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Lansing SDA Church

David Shin

Treasure in Heaven

Our message this morning is entitled, Treasure in Heaven.

And I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to our Scripture reading, Matthew chapter 6, verse 19 through 21.

Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 is the greatest sermon that was ever preached in history, I would argue.

It was spoken from the lips of God himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And we will go into the heart of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, 19-21, will be our passage of study here this morning.

Jesus says the words, do not lay up for yourselves treasure on where on where Jesus said do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break through and steal." Jesus here is giving financial advice.

He's giving investment advice about where we should invest our resources.

This is not Fidelity, Edward Jones, or T.

This is the divine blueprint for where we should make our investments.

Did you know the Bible gave us financial advice?

He's talking about investments and with every investment there are risks and returns.

Those 2 components are in every investment risk and return.

Jesus is giving us some financial advice and he starts out by saying, do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth.

If you're there at the first century you'd probably be thinking, Jesus, if we're not going to put it on planet earth, tell me please where I should put it because that's the only way or the only place, the only means that I can place my resources.

This was prior to the time of space travel.

Jesus said don't put your treasure on earth because if you invest in certain things the Bible says that moth will destroy it.

You ever taken a sweater and placed it in a drawer forgotten about it and pulled it out and it's just eaten with moths.

If you invest in anything made of clothing material or cloth, the moths will destroy.

Then someone else says, oh I'm not going to invest in fabric, I'm not going to invest in clothing, I'm going to invest in something that moths cannot eat, I'm going to invest in metal.

Well Jesus goes on in his financial advice, if the moths don't get to it, then rust will destroy.

All of the vehicles that are represented here today in 20 maybe 30 years, mine included, will probably look like this.

The moment you drive it off that lot, it depreciates exponentially in value.

And every year, the more miles you place on it, it decreases in value.

An investment is something you buy and that it appreciates and gives back more in return.

And some people invest in metal and Jesus says that invest in cloth, moss will destroy.

If you invest in metal, rust will destroy.

And then someone else says, you know what I'm gonna invest in something that is so impervious to rust or even to moss, I'm going to invest in something that is so long-lasting, never changing, perhaps like diamonds.

Well, Jesus finishes off His statement and says, listen, if the moss don't get it, if the rust doesn't get it, then the thieves will get to it as well.

Even if you have electronic investment, we have hackers that can go online and literally drain your assets.

That is the thesis of what Jesus is saying.

You will not get a good return on your investment because of the high risk.

And then Jesus goes on, you know his saying, he says we should place our treasure not on earth but in heaven because in heaven we don't have these things we don't have moths that destroy we don't have rust that destroy and praise the Lord when we get to heaven, everyone be honest.

We don't have to lock your cars or your homes anymore.

Can you imagine going about life not having to always check your back pocket for your wallet?

The lack of fear, just with that element alone, just thinking about it, for me, it's liberating.

Jesus said, make your investment in heaven, not on Earth.

I'd like to talk a little bit about simple consumer economics for a moment.

I don't know if that's a proper illustration.

But when I walk into a store, I head straight for the sales rec.

And then I go home and then I go on eBay and look for a used jacket just like that and I love a deal.

Some people don't like used things but I don't mind.

Now the composition of a good deal goes like this.

You get more in return than what you paid.

In other words, the value of it is like this and then what you gave is something like this.

You get more in return than what you put in.

You bought something and then later on you recognize it, oh you should have bought it somewhere else.

You buy something and then you look at the sale that takes place the day after, 50% off, and you're like oh and then you look at the fine print, you can't return that item.

You bought something that was worth this much, but you paid this much.

But what if you paid for something that cost you dearly?

Furthermore, it cost you so much that it changed your life forever.

But in your mind you believe that it was worth it even if everyone around you thinks you've lost your mind.

Have you ever sacrificed for someone, perhaps it's your children, you've invested in them, you are pouring your life and your resources into them, and everyone around you is thinking like, have you lost your mind?

But you can't call that a good deal because you've invested dearly.

You can't call it a bad deal because the person is worth so much, especially in the eyes of God.

What we call it is a worthwhile sacrifice.

The Bible gives an illustration of a treasure that's hidden in a field.

It's not his field and suddenly his plow hits something that sounds like a rock, but it's a little bit different and He hits it and then he stops he pulls away the dirt And he sees something that a little bit like a container and he pulls it back and it's a treasure chest.

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Treasure in Heaven

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