Hazard: Hoarding Earthly Treasures

So notice in Matthew chapter 6, let me begin reading from verse 19, do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rusty straw and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rusty straws where thieves do not break in our steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body so then if your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad or if your eye is evil is what quite literally what it says if your eye is evil your whole body will be full of darkness if then the light that is in you as darkness how great is the darkness 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 or man.

Listen to this letter that was sent to Ann Lander some years ago and she was still in commission dear Ann Lander's I have lost my wife no she didn't die she didn't leave home to make a career for herself she didn't run off with another guy she became hooked on refunding Dolores is constantly clipping coupons mailing rebate forms saving and filing product wrappers and labels nothing can be thrown away in case it might one day be proof of purchase as result of collecting refunds and coupons she has piled up enough food to last two years on my last trip around the house I counted thirty four boxes of dry cereal and twenty seven boxes of crackers we can't have company because the house is so cluttered I doubt Dolores makes the minimum wage for all the time she puts in but even worse it has turned her into a minimum wife what should I do Ann I'm ready to send her back to her mother for a refund and Ann Lander's answers this way Dolores your wife who probably always was a frugal shopper has slipped over the line she is now obsessive compulsive she needs drugs the woman needs professional help this isn't funny I hope she gets it well this problem that we face today as believers living in such a wealthy affluent context is one that Jesus deals with and addresses right here in this context what was happening in the ministry of Jesus is those who were quite wealthy were rejecting the gospel and those who were quite poor and needy were receiving it today the great growth of the church is taking place in what is becoming called the majority world that is third world countries countries where there's great poverty and great need and when the gospel comes it comes to a people who feel needy very needy and so when the gospel comes to them there seems to be an openness and so Jesus speaks to this issue here because there are many around him are listening to this who are rejecting the gospel for that very reason back a few years ago there was a book published called the day America told the truth and it was an analysis of a major survey that was taken among adults in America and the question one of the primary questions in this survey was what would you be willing to do for ten million dollars remember that I mean most of us remember it because it was in the news and the reports I think shocked all of us one out of four twenty five percent of the people responded said they would have been in their entire family in order to get ten million dollars now I think it would have to be a hundred million now to get that kind of response because of inflation but out of and not only twenty five percent said that they would have been in their entire family twenty three percent said they would become prostitutes for a week for that kind of payoff about sixteen percent said they said they would be willing to leave their husband or their wife I mean imagine that sixteen percent of the people said they'd be willing to leave their spouse for money and three percent said they would put up their kids for adoption I have a feeling those people probably would put up their kids for an adoption for nothing it's amazing that the more that you have to live for the less that you need to live on people have a lot to live for people whose horizons are filled with purpose seem to be able to be happy without a whole lot of things it's an amazing phenomena we've seen this in the lives of so many people we know when I get letters from Jim Robinette I sent some of those copy that up to you who are in the mailing list the email list Jim Robinette I've always amazed with this guy I've known him for quite a few years now and he is one of the happiest guys I've ever known and he has so little him and his wife capy they have so little but they are so happy and it seems like every move they make takes them further and further away from the American dream now they're in Uganda ministering to homeless people and children on the street but they're the happiest people I know they're just amazing how they're filled their lives are filled with purpose well in this passage in Matthew 6th 19 verse through verse 34 the key to all of this and he's going to talk about it more in the second half than in the first the key to all of this is that God is our father have you noticed how children don't worry about laying up treasure on this earth when they are secure in their home when they have a father who's taking care of them they have little very little worry about material things now it's true that that's trying that that our culture is trying to create that need all the time that's one good argument to keep them from being exposed to so many commercials and so much marketing because that's what it's trying to produce they're trying to tap this untapped market of very young children they're going after five and six year olds now in commercials because they want them to be dissatisfied in lack of contentment so that they can make you dissatisfied and drive you crazy until you get them what this TV ad says they ought to have but we live in a time in which there is a great danger in loving riches because we have so much of it I've noticed this over the years because I've gone through several cycles in the economy in my lifetime and I've noticed this that the more people have the more they complain the more they complain about the way things are we complain about the government we complain about taxes we complain about this we complain about that and yet we have more than we've ever had we live like the most wealthiest we are the most wealthiest people in the face of the earth now the amazing thing the Bible says a lot about the fact that we should save and we should have an inheritance for our children it says that very clearly but one of the dangers that we all face is storing up treasure on earth as Jesus puts it and that's what we want to talk about this hazard of hoarding riches notice what the command is do not store up for yourself treasures on earth do not store up for yourself treasures on earth the interesting thing the word store up means to put something away so that it can become more than it is right now in the future treasuring it means that you guard it you put it under security so that at some future date it's going to be more than it is now and so he says do not store up your treasures on earth now the word how do we lay up treasures in heaven because this is what Jesus told us to do how do you do that if I was to ask you today what are you doing to lay up treasures in heaven could you answer that I mean are there specific things you are doing right now to lay up treasures in heaven a lot of people think you're just talking about doing good works but there's really more to it than that in fact I want to look at a couple verses turn with me are all of you freezing to death are you okay okay you all look so uncomfortable maybe it's the subject I didn't thought about that Luke chapter 16 notice Luke chapter 16 Jesus says now he was also saying to the disciples there was a rich man who had a manager and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions and he called him and said to him what is this I hear about you given a counting of your management for you can no longer be manager the manager said to himself what shall I do since my master's taking the management away from me I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg and many of us would say amen I know that I know what I shall do so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes and he summoned each of his master's debtors and he begins saying to the first how much do you owe my master and he said 100 measures of oil and he said to him take your bill sit down quickly and write 50 then he said to another how much do you owe and he said a hundred measures of wheat he said to him take your bill and write 80 and his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light you get that the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind that is those outside of Christ then the sons of light then we are towards one another and notice how he places now Jesus is going to use this and I said to you I say to you Jesus says make friends for yourself I get this make friends for yourself by means of the wealth of unrighteousness so that when it fails they will receive you into the eternal dwellings use your wealth to make friends with those that you're going to spend eternity with in heaven what an unusual idea now get this verse 10 he who is faithful and very little thing is faithful also and much and he who has is unrighteous and very little things is unrighteous also in much in other words human earthly treasure are small things but if you're faithful over these small things then he'll make you ruler over much therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth in the word is maman who will entrust the true riches to you and if you have not been faithful in the use of that which was another's who will give you that which is your own no servant can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and well by the way that's the reason why it is absolutely foolishness to think that having two wives would be a good thing for a man it's the reason that God designed and commands and demands monogamous relationship one man one woman for life because you are a fool to have more than one you can only serve one wife and I and I mean that that's not a joke I mean you can only serve one wife God has called you to serve your wife and to think that you could serve more than one is foolish but there's a bigger principle here you cannot serve two masters because masters have absolute authority over your life now look at first Timothy chapter six notice this first Timothy chapter six verse 17 instruct those who are rich in this present world instruct those who are rich in this present world and I would have to say this is 99% of us by any measurement when you look at the world today by any measurement we are all in this room rich instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited why would they be conceited because we all tend to be conceited about our wealth we all tend to think that the reason that we have wealth is we are so smart we are so wise and we've done everything right and that's why we have these riches and that's why these poor people in Uganda don't but he says instruct them teach them not to be conceited or to fix their hope this very expression is used in first John that we must fix our hope on Jesus Christ who is coming back and when you fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches you are disobeying this instruction do not set your hope fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy instruct them that is instruct the rich like us to do good to be rich in good works to be generous and ready to share storing up for themselves notices treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed you know one of these days you're going to stand before Christ and part of that day in which he rewards his people is going to be an unveiling of the way that we have used our riches for the glory of Christ there are going to be people at the judgment seat of Christ who are going to give praise to God because of the investment that you have made in them when you make an investment in the people of God when you make an investment in people when you make an investment in those who are taking the gospel out for example you're investing an eternity and what Jesus is saying is the wise man uses his unrighteous man the money that we must deal with to prepare a way his way his entrance his welcome among the people of God when we stand before God one of the place back in Matthew Matthew 25 notice this Matthew 25 verse 31 Matthew 25 verse 31 but when the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious throne all the nations will be gathered before him he will separate them for one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will put the sheep on his right the goats on his left and then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me then the righteous will answer him Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink and when did we see you in a stranger and invite you in or naked and clothed you when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you the king will answer and say to them truly I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine even the least of them you did it to me that's a promise that is a principle of the kingdom of God that God has called us to use the treasure that we have for the glory of Christ if Christ is our treasure if he is the one in whom we find the most pleasure then we will find it easy to invest the treasure that we have in this world worldly treasure for the glory of Jesus Christ now what I want to look at in the next few minutes is what's so dangerous about hoarding earthly treasures what's so dangerous about it what do we have to watch out for well first Jesus says in verses 19 and 20 back in Matthew chapter 6 that it deceives you with false security treasuring up treasures on this earth deceives you with false security one of the aspects of the of the world system that Paul the John warns us about in first John chapter 2 is the pride of life and what that expression means is boasting in the fact that I have everything I need to sustain my physical life on this earth when you think about all the commercials on TV and all the talk that goes on about how you can become a person who is dependent on nobody that you can become a person who has everything that you need that you can be independent you can rest assured that you have treasured up all that you need for all of life John says that's a part of the world system that's not of God you see what God wants you to have the attitude is that you can trust him in every circumstance now you work hard you save according to biblical principles but you trust your future you entrust your future into the hands of the living God earthly treasure is corruptible and the Bible says it is corrupting according to second Peter chapter 1 it says when we came to faith we escape the corruption that is in the world by lust in other words fulfilling our lusts in the world system is what corrupts our hearts it's what corrupts us as individuals in first Peter same writer says in the beginning of first Peter that God has given us an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away because it is reserved in heaven for you your treasure is in heaven where your treasure is there where your heart be also and where your heart is there is where your treasure is see that's the principle and what is one of the most dangerous things about laying up treasures on this earth in other words treasuring material things more than I treasure Christ is that it is deceiving it gives you a false security that is not security at all and secondly in verse 21 notice in Matthew in Matthew 6 verse 21 for where your treasure is there your heart there your heart will be and what this does what laying up treasures on earth does it robs you of heavenly treasure earthly treasure controls your heart now in other words what I'm saying is the only way that you can experience the joy of heavenly treasure is if your heart treasures Christ if your heart is captivated by earthly treasure then you cannot experience the the heavenly treasure that God has stored up for you now earthly treasure is a tyrant it's a tyrant it demands your not just your body not just your effort not just your energy it demands your heart it demands your heart earthly treasure demands your heart it's not both and but either or either treasure on earth or treasure in heaven you can't hedge your bets you can't have both that's exactly what Jesus is disabusing us of here now saving is good building up well there's nothing wrong with that the idea is where is your treasure the book of Proverbs tells us we should treasure up thing we should put things away here and say so that we can have an inheritance to pass on to our children but how much what should we hoard how much should we hoard God refuses to tell us I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine Ramesh Richard who's a teacher a Dallas seminary and a missionary an Indian who goes to the third world half his time and in trains mean in third world countries and I was telling him the struggle I had personally over well how do you know when you're really giving enough how do you know when you're really investing enough into the kingdom of God I mean you don't you know should I just give everything away or a struggle of it should you just become poor I know men have done that maybe that's what God has called them to is that the answer and he said no it's not the answer the answer is a God wants you to experience on a daily basis the tension that you experience so that you have to be decisive you have to make decisions every day that heaven is where your treasure is the whole point is and this is the right question where is your heart where is your heart where is your heart what do you go to sleep at night thinking about dreaming about what do you wake up thinking about is it the kingdom of God is it the glory of Christ you see here's the principle you can only have one hoard you can only hoard up things either in heaven or upon earth that can only one place where your treasure is you can't have two treasures now you can have earthly things there are a lot of rich people I've I had dinner one time with a guy in Birmingham Alabama who was very wealthy a vice president of US steel very wealthy man but his treasure was in heaven there was no doubt in my mind as we talked about missions and his heart where his treasure was was in the gospel and the advance of the gospel and yet this is a very wealthy man and you know what he did he was like the wise man that Jesus was talking about he used his wealth to pave a way for his entrance into the kingdom of God when he met all of these people that he had invested in his whole life a treasure what is a treasure well a treasure is that which I take my greatest delight in and toward which I devote my greatest efforts would you stop and think about that for a second what is your treasure what is it in which you take your greatest delight and toward which you devote your greatest efforts what are you pouring your efforts into today see that is your treasure the treasure is the object of your heart's affection and that's why you can reverse these words where your heart is there will your treasure be also where's your treasure and notice how your treasure controls your life what are you consistently wake up thinking about and dreaming about what do you want to do with your life what do you want to do with your wealth what do you want to do with all of this as God has blessed you with the talent the ability the opportunities what do you want to do with it that reveals where your heart is and what Jesus is saying is it is full hearted to lay up treasure on earth because moth eats it rust destroys it robbers take it away from you notice this third thing he says is that it is dangerous to lay up treasures on earth because listen to these words verse 22 the eye is the lamp of the body the eye is the lamp of the body so then if your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light if you have a good now you obviously isn't talking about the physical eye although he's using the physical eye as a metaphor for the spiritual ability to see reality the Bible says that the spirit that your human spirit is this ability to perceive reality and see things as they really are when you were born again the Bible says that new birth took place in your spirit that you were made alive in your spirit and now your new capacity to see reality things have changed you have come to be able to see things through the lens of Jesus Christ you can see things and you can and the other part of the spirit is not only seeing but evaluating you have the ability to evaluate reality and so here he said Jesus says that the eye is the lamp of the body so if your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad or evil your whole body will be full of darkness if in the light that is in you as darkness how great is the darkness if the capacity that God has given you to see reality is blinded then you are in great darkness you can't live effectively in this world earthly treasures control the mind they control the eye they control your ability to see treasures laying up treasure on earth Jesus said blinds our minds to the obvious we can't see the obvious any longer earthly treasure is passing away all that stuff that you have is passing away it may be brand new but it's passing away everything that we accumulate on this earth is passing away and when your eyes are open you begin to see that and so you begin to deal with it differently you don't deal with it as though it has eternal value it doesn't because it's passing away and therefore we begin to treasure things that have eternal value you know we need to deal with the relative value of things the value of things in time and eternity remember some of the stuff you used to have and you thought it was worth nothing and you got rid of it and if you had that today you'd be a wealthy person you know I'm talking about there were things that you didn't think they had much value so you got rid of them and now now value changes all the time and guess what it could change next month that's a scary thought isn't it things will not always be the way they are they're not always going to be the way they are and the value of things change but the value of things in heaven never change and so instead of heaping up treasuring up riches on this earth treasure on this earth he says treasure up things in heaven where the moth can't come in and eat away rust can't destroy robbers can't steal now here's the here's the amazing thing about these statements of Jesus and that is that it's impossible to mix opposites you can't treasure maman and god you can't serve god and maman maman is the word for money here but it was a word for a god he personalizes money and he says it's like a god it controls your life what else can tell you what to do what else would cause 25% of the people in this survey to say they would leave their families in order to get 10 million dollars it's a god and therefore Jesus says don't lay up treasures on earth because you can't serve god and maman now the idea of a clear eye the word Greek word for clear here hoploss means a well it was used to describe a sale on a sale boat that was filled with wind and when it was filled with wind all the folds were gone and it was clear in other words when your eye is good so that you can see things as they really are in life then your whole being is enlightened in other words when you have a true perspective now get this what he's saying that when you lay up treasures on earth when your treasure is on earth then your perception of reality is distorted you can't see things as they really are you can't value things as they really are I've always been amazed at this phenomena in my life and your life and that is that I can act in total contradiction to what I believe a lot of times we say you know if you need to build your faith and build your understanding of truth so that you will do the right things so we teach people truth we teach in the Bible and teach in the Bible we teach them all these biblical facts about reality and who Christ is and the fact that this is the eternal god who's become man and came into the world and took our place and died for a sins was resurrected has gone back to the right hand of the father has poured out his spirit has come to live within us in the person of the spirit has given us this treasure that cannot be valued and even though I know that there are times when I act in contradiction to what I believe and you do too you know why because it's not just what you believe it's what you value and the problem is this when we lay up treasure on earth what we are doing is we are valuing things on earth more than we value the things in heaven more than we value Christ if Christ is not your treasure if he's not your treasure then you will not find pleasure in Christ whatever is your treasure that's where your heart is that's where your heart is now one of one of life's goals is that we live for Christ that is not one of our life's goal that is our life's goal that we attain Christ Paul talks about the fact that he's been willing to give up everything it's like done his status his status as a rabbi as a teacher among his people he said it's like rubbish it's like garbage that I throw out in light of the fact that I've taken hold of this treasure the Lord Jesus Christ and you know what our life's goal determines our view of life what is your life goal whatever your life goal is that's going to determine the way you see life the way you value things in life what do people pour their lives into they pour their lives into that which they see as their treasure and what we see then supports what we value have you ever noticed that what I see what I perceive with my eye that's no longer clear but it is unclear because I lay up treasures on earth he says everything I see supports my values it supports my life's goal and my life's purpose but when I have a clear eye when I see the truth about the value of things on earth and in heaven then I have the clarity of thought because I have the clarity of sight to make decisions that are consistent with what I value and you know that this with politicians is amazing to listen these politicians talk and how you can have two men who seem to be rational and intelligent and accomplished and how they view reality in exact opposite ways and it's because of what's controlling their heart what controls your heart now the cure for a bad eye and he calls a bad eye here evil eye in other words when there's a lot of folds in your eye and that it distorts reality and what you see isn't a true picture of reality he says it's an evil eye the reason it is an evil eye is because it motivates you what you see motivates you to act and disobedience to God what's the cure well the cure is that since God is at the heart of reality only by seeking him can we wear un can we wear glasses that actually give us true perspective it all has to do with where our heart is when we seek God this is why Jesus said seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then all these things that you worry about all the things that you worry about that you need so desperately will be added unto you do you believe that do you believe that's really true I don't want you to shake your head but just think a minute do you really believe that's true that at first foremost priority you seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness that all the things you worry about the sustained life will be added unto you the guy will supply the guy will meet your needs do you really believe that that's the words of Jesus that's the words of the king who's telling us how to live while he's not here while these absent we're trying to live in the kingdom of God under the rule of Christ and everything we see and we often look at things through the through the lenses of this world because it's presented to us that way it's amazing how movies and TV programs and commercials can package things in such a way that you catch yourself valuing things that God hates it's amazing what's happening your eyes are being distorted you're seeing things as they are not really our problem is that we like to believe our treasure is in heaven and that heaven was our real choice we want to believe that and if somebody asked you that is your is your treasure on earth or in heaven we want to believe that but we find ourselves filled with anxiety over earthly things I haven't talked to anybody lately I have it times very rarely I rarely talked to anybody who is anxious about standing before Christ once in a while I do talk to someone who's going through that but you know what most Christians are anxious about earthly treasures the things that sustain life very few that I know of that talk to me are anxious over heavenly things now you don't need to be anxious over heavenly things because God has said that he's guarding your treasure in heaven and he's watching over you but so often our hearts reveal our actions reveal our values reveal so we say we believe that our treasure in heaven but we keep being attracted by earthly treasure we don't want outrageous wealth we just want to be reasonably financially secure I just want to have a few things you know just want to have a few nice things well we don't want to miss out on anything either you know we're kind of ambivalent we're back and forth we straddle defense even our goal of reasonable financial security it ludes us and we're always seeking for more it's never enough you ever notice that you never have enough in your emergency fund and your savings to feel really secure because it's not my emergency fund plus God it's my emergency fund and it's never enough never enough is it but when we get our eyes on heaven there is a goal that we can accomplish we can accomplish either goal if we have treasure on earth and treasure in heaven if we're trying to have treasure here in treasure there we'll feel good about neither one because we don't have a single eye we don't have a good eye we don't see things as they really are we don't value things as they really are and we keep on trying to grasp earthly treasure and hoping for heavenly treasure and what Jesus is saying is don't be captivated by this distorted perception of treasuring up things on earth and then finally Jesus says it prevents you from serving God listen to this verse 24 no one can serve two masters don't mistake this this does not say no one can serve two two bosses you can you can have two jobs there's people in this room today who have two jobs three jobs you can serve two two two bosses that's not what a boss is a boss is not your master you know that and you'd be glad to tell your boss that you know you don't own me I work for you and you give me remuneration for my efforts but that's not what Jesus is talking about here in verse 24 no one can serve two masters you can't be owned by two things by two persons for either he will hate the one and love the other he will be devoted to one and despise the other so you see what he's saying you're either going to treat you're only you're going to treat one of them as a master one or the other but you're not going to treat both as master you cannot treat God as master and treat wealth as master and so he says you cannot serve God and wealth chant you can't serve God and wealth heaven earthly treasure controls the will why do you do what you do well where is your treasure where is your heart that's what that's what tells the truth about you we end up being a slave to the things that were meant to service we think boy this is going to if I can just have this if I can have lay of this much treasure then it will serve me and then you discover no you're serving it you are a servant you can't serve God in Maman because both of them make a totalitarian demand on you absolute commitment you want to be wealthy in America absolutely you can be wealthy in America if you are committed to serve the pursuit of wealth you can be wealthy but you can't serve God in Maman you have to do one or the other just like Jesus says in Luke 14 you can't be my disciples if there are any competing masters over your life you love your father mother sister brother or your own life more than me than you'll never be my servant because your master may call you to do what those other people or yourself in your own life don't like you have to serve one or the other just trying to serve both always results in idolatry is amazing passage I won't turn there we don't have time but in second Kings chapter 17 verse 41 and following there if you go there and read this account it's really fascinating the people of it's talking about how that when the Babylonians or the Assyrians rather brought in people to occupy Samaria and they began to be attacked by lions in the land they said you know what we're in trouble here we don't know how to please the God of this land and they said you need to send us some of these people that were that the people of this land to tell us how to worship their God and so they send them a priest and so as they set up a certain kind of worship to appease the God of Israel and for some strange reason and I don't believe it was because they were worshipping God in a false way that the lions quit attacking but they did and so they thought okay we can worship our idols and we can fear God and so they went through the motions in order to keep the lions away but they continue to worship their idols and it said it went on from it they pass it on from generation to generation I think about that a minute some people really think that they can do that that they can worship God in this kind of way that they can quote fear the Lord in this way that they can go through the motions but never really give their heart to him that they can never that they can somehow be okay that they can keep God at bay if they simply give lip service to him and then go ahead and worship their idols like the rest of the world I've said this before and I think it is absolutely without a doubt true the church in America today is the most worldly materialistic church that has ever existed in the history the true church in the history of the church now there have been times when there have been those who have sucked the life out of Christians saying they were religious leaders and they were materialistic as all get up but they were unregenerate but regenerate people today in the western church we are the most materialistic people that in the history of the church now I'm not saying sell everything you have and give it to missionaries what I'm saying is stop loving your treasures on earth use them use your treasures whatever treasure you have use it be wise in the use of your treasure so that you pave a way of entrance among the people of God in the last day do you know when we get before God nobody's gonna have wealth nobody's gonna have poverty nobody's gonna be wealthier than anybody else nobody's gonna have need of anything and so you will have absolutely no advantage over the poorest person on the face of the earth no advantage this past week I talked to Steve Flescher and he was telling me about a program that he and his wife Evina just got into they're bringing Somalian families about 150 of them to the United States into Atlanta because they're rescuing them from a wretched a wretched situation and these are Islamic people 150 families and what they want to do is they want to bring these families and they want to put them in an American home for five or six days to get them to teach them some of the most basic things you know like using a door knob to open a door to go to the toilet to cook on a stove instead of the middle of the room those kinds of things and so steases they have this Somalian family living in their home now they have a really nice home at Atlanta and they're bringing in this Somalian family and they're going to use their treasure to try to be a witness for Christ to this Islamic family they don't speak the language can you imagine what this is going to be like they're going to bring an interpreter for the first day and spend a few hours there and then they're going to leave him with his family who doesn't know how to speak English and it was so funny listening to Steve all of you know those of you know Steve you know how he is it was like this is the greatest opportunity he has ever happened upon he's going to be able to use his home to show the hospitality of Christ to this Islamic family and he is just convinced that God is going to touch their hearts through this act you see that's just a smart use of your riches that's a lot better than him selling his home and going living in a shelter use the wealth that God has given you to pave the way for your entrance into heaven among the people of God because you cannot be equally devoted to two major goals in life one or the other is going to become nominal and it's going to cease to capture your imagination and your fiercest efforts you're no longer going to be hard after Christ some of you are going through those times there's a real law in your life and Christ is not your treasure right now he's not the thing that fills your horizon it's not what you think about in the morning or think about at night he's not what you plot about I'm reading this little book called making evangelism not quite so difficult and it's by a British guy and he's talking about being effective in the gospel being effective and sharing the gospel when you're scared to death and you don't know you're so afraid of messing up and all those kind of things but it's such a delight to read because simply it kind of restores in your heart the fact of that's why I'm here that's why you're here now all the stuff that God's given you the reason he's given it to you so that you use that stuff in order to do this work and it's an everyday life you know it's what you do in your life that's you don't need to change the structure of your life a bit just start living the structure of your life for the glory of Jesus Christ live for the glory of Jesus Christ you know the consequences of this this truth this principle is that we are doomed to dissatisfaction unless we literally slash ourselves cut ourselves free from the cords that tie us to man and bind us and instead bind ourselves to Christ he's got to be he does have to be what your treasure is if you don't treasure him if you think that you can put him on the back burner and you can treasure other things a lot for now because we're all in different seasons of life and as an old geezer let me tell you in all seasons of life that's the battle right Mariam and every season of life that's the battle are you gonna treasure Christ or are you gonna treasure earthly treasure and that becomes the pursuit of your life if your heart is with the Lord Jesus Christ and if you really are concerned with the interests of this kingdom you really do want to see the kingdom advance when you pray at night and pray in the morning and you say the kingdom come I will be done on earth as it is in heaven when you pray something like that the more time that you devote to that the more time that you give your life to the advance of the kingdom the more that you put yourself in this in these kinds of situations you're going to be worried about well how am I ever going to sustain these things that I have how am I going to make the wealth that I need to sustain all this and that's what Jesus is going to speak to next it's really important to put these two things together some of us have so much we have no worries at all and you know what we need to do is be careful we don't lay up treasures on earth you know when you're trying to decide what you ought to do this next year this next month the rest of your life you know what should be the deciding factor your treasure how are you going to lay up treasure in heaven what are you doing to lay up treasure in heaven what are you going to do in the next year to lay up treasure in heaven what steps are you taking what are you giving to what are you living for what are you giving yourself for it's got to be the glory of Christ are you going to be greatly disappointed now this is going to happen you know what it's going to happen in every life every believer we go through these cycles but you know if you've walked with Christ for any length of time you know that Christ is going to come in power in your life and he is going to cause you to hate so many of those things that you love so much and then you're going to have him just laying around hanging on at all those things that you accumulated because they were the object of your affection and Christ is going to so fill your heart that those things become absolutely worthless absolutely worthless because he's everything he's everything Jesus is worth everything he's worth the investment of your life he's worth the investment of your labor he's he's worth the investment of your greatest ingenuity your greatest efforts your most your greatest artistic ability whatever you do wherever you work whatever you are engaged in do it for the glory of Jesus Christ because he's the only one worthy he's the only treasure there is no other treasure in life that can compete with him when your eye is clear and you know what I don't want to be stupid anymore do you I don't want to be dumb and blind to life I don't want to live my life pursuing things that have no value and come to the end of life having laid up a treasure on earth and being poor towards God I want to be rich towards God that's what I want so much don't you I want you to be rich towards God let's stand together in closing prayer and pray for one another pray for our church pray for us as the body of Christ here in Brentwood to be people whose hearts have been captivated captivated by the value of Jesus Christ our Father we thank you for bringing us together this morning for this time that we've had to lift up the name of Jesus in song to have our hearts moved to direct our affection towards you we confess to your Father living tomorrow living our lives in this world we are constantly being tempted to lay up treasure on earth we pray oh God that we would be committed to not being so foolish but to do what we do and to use the resources that we have for the glory of Jesus Christ for the good of his people we pray God capture our hearts as only you can by opening our eyes to the reality of Christ I pray that the Holy Spirit would portray him as he really is to our hearts eyes that we could see the value of this one who came and took our place what a glorious savior I was thinking this morning about how glorious he is because he saved the people I love the most he laid down his life for those people I love so much he's brought them into the family of God what a glorious savior is he and we praise you in Jesus name amen