Intro to "Treasure in Heaven" (Matt. 6:19-24)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/17/2020 10:08 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus: Intro to “Treasure in Heaven”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Matthew 6:19-24

 

            Message of the verses:  “19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

 

            What we are going to be dealing with in these verses and for that matter in the next set of verses after these is Jesus Christ talking about money.  John MacArthur writes the following in his introduction to “Overcoming Worry” from verses 6:25-34 the following statement:  “In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus focuses on the attitude toward luxury, the Unnecessary physical possessions men store and stockpile for selfish reasons.  In verses 25-3 4 He focuses on the attitude toward what men eat, drink, and wear, the necessities of life that they absolutely must have to exist.  The first passage is directed particularly at the rich and the second particularly at the poor.  Both being rich and being poor have their special spiritual problems.  The rich are tempted to trust in their possessions, and the poor are tempted to doubt God’s provision.  The rich are tempted to become self-satisfied in the false security of their riches, and the poor are tempted to worry and fear in the false insecurity of their poverty.”

 

            That statement kind of sets us up to be able to write about the verses 19-24 even though they are from the introduction to 25-34. 

 

            What I am going to do is to quote from a sermon that I listened this morning from the introduction to verses 19-24, and I don’t want anyone to take what this quotation is saying in the wrong way as while I was listening to the sermon I could hear laughter from those in the church where MacArthur was giving this message.  I also want to say that talking about money is not something that I desire to do, but it is in the Word of God and Jesus spoke about it many, many times in His messages including “The Sermon on the Mount.”  Remember that Jesus was comparing what kingdom life should be as opposed to how the Pharisees were living in the time when He was on the earth.  We will get to the real introduction in our next SD, but for now enjoy this little story and learn from it.

 

“ Listen to this analysis.  Mr. and Mrs. Thing are a very pleasant and successful couple.  At least that’s the verdict of most people who tend to measure success with a thingometer.  When the thingometer is put to work in the life of Mr. and Mrs. Thing the result is startling.  There he is sitting down on a luxurious and very expensive thing, almost hidden by a large number of other things:  Things to sit on, things to sit at, things to cook on, things to eat from, all shining and new; things, things, things; things to clean with, and things to wash with, and things to clean, and things to wash, and things to amuse, and things to give pleasure, and things to watch, and things to play, things for the long hot summer, and things for the short cold winter, things for the big thing in which they live, and things for the garden, and things for the lounge, and things for the kitchen, and things for the bedroom; things on four wheels, and things on two wheels, and things to put on top of the four wheels, and things to pull behind the four wheels, and things to add to the interior of the thing on the four wheels.  Things, things, things. 

And there in the middle are Mr. and Mrs. Thing, smiling and pleased pink with things, thinking of more things to add to their things, secure in their castle of things.  Well Mr. Thing, I have some bad news for you.  Oh, you say you can’t hear me because the things are in the way?  Well, I just want you to know that your things can’t last.  They’re going to pass.  There’s going to be an end to them.  Oh, maybe an error in judgment, maybe a temporary loss of concentration, or maybe you’ll just pass them off to the second hand thing dealer.  Or maybe they’ll wind up a mass of mangled metal being towed off to the thing yard.  And what about all the things in your house?  Well, it’s time for bed, put out the cat, make sure you lock the door and hope some thing taker doesn’t come and take your things.

And that’s the way life goes, doesn’t it?  And someday when you die, they only put one thing in the box:  You.  As somebody said, there are no pockets in shrouds.  But you see in spite of the stupidity of that - and it really makes it sound pretty stupid - we are basically committed to acquiring things. 

Sadly, the leading religionists of the day of Jesus had the same problem.  They were totally consumed with things.  Among all of the other problems of the Pharisees, this was also to be included.  They were thing-oriented.  They were greedy.  They were avaricious.  They were covetous.  They were manipulative, and they moved toward grasping more things.  And so as we come to this element of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus directs some statements about things to the Pharisees who were abusing this whole matter of possessions.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Things are not as important as I once thought they were.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to pray and learn about revival.

12/17/2020 10:28 AM