Sermon Tone Analysis

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and 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 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 the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.”

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I invite you to take a little test.

Just write down the answers to several questions, perhaps on a bulletin, or on a piece of paper, or even in the front of your Bible.

You may find it helpful to refer to your answers later if they are so conveniently located.

Now, for the test, write the answer to four questions.

/What one thing in your life would you most hate to be without/?

That is the first question.

The first thing to come to your mind is undoubtedly the correct answer.

/What one thing in your life brings you the greatest pleasure/?

Again, the first answer that comes to mind is likely the best answer.

/What thing in your life requires the most planning/?

As before, the first answer that comes to your mind is probably close to the best answer and should be written down.

/Where does your mind go when it is free to go anywhere it wishes/?

This is the final question; once again, write down the first thing to come to your mind.

Please hold your answers for later in the message.

No cheating, now.

Don’t go back and change any answers.

Leave them as you first wrote them.

Jesus taught extensively about the ministry of money.

If you were to collect all His teachings on the acquisition of wealth and on the use of wealth, you would discover that wealth was a major concern to the Master.

Money must be very important, since the Master spoke on the subject so frequently.

We know that one’s worth as a person is not determined by money, but the place money occupies in one’s life does reveal a great deal about the individual’s values.

The reason the individual is exposed by the view of money is that money can be such a powerful influence in an individual’s life.

Though money itself is neutral, the impact of money on the individual’s soul is powerful and persuasive.

Therefore, the way in which one uses wealth reveals his or her character.

In His “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus spoke about money.

Throughout the course of His earthly ministry, Jesus addressed so many truths concerning money that it is impossible to consider all that He taught in one message.

The words of the text expose our hearts.

Jesus’ words demand thoughtful consideration.

Join me in weighing the implications of one of the truths that He addressed in that message.

He probed our hearts when He addressed the issue of where our treasure is found.

*TWO TREASURIES* — “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus spoke of two treasuries.

Consequently, he spoke of two types of treasures.

At issue are those things which we value and our attitude toward those things we value.

What do you treasure?

What is it that you value above all else?

What you claim as your treasure is of little consequence; your life exposes your values.

Refer to the test you took just moments ago.

Your answers to the questions asked reveal what you treasure.

Your treasure is that item or person or object that you would most hate to lose.

Your treasure is what gives you your greatest pleasure.

Your treasure is what you spend the most time planning for and longing to be with.

Your treasure is identified by where your mind goes when it is free to go where it will.

Jesus spoke of two treasuries—one on earth and one in heaven.

The treasury of this earth of necessity contains only those things that are destined for dust.

The things identified with this life cannot survive the judgement.

They are destined to perish after they are used.

What sort of treasures do we hold that must disappear with use?

/Perhaps you treasure possessions/.

You evaluate your treasure in dollars and cents and speak of your acquisitions for this present age.

You follow the change in currency rates avidly or you read the stock indices carefully to know precisely when to sell or buy.

Your time is consumed with planning how to acquire still greater wealth, or perhaps you plan how to distribute what you have so that you will not be destitute at the last.

Many who bear the Name of Christ are careful to avoid being seen as greedy.

They would contend that their primary concern is security.

I will not speak against providing for one’s family.

We must have housing, but we each have perhaps more house than we can actually occupy.

In our modern world we would be foolish to be without transportation.

However, most of us don’t need to drive a car that is upgraded on an annual basis.

I counsel people to save against a rainy day, but so many have far more than an adequate savings plan.

I realise that we are responsible to plan for the eventuality of death, and thus we need to have sufficient insurance and provision for the day when our loved ones no longer have us to provide for them.

Security is commendable; it is reasonable.

I acknowledge that the Word of God instructs us to provide for our own families.

However, when “security” masks the desire to accumulate for the sake of accumulating, we must be confronted and reminded that we are moving toward divine condemnation.

We will do well to call to mind the admonition of the Apostle to the Gentiles.

“Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” [1 TIMOTHY 6:9, 10, 17-19].

Again, we know that the Word cautions, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” [HEBREWS 13:5].

Possessions must perish.

Whether securities or bonds, treasury bills or currency, whether precious metals or precious stones, all alike shall be burned up with this world.

The possessions which money buys must likewise perish.

Jesus speaks of moths and rust.

We know that He is reminding us that the things of this world are destined for dust.

Entropy—the second law of thermodynamics—ensures that all things must decrease in utilitarian value and become increasingly fragile and ultimately useless.

/Perhaps you treasure power/.

Earthly power is meaningless in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus rebuked Pilate, reminding him that he possessed no power except that which God had given.

You, also, have no power, except as God gives.

Whatever power you possess over others, in business or in the church, must be recognised as a stewardship.

You are responsible to employ that power to the glory of God, remembering that you also have a Master and to Him you must give an accounting [see COLOSSIANS 4:1].

/Perhaps you treasure position/.

We must be careful not to treasure that which is no treasure at all.

We Christians pay lip service to the Words of the Master, but we often reject those same words.

How are you doing with the Words of the Master as recorded in MARK 9:35?

“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Would your employees say you are a servant?

Would fellow worshippers say you are a servant?

Recall that when the disciples jostled for first place, arguing and pushing to advance themselves, Jesus cautioned them.

His words of caution still serve to put a brake on our own ambition for self-promotion.

“Jesus called them to him and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.