FIRST QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #6
FEBRUARY 11, 2023
“LAYING UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN”

 

As Jesus delivered the greatest sermon ever told to His disciples and the gathered crowd He shared the words on which this week's lesson focused:

"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” (Matthew 6:19-21, NKJV).

Jesus continues this teaching with a “therefore.”  “Therefore, do not worry,” He said. Do not be anxious about things. Don’t even let the basic necessities of life, food, water, and clothing, occupy the first place in your thinking. But instead, He implores, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:31-33).

You see, Jesus knew how easy it was for us to become preoccupied with our immediate surroundings, the pressing cares and desires that lay before us each day. He knew that these can easily crowd out the only thing that matters -- the only thing that would bring life.

In another place Jesus said it like this, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). And this teaching would come to life in a face-to-face encounter with a rich man.

You may notice that this rich young ruler came and asked Jesus a question that we all, at some point, have asked Him. Or if we haven’t, we will. “What must I do to be saved?” I’m wondering if in that question was also wrapped this thought:  What is the minimum requirement to be in, what boxes do I need to check off? Jesus gave Him a simple and to the point answer. Or was it? “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). After he told Jesus about the commandments he had done since he was young, Jesus answered him, speaking again of a treasure in heaven He had spoken of in that sermon on the mount, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 19:22).

Imagine that. Using your things and giving your stuff to help people is of more value in heaven than the golden pavers of its streets. Giving is a great treasure in Heaven's eyes and this is clearly demonstrated in the giving of Jesus.

We are told that this young man turned and went away sorrowfully (Matthew 19:22). The Bible does not tell us if he ever returned, but we are definitely left with the impression at that moment that the treasures that moth and rust could destroy were more important to this fellow than the treasure he would gain with Jesus.

What Jesus told the rich young man about this treasure brings clarity to “there your heart will be also.” What this rich man lacked, the one thing, was a heart that loved the Lord his God with “all.” “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Shema was a prayer he must have prayed nearly every day since he was a young boy. But praying Deuteronomy 6:5 everyday did not make the “all” of the Shema “all” in his heart. Notice the next verse. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). To love the Lord with all the heart was a promise that required an act of God to accomplish and it could only be prevented by resisting the promise.

A treasure is something that we highly value and that we would guard, cherish, and protect with great attention and care. And the question in this week's lesson should cause each of us to ask is “Where is my treasure?” Or to frame it a little differently, what do I treasure? What is that which I value most? What do I cherish above all else? What we do, what we invest in, and that for which we devote our time, energy, and resources are exhibit A as to the condition of our heart and what we truly treasure.

This week's lesson looks at Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Lot (as a negative example) and Moses as stories and examples to explore what it means to lay up treasure in heaven. And to the point -- the stories tell us Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses gave all while Lot did not. What that looked like, what brought them to that point, was as unique to each as their life experience. But the commonality of those that gave all is this. Life's experiences would bring each to a point where they would have to choose to continue to follow God with all or just some. They would have to believe and rely upon His provision and promise completely or incompletely.

For the rich young ruler, the things of God were not things he rejected or cast off. After all, Jesus was important enough for him to go out of his way to seek Him out. You see, his problem was not that he couldn’t give some. His problem was that he chose not to give all.

And something tells me that more devotion, more commandment keeping and more tithe paying would not make him more likely to eventually choose to give all. As a matter of fact, as each day that subsequently passed in continuing in outward actions while refusing inward renewal only hardened his heart more, and made it more difficult for him to say yes to the call of Jesus. The day that Jesus called him was the easiest day for him to respond compared to each day that would follow.

Now Paul gives us some insight as to what could break the spell of the rich young ruler:

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:2-4).

Paul gives the reason and motivation behind setting our minds above and not things on the earth. The compelling power comes by realizing and believing what was true for the Colossians and for us by virtue of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Paul put it this way to the Corinthians:

“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him Who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15).

Jesus was the reason. The infinite love of God manifested in Christ, the provision and promise proclaimed by His death and resurrection. All make a claim upon the heart and bring us to a threshold or tipping point in our life. When we see that God is all in for us, we then must decide. Are we all in or not? And to be all in is life and anything less will ultimately be death to us.

How did those discussed in our lesson give all? How did they have hearts for the things of the Kingdom? Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that it was by faith that Noah, Abraham, Joseph and Moses did all these amazing things for God. Their actions were the outworking of their faith and not the other way around.

How did they come to possess such a faith and how do we come to possess such a faith? Well, this is the injunction given immediately after Hebrews 11 as the faith chapter concludes in chapter 12.

" Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1,2).

Central to laying aside every weight and sin, to the patient endurance of the race, and to being all in, is the looking unto Jesus, beholding with deeper and fuller realization the faith that He authored (the faith of Jesus), especially as seen in the cross. It is here that the compelling truth about God and how much He loves you, what He has done for you, and what He desires to do in you is seen the clearest.

It was a heart changing opportunity to see and experience the faith of Jesus to which the rich man was invited. But instead he held in his heart something else to be of greater value than the Pearl of Great Price that stood before him that day.

And finally, the beloved John wrote it this way:

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Do you desire to yield all? It is promised to you if you will but allow the love of the Father to abide in your heart. And the One Who can make that happen is knocking at the door of every rich man and woman, young or old, in the church (Revelation 3:14-22). For this end time church finds itself under the impression that it is rich and increased with goods. May we simply and completely allow the Living One to abide in our hearts this day and each day forward to finish the faith in His people - the faith that He Himself authored two thousand years ago as Emmanuel.

~Kelly Kinsley

 

Additional reading:

"True riches do not consist in the possession of gold, or real estate, or government bonds, or any of the many things which we commonly associate with the idea of riches. True riches cannot be seen with the natural eye. Gold can secure to an individual many advantages, but it cannot save him from accident, loss of physical and mental power, or of life itself. The true riches consist in that which secures to the soul the highest blessings, and benefits which will never be lost.

"True riches are not laid up in earthly banks, but are stored in the bank of heaven. We are exhorted, ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.’ Matthew 6:19, 20. In another text we are told how to lay up treasure in heaven: ‘Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.’ Luke 12:33. By disposing of our earthly riches, in the right way, we may obtain the true riches. That which is done for the sake of Christ here, is a deposit in the bank above, which will never be lost.

"But the true riches cannot be purchased with money. The obtaining of them is not dependent upon the possession of earthly wealth. The poorest and humblest of mortals possess them as well as the kings and potentates of the financial world; yes, even easier, for earthly gold is naturally a barrier to the possession of the wealth of greater value. And this is the satisfactory thing about the true riches, - all may have them. Inequalities of earthly fortune are no barrier in the way of any in obtaining this wealth. It is a gift, and anyone may have it who will take it.

"The faithful and true Witness says, ‘I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.’ Revelation 3:18. Are you seeking for earthly wealth? Pause and listen to these words of Christ, for they are addressed to you. His counsel cannot be disregarded except at a price which no man can afford to pay. You are not too poor to buy, for we buy of God, ‘without money and without price.’ Isaiah 55:1. And what is the ‘gold tried in the fire’? The fire is that which will enable us to endure it. Peter refers to this in language addressed to those who ‘now, for a season, if need be,  .. are in heaviness through manifold temptations.’ He says, ‘That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’ 1 Peter 1:6, 7. The gold is faith, and faith, we are told, ‘worketh by love.’ Galatians 5:6.

"Have you faith and love? If not, you may buy them ‘without money and without price’ of Him who counsels you to obtain them. He has such gold to sell; He has gold that has been tried in the fire. It is His own faith and love, which were tried in the furnace of affliction while He was ‘a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,’ here on the earth. It is faith and love that have stood every test to which humanity can by any means be subjected. If such faith and love are in our hearts, they will keep us amidst all the trials and temptations of this life, as they kept the Saviour while He lived and walked in human form among the inhabitants of Judea.

"Are you seeking for earthly riches, to the neglect of the true riches, the gold tried in the fire? If you are, then God says unto you, ‘Thou fool’ (Luke 12:20); for ‘so is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’ ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Matthew 6:23. Seek first the true riches, and all other riches will come after them, - if not immediately in this life, then when our brief existence here is ended; for the children of Abraham by faith are heirs with him of the whole world. Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:7. ‘Hearken, my beloved brethren,’ writes the Apostle James, ‘hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?’ James 2:5. Are you one of the ‘poor of this world’? Then be satisfied if you are ‘rich in faith;’ for you are an heir of all things, and no reversal of fortune can take the inheritance from you.

"The Apostle Peter writes, ‘And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindest charity.’ 2 Peter 1:5-7. Here is marked out the road to wealth, and all may enter it who will. There are not too many competitors in the way to lessen in any degree the certainty of success. These are golden steps, at the top of which are riches that infinitely exceed all the fortunes of earth, awaiting whomsoever will come and take them.” — E.J. Waggoner, Present Truth UK, December 7, 1893.