Treasures In Heaven

In Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven is breaking into reality, establishing a beachhead of the new creation.

Here's our choice. Will we keep investing our time, energy, and resources in the Kingdom of Earth, or will we get in early and invest in the Kingdom of Heaven? In Matthew chapter 6, we find three deep insights into what it means to invest in this way. We'll learn about two treasures, two eyes, and two masters.

Stay with us. From Chicago, welcome to The Moody Church Hour with Pastor Philip Miller. In a moment, a time of worship and teaching as we continue a series on the Upside Down Kingdom.

From the Sermon on the Mount, we'll learn about treasures in heaven. Here now is Pastor Philip along with worship leader, Tim Stafford. Hey, everybody. Welcome to The Moody Church. We're so glad you're here this morning.

Would you stand? We're going to give this service to the Lord in prayer as we begin. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning and we acknowledge that you are our treasure. The highest treasure we could ever want, ever need, ever have is you.

Father, forgive us for making other things, lesser things our treasures in life. We want to live for you. We want to live for your kingdom. We want to seek first your kingdom, your righteousness, you as a treasure above all else.

Come teach us to do this. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Today we have the might of Christ, God's very nature God. He lay aside His love, our glory He came down.

If you would watch the feet of common man, He would lay away. We have the might of Christ, God the very mighty God of love. Embrace the Father's will and find the Father still. Help me, help me, help me, help me.

Help me, help me, help me. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest praise. Therefore God, therefore God is all.

Therefore God, therefore God is all. The highest praise to the Lord God, always exalted Him. The highest praise to the Lord God, always exalted Him. The highest praise to the Lord God, always exalted Him.

The highest praise. Every knee on earth shall bow, and every tongue in heaven confess. And Jesus Christ is Lord, let every heart adore, let every voice proclaim His name. Every knee on earth shall bow, and every tongue in heaven confess. And Jesus Christ is Lord, let every heart adore, let every voice proclaim His name. And Jesus Christ is Lord. He is Lord, He is Lord, He humbled Himself, and He is Lord.

Would you stand as we adore Him and worship that name this morning? Fairest Lord Jesus, Lord of all nature, O thou of God, make them the Son. Be with thy shepherds, be with thy young men, thou my soul's glory strong and proud. And there are no better ways, there is still a room on earth to hold in your glory our God's dream.

Jesus is better, Jesus is the owner who makes the whole world hard to see. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, Son of God, bless the one who came. Glory and honor, saints of all creation, thou have forever born.

He is Lord. Should nothing of our efforts send no legacy survive, Lord, let praise the house in faith build a strength to you. Oh, tomorrow's day, tell me what is your life, A bliss that vanishes at dawn, O glory be to Christ. Oh, glory be to Christ, my King, Oh, glory be to Christ, His joy and grace will never sink, Oh, glory be to Christ, His will be done, His kingdom come on earth as it is above. Who is himself our daily bread, Praise the end for your love. We're living water satisfied, A bursting wind of wise, We'll take the cup of God's sake, O glory be to Christ, O glory be to Christ, our King, O glory be to Christ, His joy and grace will never sink, Oh, glory be to Christ. And on the day by the way I am, The faithful and the true, The Lamb who was born sinner's way, His name always knew me, We, O our God, shall live with us, And be our steadfast side, And we shall end in peace, O glory be to Christ, O glory be to Christ, our King, O glory be to Christ, His joy and grace will never sink, O glory be to Christ, O glory be to Christ, our King, O glory be to Christ, His joy and grace will never sink, O glory be to Christ.

O glory be to Christ, our King, O glory be to Christ, His joy and grace will never sink, O glory be to Christ. I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord I exalt Thee, I exalt Thee, O Lord When Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb in 1879, it was a game changer, right? A breakthrough event, a market disruptor. Imagine with me for a moment if you were an executive at an oil lamp company in 1879. And this newfangled lightbulb comes on the scene and you're like, who needs them, you know?

We've got on just fine with oil as long as I can remember, it was good enough for grandma, it's good enough for me. It's just a fad, it'll come and go, just trust me, wait and see. Or imagine if you were a manager at the Kodak film company when people started talking about these filmless digital cameras. Or let's say you were an editor at one of the major newspapers and you started hearing rumors about something called social media that was going to forever change how content is distributed. In these breakthrough moments, these game changing events, these market disruptions, most people double down on what's familiar, don't they?

They're slow to adapt to the new realities at hand and they miss the moment. But if you're a savvy investor and you see the breakthrough moment, you understand its opportunity, the potential and you get in early, it can be a huge advantage. Because in a breakthrough moment, you've got to get in on it early if you want to reap the rewards, right? Now friends, the coming of Jesus Christ is the greatest breakthrough moment the world has ever seen. It's an utter game changer.

It is a cosmic disruption event. In Matthew 4.17, Jesus says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Stop everything you're doing.

Stop the way you're living, the whole way you're doing your life. Turn it around. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's right here. It's on offer. Just reach out, take my hand.

It can be yours. Come to me, believe in me, follow me and step into the abundant life of the kingdom of heaven. Because in Jesus, friends, the kingdom of heaven is breaking through into reality. It's established a beachhead of the new creation and Jesus is inviting you and me, each one of us, to follow him into this game changing reality. Into this cosmic disruption, into this breakthrough moment and it's the opportunity of a lifetime. You have a chance to get in on the ground floor of the greatest kingdom the world will ever see in this breakthrough moment. And each one of us has a choice. Will we keep on investing our time and our energy and our resources in the kingdom of earth?

Or will we see this breakthrough for what it is? Will we understand the opportunity that's before us? Will we get in early and invest our time, talent and treasure, invest our lives in the kingdom of heaven?

Because in a breakthrough moment like this, you've got to get in on it early if you want to reap the rewards. So I don't know about you, but I want in and Jesus is going to show us the way to invest this morning. So grab your Bibles, we're going to be in Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 down to 24. It feels like these three paragraphs have nothing to do with each other, but they're all related.

I'm going to show you that this morning. Matthew 6 verse 19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money. Thanks be to the Lord for the reading of his word. So these three paragraphs each, if you notice, have a contrasting pair. We've got the two treasures, we've got the two eyes, and we have the two masters. That's our outline for this morning.

Simple, descriptive. Two treasures, two eyes, two masters. Each one of these pairs shows us deep insights into what it means to invest ourselves and our lives in the kingdom of heaven.

As we get ready to jump in, would you bow your heads? Let's pray together. Father, we ask that you would disrupt our world this morning.

The way we live, the way we spend, the way we invest, the way we live our lives. Bring it all under the reality of the kingdom of heaven and the power and lordship of Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name and for his sake. Amen.

Amen. So first, the two treasures, the two treasures. In some ways, Jesus is taking on the role here of an investment advisor. You're sitting down, I have these assets, what should I do with them, Jesus?

He's going to give you some advice. Well, first of all, verse 19, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. So literally, do not stockpile treasures for yourselves on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. I don't recommend that particular investment vehicle.

It's too short-sighted, it's too fragile, it's too prone to losses. Okay, well then, where would you allocate the resources, Jesus? Verse 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. I want you to invest where it's durable, right?

Where it'll last. Why, Jesus? Why do you care so much about our resources and our investing of our lives and everything that we have? Verse 21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Jesus is saying, look, if you're thinking about stockpiling treasures on earth, what would that look like? Big houses, big fat bank accounts, diversified portfolios, asset management.

If you want to spend your life playing that game, Jesus says, I'd advise against it. First of all, because it's bad for your investments. Because your investments are vulnerable.

They can be devoured, they can be corroded, they can be pilfered. You know, you save up something and all of a sudden inflation comes along and erodes your earning power. Or the recession comes and devours a huge chunk of your nest egg. Or hackers come in and loot your cryptocurrency holdings.

I read the news. And it's temporary. You can't take any of this stuff with you. Remember, you're a soul. You're made for eternity. And none of this stuff ports from this world into the next.

None of it matters an ounce in the light of eternity. In heaven, they paved the roads with gold. The whole point, look, your most protected asset strategy is pavement in the new creation.

You just walk on it, okay? It's all shadows and dust, this stuff. But my bigger concern, Jesus would say, is the second thing here is it's bad for your heart. Not just is it bad for your investments, it's bad for your heart. Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And if you tether your heart to these vulnerable, temporary, earthbound treasures, you are setting yourself up for a soul-wrenching ride. Because our treasure is our trajectory.

Our treasure is our trajectory. Jesus says, look, if the treasure of your life is an earthly one, if that's where you find significance, like I matter because I got all this stuff, or if that's where you find security, like I know I'm safe because I've got this stuff, or if that's where you find satisfaction in life, like I'm fulfilled because I got stuff, if that's where your heart is tethered, the trajectory of your soul is heart-wrenching, soul-wrenching, because you'll never have enough to prove to the world how much you're worth. Someone will always have more than you. And you'll always be anxious about losing what you do have.

You'll never feel safe. And all the things you buy will never really make you fulfilled and happy in the end. You'll be on to the next thing before you know it. And wealth isn't the only kind of earthly treasure we can live for. Our hearts might lay up treasure in all kinds of things.

We might treasure popularity, or power, or celebrity, or beauty, or intellect, or athleticism, or fashion, or politics. And all of it, friends, all of it, all of it is unstable. All of it is transient. All of it is fragile. All of it is fleeting, and unreliable, and temporary. And if you live, if you put the weight of your life on the foundation of all these kinds of earthly treasures, tapping your significant security and satisfaction in these things, it'll swell your heart whenever you're on the way up, and it will crush your heart on the way down, because you can't hold on to it forever. Earthly treasures make our hearts anxious when we have them, because we can lose them. And it makes our hearts depressed, and angry, and jealous, and bitter when we don't have them. And in the end, we can't take any of it with us. And where will our hearts be then? You see?

Jesus says in Matthew 16, 26, for what will it profit a man or a woman if they gain the whole world and forfeit their souls? But if you invest instead, instead of earthly things, in heavenly treasures, heavenly treasures are different. They're durable. They're incorruptible. They're secure. They're lasting. They're resilient.

They're strong. They're enduring. If your heart is tethered to heavenly treasures, you get an entirely different trajectory. Your life can be unwavering, and resilient, and steadfast, and forever. If the treasure of our life isn't earthly but heavenly, if that's where we find our significance, that we matter, because God Himself knows our name, because we're children of God with an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade that is kept in heaven for us forever, if that's where we find our security, that we're safe, we're forever held in the loving arms of our Father, who will never leave us and never forsake us, who has sealed us by the Holy Spirit and keeps us for His Son, Jesus Christ, for all time and eternity. If that's where we find our satisfaction, then we're fulfilled, because we've tasted and seen that the Lord is good, that in His presence, our fullness of joy, at His right hand, our pleasures forevermore.

And even now, Jesus is preparing a place where we will forever be with the Lord in the presence of His ever-expansive joy, always inviting us further up and further in for all eternity. Friends, a heart tethered to that kind of treasure can weather all kinds of storms in life. It's like ballast in the bottom of the boat that keeps you steady in the chaos of the waters around you, resilient, steadfast, hope-filled, enduring. Jesus says, look, choose your life's treasure wisely, because your treasure is your trajectory.

Your treasure is your trajectory. It's the two treasures. Next, let's look at the two eyes. Verse 22, the eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. Now, this is an ancient, idiomatic expression, and it simply does not translate very well into our modern-day setting, does it? At first glance, it's really a bit confusing, but let's see if I can shed some light on it. See what I did there? Okay.

All right. In first century Judaism, the eye was considered something like a two-way window between the inner person and the outer world. So the eyes did two things. The first thing, the eyes let the light of the world on the outside in. You let the light in, so you see with your eyes.

You're taking in reality. You're drinking in the world as it really is so that you can navigate it, and if you have a healthy eye, you can see the light comes in, you can be sure-footed in life. You can act in wise ways because you see the light.

But if your eye is bad, if it's clouded, if it's blinded, then you spend your life unable to see, and you're prone to maybe stumbling around. So that's one way the eye works. The other way is that the eyes also let the light of the inner person out.

It's interesting. If you think about it, the eye reveals what's going on inside someone. If you want to know if someone's lying, where do you look? You look at their eyes, don't you?

And you go, I don't know about this guy. If you want to know if someone is pleased, if they're angry, if they're worried, if they're confused, if they're disappointed, you look at their eyes. Have you ever seen someone smile with their mouth but not with their eyes? You're just...

Right? The eye doesn't lie. The eye shows what's going on on the inside.

Salespeople know to watch the eyes of their customers. What are they drawn to? What are they attracted by? What are they gazing on? What are they longing for?

What are they desirous of? And a salesperson, a good salesperson, can tell what your heart wants by watching your eyes. And the eyes can stir up the inside of us if you think about it.

What they attend to, what they linger on, what they gaze after. A healthy eye looks on the world with generous love and is therefore full of light. But a bad eye looks on the world with greed and lust and discontentment and is therefore full of darkness. The ancient Semitic peoples called this the evil eye. The evil eye. That's the phrase exactly that Jesus is using here. It is the greedy eye, the lustful eye, the ravishing, wanting, desirous, selfish eye. It's the eye that's always out for whatever it can get. Jesus is saying there's two ways to live in the world. Two ways to see in the world. You can walk through life with an eye to take whatever you can get for yourself. Money, sex, power, fame, stuff. If that's what you're fixated on, if that's what your eye lingers on, if that's what you're staring at, your eye is actually bad. It's greedy and selfish.

It's not to be trusted. You're actually stumbling around in the darkness if your eye is like that, tripping all over the place and you're ruining your life. And all that darkness is messing you up, not just on the outside but on the inside as well because the darkness has got inside you.

And it distorts your soul and it deadens your spirit and it darkens your sight. And you go through life living like an orphan, fending for yourself, living on your own, taking whatever you can get to survive. Or you can walk through life like a child of God with an eye for what you can give to the world. Instead of looking to your own interests only, you can also look to the interests of others.

And you see the world is full of good gifts from your Father, who loves you and loves to give good gifts to His kids. And with your eyes wide open to the realities of heaven and earth, your eye is healthy, your whole being is full of light, and you're healthy and whole, illuminated on the inside, and you can live in a sure-footed way in reality because our beholding is our becoming. Our beholding is our becoming. Friends, what we see, what we savor, what we admire and adore and yearn after and long for and gaze upon and worship shapes the character of our inner life far more than we realize. Some of us will remember the 2005 commencement address that David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College. It kind of went viral before viral was an actual thing.

This is what he said in that commencement address, an excerpt. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there's actually no such thing as atheism. There's no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough.

You will never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. Worship power and you will end up feeling weak and afraid. And you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, and you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

Friends, do you hear what he's saying? He's saying we can't help but worship. We can't help but live for something bigger than ourselves. We can't help but keep our eyes from adoring something. But we do get to choose where we gaze.

We do get to choose what we worship. And Jesus says choose your life's focus wisely because your beholding is your becoming. Your beholding is your becoming. The two treasures, the two eyes, and now finally the two masters, the two masters. Verse 24, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Whatever we treasure in life, friends, draws our hearts in.

That's what Jesus is saying. Whatever we gaze upon in life shapes our souls profoundly. Whatever we worship in life will win our allegiance. Because our loyalty is our lifestyle. Our loyalty is our lifestyle. We serve what we seek. We live for what we long for.

And make no mistake, we're all giving our lives in service of something. If you want to live for your career, you will give much of your life to have it. If you want to live for wealth, you will give much of your life to have it. If you want to live for fame, you will give much of your life to have it. If you want to live for stuff, you will give much of your life to have it. It will master you. Hour by hour, day by day, week after week, year after year, you will trade your life, your precious one life, in exchange for a small pile of earthly treasures. It will cost you everything you have. But did you know that God is the only master who, when you serve Him with your life, you get your life back?

Did you know that? That God is the only master, that when you serve Him with your life, you actually get your life back. When you serve Him, you become a person of love, which is who you want to be anyway. When you depend on Him, you come alive as a child of God in a way you could never imagine. When you give yourself away to Him, you find yourself becoming fulfilled in ways you can't even dream of. When you lose your life in Christ, you find it.

You get it back. Every other master takes your life from you, but this master lays down his own life so that you might get your life back forever. It's utterly different. And notice how Jesus just takes away the middle ground. You can't serve God and money. You can't sit on the fence. You're going to have to choose. Most of us try to spend our lives not choosing.

We try to think, I just want a little wealth, a little success, a little getting ahead, a little earthly treasure. And I'll serve Jesus, too. And I'll just sort of try to do the dual reporting thing. And I'll have two bosses, two masters. I'll live with two treasures. And my eyes are split, one good, one bad. I'm going to try to just get a dual line here.

We have matrixes in all of our organizations, dotted lines everywhere. That's what I'm going to do spiritually. I'm going to report to multiple people. And Jesus says, when push comes to shove, you're going to have to choose. You can only have one ultimate treasure. Only one. One thing to live your life for. You can only have one undivided focus for your days.

You can only have one supreme loyalty before whom everything else comes underneath. And either you're going to live for the stuff of earth and try to find your significant security and satisfaction right here, right now in all this stuff. Or you're going to learn the brilliance of the kingdom of heaven that's right here. It's in our midst. It's on offer in Jesus Christ and we can step out and live into it today. We can find security, significance, satisfaction in the life of the kingdom of heaven. You can't have it both ways. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 19, 23, it's really hard for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Because of what it costs. So I just want to leave you with the question. What are you living for?

What are you living for? Remember the princess bride? Miracle Max. He gets the mostly dead Wesley. Such a great scene. Anyway, and he's putting in the little chocolate covered pill or whatever and he's trying to find out if there's anything worth living for. He asks and puts the bellows in his mouth.

He says, hey, you in there? What you got here that's worth living for? Right? Remember that? It's a really important question. It's like the high pinnacle point of philosophy in that movie.

Okay? What do you have here that's worth living for? That's the question. What are you living for? What deserves your days, your hours, your resources, your talents? What are you going to give yourself to? What is the treasure of your life? What is the focus of your days?

What is the devotion of your hours? Friends, in Jesus Christ, the kingdom of heaven is breaking through into reality. It's established a beachhead of the new creation and Jesus is inviting each one of us to follow him into this game changing reality. This cosmic disruption, this breakthrough moment as heaven comes down to earth.

It's the opportunity of a lifetime. To get in on what God is doing in Jesus Christ. To invest in the greatest kingdom the world will ever see.

It's a breakthrough moment. You have a chance to invest your time, your talent, your treasure in things that will last for eternity. What will you do with your one beautiful life?

What are you living for? Charles Thomas Studd was born in 1860, lived till 1931. He was born into a family with wealth and privilege.

In 1883, he graduated from Trinity College at Cambridge University. And then shockingly to the whole world, in 1885 decided to give his life away to bring the good news of Jesus to the nations. He went to China and joined up with Hudson Taylor and spent his days in an unknown, unrecognized, unsexy life. He ended up founding the World Evangelization Crusade, WEC, it's still going today. And he wrote a poem to explain to the world why he would do such a crazy thing with his one beautiful life. Two little lines I heard one day traveling along life's busy way, bringing conviction to my heart and from my mind would not depart. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one, soon its fleeting hours will be done.

Then in that day my Lord to meet and stand before his judgment seat. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, the still small voice, gently pleads for a better choice, bidding me selfish aims to leave and to God's holy will to cleave. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, a few brief years, each with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with its clays I must fulfill, living for self or in his will. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. When this bright world would tempt me sore, when Satan would a victory score, when self would seek to have its way, then help me Lord with joy to say, only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Give me Father a purpose deep in joy or sorrow thy word to keep, faithful and true whatever the strife, pleasing thee in my daily life. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Oh, let my love with fervor burn and live from the world, now let me turn, living for thee and thee alone, bring thee pleasure on thy throne. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes, only one, now let me say, thy will be done. And when at last I hear the call, I'll know, I'll say, t'was worth it all. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Let's pray. Oh Father, teach us to live for what matters, teach us to seek first the kingdom and all your righteousness, and trust that all this stuff of life will be added unto us. Give us a singular eye, a generous heart, a durable and lasting investment for our days. We give you ourselves, we hold nothing back, we are yours and yours alone. For Christ who was rich for our sake became nothing poor, so that we who were poor might in him become rich beyond our wildest dreams.

We are not our own, we are bought with a price. Only one life till soon be past, only what's done for Christ shall last. Amen. For our benediction today, just look at a verse that comes right after the section we were looking at. This is Matthew chapter 6 verse 33.

It's a great anchor to close with here. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. That's our priority, it's our life, it's who we are. Because we're loved more than we know, now let's go and be the church.

Have a great Sunday. On today's Moody Church Hour we heard Pastor Philip Miller telling us about treasures in heaven, how to make wise investments with eternal dividends. This has been the 19th in a 24 part series from the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew. On our next Moody Church Hour we turn to the topic of freedom from worry. Pastor Philip will tell us that Jesus hates worry and what it does to people. Worry is like a venom stealing our life.

The antidote is to remember that we exist in a God-created, God-sustained, God-filled, God-watched, God-loved, and God-kept universe. Make plans to join us. The Moody Church Hour is a listener supported ministry.

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