In 1976, Mrs. Bertha Adams was 71 years old when she died alone in her West Palm Beach, Florida home. She died of malnutrition. After wasting away to 50 pounds, she could no longer stay alive. when the state authorities made their preliminary investigation of her home, they described it as a pig pen, the biggest mess you can imagine. One inspector said that he had never seen such a dwelling and that type of disarray with all of the stuff just scattered everywhere and piled high. Bertha had baked food from her neighbors. She wore clothes that she had gotten from the Salvation Army. From all appearances, she was a penniless recluse, but that was not the case. That was not the case at all. It took them a while to get through all of her stuff. But while going through all of her hoarded belongings, there was found two keys to safe deposit boxes at two different local banks. The first box contained over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus hundreds of other valuable notes and bonds and financial securities, as well as $200,000 cash. That was in the first box. The second box contained $600,000 in cash. Bertha Adams was more than a millionaire, and yet she starved to death. She died of malnutrition because she didn't eat properly. Bertha is an extreme example of the danger, I believe, of materialism. which promises so much, promises so much, but cannot give us what we need the most. The consumer society that all of us live in today constantly tells us that life at its best consists of having all of these things. How many commercials have you seen on TV, if you still watch TV, that tell you you deserve it? You deserve this. That's the society we live in. Life at its best consists of having more and more possessions and pleasures. Theologian John Stott said, and I quote, worldly ambition has a strong fascination for us. The spell of materialism is very hard to break." That's true. That's true for all of us. This worldly materialism is exactly what we're going to be looking at in the passage that we're dealing with. Now, in Matthew chapter 6, verse 1 through 18, as we just got out of, Jesus encouraged us as believers to do our righteous acts of giving and praying, as well as fasting, and that principle applies to everything that we do as believers, without hypocrisy and from a right heart motivation of pleasing God alone. We're not doing it for anybody else, we're doing it for God alone. And as we do that, were able to be rewarded by Him. Now as we come to this next passage in verses 19 through 24, we see that our heart's attitude towards material wealth is another barometer, if you will, of our righteousness. In this passage, Jesus gives us three pairs of contrasting priorities. Three pairs of contrasting priorities. First one is two treasures. One on earth, in heaven, in verses 19 through 21. The second is two visions, which we will see, light and darkness, in verses 22 and 23. And then also, two masters. God and wealth, in verse 24. Three contrasting priorities that Jesus is giving to us in these verses. In each of these contrasting priorities, Jesus is calling us to make the choice to have an unswerving loyalty and commitment to the priorities and values of God's kingdom over that of the world. And because of that, he wants us to understand that we cannot have both. We cannot have both. We are to make a choice, but he is saying, choose the right one. This morning we're only gonna be looking at the first of these three pairs of contrasting priorities. In Matthew chapter six, verses 19 through 21, as you see in your bulletin on your sermon notes, I want us to look at three truths, three truths regarding the first pair of contrasting priorities. The first truth. The first truth is this. I call it our treasures on earth are temporary. Our treasures on earth are temporary. Jesus commands in the first part of verse 19, look what he says. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Now stop there. The one Greek word translated store up means to acquire, to collect. to stockpile something. If we're storing it up, we're basically, we're collecting, we're acquiring it, we're stockpiling it, we're storing it up. The word treasures here primarily refers to material wealth, money and possessions. That's the larger context that Jesus is talking about in this passage. and the whole of 19 through 24. However, it's a broad term. It can include anything, anything in our lives that we highly prize and value. And God is concerned about our heart attitude towards that, as we will see. The phrase on the earth speaks not only of the location of these treasures, We live on the earth and in everything we stockpile is here, but not only location, but kind of treasures. We're gonna see that heavenly treasures can also be stored up while we're here on earth. We can store them up in heaven. Now I believe it's important to understand right at first that Jesus is not prohibiting, he's not forbidding or condemning wealth. That's not what he's doing. Money in itself is not sinful. It's not incompatible with a holy life. He isn't saying to sell all that we have and then to become homeless. That's not what he's saying. Many godly people in the Bible were very wealthy. Abraham, Job, David, Josiah, Joseph of Arimathea, who gave his tomb for Jesus to be buried in, very wealthy. Lydia, Philemon, and again, and there's others. In reality, most of us in America are wealthy in comparison. Again, in comparison. We're all at different places. But we are all wealthy in comparison to the way much of the world lives. If you've ever been to a third world country, if you've ever gone outside the borders, you see that America is very wealthy in comparison. Now the scripture does not prohibit us having personal property, nor does it forbid the possession of goods and riches, provided that they are acquired honestly and used properly. For the scripture makes clear in Deuteronomy 8, 18, that God is the one who gives power to make wealth. If we've been able to make wealth, that's because God has allowed us to do that. God's word tells us to work hard, to follow good business practices. Proverbs chapter six, verses six through eight says that it is wise to save for the future. And the whole focus of that passage is praising the ant, that little bug. It's praising the ant for storing in the summertime the food it will need in the winter. Paul declares, that if anyone will not work, neither let him eat. And that if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. God is not forbidding making money. God even encourages us to gratefully receive and enjoy all of the good things that he has given, as we see in 1 Timothy 4. However, what Jesus is prohibiting here is materialism. That's what he's putting his finger on. Prizing earthly treasures above all else, especially him and his rightful place in our heart. Money itself is not the problem. It is the love of money that's the problem. Love of money, the love of things, the love of stuff. Verse Timothy six and verse 10 says, for the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Now we can still love money even though we don't have any. Do you know that? We can still love money even though we don't have it because our heart, our mind is thinking about it, trying to figure out how can I get it, what do I need? Again, we're not talking about the necessities here in this passage. We're talking about luxuries. Materialism is to love wealth. It is greed and covetousness and is always wanting more. And when we accumulate earthly treasure simply for our own sake, for our own sake, whether to hoard it or to spend it selfishly and extravagantly, those things become idols in our lives, in our hearts. We're gonna look at that later. Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 verse 15, beware, be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions. Even when you've got it all, It's not enough. That's not what life is all about. Your life does not consist of possessions. And we see the reason Jesus prohibits the storing of earthly treasures in the second part of verse 19. Look what he says. Where moth and rust destroy. And where thieves break in and steal. In ancient times, wealth was frequently measured in part by the expensive clothing that people wore. Again, they had all kinds of different clothing, especially that which was wool, was especially valuable. They would lace it through with gold and silver. They did all kinds of things. It was an heirloom that they could hand down to their family. But see, all of these could be destroyed overnight by a little teeny moth. Books, scrolls, and property were also earthly treasures. But the same bookworm that destroyed books could render the fact that you had a title to a piece of property, it could ruin that. It could render it illegible and therefore bring the person's ownership into question. Wealth was also held in animals and herds as well as grain. Again, they didn't have a lot of things that we have today. The word rust literally means eating. It means eating. The word refers not only to the threat of corrosion and tarnishing of precious metals. I remember one time years ago when I was in Alabama, I was going through the house, I was trying to fix everything. I took off all of the bathroom faucets and I put them in a little thing of CLR. Use that. Well, I never read the actual, the back of it. I just thought, well, the longer you leave it in there, the better it's going to be, the cleaner it's going to be. Well, I came back, I think a week or two later, there was no faucets. It ate all of the metal. There was just a little granules in the bottom. Corrosion, tarnishing is something that eats the metal. But also in this case, I believe Jesus is talking about the threat of valuable flocks and herds being eaten by wild animals. Or valuable crops and stored grain being eaten by the birds, by rats, by mice, locusts, insects. Again, the point is, everything earthly is at stake. The further threat was that earthly treasures could be stolen. Look what Jesus says. And where thieves break in and steal. There were no banks back then. No bank, you just take your money and put it in a safety deposit box. Valuables were usually stored or buried in a person's house or out in their field somewhere where they had a secret place. But thieves could break in and steal. Ever had your house broken into? Years ago, I came home from church and the door was unlocked. Well, I never leave my door unlocked. So I knew something wasn't right. Anyway, got in there, the house was all in disarray, certain things were gone. You feel violated. That's what happens. Thieves can break in and steal valuable things. The one Greek word here translated break-in literally means dig through, dig through. It describes a thief digging through the clay walls of a house. Back then they had walls made of clay, kind of sun-dried clay, and the thieves would dig through it to get inside. Or it could talk about digging up the dirt in the field to steal the family wealth. Nothing we own, nothing we own is completely safe from destruction or theft. Even today, our money can be lost by inflation. Again, we know our government is trying to fight off recession or those who live during the 20s, a depression. It can be destroyed by fire, all kinds of things. can put our money in threat. And even if we are fortunate, even if we're fortunate to keep our earthly treasure somewhat secure during our whole entire lifetime, even if we're fortunate to do that, we will take none of it with us when we die. It's all gone. from us anyway, it's gonna go elsewhere. Ecclesiastes 5.15 correctly states, as he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. And again, we see that in various places. in the word of God. Job 121, basically saying the same thing. Luke chapter 12, verses 16 through 21. Again, the rich fool who said, I'm gonna build bigger barns to put all my stuff in. And then I'm gonna just sit back, eat, drink, be merry. Well, God said, you fool. Tonight, your soul is taken from you. You see in 1 Timothy 6, 7 as well. The central fact about all of our earthly treasures is that they are all temporary. They're all temporary. Proverbs 23, four and five says, do not wear yourself to gain wealth. Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies towards the heavens. And because all of these are temporary, they cannot satisfy our eternal soul. Temporary, temporal things can't satisfy our eternal soul. Ecclesiastes 5.10 declares, he who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. It cannot do what it promises. One of the wealthiest men in the world, John D. Rockefeller, lamented, I had made many millions, and he ended up being a billionaire, but he says, I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness. You'd think that somebody like that, who's got everything, who can get anything he wants, would be ecstatic. He said, I'm not happy. Benjamin Franklin rightly said, and I quote, money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There's nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and triples that want another way. You can't ever get enough, end quote. Now, Franklin was not a Christian, he was a deist. But again, what he said is absolutely true. This is because only Jesus Christ can satisfy our eternal soul. And living in accordance with his word, his will is his word. Although not bad in themselves, earthly treasures are all temporary. They're transient, they're corruptible. They will not last. Therefore, we must choose not to put our trust and our security in them. We must choose not to spend our lives accumulating and stockpiling earthly treasures. Jesus laying that out so we can see clearly that's not the choice to make. This brings us to the second truth about these two treasures, which is this. Our treasures in heaven are eternal. Our treasures in heaven are eternal. In stark contrast to earthly treasures, notice what Jesus commands here in verse 20. But, in contrast to that, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Stop there. Since everything that we are, everything that we have, comes from God and it belongs to Him, we as believers are merely stewards. We're stewards of what God has entrusted to us. We're not owners. And we might have the title deed to our car, our house, our property. We may have all kinds of different possessions. From God's perspective, all we are is stewards. The whole earth, everything that it contains belongs to God. We're just stewards of what he has entrusted to us. And as stewards, we will give an account for our stewardship. Therefore, we must be good and faithful stewards of everything that we have. our life, our time, our energy, our talents, our spiritual gifts, and whatever material wealth that he has given to us. The central issue is what we do with what we have. That's the issue that Jesus is bringing out in this passage. Whereas our material wealth has absolutely no spiritual value in itself. We can be a millionaire and whatever all that means is it has no spiritual value in itself. However, when we choose to invest it to serve others and to further the Lord's work, we are storing up treasures in heaven. This is the only investment with eternal dividends. The only investment. with eternal dividends. It's our obedience to God in all areas of our lives and the righteous acts the Lord accomplishes through us by His grace and for His glory that brings eternal rewards. And we saw that, just some of those, in the previous passage in verses one through 18. No wonder Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter six, Verses 17 and 18, instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. and struck them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. Whereas Jesus already said that these things that we have is not life, Life, indeed, is when we look to God, we're trusting Him, we're living the way He wants us to live. God's principle for His people, earning eternal dividends on our wealth, is seen in various passages. Proverbs 3, 9 and 10 says, honor the Lord from your wealth. And from the first of all your produce, So your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Again, that was a temporal true promise in the Old Testament times. Doesn't necessarily mean today in New Testament times that if we give this, now we're gonna get all this stuff. That's not what he's talking about. He's talking about putting our treasure in heaven. Again, we're gonna be earning eternal dividends on what we do. Jesus said in Luke chapter six, verse 38, give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. And then Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 9, 6, he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. You see, the greater investment, the greater the eternal dividends and rewards. Let me ask you this morning, are you living by God's kingdom priorities? Is that how you're living? Is that how you're handling whatever God has entrusted to you. Beloved, remember that whatever we selfishly hoard here, we lose. Whatever we hold onto here, we lose. But whatever we send ahead by generously investing with God, we gain eternally. And all of our heavenly treasures are safe from destruction. They're safe from theft, as we see in the second part of verse 20. Look what it says, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. It's safe. Heavenly treasures with eternal dividends are far superior to earthly treasures that will all be lost at some point. Absolutely nothing can destroy them or take them away because God himself is reserving them for us, our heavenly treasures. This absolute security should motivate us to make the right choice, to invest our material wealth wisely and generously with God. You know, there are many wealthy people who are spiritual paupers. And there are many poor people who are spiritually rich because they're choosing to, and that's between us and God, whatever we do give, but they're choosing to put their wealth in what God says is eternal. They're building up, they're storing up treasures in heaven. And then brings us to the third truth regarding these two treasures. It's this, I call it our treasures always reveal our heart. Our treasures always reveal our heart. Look at verse 21. Jesus says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Having used the plural yourselves in the previous two verses, don't store up treasures for yourselves, do store up treasures for yourselves. Again, in both of those previous two verses, The word yourselves was plural, but Jesus now uses the singular here in this verse, your, to again, apply his point to each one of us personally. He made broader statements, but now he's bringing it right home to each one of us. The word heart refers not to this physical pumper in our chest. That's not what he's talking about. The word heart in scripture is the most comprehensive word for our entire inner life. Our heart is the mission control center of our lives, including our mind, our will, our emotions, our conscience. It determines everything in our lives. Proverbs 23, seven, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What we think, the direction we choose to go, the behaviors we do, the words we say, those things that we choose to love, again, it all comes out of our heart. The word treasure here refers to the things that we most highly prize and value above all else and in which we have chosen, we have chosen to invest our lives. our energy. Our choices and actions are shaped by the things we most deeply cherish in our hearts. What is that for you? What do you most deeply cherish? Never forget that our most cherished treasures and our deepest heart desires are inseparably connected. They're inseparably connected. Therefore, we need to examine ourselves to see if our treasures and our hearts are focused on earthly treasures or they're focused on heavenly treasures. because it's impossible to have one on earth and the other in heaven. But know this, the location of our treasures indicates where our heart already is. If our treasures are on earth, that's where our heart already is. If our treasures are in heaven, that's where our heart already is. You see, our treasures always reveal our heart. Therefore, if our heart is right with Christ, then everything is right. We will use our wealth to store up treasures in heaven. But if our heart is selfish, if it's covetous, if it's self-indulgent, if it's only about us, I'm looking, I got a white knuckle grip holding on to my money, my investments, I gotta have this. Then we will use our wealth to store up treasures on earth. And if that is true, then there's a good reason to question where we really are in our relationship with Christ. Never forget that our heart truly belongs to what we most treasure, what we most treasure. Since we as believers are called to love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, a greedy and covetous love for material wealth is a form of idolatry. You see, an idol, an idol or a false god, it's a substitute for the one true God. An idol can be anything or anyone that is on the throne of our heart other than Jesus Christ. It can be anything that has taken title of our heart's love, trust, hope, dependence, Our heart's occupation, loyalty, service, fear, delight, anything that has taken that over is an idol. And you know what? Anything can become an idol in our lives. Anything, anyone. Even when legitimate things that we have become too important to us. They begin to rule our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviors. Those things can turn into an idol. John Calvin said correctly, and I quote, the human heart is an idol factory, end quote. We can make an idol out of anything because we put that before Jesus and what he wants for us. An idol is not only the greedy accumulation of wealth that we're holding onto in this passage that Jesus is prohibiting here. It can also be our spouse. It could be our children, our family, people's approval, physical appearance or health. It can be our career, fame, social status, our talents, our abilities, our IQ, anything, we can be holding onto that. The list goes on and on. If you want to get an idea of maybe what that is, ask yourself this question. If I only had blank, then, then I'd be happy. I'd be fulfilled. I'd be satisfied. I'd be content. I'd be whole. I'd feel secure. I'd feel solid. If I only had blank, You see, we're looking to that. We're believing that if I just had that, then I'd have soul satisfaction. My life would be right. You see, how we fill in the blank reveals what we truly treasure. whether we have that or not. Like I said, the love of money doesn't mean you have all this money. You can have that problem of love of money and not have any, and so you're driven to get it. If I only had money, if I only had possessions, if I only had this or that, then I'd feel good about myself. Here's some questions to ask yourself, again, to discern. If an idol is on the throne of your heart, Does it take most of your time and resources? Does it consume your thoughts? Do I obsess about it? Do I send to get what I want? Do I manipulate people or situations to get it? Do I bargain or nag or try to guilt trip somebody to obtain that? Here's the one I think is the best sign. How do I respond when I don't get it? When that which I believe I need is threatened? What is my emotional response? Do I get angry, depressed? Do I start worrying? Oh no, what's gonna happen? The economy is gonna collapse, I'm gonna lose everything. Am I in fear, worry, anxiety? Jesus says, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. We all must choose where our treasure will be, all of us. We all must choose where our treasure will be. Will it be on earth and be temporary? Or will it be in heaven and be eternal? Let me ask you this morning, where is your treasure today? Where is your treasure today? May we all make the choice to have an unswerving loyalty and commitment to the priorities and the values of God's kingdom over the world. And we show that by using our wealth to store up treasures in heaven for the glory of God. No matter where we've been, what we've done in the past, it's never too late, it's never too late to start investing in eternity.