LAY NOT UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES UPON EARTH

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: MATTHEW 6:19-24




INTRODUCTION:


  1. In our text, taken from the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord tells us that we must not lay up for ourselves treasures upon the earth.
  2. Recently we have read in the newspapers of several wealthy individuals committing suicide because they lost millions of dollars in the present financial crisis.
  3. Why would a man want to end his life this way?  Apparently because his whole life was wrapped up around money and now his money was gone.  And so now he feels he has nothing to live for.
  4. This is why Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 6:24; cf. Luke 16:13).
  5. We do not hear the word “mammon” very much these days.  The word is found four times in the New Testament.  The three other references are in Luke 16.
  6. When we compare these four references, we see that our Lord was not simply referring to money or wealth, but rather He was referring to some unworthy aspect of wealth - what He refers to in Luke 16:9 as “the mammon of unrighteousness.”
  7. Further, our Lord was referring to people’s attitude toward wealth - similar to what the apostle Paul said in I Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
  8. How often have we heard people misquote this Scripture - “money is the root of all evil” - but it is the love of money that is the problem.
  9. When I first started preaching, like all good Baptist preachers I preached often against worldliness.  And like most independent Baptist preachers, this meant preaching against television, movies, drinking, smoking, rock music, immodest dress, etc.
  10. But after a while I realized that there are certain Christians that do not drink or smoke; they do not watch trashy TV shows or movies; and they dress modestly - yet they are very worldly.
  11. A preacher can preach his heart out about ladies wearing tight pants or men with earrings or some of the smutty shows on TV, and certain church members will yell, “Amen!”
  12. But once that preacher starts preaching about the love of money and covetousness and materialism, he has struck a nerve (cf. Col. 3:5).
  13. He has struck a blow at the golden idol.
  14. It is a fact that when Christians become enamored with money and the things money can buy, they soon become cold and irresponsive toward the things of God.  And they even get resentful toward those who preach against their covetousness and materialism.
  15. And this is precisely what Jesus meant in Matthew 6:24.

 

I. TREASURES ON EARTH WILL NOT LAST (MATT. 6:19, 20).

  1. Our Lord is saying that worldly treasures do not last. They are transitory.  They are passing.  They will not last.
  2. There is an element of decay in the things of this world. The hymnwriter put it this way - “Change and decay in all around I see.”
  3. Things that we consider so important do not last very long. That is why our Lord refers to damage caused by “moth and rust” (6:19, 20).
  4. The things of this world can never fully satisfy. There is always something wrong with them; they always lack something.  That’s why the Bible says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15).
  5. There is no person on earth who is ever fully satisfied with the things of this world. Though, to a certain extent, some may appear to have everything they want, still they crave more.
  6. Proverbs 27:20 says, “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.”
  7. Not only is there an element of decay in the things of this world; it is also true that we always tend to grow tired of them. We may enjoy them for a while, but sooner or later we lose interest in them. That is why people are always seeking after new things.
  8. Shopping malls are the pagan temples of today, where multitudes of mindless consumers go to worship the god of mammon.
  9. Advertisers are experts in getting people to buy things they really do not need.
  10. Men feel they need to go out and buy a new shotgun or fishing rod or a car.  Women think they need to go out and buy a new pocketbook or pair of shoes or some jewelry.
  11. Fashions change; and though we are very enthusiastic about certain things for a while, soon they no longer interest us as they once did.
  12. That new car smells nice but soon the new smell wears off.  Interestingly, it has been reported that the odor consists of hazardous chemicals and they could be a possible health risk.
  13. All the beautiful things in this world inevitably perish. The most beautiful flower is beginning to die the moment you pluck it. You will soon have to throw it away. That is true of everything in this life and world.
  14. It does not matter what it is, it is passing, it is all fading away.  “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof” (I John 2:17).
  15. Because of sin, everything that has life is subject to this process - “moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal” (6:19).
  16. Recently we have seen Bernard Madoff’s photograph in the papers on a daily basis.
  17. Mr. Madoff allegedly operated a Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of 50 billion dollars.
  18. His scam has been called the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person - “and where thieves break through and steal” (6:19b).
  19. If people would have invested all that money in God’s work, they would not have lost it to a crook like Mr. Madoff (Matt. 6:20, 21).

 

II. TREASURE IN HEAVEN WILL LAST FOREVER (6:20).

  1. We are so to live in this world, and so to use everything we have - our money, our possessions, our gifts and talents, everything - for the glory of God.
  2. By doing that we shall be laying up treasure in heaven - “where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matt. 6:20).
  3. These words are addressed primarily to Christian people. This is not a message for the unsaved; it is a warning that to the Christian.
  4. Sinners need to first get saved.  Then they can learn about laying up treasure in heaven.
  5. Treasures in heaven are imperishable and thieves cannot break into heaven and steal. God Himself is reserving our treasure for us.
  6. Lay up your treasure in heaven, our Lord said, because there is no moth nor rust there, and no thief can ever break through and steal.
  7. In First Corinthians 9:25, the apostle Paul said, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”
  8. Athletes win crowns and trophies and medals but these earthly prizes will not last.  But the faithful Christian will obtain an incorruptible crown.
  9. Treasure on earth will not last, but treasure in heaven will last for ever (Matt. 6:19-21).
  10. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
  11. Revelation 2:10 says, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

 

III. FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO (MATT. 6:21).

  1. In Matt. 6:24, our Lord talks about devotion and service - “No man can serve two masters.”  And in verse 21, He talks about the heart. Our Lord is attempting to impress upon us the terrible control that the things of this world tend to exercise over us.
  2. Unless we are very careful, we could easily get caught up in the grip of this awful power of worldliness which would master us and destroy us.
  3. When godly men prosper in this world, they do not change their standard of living so much as their standard of giving.
  4. But when carnal men prosper, there is a subtle change that takes place.  Instead of owning their possessions, their possessions own them.
  5. John Wesley (1703-1791) was very successful as a preacher and author.  As he made more money he gave most of it away.  He often preached from Psalm 62:10, “If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.”
  6. John Wesley reportedly lived on 2% of his income and gave 98% of it away. When he died, he left behind only a few miscellaneous coins and a couple of silver spoons. He had given away the rest. 
  7. Our Lord warned, “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” (6:24).
  8. Both God and mammon make demands upon us. Who then shall we serve?  Both God and mammon demand our entire devotion.
  9. The god of mammon want us to live for him absolutely. But so does God.  We were reminded last week that the Bible says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30).
  10. Notice what our Lord said in Matthew 6:24, “Either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.”
  11. Compromise will not work.  “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
  12. The man who thinks he is godly because he says he believes in God, and goes to church, but is really living for mammon - how great is that man’s darkness (Matt. 6:23).
  13. We are either serving God or mammon. It is insulting to God to claim to be His disciple, but be really devoted to the god of mammon.

 

CONCLUSION:


Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones told the story of a farmer who reported to his wife and family that their best cow had given birth to twin calves - one red and one white. And he said, “You know I have suddenly had a feeling and impulse that we must dedicate one of these calves to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and when the time comes we will sell one and keep the proceeds, and we will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord’s work.”  His wife asked him which he was going to dedicate to the Lord. “There is no need to bother about that now,” he replied, “we will treat them both in the same way, and when the time comes we will do as I say.” And off he went. In a few months the man entered his kitchen looking very miserable and unhappy. When his wife asked him what was troubling him, he answered, “I have bad news to give you. The Lord’s calf is dead.”  “But,” she said, “you had not decided which was to be the Lord’s calf.”  “Oh yes,” he said; “I had always decided it was to be the white one, and it is the white one that has died. The Lord’s calf is dead.”



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