The Lord said in verse 21 of
Matthew chapter 6, where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also. Where has to do with location. Where is the location of your
treasure? Where is the location? of your
treasure. Where is it at? Your treasure
is that which is precious to you. It's that with which you
cannot do without. That's your treasure. Now wherever
your treasure is, that's where your heart is also. The Lord
tells us that, for where your treasure is, the location of
your treasure, that's where your heart is. Now, in this passage
of Scripture, the Lord speaks of heaven and earth. Lay not
up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, that which can be seen and that which cannot
be seen. That which is temporal and that
which is eternal. A place of time and a place of
no time. Heaven. This life is so brief. So brief. And then, eternity. Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, but treasures in heaven. Now the Lord speaks of treasuring
up. That's what the word is, laying up, treasuring up. Treasures
upon the earth and treasuring up treasures in heaven. Lay not
up for yourselves treasures on earth. The Lord said, labor not
for that meat which perishes, but that meat which endures to
eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give you. Isaiah said,
Why? Why do you spend your money on
that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth
not? The Lord said to the woman at
the well, Whoso drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Now, laying up for yourselves
treasures upon earth, and he says this to us, we need to hear
it, don't we? He says it to us. Laying up to yourselves treasures
upon earth has something to do with worldliness and covetousness. Those two things. Worldliness
and covetousness. Now what is worldliness? You've
heard the word. What is worldliness? What is the world that we're
forbidden to love? John said, through the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost, love not the world. Now that's a command.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
For all that's of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and pride of life, is not of the Father, but of
the world. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. That's strong language,
isn't it? What does it mean? James says,
you adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with
the world is enmity with God? Whosoever will be the friend
of the world is the enemy of God. Now, worldliness is an outlook. It's a mentality. It's a way
of thinking. It's a way of looking at things
without regard to God. without regard to His Word, without
regard to His Gospel, and without regard to His glory. Turn with me to John chapter
7. I'm going to read several scriptures regarding the world.
The world that we're forbidden to love. The world that the Lord
Jesus Christ said, I pray not for the world. He refused to
pray. Now you think, Christ refused to pray for the world. He said,
I pray for them, I pray not for the world. but for them which
you have given me." Now look at this passage in John chapter
7, verse 2. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles
was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto
him, Depart hence from going to Judea, that thy disciples
also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that
doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeks to be known
openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. For
neither did his brethren believe in him. His brothers and sisters
grew up with him, saw him, saw what he did, and they did not
believe in him. Then Jesus said unto them, My
time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world
cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that
the works thereof are evil." Look in John 8, 21. John 8, 21. Then said Jesus again
unto them, I go my way, and you shall seek me, and shall die
in your sins. Oh my, can you? The Lord's saying that to somebody.
That's scary. He says to these people, point
blank, you'll seek me and you'll die in your sins. And whether
I go, you cannot come. Then said the Jews, will he kill
himself? Because he saith, whether I go, you cannot come. And he
said unto them, you are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. Look in John 15, verse 18. He says to His disciples, If
the world hate you, you know that it hated Me before it hated
you. If you are of the world, the world would love its own.
But because you are not of this world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, Therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they'll also persecute you. If they've kept my saying,
they'll keep yours also. John 17, verse 9. I pray for them, speaking of
his people, his elect, I pray not for the world, But for them
which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. Look in verse
11 of the same chapter. And now I'm no more in the world,
but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father,
keep to Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that
they may be one as We are. When I was with them in the world,
I kept them in Thy name. Those thou gavest me I've kept,
and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the
Scriptures might be fulfilled. And now I come to thee, and these
things speak I in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. I've given them thy word, and
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world." You know, I'm a stranger in this
world. I'm not of this world. I'm just passing through. I am
a stranger in this world. This world, this way of thinking,
this mindset that's against God, that's against Christ, this world
religion, this world's maximum value. I'm a stranger to this.
I'm not of this world. The Lord calls me to it. Where
are you from? I'm not from this world. I'm
not from this world. He said, they are not of the
world even as I am not of the world. Verse 15, I pray not that
thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst
keep them from the evil. He repeats it again. They are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Isn't that
amazing? I'm not of the world. What's my origin? Same origin
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't understand that, but
I believe it. I'm not of this world. Look in 1 John chapter
4. Verse 4, 1 John chapter 4, verse
4. Ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. Now they are of the world, and
he's talking about preachers here, he's talking about false
prophets. He says they are of the world. Therefore, speak they
of the world, and the world heareth them, we are of God. He that
knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of
truth and the Spirit of error." I love that. You know, if you're
of God, you'll hear what I'm saying. If I'm sent from Him,
if I'm of the Lord, you'll hear me. And if you're not, you won't
hear me. Look what he says in 1 John chapter
5 verse 19. John says, And we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. Now what does the Lord mean when
He says, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth? Many have
said that this is a commandment against saving money. You ought
not save money. You ought not lay up for yourselves
treasures upon earth. Well, it's not that. Hoarding money is certainly
wrong. There's no question about that.
And I believe that we ought to be given more than we save. I
know that. We ought to be given more than
we save. But this thing of, is this speaking against saving
money? No, and there's nothing wrong with wealth and riches.
Abraham was very rich, wasn't he? Job was very rich. David, Solomon were all extremely
wealthy men. The problem is not the wealth.
The problem is the love of money. The problem is covetousness. The love of money which is the
root of all evil. Look in 1 Timothy 6 with me.
1 Timothy 6. Verse 6, but godliness with contentment
is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and
it's certain we can carry nothing out. What did you come into this
world with? Not a thing. What are you going to carry out? Not
a thing. And having food and raiment,
let us be there with content. But they that will be rich, that's
their desire. They fall into temptation, and
to snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown
men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which some coveted after. They've erred
from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many
sorrows." Now, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.
Now that's more than money. That's more than money. If you
hoard, it could certainly mean that. Someone that's just taken
up with how much they can save and how much they can be worth.
But you can have a love of status. You can have a love of position.
You can have a love of security. You can have a love of power.
You know, I was listening to the radio in the car the other
day and I heard Forbes magazines that they were going to have
the five most powerful men in the world. And I thought, how
ridiculous. How ridiculous. Powerful men
whose breath is in his nostrils. God can take it away just like
that. No man has any power. Power belongeth unto the Lord.
The five most powerful men in the earth. If there is a powerful
man, it's the man who has God for him. If God be for us, who
can be against us? One man that the Lord's hands
on, oh, it's the Lord's power. But how powerful he is with the
Lord's power, the Lord's strength. But a natural man, power, but
yet people covet this thing of power. I want power and influence. You can covet the praise of men,
you can covet the good favor of men. Now, I was thinking about
this. I want people to have a high opinion of me. I want you to
esteem me. I want you to love me. I want you to Valued my friendship. I mean, I'd be lying if I said
I didn't care anything about that. But you know, some people
can be so taken up with what men think about them that they're
not so much concerned about what the Lord thinks. Let me show
you a passage of scripture in John chapter 12. All these things that men treasure
up on earth. Verse 42, nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also, many believed on him. But, well, I would rather
have seen a period, wouldn't you? But there's a comma. But, because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him. Why? For they loved the praise
of men. more than the praise of God. There's someone who's controlled
by what men think and they even give intellectual assent to Christ
but yet they refuse to confess Him because they saw what it
would cost them and they were more concerned about what men
think than what the living God thinks. The fear of man is a
snare. Turn to Luke chapter 12 I thought of several people.
I thought of Esau. Remember what the Scripture says
about Esau? For one morsel of meat, he sold
his birthright. Now, what did he prove by that?
That the birthright really wasn't valuable to him. I mean, he was
hungry right now, and I need something to take care of that
right now. But the birthright, this relationship with God, this
position that he had, wasn't even important to him. For one
morsel of meat, he sold his birthright. Now, look in Luke chapter 12,
verse 13. And one of the companies said to him, Master, speak to
my brother that he divide the inheritance with me. Now, when
it comes time to divide the inheritance, everybody wants a fair share,
don't they? You would and I would. We want our fair share, not that
an inheritance is fair anyway, it's a gift, but that's the way
men think. You tell my brother that he divides it up equally
with me. And I love the Lord's answer.
And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider
over you? And he said unto them, Take heed
and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists not
in the abundance of things which he possesses, And he spake a
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room wherewith to bestow
my fruits. He said, This will I do. I'll pull down my barns
and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and
my goods. And I'll say to my soul, Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. You've got ten million dollars
in the bank. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall
those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that laith
up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Now treasures
on earth, whether material, or relationships, whatever it is,
treasures on earth, will not last. Not one of them. Moths will corrupt them, the
gold and silver will rust, and thieves will break through and
steal. Everything you see is going to
be burned. Treasures on earth, they're a
bad investment. God's going to burn them all
up. Listen to what the wise man said in Proverbs 23, verses 4
and 5. He said, labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon
that which is not? It's not. For riches certainly
have wings. They fly away as an eagle to
heaven. What would it profit a man if
he gained the whole world and lose his soul?" Everything that
the world is seeking, it's not. It's not going to last. It's
nothing. It's all going to be burnt. He
says, back in our text in Matthew chapter 6, Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves
break through and steal. That's the end of all of it.
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 your heart will be
also. Now what does he mean by laying
up for yourselves treasures in heaven? I actually read this
this week. One man I read said that means the good things we
do here on earth will translate to rewards in heaven. You'll
have more stars in your crown, more rubies in your crown. You'll
have a higher reward in heaven. That's so evil. I know it doesn't
mean that. That's pure flesh, supposing
that gain is godliness. But there are a lot of scriptures
that give us a commentary as to what this really means. Turn
with me to Colossians chapter 3. Verse 1. If you then be risen with Christ, Seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection,
set your affection on things above and not on things on the
earth, for you are dead." Now how concerned is a dead man with
the things going on here? Tell him about the fiscal cliff
we're getting ready to fall off. It's in the paper constantly.
Will he be concerned? No. He's dead. Praise him. What's it mean to him? Nothing.
Criticize him. Tell him what a jerk he is. Will
he care? No. He's dead. You are dead. Isn't it a good thing to be dead? You are dead. And your life is
hid with Christ in God. When Christ, and notice that
word who is, is in italics. Let's read it without that. When
Christ our life. Now there's my life. How do you
live your life? There it is. Christ is my life
before God. He's the cause of the life, and
His life is the life itself. He is my life before God. When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear
with Him in glory. Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate in affection,
evil concupiscence, or desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry,
for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience, into which you also walked sometimes when you
lived in them, but now you also have put off all these, anger,
wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth,
Why not one to another, seeing you put off the old man with
his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him." And here's
what that knowledge is. Where there's neither Greek nor
Jew. Circumcision or uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all. In all. What a treasure He is. Look in Colossians chapter 2,
verse 3, verse 2. That their hearts might be comforted,
being knit together in love unto all the riches of the full assurance
of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of
the Father and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures. of wisdom and knowledge. Look in verse 9 of the same chapter.
For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete. You are complete. You right now. You don't lack anything. Now
you may feel like you lack something. I feel like I lack all kinds
of things. I don't love the Lord the way I want to love Him. I
wish I didn't say all those things we could say. But this scripture
still says you are complete. You can't get any more saved.
You can't get any more justified. You can't get any more sanctified.
You can't get any more accepted. You can't get any more loved.
You are complete, plumb full in Him. Look in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. You see, Christ Himself is the
one who's in heaven. And He Himself is my treasure. He is my treasure. Now He is
the one that... The thing's not the right word.
He's the one I cannot do without. 1 Corinthians 1.30, very familiar
passage of Scripture. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. He's made that to me. Wisdom,
I'm the very wisdom of God in Him. Righteousness, holiness,
and redemption. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. I
want to show you a man who saw the world for what it was. Verse 24, Hebrews chapter 11. By faith Moses, when he was come
to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. He refused identification with
this world, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God. than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season." Look at this choice he made. I'd rather suffer
affliction with the people of God. I'd rather be persecuted
than identify with Pharaoh and enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. There is indeed pleasure in sin,
but it's only for a season. A very short season. Verse 26, esteeming the reproach
of Christ, greater riches, than the treasures in Egypt, for he
had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Let me ask you
a question. Do you esteem the reproach of
Christ greater riches than anything this world has to offer? I do. I would rather have the
reproach of Christ, the reproach from bearing His name, from confessing
Him, than all the riches of this world." Here in Hebrews, turn
to Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5. Remember, this is a
warning against worldliness and covetousness. Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupts
and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven." Verse 5. Let your conversation, let your
conduct be without covetousness. Now what is covetousness? It is natural to us of breathing.
It's the last of the Ten Commandments. And there is covetousness in
breaking every one of the previous nine. There's an element of covetousness
involved. It's the one thing that you can't
stop it. If I tell you not to covet something,
what are you going to do? You're going to covet that. If
I say, don't covet that, it'll rise up out of your heart as
naturally as breathing. Covetousness. Desiring that which
you don't have. You know, in the garden, when
Adam fell, what was the sin? Covetousness. He desired to have
what God had. He desired to be as God. He desired
God's position. He was coveting that. Now, how
in the world can you not covet when it comes so naturally to
us? There's only one way you can not covet. You know what
that is? To have everything. Nothing to covet. Nothing to
reach for. You have everything in Christ
Jesus. That's the only thing that will
prevent someone from coveting. Look what he says in verse 5. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content, be satisfied with such things
as you have." Now, we ought to be content with what
we have materially. We really should. All of us live
like kings. And that being said, that has
nothing to do with what he's talking about. What do you have? You have Jesus Christ. You have
the free favor of God. You have the very righteousness
of Christ. You have the mercy of God. You have the promise of His providence
that everything is working together for your good and His glory.
You have all that Christ is, you have. We're joint heirs with
Christ, the scripture says. What does Christ have? I'm a
joint heir right with Him. As He is, so are we in this world
right now. I'm justified, I'm sanctified,
I'm glorified. I have this promise, I'll never
leave thee nor forsake thee. I won't do it. Now what is there
to covet? What is there to covet? I'll tell you one thing I covet.
I covet being rid of this body of sin. There's nothing wrong
with coveting that. Paul said that he longed to be... He said,
I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Now that's one thing to covet,
but I don't know of anything else that's a legitimate thing
to covet. Because we have all in Christ Jesus. He has said,
I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Look back a few pages to
1 Timothy chapter 6. Verse 17. Charge them that are
rich in this world, that they be not high-minded." That's one
of the great temptations of riches, being high-minded and pretentious
and thinking you're somebody and thinking you're important.
He said, tell those that are rich in this world that they
be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the
living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they
do good. that they be rich in good works,
ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in
store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that
they may lay hold on eternal life." Now here, this has something
to do with laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven. You know
what it is? Here's what it is. If I say, I love the Lord Jesus
Christ, That's only translated by how I love you. It is my works
that prove whether I really believe what I say I do. What did the
Lord say to all the churches of Revelation? I know thy works. When the Lord spoke in Matthew
chapter 25 and separated the sheep from the goats, what was
the difference? He said, Come ye, blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was sick and in prison, and
you visited me. Now, what He's saying to these
rich people, Works. Evident. Now, is anybody sitting
here thinking, well, I've got a lot of those. I feel good about
my works. The righteous didn't even know
they had any. When He said that to them, they
said, when did we do this? I thought all I did was see it. I never
saw anything like that. And the wicked thought they had.
When didn't we do it? We thought we did. So if you
hear this and say, well, I've got the works, it will prove
it. You missed it, but I'll tell you this I see people who I see
their works prove They believe what they really say they do
you can see it others you might not be able to see it yourself
But you see it in others and that's what he's talking about
have a foundation that proves well What is that scripture in
Revelation blessed are the dead that die in the Lord they have
rest from their labors and their works do Follow them now that
rest from the labors doesn't mean they they finally get to
rest from working for Christ No, the late they have rest from
the labor of sin and their works follow They don't come before
him, they don't come beside him. They follow him as evidence.
What was the evidence that Abraham believed God? He offered up his
son. One other scripture, Matthew
chapter 13. Now here's where we can learn
something about where our treasure is. Matthew chapter 13. Verse 44. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a treasure hid in a field. Now, the field is the
word of God. The treasure is in this field.
It's hid until God gives you grace to find it. It's a treasure. hid in a field. Now think of
this man out doing whatever he's doing in this field to which
when a man has found, all of a sudden he finds this treasure. What does he do? He hides it. Why does he hide it? He's afraid
of losing it. He sees the greatness of the
value of it and he doesn't want to lose it. So he hides it. And
he goes for joy thereof. He hides and for joy thereof. Now this I know regarding the
gospel. If you believe on Christ, you
know something about joy. The joy of knowing that all God
requires of you, you have. Kingdom of God is not meat and
drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. You hear the Gospel, you'll hear
it with joy. You're glad. It's good news! That's what the Gospel is. It's
good news. It's glad tidings. That's all relative, I realize
that. If you're a sinner, it's good news. That's the only way
you can hear. Now with joy thereof, what did He do? He goes and sells
all that He hath. and buyeth that field." Now,
he sold all that he had, and now he became the possessor of
one thing. One thing. Now when you have
Christ, He's all you have. But having Him, you have all. Now if you have Christ, He's
all you have. If you have anything else, you
don't have Him at all. But if you have Him, He's all you have. And having Him, you have all. Is Jesus Christ your treasure? Is He your treasure? I know where your heart is then.
It's where your treasure is. Where your treasure is, there
your heart will be also. He's my portion. I love what the Shulamite woman
said, I am my beloved's and He is mine. Now there's my treasure, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Don't look for happiness and
satisfaction in earthly objects. Don't lay up for yourself treasures
upon earth. You know all this, it's all going
to be taken, it's just not important. It's not important. Lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven and remember we're pilgrims and
strangers passing through. This world's not our home. Where's your treasure? He's in
heaven. Well, that's where my heart is,
too. Let's pray together.