Investing in the Kingdom - Matthew 6:19-21
INTRODUCTION:
One of the places that we went to see when we lived in Russia was the armory. The armory is like a museum of many of the treasures of Russia. Many of the items on display there are from the time when the Tsars ruled the Russian Empire. Richly ornamented Bible covers, Fabergé Eggs, Robes covered in jewels of the priests of the Russian Orthodox church, the richly ornamented clothes and dresses of the Tsars and Tsarinas. All of this and much more considered to be the treasures of Russia.
We are going to be talking about treasure this morning, a subject that many of us do not want to hear spoken about in church, but unfortunately for those who do not want to hear about it the Bible has quite a bit to say on it. This morning we are going to compare earthly treasure with heavenly treasure and in the end we will talk about our hearts. It would do well to define what a treasure is before we begin. Webster’s dictionary defines treasure as: 1a (1) : wealth (as money, jewels, or precious metals) stored up or hoarded (2) : wealth of any kind or in any form : riches b : a store of money in reserve 2 : something of great worth or value; also : a person esteemed as rare or precious 3 : a collection of precious things. Treasure as we see from the dictionary does not have to be wealth, it is something that is of great worth or value to the person who has it. We probably all have things in our homes that we would call our treasures that may not be worth much monetarily, but for us who hold them, they are priceless treasures. Let’s pray and then read our Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:19-21 our Scripture for this morning. These words that we are about to read are the words of Jesus that he spoke during His earthly ministry. This is a portion of Scripture from what is called the Sermon on the Mount. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Matthew 6:19-21,
“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 neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21, NASB95)[1]
EARTHLY TREASURES (Matthew 6:19)
Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…” What does Jesus mean? First and foremost, let me say that Jesus is not saying that we should not have a savings account, He is not saying that we should not have an emergency fund, He is not saying that we should not put money aside for our retirement years. You say how do you know that? I know this first of all because of the next two verses, but I also know because I have broken down this verse and I am going to do that for you too.
First, I want to look at this phrase “store up” which we get our English word treasure from, the word means to treasure up, to heap treasure together, to accumulate riches for that purpose alone. This is why some go to work each day so that they can add to what they already have, this is where their heart is, it is in gaining material wealth. Second, I want to look at the word “treasures,” this word is the word used for the place where you keep all the wealth you are piling up, a casket, or coffer, a treasury, or a store house. A place to hoard what is yours. Jesus says that this type of wealth is not secure, it will not last and He gives three examples of what could happen to it. He speaks of moths. For the Jews in Jesus’ day a sure sign of wealth was to have a lot of clothes. Jesus says that this piling up of clothes will not last, because they are susceptible to clothing moths whose larva will eat holes in your hoarded clothes and then they are worthless. Next, He says rust, a word that means any kind of corruption, it could be anything that causes your riches to fall into decay. It could mean mold, or corrosion, or some other type of decay, it can even mean to wear out from use, then it is no longer of any value. Finally, Jesus speaks of thieves that break into our houses or our treasuries or our store houses and steal what we have, and just that fast it is all gone.
Jesus is not telling us to live our lives without preparing for emergencies, or saving for things, or preparing for the future when we retire. Jesus is telling us not to spend all of our time on gathering wealth and storing it away, because it can disappear in an instant, it is not lasting. The point that Jesus wants to make is that we should be investing in eternity, investing in the Kingdom that has everlasting rewards.
HEAVENLY TREASURES (Matthew 6:20)
Jesus talks about this in the very next verse. He uses the same exact phraseology in verse 20, heap up or treasurer up treasures in the treasury, the store house of heaven. This is the safest place for our investments. Jesus says that there are no moths, no corruption, and no thieves. When we store up treasure in heaven it is secure, and it will forever keep its value.
How do we store up treasure in heaven, what does that look like, what does that mean? Today is Village Missions Sunday and the theme this year is “Kingdom Investments” which simply means that when we invest in God’s Kingdom, that stores up for us treasure in heaven. We invest in God’s Kingdom when we invest in people, this is the heartbeat of Village Missions, the mission and purpose of Village Missions is summed up in this statement: “Village Missions exists to glorify Jesus Christ by developing spiritually vital churches in rural North America. This is done by equipping and enabling rural pastors to serve in missions in rural communities.” Because you are part of this church that has partnered with Village Missions you are part of this mission and purpose. We invest in heavenly treasure when we invest in God’s will for our life, when we invest in developing a spiritually vital church. What are some practical ways in which we can store up treasures in heaven? When we share our faith, and tell others about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us through His death, burial, and resurrection, and share with them that Jesus Christ loves them and desires to enter into a relationship with them if they will agree with God that they are a sinner and that they need a Savior and believe that Jesus died for their sins and was buried and rose again. This is storing up treasures in heaven. When we bring these new believers into the church and help them grow and equip them to serve the Lord. This is storing up treasure in heaven. When we support a missionary financially so that they can go and share the gospel we are storing up treasure in heaven. This morning you have an opportunity to give a gift towards Village Missions, this is storing up treasure in heaven because you are investing in the kingdom. In this brochure, you have an opportunity to continue to store up treasure by investing in Village Missions monthly, annually, or quarterly. You can choose to let your gifts be used for the General fund, for Contenders Discipleship Initiative, or for the Internship program. Each of these funds are used to reach others for Christ or to train and equip men and women to reach others for Christ. At the end of this message I want to show you a short video about Contenders Discipleship Initiative that we will be starting here in the New Year. A way for you to be further equipped to share the gospel and use your gifts in the church, thus investing in the Kingdom and storing up treasure in heaven.
WHERE IS YOUR HEART (Matthew 6:21)
Jesus sums up this passage in verse 21, He says, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus is saying that your heart will either be here on earth and worried about your material wealth and making more and keeping it safe, this will be your pursuit in life, or your heart will be in heaven because that is where you are storing up treasure for eternity. Your pursuit in life is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve Him by being obedient to His Word. Just as we learned in Sunday School this morning about Abraham and his faith in God and the promises of a heavenly city, because his heart was set on dwelling in that heavenly city he was obedient to God’s call in His life.
Just a few chapters over in Matthew in chapter 19 Jesus has an encounter with a rich young ruler, and this young man wants to know what he needs to do to obtain eternal life. Jesus told him that if he wanted to enter into life then he must keep the commandments. Jesus was trying to bring this man to a point where he would understand that he was a sinner, but he thought that he had kept the ten commandments at least outwardly. Jesus knowing that he was relying on his wealth and hoping that he could use it somehow to get into heaven, Jesus says to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21, NASB95)[2] Jesus knew where this man’s heart was, because we read that he went away sad, because he owned much property. His heart was where his treasure was, here on the earth.
CONCLUSION:
Where is your treasure? Where is your heart? Maybe you do not have a lot of material wealth here on earth, but if your pursuit is to make more and hoard it and pile it up then your heart is on this earth, but if your pursuit is to glorify God and serve Him in whatever way that you can, serving as a witness, serving in the church using your gifts to build up the body, using the wealth that you have to reach out into your community, your country, and the world. There are many opportunities to do this, this morning we are high-lighting Villages Missions and the offering we are about to take will benefit the General Fund. But as I said there is opportunity to support Village Missions in an on-going manner and to choose where those funds go. You can go on the Village Missions website and chose to support a Village Missionary one-time, or monthly, or quarterly, or annually. There are other missionaries with other organizations that you can support and become a part of their team helping to supply their needs so they can serve as missionaries full-time. A good example is Sean and Kait Saffold, you can go to the Pioneers website and chose to support them. These are few ways monetarily in which you can store up treasure in heaven. As we close this morning I want to show you one more video and as you watch this consider the opportunity that this offers to you to become better equipped to do what God has called you to do, what God has called you to be. Let’s pray and then watch the video.
--PRAY--
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. LaHabra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995