Treasure in Earth or Heaven?

Matthew 6:19-29

With a sweep of His hands, the Lord Jesus Christ brushed aside the righteousness of the Pharisees. He said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:20).

In chapter 6, the Lord showed that not only their interpretation of the Law but also their practice of the Law was erroneous.

In Matthew 6, the Lord showed that the Pharisees’ idea of wealth was not true. He said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (vv. 19-21).

The Pharisees were characterized not only by hypocrisy, but also by avarice (greed), or covetousness. The two go hand in hand. An earlier example of this is recorded in I Samuel 2. The two sons of the high priest, Eli were men of responsibility in the religious life of Israel. But they were hypocrites, and this manifested itself in greed. The Law had provided that a priest was to be supplied food from the offerings brought to the Lord. But the offering was the Lord’s offering and belonged to Him. The priest was permitted to have the breast and the right thigh, according to Leviticus 7:30-35. But Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, demanded that, before the offering was offered to the Lord, they be permitted to select a portion that pleased them; then the remainder was to be offered to the Lord. They were covetous. They were greedy. They were hypocritical. “The sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for the men abhorred the offering of the Lord” (I Sam. 2:17). They presided at the sacrifice but had no respect for sacrifice and the God to whom it was offered.

The Pharisees had become a class of people characterized by hypocrisy and greed. Their attitude toward material things finds its roots in Deuteronomy 28. at the conclusion of the forty years’ wilderness experience, God brought Israel again to the border of the Promised Land. God through Moses laid down the principle by which He would deal with the nation: “It shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and do all His commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deut. 28:1-2). Before He commanded the blessings, God stated the principle that obedience to the reveal Word and conformity to the righteous standards of His holiness would bring blessing upon His people. We discover that these blessings are all material ones: “Blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy herd, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shalt be they basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out” (Deut. 28:3-6). Material blessings were promised when they came into the Promised Land, if they walked in obedience to the requirements of the Word of God.

God laid down the principle of discipline for disobedience, between verse 15 and the conclusion of Deuteronomy 28. “It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statues which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shalt be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of they body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy Kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out (vv. 15-19). With many other words Moses admonished the people laying before them the principle that righteousness would bring divine blessing, but disobedience would bring divine judgment.

On the basis of this principle the Pharisees built a system in which they sought to enrich themselves by doing things the Law demanded. The Pharisee, as our Lord said in Matthew 6, gave to the poor, prayed incessantly, and fasted twice a week. But he did it not because that was the righteousness of the Law; he did it to obtain material prosperity from God. He wanted to bind God to pour out blessing on him because of his righteousness. The Pharisees misapplied a scripture verse to convey their concept toward material possessions: “Whom the Lord loveth, He maketh rich.” The acquisition of material wealth because the greatest goal in life for the Pharisees. It was a sure sign their righteousness satisfied God and that God had rewarded them by pouring material blessing upon them.

Solomon sought to deter the nation in their pursuit of this philosophy in Proverbs 23:4, “Labor not to be rich,” that is, do not make it the goal of your life to obtain riches. Then Solomon explained why he had given this warning, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent” (I Sam. 28:20). Solomon recognized that a man whose goal is to accumulate material wealth will ultimately stoop to any means to attain that goal. He will defile himself in the sight of God to reach his own ends.

In spite of these warnings, Luke 16:14 records, “The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.” Moses had given a commandment to safeguard the children of Israel against greed; he said in Exodus 20:17, “Thou shalt not covet.” Whether the covetousness was of a neighbor’s wife, a neighbor’s land, a neighbor’s house, or a neighbor’s material wealth, the prohibition was there. But the Pharisees, despising the Law, had perverted His righteousness in their avariciousness. Because they were covetous, they rejected His message. To those who have a wrong concept of wealth, our Lord spoke concerning true wealth: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.”

The phrase “upon earth” is significant. This earth was created by God, and when He had finished His creation He looked at it and saw that it was good (Gen. 2:31). God placed man upon this earth, and man rebelled against Him. Because of his rebellion, he came under divine judgment, which extended not only to the creature who had sinned but also to all creation. The earth was cursed when Adam sinned, which means the gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds –earth’s treasures- are under the curse.

Peter said that divine judgment one day will fall upon this earth and it will be destroyed by fire (II Peter 3:7, 10, 12). Out of the ashes of this judged earth, according Revelation 21, God will create new heavens and new earth, wherein will divine righteousness. The fact emphasized is that all earth is under a curse and subject to divine wrath and will one day be destroyed. When a man accumulates what is of the earth, he accumulates that which by its very nature is temporary, with no abiding worth.

Our Lord used three graphic figures in Matthew 6:19 to emphasize the temporary nature of material things. He spoke first of the moth, which destroys. Then he spoke of rust, which cause decay. Then he referred to the thief, who steals. What men give their lives to may be destroyed or decayed and ultimately will depart forever.

Contrary to that, our Lord said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matt. 6:20). Although the earth is under divine judgment, no sins comes into the presence of God, and there is neither defilement nor destruction. No adversary can come to cause true riches to depart. So He invited men, as an evidence of true righteousness, to seek true wealth, to lay up permanent treasures in heaven.

The Lord Jesus recognized that a man’s goals determine the course of his life, and the end to which men press determines the character of life. He said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). What a man loves he pursues, and the preeminent love of a man’s life determines the course of his life. If, in covetousness and greed, we pursue what is earthly, corrupt, and transitory, our conduct in life will never manifest a righteousness pleasing to God. Only when we have a new goal and attitude toward material things will our life conform to the standards of holiness given in the Word of God.

Our Lord did not condemn wealth, but He warned against loving wealth. Our Lord was not concerned with what a man has, but with a man’s attitude toward what he has. The Scriptures does not condemn the accumulation of wealth but, when God gives a man wealth, He holds him responsible as a steward. Our Lord did not say we should give away everything we have and put ourselves on welfare. What He said was, “Guard your affections.”

We might ask ourselves, “What is treasure in heaven?” The Word of God makes it very clear what Christ had in mind. Paul stated in I Timothy 6:6 what constitutes true wealth. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” We may paraphrase this, “Godliness with contentment is a man’s greatest treasure,” or godliness is heavenly wealth.” Paul also showed that material wealth is temporary: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (vv. 7-8).

The well known phrase, you can’t take it with you, has a biblical foundation— we brought nothing in, and we take nothing out when we leave. Paul emphasized that material things are related to this life and have no relationship to the life to come.

How little of this principle the Pharaohs of Egypt knew. In the Cairo Museum, you might see the treasures of almost incompatible worth taken from the tombs of the kings. This vast wealth was buried with the pharaohs, for they hoped to carry along with them to a future life what they had so richly enjoyed on earth. But the pharaohs are gone, and they left their riches behind. Our museums are enriched because they sought to take their wealth along but could not. The biblical principle is, “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”

Paul spoke of the dangers facing the wealthy, “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare” (I Timothy 6:9). He did not say, those who are rich, but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and into many foolish lusts, which will drown them in destruction. “The love of money is the root of all evil” (I Tim. 6:10). Paul did not say that money is the root of all evil, but that the love of it is. A man can have wealth, can surround himself by material things, but still not make wealth the goal of his life. But he cannot love those things without making them a controlling factor in his life. Therefore, Paul warned against the desire to be rich and a love of what has already been accumulated, “which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (v. 10).

Then Paul came to the conclusion of what he wanted to teach about godliness being a man’s wealth, and defined for us what is heavenly treasure: “But thou, O man of God, flee these things (covetousness, lust, avarice, greed, love of material things]; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (v. 11). These are things God counts as heavenly treasures, the things a man does not leave behind when he comes into the presence of the Father. They are the things he sends on ahead to prepare a gracious entrance into the Lord’s presence. These virtues are called, in Galatians 5, “the fruit of the Spirit,” and it is that fruit Paul called a man’s “great gain.” Our Lord called it treasure in heaven and He warned against loving what is earthly and ignoring what is heavenly.

We can be deceived by our own affections. We can love money and at the same time disavow any interest in it. we can lust after the material while claiming to be spiritually minded. Only the Spirit of God, Who searches the heart, is capable of revealing our motives, our goals, and our love so they are brought into line with the teaching of the Word of God. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.” Earthly treasure is not true wealth; true wealth is godliness.