to bless us together this evening
as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the Gospel of Matthew,
chapter six, and we'll read verses 19, 20, and 21. Gospel of Matthew,
chapter six, and reading verses 19, 20, and 21. lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. The clear truth which we read
in the Word of God is that real religion affects the heart. It doesn't just affect our minds,
but it touches our heart. And therefore what a wonderful
blessing it is if you and I can look into our hearts and discern
there the great and glorious work of Almighty God. That's something which you and
I can't produce. It's something which God does.
And how wonderful it is if you and I can find there in our heart
that which we could not do for ourselves, that which God has
done and God continues to work and to show us the right way
and to turn away from that which is false and that which is wrong. And of course as we journey on
through life we must recognise that continually we are assaulted
by that evil one, the devil, who never wants us to get to
heaven, realise that, he will continue right until our dying
breath to try and prevent us getting to heaven. So we should
recognise this and therefore be aware of it, that that may
influence what we think, what we do and what we say. Now it's wonderful to realise
that God in his love, which it is, to the Church of God has
given us such a tremendous statement as we read in this Gospel of
Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 which again as I mentioned this morning
we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount and there's so much
instruction and so much teaching and how many things the Lord
in it tells us we should not do and how many things he tells
us we should do and you know we'd be a lot better wouldn't
we if we were to be found following such gracious words of instruction
closer yes we often forget God's gracious word And yet they're
there for our good. They're not there just for some
unknown reason. They're there to instruct us. They're there to guide us. And
what a wonderful favour and what a wonderful blessing it is therefore
to have these things. If we go back perhaps to the
beginning of this fifth chapter when we're told there was the
multitude and the Lord went into a mountain and when he was set
his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught
them saying and these first few verses in the fifth chapter in
many ways the Lord speaks things that perhaps we might consider
to be the wrong way around. But blessed be God, he's put
them in the right way around to encourage the living church
of God. And we won't go through them
all, but just the first one, which we have here. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And naturally,
we might think, surely that's wrong to say that those people
are blessed who are poor in spirit. But the reality is that the true
Church of God, the Church of God who are directed by the Holy
Spirit, has shown that they are poor in spirit. And perhaps they
feel very poor sometimes, and therefore very glad that such
a statement is written, blessing are the poor in spirit. And the
answer to that is for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now that should always be our
objective, to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. The devil wants us
to be earthbound. He wants us to set our hearts
and our affections upon the things of this earth, not on things
above. So what a wonderful blessing.
if the Lord has given us a desire after the things of heaven. Now it's good to just try and
examine ourselves to see whether that is true in our lives. Whether
we do have a desire after the things of heaven or are we content
and are we satisfied with the things of this earth. Well these verses we read tonight
give us a very clear direction. And remember, these are not the
words of a man, they're the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, are
the direct words which are recorded for our benefit and to help us
in our lives. And therefore, the Lord tells
us so clearly. And so often the word of God
is very clear, and yet we seem to ignore it sometimes, as though
it didn't exist. Well this is a statement that
God has given us. Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal. And probably we're all guilty
of that. Probably we're all guilty of
that. We all have things in this world of which we value, Perhaps
many of the things are good and not bad, but we have to recognise
that here is the clear direction of God's Word. We're not to lay
them up, God's given us things, but we're not to keep on laying
up things, treasures upon earth, because what we know, the description
is that moth and rust doth corrupt and thieves break through and
steal. And I expect most of us have
proved that, that we do have that, where moth and rust corrupts
and where thieves break through and steal. The word of wisdom
from Almighty God is to not lay out for ourselves those things. And you know, we can read it,
but it's not easy, is it? Because we're of the earth, and
we're earthbound, and we like lots of earthly things. But it's
good when the Lord sets our hearts and our affections upon things
above. not on things on the earth But
as so often is the case The Word of God doesn't leave us in a
vacuum It doesn't give us a negative statement and then just leave
us there because that is followed on this occasion by a wonderfully
positive statement and this is what it says but lay out for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal. Okay, and it's a little bit difficult
for us to visualize an environment like that, a perfect environment
where there's no rusting of anything, it doesn't wear out, it's there
in perfect condition, and it remains in perfect condition. And we live in an amazing situation. The Word of God tells us, I have
not seen nor ear heard the things that God has prepared for those
that love him. So again the qualification is
if we are amongst those who truly love God, well we know the word
of God tells us so very clearly it's a Not that we love God,
but that he loved us to start. God started the process. His
love to us first, and that then draws us in love to him because
of his love. And again, it's good to just
ponder that thought, isn't it? To think that why should God
love you and why should God love me? Well, if you and I look into
our heart, what do we see there? Nothing really lovable, do we?
Nothing worthy of any love. But it's because Almighty God,
before the world was created, ordained a people that would
be taught by His Spirit, whom He would love, with everlasting
love. and they in return would love
him. So what a wonderful consideration
this evening, to ponder and think, well now, has God loved me? Has God loved me? And if so,
do I love God? Now, these things are not produced
by the devil, they're produced by the work of the Holy Spirit
who reveals these things to us and shows us through his wonderful
grace and favour that he's loved us with an everlasting love. Again, to think of that is a
tremendous consideration. Not something that comes and
goes. God's love is unchanging and
God's love is everlasting. God won't love us and then drop
off that love. No, his love is forever. What a great and wonderful realisation
and consolation that is. to think that we as poor unworthy
sinners have such a great, kind, merciful God, who looks upon
us, has watched over us from the moment we were born, and
hasn't left us. We might think sometimes He has,
but the Word of God tells us, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. Therefore we may boldly say,
The Lord is my keeper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. That's a strength, isn't it?
To think that God, almighty God, has loved us and is looking after
us and guiding us and directing us. Sometimes we might think
we're wandering on aimlessly. Well, God knows exactly the path
that you and I are to take in this life. And it's good therefore
that we may come and pray to God earnestly that our life may
indeed be for his honour and glory. What does that mean? That
means that we're not to please ourselves, that means that we're
to commit ourselves unto our God and pray that our lives may
demonstrate His wonderful love toward us, to such unworthy sinners. And to think how great and glorious
that love is. And what does that direct us
to? Direct us to this great truth. Laying up for ourselves treasures
in heaven. That means the knowledge of Christ. My friends, the knowledge of
Christ is more precious than gold, more precious than gold. And perhaps sometimes our young
people need to understand really the reality of these things. And the reality is quite simply
this. You and I might scratch around
for things on this earth, things that we want, things that we
desire, things that we think perhaps we need, but the truth
is that all these things you and
I will have to leave behind. It's a time when we as individuals
will leave this earth and we will leave everything behind.
We cannot take anything with us, nothing at all. Naked came we into the world,
and naked we should leave it. Nothing, you see. So, with that
on one side, to realise then we may scrabble around and spend
a lot of our energy in trying to better ourselves. There's nothing wrong with hard
work and desiring it, but it's a question of having a right
priority. It's a question of not wasting
our time on things which will never do us any good and things
which will only detract us from the things of God. A very simple
analysis would be to see whether such things that we desire will
bring us nearer to God or take us farther away. It's not very
hard, is it? To consider that. But it's a
good test. And to realize that the things
which take us farther away are perishing anyway. And they will
never do us any eternal good. And at the most, we will have
them for a very, very short time. Even if we live to 100 years
old, it's a very, very short time in comparison with eternity. And so how good it is if you
and I are given that grace to lay out for ourselves treasures
in heaven. In heaven. You know, those treasures
really center around the personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
his great work of salvation, his wonderful work that he has
done. And to think that there he is
in glory today and those words that he spoke to his disciples
in the upper room, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am there, ye may be also. That's an amazing promise, isn't
it? And that's a wonderful prospect. And that should really clear
our minds with regard to these great truths and recognise that
the things in heaven are so far, far superior to anything that
you and I can want or desire on this earth. Well, to have
those desires really is by the grace of God, the free unmerited
favor of God and how we should be able to come and to praise
God if he's given us a desire after heavenly realities, after
the things of God. That's a good question, isn't
it, to answer. I wonder how you would answer
that question tonight. What are you striving for? Heavenly
blessings or earthly blessings? Well, how good it is if you and
I before God can realise that He's given us that desire to
seek after heavenly things and to know therefore how true these
words are that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. That's a clear word, isn't it?
Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. That's
God's word, it's not my word. It's God's word. So you have
to analyse truly before God where our treasure is. And therefore
is our heart in the right place? Or is our heart in the wrong
place? Well we should be thankful to
know that we have a kind and gracious God who's given us therefore
such words of clear direction to help us in our journey through
life. Left to ourselves, we'd spend
all our time on the things of earth. What a blessing it is
when by God's grace, he draws us to eternal realities. That means he draws us to himself. Perhaps very simply put, it's
like this, give me Christ or else I die. Well, is that our
desire? To know more of Christ? I wonder
if it is. You know, the Apostle Paul, who
was a man greatly blessed, and yet he tells us he had given
up everything. He didn't have anything. And
what things were gained for me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yes, I counted loss for Christ. And he says, yea, doubtless.
And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things. and do count them but done, that
I may win Christ." That's a wonderfully clear statement, isn't it? And
that's the testimony of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul naturally
was a gifted man, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, taught
the Scriptures, and had great knowledge of them. But there
came in his life an amazing change. And he tells us several times
in the Bible it's recorded when he was going to Damascus on the
Damascus road and God appeared to him in a great light. Oh my friends, what a change
there was. What a change there was. And you know, his reaction
to God speaking to him was very wonderful. And it's good in your
life and my life If we have a reaction like that, and the reaction was
very simply this, what wilt thou have me to do? He'd been doing
his own thing. He thought he was right. But
when God came, he cut him down. He fell to the ground. And the Lord told him, I am Jesus,
whom thou have persecuted. And the result was, he then asked
that question, what will thou have me to do? Submission to
God. I wonder whether we have that
desire in our life. If the Lord has touched our heart
and shown us perhaps, as clearly he showed the apostle, the emptiness
of the things of time. The Lord gives us things to enjoy
and we shouldn't despise them and turn away from them but they
mustn't be our God. That's the real secret isn't
it? We have a God in heaven who we should bow down and worship
and not bow down and worship the poor things of time. Therefore
we see here these words are of the Saviour. They're very clear,
aren't they? And how relevant they are to
each one of us. Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves
break through and steal. We need words really of clearness
and direction to guide us So that we don't have to think,
well, what does it mean? We know what it means, don't
we? And so he says, but allow for yourselves treasures in heaven. And again, the vast difference,
as I was saying, is that the things of time last for but a
short time. Our life is but a short time,
but those things in glory are eternal. They go on forever and
ever and ever. And really there is absolutely
no comparison. You can't compare the eternal
blessings with the things of time. Because the difference
between the two is so huge, your mind and my mind cannot really
understand it. And yet the Lord has given us
these clear directions. We don't want to come, do we?
to the end of our little life on this earth and realize we
wasted our life, we spent our life laying up for ourselves
treasures upon earth. You know, we have examples, don't
we? In the Word of God, we have that parable where there was
that man that was prospered greatly and he built some more barns,
bigger barns to receive all his crops. And what did God say to
him? Thou fool, this night thy soul
will be required of thee. Then what would these things
mean? How important in the view and
the eye of eternity to realize that we might be wonderfully
prospered, but they must not be our God. No, and it's good
to realise the things of time that you and I should always
hold with what the word describes, a light hand. That means we're
not clinging to it. It's not a bill or handle. It's
something that we're made willing to release and to give up. as we see the comparison with
eternal realities. And again, I'm sure we're not
in heaven yet, none of us have been there, but the Word of God
does give us little views here and there of the wonder of that
place, the glory of it, and there will be no need, we won't need
anything other than that which is freely provided, and we shall
enjoy these things forever and ever. And we shall be able to
thank and praise God for His love, for His grace, for His
mercy. And we won't have a sinful heart
to detract from that praise. It'll be pure and holy and righteous. Well, it's a great blessing if
God gives us these things. You know, there was a word in
the Proverbs There's many good words in the Proverbs. You young
people might read the Proverbs and pick up many of the good
words. And there's a word in the Proverbs which tells us this,
my son or daughter, give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe
my ways, God's ways. Yes, to give our heart. Now,
naturally speaking, you and I can't do that. because we're on the
earth and we cling to the things of time but it's good if we have
a desire that the Lord will take hold of us and control our desires
and control our mind so that we do those things which are
right and are God-honouring. You know, so often I mention
and I do tell you that your life and my life, if we are the children
of God, on this earth is for one purpose. And I hope you can
tell me what that is. That's for the glory of God. It's not for your glory, it's
not for my glory. Our lives are for the glory of
God. And again, it's good to try and
sometimes analyze ourselves to see whether we're living our
life for the glory of God, or whether we're living our life
for our glory. Well, if we see the amazing love
and the amazing mercy of God toward us, that should direct
us very clearly to realise that we're bought with a price. And that price is that which
has been paid by the Lord Jesus Christ. And he paid that price
upon the cross at Calvary to redeem our souls, to pay the
price, to free us from that curse, that curse which said the soul
that sinneth it shall die. And therefore to recognise that
the Lord in his love, and it can be no other reason, in his
love toward us came down into this sinful world to pay the
price for our salvation, to pay the price that you and I might
be revealed. And it's good again to sometimes
ponder The life of the Lord Jesus Christ, what he faced and what
he endured, how he humbled himself and came obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Go back to his birth, what a
humble birth it was. None of our children, our babies
are born, are they? Into such humble situations where
there was nowhere to place them. Nowhere to place them. And yet
the Lord, you see, was happy to be born into that stable and
to live that life hidden away. Remember, he was the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. He lived that humble life, doing
his father's will and also his natural father's will as he was
on this earth, setting a great and glorious example yes what
a saviour we have he lived for those 33 years 30 years rather
hidden away until the time had come that he would be revealed
as indeed the son of god what a wonderful and glorious time
that was and the lord jesus christ obeying his father's will was
baptized in the jordan by John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit
descended upon him like a dove with these words this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased and then for the next three years
he endured such a hard life nowhere to lay his head do you think
of that sometimes as you get in bed at night and lay down in bed and think how comfortable
it is and think that Lord Jesus Christ had nowhere to lay his
head. You might say, well, what did
he do when he spent his time praying to his father? See what a wonderful example
we have. And so here we have this great
statement, lay up yourselves treasures in heaven That means
to consider Him. Consider Him. We're told at home,
we're in the Hebrews in the 12th chapter. Consider Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a good occupation. It puts
things in a right perspective. Sometimes we might complain. Sometimes we might think we're
hard done by. Sometimes we think things aren't
going very smoothly for us. Well, remember what the Saviour
endured. He suffered for those three years. So much people speaking against
Him and yet so willingly, so willingly, yes, He lived those
three years doing the will of His Father. Well, my friends,
you and I are on the earth now. And the command of God to us
is to do again His will and the will of His Father. And that
will is set before us very kindly and very graciously in this verse. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. and where
thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also. How true that is, and how we
need to know the blessed and wonderful work of the Holy Spirit
coming to us and directing us. You know, the life of Moses is
a good example for us Moses was brought up in the palace of Pharaoh,
in all the natural comforts you could expect. And yet you see
that time came in his life, and we're told in the account in
the Hebrews about it. We're told this with regards
to Moses, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches, than the treasures in Egypt,
for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. That means he
was looking ahead to the great and eternal gift of eternal life
in glory. Esteeming reproach of Christ. He could have had a very easy
life, but no, he did almighty God's will. You think of those
40 years in the wilderness, well prior to that of course, He was
40 years in Pharaoh's palace and he was 40 years in the back
side of the desert and just ponder that because he'd done those
40 years and then he thought he was ready to lead Israel out
of Egypt but God's plan was he had another 40 years to live
in the wilderness before he was ready. We have a lot to be taught,
don't we, in our lives. We might think we're ready for
something. God may have a different view
of us. He might see and look into our heart. and see how there
are many things there that need to be removed so that we're made
ready in a day of His power to serve Him. And then when He was
ready, He thought He wasn't. He thought He wasn't able to.
But the time had come when he was thrust forward. And well,
we can follow the pattern, can't we? Those then 40 years in the
wilderness, leading the children of Israel. See, God instructs
us. God teaches us. We are to therefore
lay out for ourselves not things on the earth, but to be willing
to forsake them and to concentrate on the great eternal issues for
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The heart, our innermost being,
we're told is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. That's not a very nice consideration,
is it? But that's what the Bible speaks
and tells us about our heart. Deceit filled above all things
and desperately weak. What does it mean? It means you
and I can't really trust our own heart. No, we need God to
direct us and God to show us those things which are right
and those things which are true. and give us that real desire
to walk in a godly way and set a godly example. We read in a
prophecy of Isaiah, ye are my witnesses. You and me, if we're
a child of God, we are God's witnesses. We're a testifier. that these words are true in
our life, that you and I are laying out for ourselves treasures
in heaven and realizing that our treasure is indeed in heaven
and not in the earth. To set, therefore, an example
and give a testimony that we're willing to give up the valenties
of this world to serve our kind and gracious God. We have a loving
God, don't we? When you think what he did to
redeem our souls, when you think the price that he was willing
to pay to suffer Those three years, especially no doubt the
other 30 years, but more so perhaps in the last three years, and
then to have to give his life in the most cruel way. You know,
crucifixion is the most painful death. Christ didn't choose an
easy way out. That's why he was born in a manger
and born in that very poor situation. and lived really in the outback
and then had nowhere to lay his head. He didn't have an easy
life. No one can say, well, of course,
Christ had it easy. He never did. The very opposite. And why did he live that life?
He lived that life because it was the will of his father. That was the ordained way. The
Father had agreed that he should live and that he should die in
order to pay that enormous price to satisfy the demands of a holy
law to remove all the condemnation that is upon all the Church of
God. What a load that was. How willing
was Jesus to die that we fellow sinners might live. Oh, it's
a great gospel, isn't it? It's an amazing truth to think
that we have such a God who was so kind and so gracious, and
to think that he gives us then this wonderful direction in the
Bible for our lives today. We shouldn't turn away from it
and think, well, I don't fancy reading that bit. That's a little
bit difficult. May God give us all grace to
follow the wonderful words that we have in the Word of God, and
to think that God has given us His Word for that very clear
reason, to follow His Word, to follow His example, and in so
doing to bring honour and glory unto His name. You see, we don't
need honour and glory, ourselves on this earth, because we can
look forward to a time of glory, a time in heaven, a time of absolute
bliss, beyond our comprehension. We cannot understand it, we cannot
appreciate it, but we know it will be a time great and wonderful
blessing which will be eternal. So may we understand these great
truths and may it be true in our lives where your treasure
is there will your heart be also. It's good to examine where our
heart is and if it's set on the things on the earth or if it's
set on things above. And remember, our life on earth
is very short. Eternity is forever. No comparison. And may we pray
for and be given grace to follow the wonderful testimony of God's
word, which is given to us, that his name, therefore, may be lifted
up and honoured and glorified. Amen. Our last hymn tonight is 1122,
1122 on the Lord's Table. Welcome to the Lord's Table. The tune
is 218. This is the Feast of Heavenly Wine and God invites