Treasures in Heaven
“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.” — Matthew 6: 19, 20.
THERE are four ways by which we may lay up treasures in heaven.
I. By giving of our Possessions to the Needy.
“If thou wilt be perfect,” said Jesus to the rich young man, “go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and THOU SHALT HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN.” If you wish to express some of your money from earth to
heaven, give it to those who need. Dispense
150 with your luxuries, that you may suppiy their necessities.
“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who g’iveth us richly all things to enjoy.” If we have abundance, it is God’s rich gift. He means for us to enjoy it. But how may I enjoy it? By holding and hoarding it? Not at all. Read on: “that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.” The way to enjoy God’s rich gifts is to share them with others. Those who give their money get most pleasure out of it. And the joy here is but a tithe of the joy it brings hereafter, for thus they “lay up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold upon life that is life indeed.” With this blessing of giving contrast the curse of hoarding by fraud and holding by covetousness, as described by James. “Go to, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.” Money hoarded will rust; but the rust gathers on the soul that hoards it, and burns it like fire. Men who refuse to do good with their money are thus in a little hell on earth. Their souls are being burnt by a slow combustion. By and by angels who see their spirits doubtless begin to look upon them as charcoals of immortality. Immortal, but charred and blackened by the fires of covetousness. That which, if used for God, becomes a treasure in heaven, when held only for self mars the best treasure we have on earth — our characters.
II. By ministering to the Needy.
Many of us have little money. Can we expect to lay up much treasure in heaven? In the 25th of Matthew we have the assets of a useful life. “I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” Personal ministry to those from whom you expect to receive no earthly reward is a treasure in heaven. The idea of merit for such work is excluded. The righteous could not remember that they had done anything worthy of mention. It was done for the sake of Christ, and those who work purely for His glory would not detract from that glory by claiming heaven on the merit of their good deeds. It was those who had really done nothing that were surprised to hear that they had not done enough to merit salvation. The lack of money, which brings us into personal contact with the needy, is a great blessing to us. And even if we have money, we ought not to be satisfied with working by proxy. A wealthy lady in New York determined, the week of her conversion, to employ a woman for all her time to work among the poor. She received her reports every month and rejoiced in the good being done. One day her missionary reminded her that when Jesus healed the sick He usually touched them, and suggested that it might be well for her to go with her on some of her rounds. She consented, and after one day’s visiting she declared that she had been more blessed than by the whole year’s working by proxy. The poor and suffering often need the hand-shake and kind word more than they need money. Give both, and wait for the reward in heaven.
III. By rejoicing in whatever our Faithfulness to Christ may bring upon us.
“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.” While Hooper, the martyr, was at the stake, some one reminded him that life was very sweet. “Yes,” he replied, “life is sweet, but eternal life is sweeter.” He was willing to sacrifice the less for the greater. Demosthenes was asked if he did not fear that Philip would take off his head. “If he does,” was the reply, “the Athenians will give me an immortal one.” Whatever loss we sustain for the sake of Christ in this world, we may be certain that He will make it up to us in the next.
Obstacles.
The context teaches us that a double vision is in the way of our laying up treasures in heaven. “If thine eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light,” and thou wilt not make mistakes in thy investments. The man of double vision sees two objects at once without seeing either one clearly. He tries to look at two things at the same time. In his service he sees Christ and self — Christ and the world. He thinks that of course he ought to serve God, but at the same time he must look after number one. This leads to an attempt at double service, and “no man can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.” God would not share His worship with the false gods in Israel’s time; He will not now share His service with any one. It must be a whole-hearted service. You cannot serve yourself during the week and God on Sunday. Every day, every .dollar must be His. “But must I not support my family?” If you do not, you are worse than an infidel. In supporting your family you may be serving God as truly as if you were preaching in a pulpit. Only put God first, and ask Him how you ought to support your family. If you have a new house to furnish, consult Him as to the furniture. Ask Him to make it plain as to what kind of furniture will best accord with your means and the spirit of sacrifice which every Christian ought to have. Only let God be first, and family, country, business, friends — indeed, everything and everybody second.
It is said of Judge Black, of Georgia, that, when he was a young lawyer, he was invited to deliver an address of welcome to the Governor of the State on Monday evening. He took great pains to prepare his address, but a telegram came on Monday, saying that the Governor’s visit would be deferred till Wednesday evening. Mr. Black at once wrote the committee that a previous engagement would prevent his being present on Wednesday evening. Few persons besides the pastor of his church knew that the previous engagement was the regular weekly prayer-meeting which the young Christian lawyer had set apart as sacredly devoted to the public worship of God; and no service to man or State, though it might be for his own promotion, could make him swerve from his purpose. He had a single vision and single-eyed service. No wonder God has blessed him. He usually honors those who honor Him.
Anxiety about the future keeps many a one from laying up treasure in heaven. The question, What shall we eat, drink, and wear on earth? leads many to lay up for the future of time and leave out of view the future of eternity. “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,” said Solomon; “consider her ways and be wise,” And that is good advice for to-day. We should provide for the winters we know are coming. But the ant has been the only teacher for most of us long enough. Let us listen to Jesus as He says, in substance, “Go to the birds and lilies, ye doubtful, saving ones. Consider their ways and be wiser. The birds gather not into barns, but the heavenly Father feedeth them. The lilies toil not, nor spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” If I must choose one or the other, I should rather be the bird or lily, without barn or wardrobe, trusting God for the future, than the prudent ant taking care of myself and leaving God out of mind. But, after all, there is no quarrel between Solomon’s ant and the birds of Christ. Our prudent foresight should not prevent us from casting all care for the future upon God, while we meet the responsibilities of the present; and if, to meet our present responsibilities, we find that we have no store left for winter, don’t be unduly alarmed. The God of the birds is your God. “Trust in the Lord. and do good: so shalt thou dwell in the land. and verily thou shalt be fed.”
Inducements.
If heaven is our treasure-house, we will not be loath to give up to God the treasures of earth when He chooses to take them. You have in your home some jewels dearer to you than life. You would, of course, like to keep them; but the home on earth, much as you prize their presence in it, is not your treasure-house. God takes them, that He may in that way help you to lay up treasures in heaven. It is ‘easier to give them up, if the treasures we prize most are in heaven. A mother, whose dissipated son lay at the point of death, asked her pastor to come and see him; and, that she might prepare her boy for his visit, she told him how, when he was a little child, he was very sick, given up by all to die; and how she prayed that he might live, even going so far as to tell God that she could not stand his death.
and that she would take all the responsibility of his living. “Mother,” said the dying boy, “you made an awful mistake,” That mother was laying up her treasure on earth, and could not, therefore, bear to lose one from her treasure-house. Those whose treasures are in heaven will be saved from such an awful mistake.
If our treasures are in heaven, it will be easy, when the time comes, for us to go to them. “Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also.” The soldier, as he leaves home where his treasures are, feels that the weight of the whole house is on his heart, and he goes from a sense of duty. But when the discharge is given after the victory has been won, how gladly he hastens to his loved ones! A gentleman in Brooklyn said that, during his passage across the Atlantic, he was sea-sick every day; but after six months of sight-seeing, he was glad to go on board for another eight days of nausea. What made him willing was, that all his dear ones were on this side. It was the desire to go to his treasures. Laying up treasures in heaven is a good preparation for an exchange of worlds.
Laying up treasures in heaven makes us “use this world as not abusing it.” If all our treasures are on earth, we are apt to be the slaves of the earth’s maxims and money. The Sermon on the Mount is very practical. It deals largely with our relations to one another. And the most practical men on this earth to-day are the men who are brave enough to do right, whether riches or poverty follow, because they are not living simply for what this world can give. They are the only real freemen. Such men were the reformers who died for truth. They are not the slaves, but the masters of the spirit of the age. They seek the highest good of all, rather than the good opinion of any. They use their money in helping others. They are independent, caring little for life or death, but everything for the true and the right. Their face is toward the sunrise. No darkness can discourage them; no reverses can overwhelm them. They wish to be and do rather than to seem. They are the real men and women. God help us to be such!