost every decision made in government, business, and non-profit organizations hinges on the question of
"how much money will it cost and how much will it make?" Most Americans are addicted to the drug of always acquiring
more. You could say we have achieved a new plane of consciousness that can be called "transcendental acquisition." We
are deeply convinced that our lives will be better off if only we could buy the next new thing.
[Let’s put this in perspective. In this country, 1/2% of our population controls 40% of our nation’s wealth. Isn’t that
disgusting?] Have you noticed yet that there will always be someone better off than you? Bill Gates is so rich that if the
Attorney General were successful in getting a federal court to fine Microsoft a million dollars a day for trying to
monopolize access to the Internet, when would Bill Gates go broke? Oh, about ten years after the earth crashes into the
sun.
That’s rich! But from a world perspective, you’re rich. Do you remember when Don Sunukjian was here in May? He gave
us a biblical definition of wealth. Do you remember what it is? He told us that in the Bible, a wealthy person was one who
had two changes of clothes and food for the day at the start of the day. So, according to that definition, are you wealthy?
Yes! Biblically speaking, you are very wealthy on this earth! However, the question we want to explore today is, will you
still be wealthy in heaven?
Why is that such an important question? Because in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, the apostle Paul exhorts those who are rich in
this present world ... to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share -- Why? -- so that they will lay up
treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. In other words, for those who are generous with their
money now, God will give them treasure in heaven later on.
Jesus talks about how to become wealthy in heaven in Matthew chapter 6. Please turn there in your Bible. According to
our Owner’s Manual, the Bible, financial prosperity, material success, is not the most important thing in life. Now, it’s not
that money is inherently evil. But it is true that money becomes a source of evil for us whenever we start loving it more
than we love God. The Bible says to Keep your lives free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5) because the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). God acknowledges that money is important, but warns us that we
must never allow it to become the most important thing in our life.
When we come to Matthew 6, we are in Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Just two weeks ago I was there, on the very hill
where Jesus gave this sermon. We even got to walk down from what is called the Mount of Beatitudes, down to the Sea
of Galilee. While there, I learned that when Jesus was teaching the people, He was likely standing at the foot of a hill,
speaking up to the crowds who were sitting in a natural amphitheater with great acoustics, allowing His voice to be carried
to the multitudes through a valley bordered by rocks at either side. And as Jesus spoke, every person in the crowd had a
beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee below. I found this setting to be very similar to the Gorge at George, where you have
both great natural acoustics and a beautiful view of the water in the distance.
In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus challenges us with the question of "where’s your treasure?" In fact, He asks this question in
four different ways. In each of these four times, it is obvious that the question of "where’s your treasure?" can be
answered in one of two ways. It’s a very easy multiple choice quiz. The answer is either my treasure is on earth or my
treasure is in heaven.
In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us four tests to help us determine the accurate answer to this question of "where’s your
treasure?" His first test is the Durability Test. In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus says to us - 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.
The Durability Test asks the question, "How long will it last?"
When you store all your treasure on earth, what happens? Moths eat holes through your most expensive clothes that are
woven out of wool. Rust weakens and ruins your car and your boat and your tools, causing disintegration and
uglification of all your nicest stuff. Thieves will break a window to steal your jewelry and VCRs and stamp collection. In
a similar way, a sharp drop in the DOW might cut your investments in half. A big earthquake might destroy your home,
and it’s the one thing your insurance won’t cover. Then, eventually, you die and leave it all behind.
So, does your treasure pass the durability test? Not if it’s on earth, it doesn’t. That is why Jesus advises us to store up our
treasure in heaven instead of on earth. Heaven is a much safer place to stockpile your wealth because in heaven there are
no moths, no rust, no thieves, no bear markets, and no earthquakes. Once you get your money transferred to heaven, it is
safe and secure for all eternity. It is permanent. It will last forever.
In verse 21, Jesus gives us a second test to see whether our treasure is on earth or in heaven. It’s the Heart Test. Jesus
says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Please note that Jesus does not say that where you heart is, there you will place your treasure. A lot of people read it that
way, but that’s backwards. A lot of people think Jesus is saying that if your heart is right with God, if you are
head-over-heels in love with God, if you feel overwhelmingly grateful for all that God has done for you, if you are a
super-spiritual saint, then you will give your treasure to God, then you will tithe, then you will see your way clear to take
$5,000 out of your retirement account and generously give it to the building fund.
That’s not what Jesus says at all. He says just the opposite. He says that wherever you put your treasure, there your heart
will follow. Jesus says that your heart will follow your treasure. Wherever you put your treasure, there your heart will go.
If you choose to store up your treasure on earth, your heart will be focused on things of the earth, and you will love it
here on earth so much that you will tend to drift away from God. But if you choose to store up your treasure in heaven,
then your heart will be more excited about heaven, and as a result, you will end up growing closer to God because you
will be eager to see Him face to face.
When you chose to invest your life in God’s purposes, you will find that your heart will fall deeply in love with God.
Your heart will become passionate and excited about what God is doing because you’ll know that you are already a part
of it.
[By the way, the same principle applies to your relationships. If you are a husband or wife who feels like you no longer
love your spouse, it’s not time to seal off your heart and live as strangers under the same roof; it’s not time to pursue a
tantalizing affair that makes you feel young again; it’s not time to call a lawyer. Instead, it is time to start investing your
most valuable treasure into your spouse. It is time to sacrificially show love to your spouse even when you get nothing
back, to invest lots of time into dating your spouse and spoiling your spouse and buying gifts for your spouse. Why?
Because where you invest your treasure, there your heart will be, and you’ll fall in love all over again.]
Do you understand how this works? Whatever you invest your time and money in will become very important to you. If
you invest money into a sports car, you’ll keep it looking sweet. If you buy stock in Amazon.com, you’ll start watching
how the company is doing. If you invest time and money in some rental property, you’ll make sure it is well maintained.
If you sacrificially invest time and money in your marriage, you’ll be motivated to keep working on it until you
successfully rekindle your first love.
The same thing works in your relationship with God. When you choose to heavily invest in God’s purposes, you will
find that your spiritual life is elevated to a higher level. When you give to support a short-term missionary to Venezuela,
you’ll more likely pray for that person every day. When you give money to build a gym, you’ll be thrilled when you hear
reports of the people who met Christ there. Wherever you put your treasure, that is what you will be most interested in,
for that is where your heart will be.
Next, Jesus moves on to the third test, the Eye Test. The question here is, where do you focus your goals - on material
things, or on spiritual things? Jesus talks about our focus in Matthew 6:22-23 - 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!
Jesus says your eye is the window by which light gets into your body. If you have no sight, then you have no light. Now,
light is a picture of the truth. If you are full of light, you are full of truth, and your perspective on life is clear and
accurate. However, if your eyes are bad, if your spiritual eyes are covered over with cataracts, then you are living in
spiritual darkness. Your perspective is distorted; your viewpoint is perverted; your perception of the truth is dim.
Everything’s out of whack. You end up adopting false and foolish goals for our life because you are spiritually blind.
What causes your eye to be bad? Materialism. When the pursuit of money becomes your obsession, you become a slave
to your greed. When your number one focus is on money, it ruins your spiritual life. It sabotages your walk with God. It
puts blinders over your eyes. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 says: People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into
many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Jesus says in Luke 11:35 - See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Jesus says you have a responsibility
to see to it that your eyes are good. How can you do that? By choosing to focus on spiritual goals more than material
goals.
In verse 24, Jesus gives us the fourth and final test of where our treasure is. It’s the Master Test, which is, whom do you
serve? Jesus says, 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.
Once, while lecturing in Utah, Mark Twain got into an argument with a Mormon on the subject of polygamy. The
Mormon confidently asked Twain, "Can you find a single passage of Scripture that forbids polygamy?" "Certainly,"
Twain replied. "No man can serve two masters." (No, that’s really not what it means!)
The fact is, most people on earth serve Money as their god. It is a natural trap to fall into. We tend to worship that which
we think will bring us the most security and comfort in life. When we trust in money on earth to give us security and
comfort, we are living by sight, and we will worship the god we see. On the other hand, when we trust in God in heaven to
provide for our security and comfort, we are living by faith, and we will worship the God we cannot see. It’s got to be one
or the other. Each of us have to choose.
There is only one way that we can show that we are refusing to serve Money as our god. That is by choosing to serve
God with our money. That is the choice that Jesus gives you. Either you serve Money as your god, or you serve God
with your money. You cannot do both. It is impossible to serve both God and Money at one time. Either one or the other
has to win. Either one or the other has to surface to the top as being the most important priority of your life, either your
possessions on earth or your treasure in heaven.
[It’s a tough choice to make, because everyone in our society has been deeply infected with an epidemic called
"affluenza". Affluenza is a slow, insidious virus that takes over our brains and causes us to sacrifice our commitments to
our God and to our family on an imaginary altar of success. Affluenza distorts our sense of values and priorities to the
point that we end up serving the god that Jesus calls "Mammon" or "Money". Affluenza causes us to care more about the
false hope of winning the lottery than we do about the spiritual needs of the people around us. Affluenza hooks us into
believing the lie that I would be happy if I could only get a little more stuff. Affluenza tempts us to love the comfort and
pleasure and excitement that things bring more than we love God. Affluenza leads us to center our lives around filling up
our baskets with temporal toys that death will soon take away.]
Try to be completely honest with yourself. Is money your Master or your slave? Is it the driving force of your life, or is it
subservient to God’s higher purposes? Has money become the controlling passion that ultimately shapes everything else
in your life? Or does God truly have that role? Of these two cosmic opponents, Money and God, which one do you truly
serve with your life?
I’m here to tell you that money makes a good slave, but it is a terrible master. But, then, that is a choice that only you can
make. It is the Master Test. Whom will you choose to serve?
Take a moment to take the "where’s your treasure" quiz on your bulletin insert. At each point, go back and circle the most
accurate answer to each question as it applies to the choices that you are making today.
First is the Durability Test. How long will your treasure last? Will it be temporary, on earth, or will it last forever, in
heaven? Circle your answer.
Second is the Heart Test. What excites you the most, earth or heaven? Do you love it here and want to stay, or are you
eager to get there. Which option makes your heart beat faster? Mark it.
Third is the Eye Test. Where do you focus your goals, on material goals that are full of self-centered darkness, or on
spiritual goals that are full of light? On earth, or in heaven? Go ahead and mark it down.
Fourth is the Master Test. Whom do you choose to serve today? Be completely honest with yourself. Will you serve
money on earth and allow it to be your god, or will you serve God in heaven by using your money to serve Him? Circle
your choice.
Now it’s time to add up your score. How many points for Earth? How many points for Heaven? Which side wins? If it’s
a tie, how will you break that tie?
If you are choosing and wanting to store up treasure in heaven instead of on earth, how do you actually go about doing
it? There are actually several ways that we can accumulate eternal rewards. Just prior to this passage, Jesus teaches that
when you give in secret, pray in secret, and fast in secret, God will reward you. In other places, Jesus says that when you
love your enemies, and when you are persecuted for righteousness, and when you obey God with a pure heart by serving
Him, God will reward you in heaven.
In our passage today, Jesus’ primary message is clear. If you give generously to God with your money, God will
generously reward you in heaven. Jesus says that instead of continually filling stock portfolios that will someday crash,
you ought to start piling up wealth in your heavenly bank account that will last forever. He assures you that this heavenly
treasure will never be exhausted, stolen or wasted, which is why storing up treasure in heaven is a whole lot smarter than
hoarding treasure on earth.
C.T. Studd was a wealthy Englishman who sold his entire estate, gave the money away, and then went to the mission field
to serve Christ. He summed up what motivated him in these words: "Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done
for Christ will last."
The question is not whether or not you should store up treasures for yourself. That answer to that is—yes, you should!
The whole issue hangs on the issue of where you are going to store them, on earth or in heaven. Jesus says hoarding
your treasures on earth is foolish, but hoarding your treasures in heaven is smart.
The exciting thing is, when we give money to God, we really don’t lose anything at all; we are simply pushing it on ahead.
We are making an investment in the building up of God’s kingdom now that will pay back vast eternal riches to us as
dividends later on.
It takes faith to believe that, doesn’t it? That’s what makes it so exciting. God invites us to invest in an eternal retirement
account that is just as real and far more solid than any IRA or 401K fund you can find to invest in here on earth. Why?
Because, like the saying goes, you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
This fact is beautifully illustrated in the story of a sailor who was shipwrecked on a South Sea island. He was seized by
the natives, carried shoulder-high to a rude throne, and proclaimed king. He learned that according to their custom the
king ruled for a year. The idea appealed to the sailor until he wondered what had happened to all the previous kings. Then
he learned that when a king’s reign ended, he was banished to a lonely island to starve to death. So, knowing he was king
for the year, this sailor began issuing orders. Carpenters were to make boats. Farmers were to go ahead to this island and
plant crops. Builders were to erect a home. When his reign finished, he was exiled, not to a barren isle, but to a paradise
of plenty.
Each one of us is like that sailor king. Our time on earth is short, but we do have opportunity to prepare ahead of time by
sending some wealth on ahead.
I can still remember the first day when I opened my heavenly bank account with God. When I was little, my Mom would
always slip me a few coins to put in the offering plate each Sunday morning just before it passed by. But I remember that
when I was 7, I took a quarter out of my own wallet and told my Mom, before going to church, that today I wanted to give
God some of my own money.
A quarter was worth a lot back in 1962, and I can imagine, with God applying 10,000% interest to it for 37 years now, it’s
probably worth a pretty good sum by now — my first deposit in my heavenly bank account!
How much eternal treasure have you accumulated in heaven? How much stock have you bought in the eternal Dow
Jones? If you feel it’s wise to pay into a retirement program or pension plan that will help take care of you 20 or 30 years
from now, isn’t it also wise to plan ahead for the next hundred billion years from now?
Eternity is a very long time, and a wise Christian will store up treasure for himself in heaven while he still has the chance.
[It’s a funny thing, though. Across our nation, over the past few years, as personal income has gone up, the percentage of
giving to charities has gone down. It’s an inversely proportionate trend. Here, God has entrusted us with greater wealth
than there has even been in human history, and yet most people are giving less of it to kingdom purposes than ever
before.
Nationwide, the statistics are that in evangelical churches, 20% of the people do 80% of the giving, 30% percent of the
people do the remaining 20% of the giving, and the other 50% give nothing of record. If that is true, it’s scary, not just
because of how it limits the funds that are needed to spread the gospel, but because it means that half of all people in
heaven will not be getting much by way of eternal rewards. Why? Because they don’t give.
I don’t know the giving habits of anyone in this church, so you can relax. I’m just letting you know that you have an
opportunity to be involved in an exciting faith adventure that will result in eternal rewards, or you can neglect this
opportunity and choose to be poor forever in heaven. I don’t really care; it’s your choice. I just want you to know that no
matter how much money you have now, you can choose to be wealthy -- someday.]
One thing is for sure: we certainly can’t take anything with us when we die. The following was inscribed on a tombstone:
"What I spent, I lost; What I saved, I left; What I gave, I have." That’s the secret to eternal wealth. By investing heavily in
heavenly investments, we can assure for ourselves a wealthy eternal reward.
It’s really a matter of delayed gratification. It’s like that case study where a psychologist took a young child, set him in a
room by himself and said, "There is one chocolate candy on the table. You can eat it if you want, but if you do not eat it
until I come back in about 15 minutes, you can have two of them." One by one, these children were graded by whether
they are willing to say no to the short-term benefit in order to have greater gain later on. Those who waited were those
who were the most mature. As they were followed up on later in life, it was discovered that those who chose delayed
gratification were the most successful in life.
Laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven is a matter of delayed gratification. To invest in eternity is an act of faith. But
because God is the One who guarantees it, it’s a sure deal. It is certainly more secure than the stock market. It contains
less risk than investing in property or utilities or gold. The only difference is that instead of planning to spend all your
treasure within that fifteen year span between age 65 to 80, you are planning to save it up for the next trillion years
beyond that. It is a choice to be wealthy eternally in heaven rather than just temporarily on earth.
You say, that takes a lot of faith. You bet it does! If you don’t have that faith, there is no lack of things you can buy. You
could have newer furniture, faster computers, better meals, fancier clothes, more Christmas lights, and warmer vacations.
But then, what is all that compared to treasure in heaven? By giving a few hundred dollars a month to God’s church, by
giving a couple thousand dollars a year to build a gym, by substantially supporting a missionary, by shipping lots of
Bibles into China, you get a triple benefit out of your money. One, it makes a difference in other people’s lives now; two,
it helps those other people find eternal life through Christ for eternity; and three, it will benefit your own life for eternity
when you receive your reward.
So, where do you want your treasure to be? I urge you to make the choice to do what Jesus tells you to do. Store up your
treasure in heaven, not on earth, and you will be wealthy forever.
It’s a sure deal. You can count on it. It’s guaranteed by God.
*B I B L E* OUTLINE *Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
"How to Be Wealthy Forever"
A Stewardship Message from Matthew 6:19-24. Where’s Your Treasure? On earth or in heaven?
I. The Durability Test: How long will it last? (19-20)
Temporary (on earth) vs. Forever (in heaven)
II. The Heart Test: What excites you the most? (21)
Love it here (on earth) vs. Eager to get there (in heaven)
III. The Eye Test: Where do you focus your goals? (22-23)
Material (on earth) vs. Spiritual (in heaven)
IV. The Master Test: Whom do you serve? (24)
Money (on earth) vs. God (in heaven)
What is your personal score? Earth _____ vs. Heaven _____
Where do you want YOUR treasure to be? _______________
MAIN IDEA: Store up your treasure in heaven, not on earth, and you will be wealthy forever.
