I hope you took the time to read
the text this evening. for this evening. It's found
in Matthew, chapter 6, as we continue to study our Lord's
Sermon on the Mount. Matthew, chapter 6. Let's read
that together right now. Three verses, beginning with
verse 19. 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." Before writing any words down
on paper in the form of notes for this message, I looked at
this text a long time. This is a very, very convicting
text. It should be for all of us. I looked at it for a long time
and I sat back and pondered and began to think about my own life
and lifestyle and to try to examine myself
to see whether or not I have been guilty, and I am guilty,
of laying up for myself treasures on earth, or whether or not I
am laying up treasures in heaven." Now, the tendency would be for
us to try to explain this away so as to justify our own covetousness,
wouldn't it? Because as I've said, most of
us in here live like kings. We live very well. We have a
fairly large store of earthly goods. But I don't want to explain
this way. I want to face it straightforward.
I want the Word of God to speak to us, to me, and deal with me,
and hopefully change me. if that's what needs to happen,
and it does. All right, four basic points
in this message. I generally don't preach in the
form of an outline, but tonight I will, for ease of remembrance.
Four basic points from this message. First of all, we're going to
consider what earthly treasures are and their ends. And then we will consider what
heavenly treasures are and their end. And then we will ask the
question, what is it to lay these things up? And then lastly, we'll
consider the treasure in our hearts. Earthly treasure. What is it? What is earthly treasure and
to what end does it lead? Earthly treasure. I looked up
the word treasure. And what it means, not only in
Greek, but also in our English dictionary, treasure means accumulated
wealth or something very much valued. You know, that's a treasure
to me, we say. I really treasure that thing,
something we highly value or prize. Now there are different sorts
of treasure for different people, aren't there? Different sorts
of treasure. One thing may appeal to me that
does not appeal to you, and vice versa. Different sorts of treasure
for different people. Houses, lands, possessions is
a very common treasure that generally appeals to most people. savings stocks bonds I know a
man. I know me and people who women
also who have a great store of money in a savings account or
whatever and who live very meagerly on meager means. Now their treasure
is not in a house or in possessions but it's in that security of
having money. A job we may treasure or very
much value or prize a job, a career. There are people who devote their
lives to a career. They highly treasure and value
that job that they have, the prestige that goes with it, the
power, the influence. Then we're getting down to it,
family. We can highly value and treasure
our family, our children, our parents, our husbands, our wives.
Now, there's no doubt that our Lord is speaking mostly of corruptible
things here because that's what he speaks out there in the moth
and rust and corruption and thievery. But to some people, as I said
just now, some people these things mean nothing, while other things, like people, like family and
so forth, are their own peculiar treasures. Okay? So there are
different forms of treasure. So when we speak of treasure,
don't just be thinking about material wealth. It can be anything
you highly value or prize or hoard or keep to yourself or
accumulate All right, what is the end of these things? What
is the end of these things? Look at it in verse 19. Our Lord
says, Don't lay these things up, because moth and rust will
corrupt, and thieves may break through and steal. Our Lord says
not to lay them up, or pile them up, or save them up, or hoard
and accumulate many possessions. or treasures that we're not prepared
to either use for his glory or lose at a moment's notice. Don't
hoard or keep or lay up or pile up or save up anything that you're
not prepared to either use or lose or both. Because, he said,
moths corrupt. Malls will corrupt the finest
clothing. Many people put great stock in
clothing, enjoy clothing. And the finest suit, the finest
Italian silk suit will, a little tiny insect will destroy it entirely,
completely. Let me remind you of what Matthew
Henry said about clothing. You know, we wouldn't be clothed
right now if we hadn't sinned. Clothing is only the result of
sin, isn't it? It's to cover our nakedness,
our sin. It's a reminder that we've sinned against God. We've
rebelled against God. We would not have known nakedness,
no shame, except we'd sinned against God. And so clothing
is just a covering for our sin. How could we possibly be proud
of it? How can we possibly strut around
and be proud of this covering for sin? Indirectly, that's being
proud of our sin, isn't it? Well, malls will corrupt the
finest of clothing. Remember that. Or baked beans. He says rust will corrupt. Rust, the finest of automobiles. Rust will corrupt them. Rust
will break them down. Thieves will break into and steal
it all. If moths don't get to it, and
if the rust doesn't corrupt it first, somebody may steal it
all anyway. It's all temporal, and it all
must pass away. eating of meats, but he's talking
also about everything that men and women consider touch-not,
taste-not, handle-not. There's nothing unclean or inherently
evil in and of itself. There's nothing evil about riches,
money. Now, it's called filthy lucre
because it's talking about how many people get their greedy
hands on it. literally filthy money is, how many hands it passes
through. But there's nothing inherently
evil about money, is there? Nothing. Or these things, or
a nice automobile, or a nice house, or these things. What's
evil is the inordinate or excessive use of these things, and love
for them. You remember when our Lord dealt
with that rich young man? And he later said, How hardly
should they that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven?
And the disciples threw up their hands and said, Lord, who then
can be saved? Who then can be saved? There's
so many rich people out there. And don't we live in an affluent
society? The United States of America, my, my. It's the wealthiest
land on earth. And middle class people live
like kings and queens compared to even rich people in foreign
Most of us in here. But our Lord said later on, he
clarified that he said, how hardly shall they that trust in riches
enter the kingdom of heaven because he knows our frame. He knows
the dangers of riches. Therefore, he said that he said,
how hardly shall they have riches, because where your treasure is,
that's where your heart is. He knows he knows what's in man.
a hunger and a desire, a covetousness for accumulation of things. So he says, how hardly shall
they have them, because they will have their money. Have you
ever run into a great store of money, an inheritance, or you've
sold something, you've had a big pile of loot? Have you? How much did you think
about what you were going to do with it? Did it consume of
your thoughts? You're waking. I've told you
this story before, I knew a man who who was just an old common
Joe. Just an old common Joe, everyday
working man, and he owns some property. And back when the coal
boom went through the eastern United States, Kentucky, Virginia,
West Virginia. Back when coal really hit its
highest peak, he found coal on his property. And they started
digging and mining that coal and he became a millionaire overnight. I mean, he was just an old common
Southeastern Kentuckian. Talks like I do. And, well, buddy,
he told a friend of mine, he said he came into work one day,
this man worked for him. And he came in and he told the
man, honestly, he said, you know, I haven't slept for three nights. I have not slept for three nights
thinking about how to spend that money. I haven't slept for three nights.
And we've done it in a small way, though, haven't we? Have
you ever run into a pocket full of money? You're lying if you
say you haven't. Don't tell me that. Don't tell
me that. I know older women who have a
great store of wealth and are afraid to spend a dime of it.
I mean, scared to death, spend a dime of that. What if something
happens? I may need that much. Something's
going to happen all right. You're going to die. You're going to
die. And then whose things will these
be? So it's not so much spending them and Trying to spend them
and think about what you're going to buy with them is hoarding
it, keeping it, laying it up. You know, a man can be greedy
who lives very meagerly and meekly and on a shoestring, but yet
who has a great savings account. I used to know a man like this
who lived in a very modest house. He was a good, quote, Christian
man and lived in a very modest home. His wife never bought a
new dress. He himself wore the same old
clothes all the time. You wouldn't know it. You wouldn't
think he had a dollar to his name. But that man could have
sat down and wrote you a $50,000 check without blinking an eye. Now, what's greed and what isn't?
Whatever it may be, we know. We know. All right. The Lord,
and we're going to talk more in a moment about this, but riches
are not evil if used for God's glory. if used for God's glory
and used liberally on others. However, like I said, the Lord
knows our frame, and he knows that most of us cannot handle
it and will not use them for that end. All right? Number two,
heavenly treasure. What is it? Look at verse 20.
The Lord says, Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. Turn with me to Proverbs 13. Proverbs 13. Keep your place
in our text in Matthew 6. What is this heavenly treasure,
and what is the end of that treasure? Look at Proverbs 13. We're going
to read several proverbs concerning treasure. Proverbs 13. And you
catch the irony here? When I was talking about how
there's a man who lives very poorly yet has a great story. Here's a man who may appear to
have an appearance of riches be at his meek and poor before
God rich and faithful. Who wrote this? Huh? Who wrote the Proverbs? Isn't
that ironic? The richest man on the face of
the earth. So you know God's thoughts are
not our thoughts, and his way is not our way, but there is
a basic principle that applies, and he knows our hearts, and
I think we do, too. He knows each of our frame. He
knows how to deal with each of us accordingly. He knows what
to give, what to withhold. All right, Proverbs 13, verse
7. Look at this. Verse 7. There is that maketh
himself rich, yet he has nothing. And there is he that, or she,
that maketh himself poor. yet have great riches. Let me
give you an illustration of that. Here is a man with untold wealth,
untold wealth and possessions, yet he does not know God, nor
care about God. And he will die, he dies, and
he burns in hell for an eternity. What did he have, actually? What
did he possess? He had nothing. He had sand. You ever tried to hold sand?
We were just down in Florida, and you try to grab it. We were
about in the ocean. I was trying to throw sand on
Hannah. You ever do that? You reach down under the water
and grab that wet sand, and by the time you get ready to throw
it, it's gone. It's all slipped through your fingers. That's what we have when we gather
these things. We need to remember that. Well,
here's a man who has not of this world's goods, or very little
of it anyway, yet he's rich in faith toward God, he dies. And
he goes to be with the Lord and possess that inheritance with
the Lord himself, who's owner of all things. Unspeakable riches. Now who has what? That man has
everything. Everything. He has Christ. Look at Proverbs 15. I'm leading
up to something here. Proverbs 15, verse 6. In the house of the righteous
is much treasure, much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked
is trouble. Look at Proverbs 21. What is
this treasure? What is this heavenly treasure?
I said it, if you heard it. I gave it away. Proverbs 21,
look at verse 20. There is treasure. There is treasure
to be desired. And there is oil in the dwelling
of the wise. But a foolish man spendeth it
up. Verse 21. Well, here is that
treasure. He that followeth after righteousness. Righteousness, or the righteousness
of Christ, and mercy, mercy from God, everlasting mercy that endures
forever. He findeth life, righteousness,
and honor, or great treasure, great treasure. In 2 Corinthians
4, you don't have to turn. You can turn back to the text,
though. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18.
Paul writes this. He says, the things which are
seen are temporal. That is, they're subject to moth,
as our Lord said. Moth, rust, fever it. And they
will give us heartache and trouble and sorrow when we lose them.
And that doesn't have to be things, does it? It doesn't have to be
possession. It can be people or whatever. state of mind, but the things
which are not seen, things which are not seen are eternal. What things? What things are
not seen? What things? Well, we just looked
at one thing, righteousness, peace, peace with God, joy. These aren't material or concrete things that
you can lay your hands on, OK? But they can be laid up. righteousness,
peace, joy in the Holy Spirit. You see, what things most occupy
our thoughts and our earthly desires and cravings? What things most take up our
thoughts and our earthly desires and our cravings? Our Lord said
it. He said, don't be like the world,
He said, that says this, or what will we eat? What are we going
to drink? or withal shall we be closed."
He said, the people of this world take thoughts for those things.
He said, take no thought for those things. And he said in
another place, Paul said this, the kingdom of heaven is not
in meat and drink. It's not in meat and drink. We're
going to eat and drink up there, and we saw a blessed picture
of that on New Year's night. We're going to eat and drink.
We're going to feast, and we enjoy these feasts. we have here. But the kingdom of heaven is
not, that's just gravy, gravy, eating and drinking up there.
But the kingdom of heaven, he said, is in righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. There's no happiness. The man
who wrote the Proverbs, he said, I've tried it all. I've tried
it all. And there's no happiness or enjoyment
in these things. But it's sad to say that we,
most of the time, we don't have much happiness or enjoyment when
we don't have these things. When we don't have meat and drink,
if we miss a meal, we grow quickly unhappy and irritable
and so forth. No happiness or enjoyment when
we were without these things, if that is your happiness. when
we are without these things. If you have to do without these
things, as our Lord did forty days and forty nights, he was
tempted. Barbara, he was a man just like
me, like us, like you. He was hungry. His stomach growled,
and there was that gnawing hunger within his body just like you.
No difference. Not one whit difference. Was
it? No. He was hungry to the point
of almost fainting. The angels had to come and minister
to him. He was hungry, and he was tempted by Satan. He was hungry, but what did he
say about that? What did he say? He said, man
doesn't live by bread alone, but by the Word of God. You see,
when he went without the bread that this world had to offer,
he still had bread to chew on. And it was a whole lot sweeter
and more satisfying than this earthly bread. There was one
time that he wasn't eating, and the disciples got a little concerned
about him. He'd missed a meal, you know. I just don't think
he ate three square meals a day. But his disciples said, Lord,
eat something. He hadn't eaten in a while. And
he said, I have meat to eat. And apparently he don't know
anything about it. You see, when you have that meat,
no man can take it from you. And you can chew on it. Like
an old cow, you know, it goes on, chews on the grass, the green
pasture. And he can sit around all day
enjoying that. Enjoying that. Chewing on the
cut. Chewing on the cut. Matthew Henry said that about
believers, too, like the clean animals who parted the hoof and
chewed on the cut. He said, that's believers. They
part with their sin and chew on the gospel. Well, that's how
a man or a woman, a man or a woman who truly knows something about
the bread that God gives, the bread from heaven, the water
of life, that's how a man or a woman can leave all—how could
a Ken Wymer, how could a man do that? Take his precious little
babies, little children, down to a foreign, hostile land like
that and live on a dirt floor. He did that for a long time until
my father told him. Ken, you don't have to live like
a pauper. You don't have to live like...
See, he wanted to get in with the people and build up their
comfort. How could a man leave the comforts
of the United States with all of its abundance of food and
shelter and this and that and the other and go and live in
such abject poverty and subject to this kind of... Ha! He's got
something better. Doesn't he? He's got something
better. How could a man—and this has
happened many times—how could a man lie in prison at the point
of starvation, or lie in a cell, or lie in loneliness and deprivation,
and write a hymn like this? Listen to this. My all to his pleasure is I. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. I have a lot, Paul said, I've
learned out of both the bound. I have a lot, feasts, thank God
who gave it, and how to be a base and how to do without. So I gave,
Lord take away. Be happy there too. No change
of season or place would make any change in my mind. While
blessed with a sense of his love, a palace, a toy, would appear."
It's a nice house. Yeah, it's just a house. And
prisons would palaces prove if Christ would dwell with me there. How could a man write such a
thing? That man knows Christ. He's tasted of that wellspring,
hasn't he? He's tasted of the graciousness
of the Lord. What is this heavenly treasure? What I said, it was
righteousness, to be as holy as God's Son, without sin, acceptance
with God, favor with God, forgiveness with God, forgiveness with God. You know, it's easy to see that
the people out there in the world who are filthy rich, we use that
term, filthy rich. That's appropriate, isn't it?
Filthy rich. People who are out there in the world that are filthy
rich, it's never enough, is it? It's never enough. It's never
enough. A man's got 50 million, he'll
want 51 on him. It's never enough. We're the
same way, though. We learn to live on what we make, don't we?
We're happy with little, and then we start getting more and
more and more and more, and until finally we can't live on what
we lived with to begin with. We were happy then. What happened?
The water of this world, and there are many who are out there
worldly rich, yet they're full of, they're unhappy. yoke and
awes at them. And so they had no peace. They
had no peace. Peace of mind. Peace of heart.
Peace with God. Peace with God by the blood of
Christ. Joy in the Holy Spirit. That's
how that man could lie in a prison and write a song like that. Joy
in the Holy Spirit. Nothing. Now listen. Why do men and women Why do men
and women and young people yearn for fulfillment and happiness? Why is what they get never enough? Why does it never satisfy? Because
God made man and woman in his own image. God put within man
an innate principle or need for God, to know God, to live in
God, to enjoy the presence of God. And when Adam sinned against
God, God cut him off from his presence. He was never happy
from that day forward. And mankind has never been happy.
Nobody who is ever happy without God. And there's nothing that
will satisfy like the smile of God on the soul. Nothing. Nothing. Joy in the Lord is what we're
speaking of. You ever get a taste of it? Huh? You ever get beside
yourself when you hear somebody preach the gospel? I mean just
plumb beside yourself. Inexpressible joy and happiness.
It doesn't last long, but nevertheless for the time being you're just
thrilled. You've never been happier. You've
never had anything rejoice your heart or anything you enjoy more. Nothing. And I mean nothing. That's a heavenly thing. That
is a heavenly thing. A heavenly treasure. And the
Scripture says this, I have seen. We've never really seen the glory.
Have you ever seen the glory of God in the face of Christ
Jesus when a man's preaching the gospel? The Spirit of the
God moved powerfully on a man and he preached the gospel and
it just lifts you up like you think, I'm ready to die, let's
go, let's get right on out of this place, right now. Have you
ever? I've done that, listened to a man on tape. I've been working
or whatever and listened to a man on tape and had to stop. Weeping
for joy on tape. You tell me that's not the Spirit
of God moving beside yourself. That's a heavenly thing. I felt like I've just been transported. But you've never heard it yet.
You haven't heard it yet. Neither have entered into the
heart." There's been times when the message, the gospel of God
has entered into your heart so much that it was full to overflowing.
Like David said in Psalm 45, my heart is like new wine, ready
to burst, ready to explode. I've heard ladies tell me that
if it were lawful, I would have shouted. I would have shouted. He says, "...I hadn't seen nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things,
the things." God had prepared. Just wait. You think you've heard
and seen and enjoyed some things here. You ain't seen nothing
yet. That's what he's saying to us
in our own vernacular. You ain't seen nothing yet. Turn over to 1 Kings. You'll
see it here. 1 Kings chapter 10. 1 Kings chapter
10. Jesus Christ, what is that great
treasure? The greatest treasure of all.
The greatest treasure of all, that greatest of heavenly things,
is who? Is what? It's not a what, it's
a who. He is that pearl of great price. If you have Him, you have everything.
Now, I do not expect everyone to understand that. If you have
Christ, you have everything. Some people will hear that and
think, It doesn't mean a thing to you
if you don't have him. It doesn't mean a thing, but
if you have him, you understand. This is something, and we talk
about the experiential, experimental thing of salvation. You can have
doctrine and not have Christ, but oh boy, if you ever have
Christ. Like I said, if you've ever gotten
a glimpse of his glory and his beauty, which way do you see
him face to face? As he is. as he is in all his
glory and all his beauty, his power, his love. And we're going
to cry out with the Queen of Sheba, like she says here when
she saw Solomon, verse 6, 1 Kings chapter 10. She said to the king,
you remember this story, don't you? The Queen of Sheba came
down, she'd heard of the wisdom and the riches and the beauty
and the glory of King Solomon, the richest, most glorious man
on earth. And there's a description of him, we preached on it one
time, such a clear picture of Christ. as he walked to the temple,
and his train walked behind him and all of his servants with
him. That's a picture of Christ. We're going to see him like that.
And the Queen of Sheba traveled from far and land. She was a
woman, and many obstacles she had to see. She had to see this
one she'd heard about. And she'd heard of him with the
hearing of the ear, but now she saw him. And look at what she
said. She said to the king, It's true! She's probably standing there
with her mouth wide open. Now, she was a rich woman. She
said, "'It was true, the report I heard in thine own land of
your acts, of thy wisdom, how bleak! I didn't believe the words
until I came.'" And we'll never believe until we come to Christ,
will we? We'll never see His beauty until
we come to Him and see Him as it is. "'And mine eyes now have
seen it, and behold, the half was not told me.'" They couldn't, just like me. I can't do it. That old servant
of Abraham, he went down to try to entice Rebekah to come up
and marry Isaac. Remember? I got it right that
time, didn't I? Rebekah, he tried to entice her
to come up and marry Isaac, his glorious master, and he's trying
to tell this woman, oh, my master, he's rich, he's beautiful, he's
kind, he's compassionate, his father owns everything. Well,
show me. Well, I can't. You'll have to come see for yourself.
The half has not been told me. Look at verse 7. Thy wisdom and
prosperity exceedeth the thing which I heard. This is what we're
going to say when we get to heaven. The half, the quarter, the eighth. was not told me. The fraction,
a fraction of the truth was not told me. The thing which I heard,
oh, verse 8, happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants,
which stand continually before thee? I thought I was happy before,
but oh, I'm so happy now. Now hear thy wisdom. Blessed
be the Lord thy God, which delighteth in thee, to set thee on the throne
of Israel. For the Lord loved Israel forever,
therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice."
Is that Christ? Is it? It certainly is. What
a picture. And Sheba saw his beauty, and
we'll see someday his beauty, and we're going to say the very
same words. Oh, my, my, the half has never
been told. And this is the reason David,
who'd got a glimpse of Christ, oh, yeah, David saw Christ. How
could he have not seen Christ and written Psalm 22? Huh? How
could he have not seen Christ and written Psalm 45? He said, My heart is indicted
in a good manner. I speak of things as touching the King.
All His glory is His glory. And David said, One thing have
I desired after I've gotten a glimpse of Him, a taste of the graciousness
of the Lord. One thing now I desire, and if
nothing was going to satisfy me. One thing have I desired.
One thing's really got my attention. Folks, if you've ever seen the
Lord Jesus Christ, nothing else will hold earth. keep you captive
like this, nothing, nothing will take you away from it. You don't
always see Christ in all His beauty and glory like you do
at times, and when you hear the gospel, you don't always see
Him like that. But you keep coming back thinking, I may see Him
in time, and I'm going to be there just if I can just touch
the hem of His garment. That's what we do every time
we meet Him. That's all we want, isn't it? Lord, I'm going to
be at the foot of the table." Why? Just in case the crumb falls
off. Because I've tasted it, and it's
sweet as manna. That manna, they say, was sweet
and honey to the taste. Sweet to the taste. David said,
one thing after I've gotten a taste, a sight, a vision of the glory
of Christ, one thing now I desire. He's got my attention. He's got
my affection. He's got my desire, and that's
what I'm seeking after. Well, David, come over here, don't
you?" Well, that's all fine, but, but, oh, one thing I've
desired, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. See, they're
happy in the house of the Lord. They're happy in the house of
the Lord. I want to dwell there all the days of my life, all
the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to
inquire into his temple. Inquirers. Brings me to my next,
my third point. So Christ is that heavenly treasure.
He is that heavenly treasure which no man can take from you.
He said, My peace I give unto you, and no man taketh it from
you. You can't touch him. He's at
the right hand of God. Yet he's everywhere at one time.
And he said, I'm with you always. Always. Just for the asking.
Just for the taking. I'm hungry. He'll be there. I'm thirsty. Whosoever will,
let him take. water of life free, but whoever's
a thirst and thirsty. Boy, if you're even thirsty to
hear something about Christ, here's a drink. He's ready. He's
ready and waiting. A well spring never runs dry.
What is it, then, to lay up treasure? What is it to lay up treasure,
either earthly or heavenly? What is it? Well, I said that
it's to store up or to carefully guard. You women, did you have
a hope chest before you got married? Huh? Oh, you, what did you do? You laid those things up, didn't
you? You laid them up. And oh, they meant so much to
you, you know, and every now and then you'd get, and you'd
open that chest and you'd look at them, just kind of put your
hands on them, take them out and look at them, close the chair.
Huh? How many of you ladies had a
hope chest? Well, it's to store up, it's to carefully guard Accumulate
and acquire, but more than that, it's to hoard for your own personal
use and enjoyment. That's what it means to store
or to lay up treasure, to lay up treasure. It's to pursue earthly
toys and pleasures, and once gotten them, once gotten, it's
to never want to let go of them, to never want to let go of them,
but to spend them on yourself for your own pleasure and enjoyment.
to lay it up, to store it, to gather, to accumulate. Now, as
I said, there's nothing wrong with the riches of this world.
God giveth us all things richly to enjoy, he said in the book
of James, didn't he? Richly to enjoy. Luke 12, Luke
chapter 12, verse 21. Luke 12, verse 21. God gives
us all things richly to enjoy. Nice homes, Automobiles, good
food to eat, but laying them up for ourselves is what's evil. Laying things up is to lay something
up strictly for your own personal use, to hoard it, to lay it up
to yourself. Never use it for God's glory
and God's people. Luke 12, verse 21. Christ said, this is the story
of the man, well, let's read the whole story here. Verse 17,
the man said, thought within himself, a certain rich man who
ground brought forth plentifully, he thought within himself, saying,
what shall I do? I have no room where to bestow
my fruits. Well, he said, this is what I'll
do. I'll pull down my barns and build a grater, and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Now there's nothing wrong
with building a barn, or buying a barn, or having a barn. You've got to have a barn if
you want to put your hay in it to feed your cattle, to feed
your family, and so forth. There's nothing wrong with these things, is there?
No. But here's what's wrong. I'll
say to my soul, verse 19, soul, you have much good. You're rich
and creased with goods that have need of nothing, laid up for
many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink, be merry. Get all
your enjoyment and fulfillment and happiness out of these things.
Retire. Sit on your front porch. Rock
your retirement away. Just have a good time. But God said unto him, You fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose
shall these things be which thou hast provided? For who? For thyself. See that? For thyself. And what
if that man had filled his barns up and then started calling his
neighbors? Come on, we've got goods. Many goods. Come on and eat, drink with me. Enjoy what God has given me,
what God has bestowed upon me. Come on. God's given me these
things. I've received them. Now I want
to bestow them. Come on. No, he said, soul. You see the
difference? Soul. So, verse 21, is he that
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Now, do you remember what Christ
said about whatever you did to somebody else is like doing it
to him? The same principle applies there.
Never using these things for God's glory or God's people is
to lay them up for yourself. Lay them up. God tells us to
distribute. not lay up the church is not
a savings savings alone. Not at all. The church is a distribution
house for the need comes in one hand, but it's supposed to go
out the other. He said, cast your bread upon
the water. He gives you a lot of abundance of bread that cast
it out there. Now, just take what you need and cast the rest
of it out to distribute to the necessity of the Saints. Paul
said, don't lay it up. I don't rightly know what to
think about a savings account, probably because I don't have
one. It's probably easy for me to say, but I don't see any biblical condoning of that, any precedent
for it in Scripture, a savings account. I don't see it. Laying up heavenly treasure.
What is it? What is it to lay up heavenly treasure? Proverbs
7 verse 1 says, My son, keep my words, lay up my commandments
with thee. He says, Wise men lay up knowledge. There is something worth keeping.
I've got to hurry. There is something worth keeping,
laying up for yourself, something worth saving. It's the words,
it's the commandments, it's the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
because nobody can give that to you. You've got to get it
yourself. You've got to go for it yourself. You've got to go
after it yourself. You've got to strive for it yourself.
The commandments of Christ. Christ said, My words are spirit
and they're life. Turn back to the text in Matthew
6, and I'll quit. Christ said, If a man will love
me, he'll keep my words. The same word is used right there
as used right here, lay up. Same exact word. If a man will
love me, he'll lay up my words to heart and keep them as a great
treasure. A great treasure. And this brings
me to my last point, and I'll quit. In Matthew 6, verse 21,
the Lord said, For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also. What is your treasure? That question
must follow. What is your treasure? Is it your home? Is it your career? Is it your possessions? Is it
your family? Then that's where your heart
is. That's where your thoughts, your affection, your desire,
your pursuits will be. I mean, it can be something as
base as, well, a recreation, an enjoyment, a hunting. I know men who make this a religion
to them. And that's where your heart will
be, and let me add this one word, that's where your body will be. Right? We come here, and I'm
glad you're here, and I'm not directing this at you because
you're here. But sometimes you're not here. But Christ said, where
two or three are gathered, I'm there. If there are two or three gathered
at the house of worship, at all times, Christ is there. See what I'm getting at? Where's
your treasure? If it's Christ, you're going
to be where he is, aren't you? You're going to want to be. Anyway,
if you can't be there physically, your heart's going to be in it.
You're going to be there. We come here to worship and study
and learn of God, to grow in grace and the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and I look up sometimes and I say, where's
so-and-so? He or she claimed to love Christ.
It says that Christ is his life, her life. It says he or she loves
Christ. Where are they? They're where their heart is.
They're where their heart is. You see, we do what we want to
do. Don't we? Huh? Don't you do what you want
to do? Yes, you do. Yes, I do. You go where you want to go.
You do what you want to do. We're grown-ups. Nobody tells
us anymore what to do. We do what we want to do. What
do we want to do? Whatever we want to do is where
our heart is. You want to worship Christ, you love Christ, you
love to hear about Christ, that's where you'll be. That's where
you'll be. And it's required of a steward,
steward of God's grace, God's given us his grace, that they
be found what? Faithful. Faithful. He said you'll be faithful
in a few things. We don't meet here much, do we?
We don't meet here much. You better be thankful I don't
preach like John Gill. John Gill, I look up sometimes,
see people sleeping, and I think, what's wrong with me? I get to,
first I say, what's wrong with them? Then I go back and say,
what's wrong with me? And I sit down and I think, what's
wrong with my preaching? I do, I seriously examine, something's
wrong with my preaching, man. I just don't, I can't hold people's
attention or something. And you better be glad I'm not
John Gill. He preached for four hours. Jonathan
Edwards, we make so much of that man, he read a manuscript in
a monotone voice. And I preached for 48 minutes. That's pretty good. All right. Where your treasure is, I hope
the Lord will lay this to our hearts, my heart, my heart. I'm
preaching to me tonight. I want to sit down. We ought
to sit down and and examine ourselves in light of that word with our
wife, our husband, sit down and say, Lord, let's think about
this thing. Where are we headed? What are we doing? What are we
in this thing for? Where is our treasure? What are
we doing with it? Are we laying it up? We've got it. Are we laying it up for ourselves?
Are we laying up treasures in heaven? Are we distributing the
necessity of the saints? Where is my heart? All right,
stand with me and I'll dismiss it. Dear Lord, would you take this
Word, your Word, and pierce our hard hearts with it? And would
you make yourself very dear and precious to us where we sell
what we have and buy that pearl a great price, buy the truth
and sell it not, not willing to part with Christ or all the
treasures of this world? May we treasure and prize Christ
above all things. In his name I pray and ask these
things on behalf of all these people. Amen. You're dismissed.