We are reading a passage that is so clear Jesus is teaching so clear one in which we see and think well I've already heard that before I'm dealt with that before I understand about treasures on heaven and earth Oh, I wish it was that easy. This is a great passage I think you will find tremendous encouragement today as well as challenge Matthew 6 Beginning in verse 19 Jesus is sermon. This is what Jesus said Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal For where your treasure is there your heart will be also The eye has the lamp of the body So if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light But if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness if then the light in you is darkness How great is the darkness? No one No one No one can serve two masters For 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 God and money This is the word the Lord Father is we unpacked this very clear teaching from you. I asked that your spirit would reveal new truths to us That the spirit that you would open Open us up and we would be willing to hear new things and see new things and to look at our life again This we pray in Jesus name. Amen. I want you to close your Bible If you brought one if you didn't I want you to grab the blue when it's in front of you everyone This is not an option. I want you to do that if there aren't enough then share But keep it closed and on the top of the Bible I want you to place your bulletin or another blank piece of paper that you can write on for a few moments Whatever like you to do is simply Answer this question By writing what Is the treasure of your heart if you were drawing a treasure map on this blank piece of paper right now What would be at the center of that treasure now be honest? I'm not going to look at this Your neighbor might but just tell them to get out of the way What would be at the center Of that treasure map what would be the treasure what's locked away in there that you're longing to find or to store what's there It might be Jesus But if it's not be honest The easiest way to tell is by asking other questions like what have you been thinking about a lot What do you wake up thinking about sometimes in the middle of the night? Sometimes not till your alarm goes off what fills your heart in mind through the day likely those Are treasures things at the center of this blank page this treasure map what are they put them down write them down Many of them will be good things But what are they you need to know you probably can't finish the exercise right now, but take it home What is your treasure map really look like if you still struggle to know ask your children We need to look at my life What seems to be most important to me and then get ready What might they say And the reason I had you close your Bible Wasn't simply to give you a workspace to write on It was to make a point That often this is how We pursue the treasures of our life our Bible is closed It's present Maybe even in our lab Maybe in our house maybe in an office But when it comes to the things we're really focusing on We're thinking about writing them down meditating on them without really letting the word of God Informed Our treasures in fact Being our treasure Are you guilty of that? I am I often find myself coming up with treasures and then I seek to inform God of what they are asking for his blessing on them That's not how it works if you're honest today That piece of paper that you have before you list many good things that consumes your heart and mind Let me tell you this if you didn't write Jesus is the only great treasure in your life Everything else that you put on there is going to experience corrosion everything Every bit of it think for example your children if they actually took the exercise serious And seriously and they brought it to you What would make you celebrate Not just in church What after you get home? I remember a young man in my youth group in Oklahoma city my first church I ever served in He was the valedictorian of his high school Midway through his senior year he told me. I think the Lord is calling me to go into youth ministry His dad was one of the mentors in my life a very godly man When his son express that that was his desire his dad one of my mentors called me and said we need to talk He said I don't mean to fin you mark the math you can't waste his life Doing what you're doing he's too gifted He's too smart the man's treasure Wasn't really Jesus the man's treasure was his son And the vision he had for his son's life With just a little bit of Jesus sprinkle on It's subtle But if your child came to you and said I really want to live so passionately So crazily for Christ I maybe even want to go to a country on a dead that you've never wanted to even visit What would you say if they said really I don't want anything to get in the way of He's serving the Lord What would you say you might say well that's great on a short-term mission strip as long as you return to this zip code We would be fine with that But what if one of your Children your son or daughter comes home and says I feel called to go In serve in the slums of Africa where every day thousands and thousands are dying of AIDS I know it's dangerous, but I believe that God's calling me to that How many of you would say yes That is been our dream and our prayer we celebrate That's the treasure map we have Or would you say You know what not for you That's not what God has you're too gifted Brothers and sisters the passage that Jesus has put before us is not just about money
It's about anything That we treasure on this earth Anything Anything that we treasure on this earth That consumes our heart and minds even good things Jesus is not saying good things are bad. He's simply teaching us that good things aren't great Every good thing on this earth is going to corrode everything Your career Your relationships Your gifts This church Everything this side of heaven is going to go through Corrosion and Jesus is teaching us that He's saying there is one great investment It's the treasures of heaven Focus there I know you've heard this before I know you've read this passage before and you think like me you know what it means But here's the powerful thing about God's word when we don't simply use it to write on as a workspace But actually open it up. It really is alive The Holy Spirit really works with the word to continue to sharpen you And make you more like Jesus This very day I'm concerned that some would see that this is the passage that we're preaching on and would simply say I know I've heard this before and you're tuned out I hope that's not the case. I hope today you simply say Holy Spirit make me open Make me open to examining every area of my life with that Illuminating light that only the Holy Spirit can give so that we once again as a husband Or as a small group or as children in a Sunday school class would say what is it God's calling us to So let's unpack this text a little bit remember Jesus is preaching to Christians So this is not how to become a Christian. He's preaching to those who are followers of Christ There's two commands one is negative And one is positive the negative one is this Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth What are the treasures on earth there are many And they're written if you did what I asked you to do on the page before you there are many many treasures Marriage can be a treasure Getting married can be a treasure finding that right man or that right woman having children can be a treasure Having a career can be a treasure having a ministry can be a trip this pulpit and me in it can be a treasure
Jesus did not say do not lay Up for yourself money is on earth. This is so much further than that, but we know it's connected Jesus in this great teaching always answers the motivating question Why Jesus simply teaches because on earth there are moths and Rust that destroy in thieves that will break in and steal Moths Eat away a fabric These are not the moths that you see flying around at night that are attracted to the light the moths that eat are clothing other ones that like darkness They hide and when you see a moth in your closet. It's not the moth itself that is eating away at the cloth It's the larva that they've left behind that continues to chew unseen Every one of us And all the things in our life are subject to that corrosion rust the same way And in thieves Many of us when we hear this message seek to understand that the thieves are those that break into a housing steel That is a great violation There was a family in our church this past summer that was rob The mother came home Open the front door and saw thieves in her house Stealing right before eyes She quickly ran to her car and called my mom one as they escaped out the back I talked to her just a few days after what a violation what fear going back into that home again Knowing and truters have been present But this is not the only way in which thieves break in and steal Your co-workers can spread a rumor about you And that's stealing Your small group Kid spread a rumor about you And that's like thieves breaking in and stealing Everything This side of heaven is subject to corrosion There's nothing you're pursuing other than Christ that is not subject to corrosion And Jesus simply teaches it Therefore he says the better investment is to lay up for yourself's treasures in heaven Where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal Heaven Every person here is going to experience the ultimate corrosion And that is your body Eventually Like thieves coming through disease and other such things as that It's going to dwindle It's going to fail You're going to die every one of you And the spouse you're sitting next to Their body is going to fail You may go before them or after but that corrosion of sin and death is real It's going to happen but for those who are in Christ The promise is that that investment is in the king Who saves Who goes before us to provide a place where there are no moths There are no secret unseen Consumers destroying the fabric of our lives There is no rust there's no corrosion Always pure and there are no thieves that can break in and steal even the joy of your salvation But this side of heaven we know all those things so the Lord says invest in the treasures of heaven Because investing in the treasures of heaven you see the corrosion does not exist And I think the reason That we're so drawn to the treasures of this earth Is because our vision of heaven is so small
It would be easy today to walk out of here and simply say let's re-evaluate our finances Let's re-evaluate where we're spending our money. Let's re-evaluate our priorities and you should you should do that But that will only motivate so far What motivates on a grand scale Where you begin to have eyes that see as they've never seen before is when you're gazing at heaven And seeing that it's going to be more than one long eternal worship service
Even if it has your favorite preference of music That is not what heaven will be in isolation Open your Bible and turn to first Peter First Peter chapter one beginning in verse three listen to what Peter says First three of chapter one Blessed be the god and father of our Lord Jesus Christ According to his great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead or in that season Christ has risen You said it differently last week I told you every Sunday. We preach Easter Christ has risen. Ah That's it He has and as he has risen he went somewhere His physical body ascended and right now Christ 100% God 100% man sits next to the Father Waiting for his return He has gone to prepare a place for you in his resurrection power. Listen to verse four To an inheritance that is imperishable Undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you What in your life this side of heaven is imperishable What Is undefiled what is unfading Nothing you build a new home You sign the papers and you call the contractor back out why It wasn't perfect. It won't be long before something else breaks Constantly fixing and the more stuff we have The greater the amount of corrosion more time needed more money given it just keeps going and going and going Because it's all going to corrode Every bit of it the desire for stuff Really is Alonging for that which is imperishable It's longing for a mention You see I love I love blueprints I love designing stuff. I wanted to be an architect so bad that I spent Friday nights in Saturday nights in fifth six seventh grade Literally designing homes that one day I could live in they were amazing Moats Bridges Multiple grudges. I mean it was amazing and some people have built homes like that Do it do it But don't make that your treasure Why you're doing that Be looking at the blueprints of heaven You see the blueprints of your mansion in heaven is something you should be considering But let me say one thing you can do it with great detail But it will be so much greater than you could even imagine Heaven will have no home depots
Heaven will have no restolium Heaven will have no place for cedar line closets in mothballs Thank the Lord It's going to be beyond what you can imagine So Christ tells us Lay up your treasures in heaven First peter it also says That it is kept in heaven for us The Holy Spirit the guarantee of our salvation But there's a temptation in us The temptation is to think that we could have it both ways
Who says we can't? Jesus This is one of the great sins Of a city like Dallas Churches in America We think We could have it both ways Jesus says of verse 24 of Matthew 6 no one That's why I read it three times Conserve two masters on that blank page today You need to ask the question Which master am I serving and let God tell you He'll be gentle with you. He's gracious that way But let him tell you I think you need to understand That this question is not a once and for all question where at some point your life you said I will serve God I won't serve money no it doesn't work that way because we have a real enemy a real storage war an enemy who is saying Put your investment in the things on this earth and he doesn't simply go away because once in your life You said I'm going to serve Christ He is constant in his onslaught to say turn your eyes towards all of this stuff Christ says you can't serve two masters You either hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and money and anything money would buy You can't you can love God and you can be devoted to God you have to hear that he says it You can you can love God and be devoted to God do you believe that he died so you could You really can't say I love God I am devoted to Christ And I struggle with the temptation towards the things of this flesh and I would say me too But you cannot love money And be devoted to money and in the same breast say I love God You can't He will not allow it And his teaching especially in the conclusion of his sermon is so powerful Because he says there are two roads There is a wide road that leads towards what what does it say destruction And there are many on it and there is a narrow road that leads to life and only a few Find it and here's the fundamental problem when we look at those roads We tend to think They're parallel the wide road is right here and the narrow road is right here and I'm going to walk both I'm going to love money and be devoted to money, but I'm not going to say stupid things like that
But deep down when you look at my life, that's what I love. That's what I'm devoted to. It's what I'm thinking about It's what I wake up thinking about. It's what I want Be honest You're not alone if that's you I promise But then in the right places small group church sunny school etc in the narrow road Brothers and sisters those roads are not parallel You can't do both they're completely in opposite directions And if I tried to imitate what walking down that direction would look we would call an ambulance in just a few moments You can't do it They're polar opposite directions So be honest today are you walking down the wide road full of the treasures of this earth that leads to destruction? Are you moving down the narrow road that leads to life? Which do you want for your children? Oh, I hope and pray you want your children to see. It's the narrow road that leads to life Does this mean that there will be people without wealth? Of course not Well, isn't the issue it's the issue of making wealth your treasure It's the issue of saying this is what I want In a parable in Luke chapter 12 don't turn there, but certainly go read it later today Jesus says this Take care and be on your guard against all covetedness For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions How much are you worth? The IRS will know tomorrow everything that you have can be counted Everything How much are you worth? Is your identity wrapped up in the abundance of your possessions? If it is the nature treasure how much are you worth in Christ It cannot be measured
Thank you Do you believe that? You see That's where it gazes to be God made everything And there are many things inside our world on our earth that are beautiful But none are to be treasures
He is the only one worthy
In the parable Jesus taught this rich man
Live in a land that produced richly Plentifully and the rich man thought to himself What shall I do? For I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I will do this I will tear down my barns and build larger ones And there I will store all my grain and my goods And I will say to my soul I love that line I will say to my soul soul You have ample goods laid up for many years relax Eat Drink Be merry That's where the line comes from by the way It's in the Bible Relax eat drink be merry But God said to him Full This night your soul is required of you And the things that you have prepared Who's will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself And is not rich toward God
How do we avoid Not being rich towards God? I believe the lesson from the parable Is to preach to yourself Soul You have An inheritance That every storehouse on this earth that has been built And ever will be built or could be built Can't contain the blessings that waits for you in heaven And everyone is imperishable
How do you preach that to yourself Well, Jesus is teaching in the terminal amount tells us The eye is the lamp of the body So if your eye is healthy Your whole body will be full of light But if your eye is bad Your whole body will be full of darkness If then the light in you is darkness How great is the darkness
Look at Jesus Please At your Savior Be rich towards God How By considering His riches Given to you on the cross But God demonstrated his own love for us in this That while we were still sinners Christ died for us He died for us That we could have this life forever And his great is it is To fantasize about the mansions we will live in About the new heavens in the new earth And all that it will be like as we gather with the saints As we consider that There's something even greater You will see Jesus 375 saints From our church Since August of 1993 Have gone into the presence of our Lord What are they seeing now you in Christ One day will be like them your treasures Are they here on this earth
Corrosion is everywhere or is it in heaven Gays upon Jesus And watch The things of this earth Grow strangely Dem in the light of his glory and grace
Jesus We cannot begin To thank you as we ought For we can't even imagine Everything that awaits us But we thank you for the clarity of your teaching And holy spirit For the work that you do And making known to us The foolishness Of pursuing treasures the sight of heaven God would you please set us free Let us believe deeply the things that we have been singing And the thing that we will now sing Would you let us gaze upon the cross And to see the body of our Savior tortured And then gone And the tomb empty Knowing that he reigns now And fill us with your spirit That we might be made different because Of the treasures that are ours in Christ And whose name we pray And the body of Christ with joy in their voice Pray together Amen