THE IMPERISHABLE RICHES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. PART ONE

Matt 6:19-24

We live in a time that is really no different than the time of the disciples and the early church. Human beings are naturally drawn to this world’s goods, money, fame, prestige and etc. We live in a world that evaluates your worth, your importance, by what we have or what you own. Many spend a great deal of time thinking about money, but also other things as well.

 

Some treasure and value their happiness

by what they have or want.

 

For some… it is possessions, money and material things. For others it’s… reputation, standings, S.AT scores, the school you attend, job position, and status in society. Still for others… its appearances, how you look, dress, even family and the list of material things can go on and on. Jesus addresses this issue…”Our treasure and devotion is to be to God alone and gaining eternal treasures in heaven is of the most importance.” John MacArthur wrote “Human beings are naturally thing-oriented. We are strongly inclined to be wrapped up in seeking, acquiring, enjoying and protecting material possessions. In prosperous cultures such as those in which most Westerners live, the propensity to build our lives around things is especially great.”

 

It’s a major problem in today’s society as it was during this time. The religious people at the time of Jesus were preoccupied with things. They were materialistic, greedy, covetous and manipulative. Often the religious elites would use their material prosperity as “imagined evidence” of their spirituality. Many “Charlatans” used the means of so-called ministry to store wealth.

In the gospel of Luke we read about these Charlatans. “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money,…” Luke 16:14. This is the problem as Paul reminded Timothy, money isn’t the issue. “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Tim 6:6-12

 

Why would Paul warn Timothy about this? It’s a poor bargain to exchange the eternal for temporal, regardless how pretty and desirable it might seem….especially when it comes to wealth. We could learn a lot from Solomon when it came to this issue. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Eccl 1:2. “Vanity” the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this word is “worthless, wasted life”. But all things are not worthless, useless or vain “But all things are transient, fleeting or passing away. Warren Wiersbe described Solomon’s characterization of vanity and what it looks like “after you pop a soap bubble….poof…all gone.” As James warned. “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14

 

“The sinful pleasures of this life are short lived ones.

One minute it’s here and the next its transient.”

 Jesus says to pursue Heavenly treasures over Earthly treasures. (v19-21)

 

“Lay up treasures” a literal translation of this phrase would be “Do not treasure up treasures for yourselves.” This means to stacking or lying out horizontally as one stacks coins. What Jesus is saying “Don’t stockpile or hoard.” Don’t just simply store up treasure for safe keepings. Jesus spoke out against this kind of treasure “And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he 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, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."” Luke 12:16-21

 

What did Jesus say to the rich young man? Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Matt 19:21-24

Disclaimer: Jesus is not advocating poverty as a means to true spirituality. Jesus is not saying you cannot have material things.

 

Things, treasures, are never to be

Your treasure.

 

The problem isn’t with wealth; it’s one’s unwillingness to depart from it.

Scripture recognizes the right to material possessions including money, land, animals, houses, clothing and everything else that is honestly acquired. Paul penned these words “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” 1 Tim 6:17 See! The ultimate question before us this morning is this!

 

Which road will I take?

Which path will I choose?

 

Those questions will have eternal consequences. God or Satan, right or wrong, righteousness or unrighteousness, belief or unbelief, light or darkness, earthy treasures or heavenly treasures. Every choice you make has eternal implications and consequences.

 

A. What You Treasure Shows What You Value. (v19-v20)

 

Earthly treasures do not last, and they can be taken away. We know this is true by what Jesus says here. The key waring her is “yourself” When we acquire treasures simply for ourselves whether to hoard or spend selfishly on ourselves those possessions become idols. Jesus uses examples that the listeners would know all too well. He uses examples like “moths, rust, thieves” in Ancient times; wealth was frequently measured in part by clothing, compared to the mass production of garments today. Clothing in this time represented a considerable investment. As it would today with today’s latest designs, trends and fashions.

 

“Moths and rust” represent “all” agencies and processes that cause earthly treasures to be destroyed or lose value, and they no longer serve a purpose.

 

Example: bread becomes moldy and it is no longer worthy to eat, clothing will wear out in time, fields become weed-infested, walls and fences rot and lose their integrity. Roofs cave or begin to leak and destroy and eat away the things you hold as valuable.

 

Moths love to eat, so it didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, moths love to eat clothing. Rust loves to tarnish and destroy things and eat away at something until it consumes or destroys what it touches. Everything that brings havoc by termites, hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, earthquakes, plant disease, soil erosion destroy everything it touches.

 

So to help prevent this from happening! Ancient world people kept their valuables hidden under the dirt floors of their house. And we all know that won’t keep anything safe when you have little tiny vermin’s who can get into the smallest spaces and ruin your stuff. Or from the thief who desires to have what you own for themselves.

 

Have you ever had an important possession

stolen form you?

 

We live in a society that nothing is really safe, and anything we own can be lost or stolen from us. “Thieves” love to steal what is not theirs for personal possession or monetary gain in the market. Thieves loved to break through the clay walls of a person’s house to steal unguarded treasures.  Three ways that can make a rich man cry or a person grieve over the loss of their stuff, treasures. Jesus points out here that life is not about treasures here on this earth, but the treasures we are storing in heaven.

 

B. What You Treasure Shows What Is In Your Heart (v21)

 

Jesus wants us to re-evaluate our hearts in relation to what and where our treasure lies. (v21) “Where your treasure is, your heart will be also.” Jesus’ deepest concern is our deepest concern and commitment. If it’s your “above all else”…… to make lots of money, to have elaborate things, travel around the world, sail the Mediterranean Sea, ski the Alps, own and lead a company, build a reputation, achieve a promotion. If this is your “above all else”…… then you are in danger by being devoured by these things and the value of the Kingdom will be squeezed out.

 

A. Carson wrote about the dangers of this. “Notice that none of the goals mentioned is intrinsically bad; but none is of ultimate value, either. Therefore any of them can become evil if it is valued as ultimate treasure and thereby usurps the place of the kingdom. And how much uglier is the situation when the goals are positively evil! But the principle remains the same. We think about our treasures, we are drawn towards our treasures, we fret about our treasures, and we measure other things (and other people) by our treasures. This is so painfully true that a person who honestly examines himself can pretty well discover what his real treasures are, simply by studying his deepest desires.”

 

D. A. Carson went on to give an illustration I want to share with you this morning to help us understand what Jesus is asking here in His sermon. He said “In Canada, freshly fallen snow is usually dry and powdery, not wet and sticky. A large field of new snow is inviting as it glistens in the winter sun. No mark is on it, no footprint; yours is the privilege of tramping across it and establishing any pattern you like. If you look fixedly at your feet and try to cross the field in a straight line, you will make a most erratic pattern. If instead, you fix your eye on a tree or boulder on the other side and walk straight toward it, the path you leave will be quite remarkably straight.”

A Carson’s point is this “We tend to move towards the object on which we fix our gaze. In the same way, our whole lives drift relentlessly towards the spot where our treasures are stored, because our hearts will take us there.”

 

See to follow Jesus faithfully is a consistent, deeply rooted love. It’s conditioning, training our bodies, to an unwavering loyalty to the Kingdom and not this world. No wonders why Paul said “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col 3:1-3

 

What are the imperishable riches

of heaven?

 

It’s knowing… my sin has been dealt with on the cross of Christ alone.  It’s knowing… I’m loved and I have a heavenly Father who is over me and leads me.  It’s knowing… that the Word of God is everything and my necessary food for this life as I await the next. It’s knowing… that death cannot separate us from the Father, but only brings us into His presence and His glory. It’s knowing… that His gospel sets me apart for Him and my life is hidden in Christ Jesus. Remember what Paul said “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal 2:20

 

The freedom that we have from sins grip and the bondage it brings. The joys to worship unrestrained and without sham though the gospel. The ability to know we are standing in the presence of God, through His Son and Spirit that resides in the believer. To top it off, knowing that this level of Christianity that we do here will only be perfected in Heaven. This is our greatest treasure…this is what we are to waiting for. This world is passing away and everything in it…moths will eat and destroy, rust will bring decay and rot, thieves will continue to take.

 

But! Nothing can destroy or steal what

we have in Christ Jesus.

 

As Peter wrote to remind the suffering saints of what is to come “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:13-25

 

C. This portion of Jesus’ sermon continues to address the heart that there is nothing more important than a relationship with the Father. 

And this passage graciously holds the mirror up so that we can see where our heart truly is in relation to that. It can either… humble you, bring joy into your heart, or it could possibly scare you to death. If that is the case I hope it does…..so that you seek Him while He may be found.

God loves us with an eternal love, and we are to be setting our hearts toward heaven, as we await His return or our call home. If our lives are earthbound and consumed by what this world offers then we are in the danger zone and we need to seek Him. We are never to make things our treasure or storing things up, as if they had ultimate importance. When we leave this earth you only take what you came with from the beginning.

and that is “Nothing”

 

Everything we have right now is of “time limited value” Our most cherished value and treasure is to be the Kingdom that is yet to come. Heavenly treasures are moth-proof, rust-proof and burglary-proof. In other words they endure forever in all their beauty and they are irremovable possessions of the child of God in heaven. As the Psalmist writes and reminds us “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.” Psalm 138:8. If we store up treasures for ourselves on earth, then we will not be rich toward God or in heaven.

 

The condition of our heart and what we value will truly

reveal where our treasure is.

 

Where is your treasure in line with these two parables found in Matt 13:44-46? “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” What is that treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great value? The Lord Jeus Christ. He is to be our "Above all" treasure as we stroe this truth as we await heaven.