Study inMatthew’s

Gospel

Presentation 28

Sermon On The Mount

Treasure in HeavenChap 6v19-24

Presentation 28

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IntroductionWhat are the things on which you place the greatest value? It is easy to give a trite answer or the sort on answer that might be expected of us. Nevertheless, the real answer to that question is of crucial importance.

In Ch. 6 Jesus has identified some pitfalls to Christian living and shown how hypocrisy can blight the three spiritual disciplines of giving, praying and fasting v1-18. In v19-24 Jesus identifies the danger of materialism and in v25-34 the danger of anxiety. What does Jesus have to say materialism? Perhaps no part of the Sermon on the Mount requires to be treated with greater urgency since so many have capitulated to its influence.

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Two TreasuresYou will note that Jesus’ teaching in this passage employs three sets of contrasts. The first of these in v19-21 is a contrast of treasures. Earthly treasure is contrasted with heavenly treasure.

In order to understand what Jesus means by earthly treasure we need to be clear upon what he is not saying. He is not saying that the obsession of wealth is intrinsically wrong and that we must therefore get rid of all our possessions.

The spirit of materialism is something which can influence the poorest of men so that taking a vow of poverty does not free us from its influence.

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Two TreasuresNor is Jesus teaching that to make provision for ones old age is wrong. This understanding of our passage has caused some to be dismissive of pension funds, health and life insurance policies or bank savings.

In 1 Tim. 5v8 Paul deals with a similar misunderstanding and writes; ‘If anyone does ot provide for his relatives and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever’.

Nor is Jesus teaching that we are to despise the material world around us, a view which that began to creep into the early church and which Paul refutes in 1Tim. 4v3-4....

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Two TreasuresWhat then lies at the heart of Jesus’ concern? We begin by reminding ourselves that when God completed his material creation, he declared all that he surveyed to be ‘good’.

However, when man sinned many of the things that God created for man’s benefit now became the focus of man’s love and he made these things the source of his satisfaction. So that his treasure took on a temporal rather than an eternal quality. When Jesus says, ‘where a man’s treasure is there a man’s heart is also’ he is making a distinction between two types of men.

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Two TreasuresThink first of the man who confines his ambitions, interests and hopes to this world only. He is more concerned about improving his material condition on a Sunday than he is in worship. As a result he has failed to make a proper use of the good things that God has provided him with. We all feel the pull of this world and its values including the missionary martyr Jim Elliot who prayed :

“Father let me be weak that I may lose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions. Lord let me lose the tension of the grasping hand”.

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Two TreasuresThe more we gather possessions in order to feel secure, the more we feel we need them in order to be secure, and then the more we need to guard them in order to maintain our security. Therefore, the less secure we are.

Wealth cannot buy happiness and Jesus explains why. Happiness depends upon lasting wealth.

The fascination with prosperity in some areas of the Christian church and the encouragement to see prosperity as a chief indicator of God’s blessing fails to take Jesus’ teaching here seriously. Real spirituality is not seen in the accumulation of wealth but in being delivered from loving it whether we have it or not.

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Two TreasuresSecondly there is the pursuit of heavenly treasure. And Jesus’ argument to pursue this treasure is powerfully compelling. Earthly treasure has a short life expectancy cf.. v19...

And although it is true that today we have insecticides, rust proofing and burglar alarms we also have inflation, devaluation and economic crisis. By contrast all heavenly treasure is secure.But what is this heavenly treasure? Jesus does not expand upon it here but other biblical passages fill out his meaning…

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Two TreasuresFirst, we can begin to lay up treasure in heaven by developing Christian character, cf. 1 Cor. 3v10ff.... Quite simply that which is worked into our lives down here will be reflected up in heaven.

Secondly, we send treasure on ahead of us by using our talents in Christian service. When a man is delivered from grasping after status and recognition in the world, he is truly free to serve others. The focus of his service will be to glorify God. His aim through prayer and witness will be to see others come to faith in Jesus. This should be the great treasure we pursue.

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Two TreasuresWith this in mind, look at what Paul had to say to the Philippians. He writes ‘you are my crown’ Phil. 4v1. He recognised that the contribution that he had made in their midst would be rewarded in heaven in a way that was visibly tangible both here and there!

We also make a heavenly deposit when we use our material wealth to promote Christ’s kingdom cf. 1Tim.6v17-19...

What kind of treasure are we building up? Are we more concerned with our bank balance on earth than with our balance in heaven? What do you dream about? What occupies your mind?

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Two VisionsThe type of treasure we are accumulating will very much depend upon whether we are people with a clear or a distorted vision. This leads us into the second set of contrasts introduced by Jesus in v22-23. These verses are concerned with spiritual perception. The eye is regarded as the window by which light gets into the whole body. The colour and state of the window decides what light gets into the room. If the window is clear the light will come flooding in. If the glass is dirty and obscure the room will not be lit up.

Now Jesus’ point is the amount of light that gets into a man’s soul is related to his spiritual perception.

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Two VisionsDiseased eyesight affects more than the eyes, Jesus says, ‘the whole body is full of darkness’. The eye is the door way to sight – the body has no other way of seeing. What then will be the result of poor spiritual vision? Having wrong spiritual priorities will influence the entire direction of our lives.

The materialist has cataracts clouding his spiritual sight, his vision of God has been eclipsed, the deceitfulness of wealth obscures any spiritual insight he may once have had. He can amass a fortune by ruthless means and then say, ‘I see nothing dishonest with that’.

Material ambition plunges him into moral darkness which in turn distorts his vision.

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Two VisionsIn contrast, the man who has a single-minded ambition to serve God adds meaning to life and throws light on everything he does.

He has a completely different world view. He sees others not as pawns to be manipulated and sacrificed and discarded in the fulfilment of his selfish ambition but as precious lives in need of the redeeming grace of God.

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Two MastersNow the third contrast. We serve one of two masters; God or Wealth. People can become quite indignant if it is suggested that they have become a slave to things. They resent thinking that things that have been created to serve them have somehow exchanged roles and made them their servants. Now obsessive desires can cause parents to neglect their children. Think of the man whose world collapses when his stamp collection is stolen or the woman who is distraught because she has not found curtain fabric to exactly match her decor. The Lord of Materialism can creep into every area of our lives enslaving us.

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Two MastersPeople sometimes ask why there is not the same overt opposition to the gospel in the West to that found in the Middle East, or in parts of Africa or Asia. One apparent answer is that materialism is doing a great job on its own of arresting the progress of the church without the need of less subtle forms of opposition. C. S. Lewis was thinking along these lines in his ‘Screwtape Letters’ where a senior tempter advises a junior in the following manner:

“Don’t waste time trying to make your subject believe materialism is true. Make him think it is strong or stark or courageous.”

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Two MastersA great many people have bought into the materialistic dream. And that has certainly caused the advertising industry to thrive. They have persuaded us that status is connected to material possessions and lifestyle choices. We no longer dispose of products because they are worn out or broken but because they are no longer fashionable. We are told if we do not wear ‘this years colour’ or possess state of the art equipment then we cannot be truly happy. When we buy into that then we end up as puppets dancing to the tune of material things with the advertising puppet masters, and those employing them, pulling the strings.

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Two MastersThere are of course those people, who believe that it is possible to have the best of both worlds. They adopt a philosophy of compromise. They are determined that they will serve two masters. God on Sunday and Wealth during the week, or God with their lips and wealth in their hearts.

They think they have developed a version of Christian moonlighting little realising the direction in which they are being carried and the practical implications of their behaviour.

Now Jesus makes it very plain that we cannot divide allegiance, just as we cannot divide heart loyalty.

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Two MastersThe illustration that Jesus uses to drive home his point is that of the slave compared to the employee. While a man can work for two employers, no slave can be the property of two owners, for single ownership and full time service are the very essence of slavery.

The person who tries to divide his loyalty between God and his possessions has already yielded allegiance to his possessions since God can only be served with an entire and exclusive devotion. He may to convince himself that he is not a slave to his possessions by painting his chains with gold paint butHe is still a slave! It is essential for the sake of our spiritual well-being that the question of our devotion be settled once and for all. Have we resolved that issue?

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Two MastersJesus’ teaching can be reduced to an axiom, ‘Either God owns our possessions and we serve him, or our possessions own us and we serve them’.

The story is told of a farmer who had two calves, one red, one white. He told his wife he intended to devote one of the calves to the Lord’s work. He did not specify which calf. Both were to be reared in the same way and sold at market, the proceeds of one of the sales would go to God.

One morning the farmer brought his wife bad news. ‘God’s calf is dead’. His wife reminded him that they had not decided which calf belonged to God. He said, ‘I intended all along that the red calf was God’s and it is the red one that died.’ God’s calf always dies when we try to serve both God and wealth. The first thing we are persuaded to economise on is God’s work.

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ConclusionJesus’ teaching is searching in our materialistic age. He asks three simple questions of us . 1. Where is your treasure? 2. On what is your vision focused? 3. Who is your Master?

The answers we give will have a profound influence upon how we live our lives. The world offers inadequate alternatives, which promise to enrich, empower and liberate us but in reality they impoverish, weaken and enslave us. May God help us to give to him the wholehearted devotion of our hearts that we be seen to be citizens of another kingdom.

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