The Treasure Principle
Matthew 6:19-21
Much of what I’m going to say today comes from a book by Randy Alcorn, “The Treasure Principle.” If what I share today intrigues you or if you want to read more about this critical principle, you can let us know, and we will give you this book, “The Treasure Principle” – FREE so you can learn more about one of the greatest truths of the Christian life. You can talk to us after the service, or you can text us at (951) 928-8582, and we’ll get that book to you free.
This message is about money and giving, and in our twenty years here, I’ve talked very little about money and giving, I guess because the subject of giving has been abused by unscrupulous people in the ministry. But, it is actually wrong for me to talk so little about money and giving because Jesus talked so much about it.
Jesus talked more about money and giving than he did about heaven and hell combined.
And it’s because how we handle our money and our giving is actually central to our spiritual lives. In Luke 3:7-14, when John the Baptist first began “preparing the way of the Lord,” when people asked him what to do to bear the fruit of repentance, he gave them three signs that would show their hearts had turned to the Lord. All three signs of repentance had to do with money and possessions. They didn’t ask about money issues – they asked about what to do to get right with God, but all of John’s answers had to do with how they handled money and possessions.
You can read it closely in Luke Chapter 3, starting in verse 7.
In Luke 19 is the story of a rich tax collector Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see Jesus pass by, and Jesus ended up going to his house for dinner. During dinner, Zacchaeus stood up and told Jesus (Luke 19:8), “Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And when Jesus saw Zacchaeus’ attitude toward money had radically changed. It was at that point that Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
Many churches (including ours) operate in a type of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about giving, which sounds very spiritual until you put it in the light of how much Jesus talked about our money and giving.
Jesus talked about how we handle our money, so we have to talk about how we handle our money. How else are we supposed to learn and grow in the power and freedom of Biblical giving?
All we have to do is go through the gospels and mark each time Jesus talked about money and giving, and we’ll see our polite approach of “not talking about giving” is actually unbiblical. Jesus didn’t mind making people feel uncomfortable, and he talked about how we handle our money. In fact, as you may or may not know, the only god that Jesus directly contrasted (not compared) himself with is mammon. Mammon is an Aramaic word that means “money and everything that comes with it.”
Here’s why the Bible talks about how critical money is to our lives. Because the Bible says everything we’ve been given is actually all God’s, and we are just his managers – his stewards.
God owns everything that he has given to you, and you are his steward – his manager of it all.
That is the absolute foundation of all God’s teaching on money and giving.
Psalm 24:1 (NLT)
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
Haggai 2:8 (NLT)
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Deuteronomy 8:18 (ESV)
18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth . . .
And Jesus taught these same truths repeatedly in the gospels.
Guys, how we handle our money and giving determines three critical areas of our lives.
1). Your giving determines where your heart is
2). Your giving determines where your home is
3). Your giving determines where your happiness is
1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART Is
Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT)
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Where you are storing up your treasure (where you are putting God’s money) is where your heart will be.
If you are pouring God’s money into your “self,” that is where your heart will be. If you are pouring God’s money into the things of this world, that is where your heart will be. And if you are using God’s money for God’s eternal Kingdom, then that is where your heart will be. Where you put God’s money – is where your heart will be. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to sell everything and live in your car. But, it is the Bible’s way to evaluate where your heart is now and where your heart is headed.
Here’s a way to test this truth. If you would say, “I wish I had a heart for missions work,” then start financially supporting missions work, and I promise you, the more you invest in missions work, the more you will have a heart for missions. And it is the same with any other God-given area of ministry. It’s not about an amount; it’s about your heart.
Around here, in addition to all we do locally for the Lord, God has given me a real heart for teaching the Word of God, and because of that (through Word By Mail), we have invested a lot of God’s money into sending out the teaching of God’s Word all around the world, and the more we invest God’s money in sending out the teaching of his Word, the more our heart is there. And God has given us confidence and assurance through many testimonies of changed lives that we are investing his money well.
And I know for certain that each of us who have sacrificed for this work has treasures stored up in Heaven just waiting for us to get there, and I praise God for that!
To begin to understand these verses in Matthew 6:19-21, we’ve got to have one thing clear in our hearts and in our minds. Giving doesn’t deprive you of treasure. God is not asking you to lose anything.
God’s “treasure Principle” of giving simply transfers your treasures from earth (where there will be lost) to heaven (where they will be eternal).
Let’s read these verses again.
Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT)
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. (meaning where they will soon be gone)
20 (but instead) Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. (meaning where they will be eternal)
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
These verses do not tell us that we should not store up treasure. Jesus loves you so much he’s telling you how and where to best store up your treasure. Jesus doesn’t want you to store up your treasure only in the firepit of this earth. Jesus says we can send it on ahead – so that we will have treasure in heaven when we get there.
It’s true – you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead – to be stored up for you when you get there.
Over and over, the New Testament teaches that we must choose to either store up our treasures here (to be burned) or store them up in heaven (to be eternal).
1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART is
2). Your Giving Determines Where Your HOME is
Hebrews 11:13 says we are foreigners and nomads here on earth (because this is NOT our home). We are passing through this life, and it is a vapor.
Philippians 3:20 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
As Christians, we are just passing through this foreign land, but the question is are we acting like we are just passing through this earth. Are we acting like our real home is in heaven?
The Apostle Thomas was an architect (you’d know that if you were watching “The Chosen”) and there’s a story about a King coming to the Apostle Thomas and asking Thomas to build him a glorious palace. And so, the King gave Thomas all the gold and silver he could ever need, and then the King left for two years. During that time, the Apostle Thomas gave all the King’s money away to those in need. And when the King returned to no money and no palace, he threw Thomas into prison and sentenced him to death. But then, the King’s brother died. But after some time, the brother came back to life, and when he did, he said to the King, “I have been to Paradise, and I have seen a glorious palace, and the angels told me Thomas had built it for you.”
And when the King had released Thomas from prison, Thomas said to the King, “Your treasure, O King, may be sent before you to prepare a glorious palace, but it can never follow you there.”
Guys, our giving puts on display where we believe our true home actually is. You can build your temporary home here, or you can build your eternal home where your treasure will be stored up for your arrival.
And the treasure that you can have stored up in heaven is not just money, but it is also giving your time, effort, and your service.
So, 1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART is
2). Your Giving Determines Where Your HOME is
And finally, 3). Your Giving Determines Where Your HAPPINESS is
In Acts 20:35, is actually where that famous quote of Jesus is, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” We live in a consumer culture where we are programmed to receive all we can get, and this worldly thinking often transfers to our life with Christ, and we find ourselves praying, “Oh God, please bless me – Oh God, please give me – Please take care of me – Please make this happen for me.” And often, we fail to even think about giving to God what he asks for.
One thing is for sure, we are good at receiving from God, but the giving to God part can easily take a back seat in our lives.
It’s true that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it’s true that by our giving God’s blessing will come back to us.
Luke 6:38 (ESV)
38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
In the context of this verse, this promise applies to us giving mercy, grace, forgiveness – and our money. And Jesus says the measure you use to give will be the measure used to give back to you.
God wants you to gain what is eternal by releasing what is temporal.
Jim Elliot (a famous missionary who gave his life) said,
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Haven’t you known (or heard of) people who have everything in this world, and they’re miserable. You see it every day – people who win the lottery end up miserable. Heiresses trying to fill their emptiness with everything of this world, only to be more miserable after every attempt. Rock stars and movie stars with money, glory, and fame who kill themselves with drugs because of the emptiness that the riches of this world bring them.
And yet, we still think all we need is some more money and some more stuff, and then we’ll finally be happy. King Solomon figured this out when he was the wealthiest man on earth.
Ecclesiastes 5:10–15 (NLT)
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
. . .
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.
. . .
15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
We can’t take it with us, but we can send it on ahead by storing up our treasures in heaven. And many of you have done just that both here in the local church and out there in the Word By Mail family. Your giving has allowed us to produce fruit far beyond our size and it is all treasure – safely stored up in heaven.
God wants your heart and mammon wants your heart – Jesus says you can’t serve both. Where your investment is, where your money is, that’s where your heart is.
We have seen great God-sized work here because there are people in the local church and the Word By Mail family who understand the “send it ahead” “Treasure Principle.” And we have had the privilege of storing up our treasure in heaven and experiencing the blessing of giving while we’re still here. We get the blessings of giving while we’re here and the eternal rewards when we get there – it doesn’t get any better than that.
Again – if you want to learn more about the Treasure Principle of giving, see us afterward or text us at (951) 928-8582, and we’ll send you this book – free.
This message is about money and giving, and in our twenty years here, I’ve talked very little about money and giving, I guess because the subject of giving has been abused by unscrupulous people in the ministry. But, it is actually wrong for me to talk so little about money and giving because Jesus talked so much about it.
Jesus talked more about money and giving than he did about heaven and hell combined.
And it’s because how we handle our money and our giving is actually central to our spiritual lives. In Luke 3:7-14, when John the Baptist first began “preparing the way of the Lord,” when people asked him what to do to bear the fruit of repentance, he gave them three signs that would show their hearts had turned to the Lord. All three signs of repentance had to do with money and possessions. They didn’t ask about money issues – they asked about what to do to get right with God, but all of John’s answers had to do with how they handled money and possessions.
You can read it closely in Luke Chapter 3, starting in verse 7.
In Luke 19 is the story of a rich tax collector Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to see Jesus pass by, and Jesus ended up going to his house for dinner. During dinner, Zacchaeus stood up and told Jesus (Luke 19:8), “Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And when Jesus saw Zacchaeus’ attitude toward money had radically changed. It was at that point that Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
Many churches (including ours) operate in a type of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about giving, which sounds very spiritual until you put it in the light of how much Jesus talked about our money and giving.
Jesus talked about how we handle our money, so we have to talk about how we handle our money. How else are we supposed to learn and grow in the power and freedom of Biblical giving?
All we have to do is go through the gospels and mark each time Jesus talked about money and giving, and we’ll see our polite approach of “not talking about giving” is actually unbiblical. Jesus didn’t mind making people feel uncomfortable, and he talked about how we handle our money. In fact, as you may or may not know, the only god that Jesus directly contrasted (not compared) himself with is mammon. Mammon is an Aramaic word that means “money and everything that comes with it.”
Here’s why the Bible talks about how critical money is to our lives. Because the Bible says everything we’ve been given is actually all God’s, and we are just his managers – his stewards.
God owns everything that he has given to you, and you are his steward – his manager of it all.
That is the absolute foundation of all God’s teaching on money and giving.
Psalm 24:1 (NLT)
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
Haggai 2:8 (NLT)
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Deuteronomy 8:18 (ESV)
18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth . . .
And Jesus taught these same truths repeatedly in the gospels.
Guys, how we handle our money and giving determines three critical areas of our lives.
1). Your giving determines where your heart is
2). Your giving determines where your home is
3). Your giving determines where your happiness is
1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART Is
Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT)
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Where you are storing up your treasure (where you are putting God’s money) is where your heart will be.
If you are pouring God’s money into your “self,” that is where your heart will be. If you are pouring God’s money into the things of this world, that is where your heart will be. And if you are using God’s money for God’s eternal Kingdom, then that is where your heart will be. Where you put God’s money – is where your heart will be. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to sell everything and live in your car. But, it is the Bible’s way to evaluate where your heart is now and where your heart is headed.
Here’s a way to test this truth. If you would say, “I wish I had a heart for missions work,” then start financially supporting missions work, and I promise you, the more you invest in missions work, the more you will have a heart for missions. And it is the same with any other God-given area of ministry. It’s not about an amount; it’s about your heart.
Around here, in addition to all we do locally for the Lord, God has given me a real heart for teaching the Word of God, and because of that (through Word By Mail), we have invested a lot of God’s money into sending out the teaching of God’s Word all around the world, and the more we invest God’s money in sending out the teaching of his Word, the more our heart is there. And God has given us confidence and assurance through many testimonies of changed lives that we are investing his money well.
And I know for certain that each of us who have sacrificed for this work has treasures stored up in Heaven just waiting for us to get there, and I praise God for that!
To begin to understand these verses in Matthew 6:19-21, we’ve got to have one thing clear in our hearts and in our minds. Giving doesn’t deprive you of treasure. God is not asking you to lose anything.
God’s “treasure Principle” of giving simply transfers your treasures from earth (where there will be lost) to heaven (where they will be eternal).
Let’s read these verses again.
Matthew 6:19–21 (NLT)
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. (meaning where they will soon be gone)
20 (but instead) Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. (meaning where they will be eternal)
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
These verses do not tell us that we should not store up treasure. Jesus loves you so much he’s telling you how and where to best store up your treasure. Jesus doesn’t want you to store up your treasure only in the firepit of this earth. Jesus says we can send it on ahead – so that we will have treasure in heaven when we get there.
It’s true – you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead – to be stored up for you when you get there.
Over and over, the New Testament teaches that we must choose to either store up our treasures here (to be burned) or store them up in heaven (to be eternal).
1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART is
2). Your Giving Determines Where Your HOME is
Hebrews 11:13 says we are foreigners and nomads here on earth (because this is NOT our home). We are passing through this life, and it is a vapor.
Philippians 3:20 (NLT)
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
As Christians, we are just passing through this foreign land, but the question is are we acting like we are just passing through this earth. Are we acting like our real home is in heaven?
The Apostle Thomas was an architect (you’d know that if you were watching “The Chosen”) and there’s a story about a King coming to the Apostle Thomas and asking Thomas to build him a glorious palace. And so, the King gave Thomas all the gold and silver he could ever need, and then the King left for two years. During that time, the Apostle Thomas gave all the King’s money away to those in need. And when the King returned to no money and no palace, he threw Thomas into prison and sentenced him to death. But then, the King’s brother died. But after some time, the brother came back to life, and when he did, he said to the King, “I have been to Paradise, and I have seen a glorious palace, and the angels told me Thomas had built it for you.”
And when the King had released Thomas from prison, Thomas said to the King, “Your treasure, O King, may be sent before you to prepare a glorious palace, but it can never follow you there.”
Guys, our giving puts on display where we believe our true home actually is. You can build your temporary home here, or you can build your eternal home where your treasure will be stored up for your arrival.
And the treasure that you can have stored up in heaven is not just money, but it is also giving your time, effort, and your service.
So, 1). Your Giving Determines Where Your HEART is
2). Your Giving Determines Where Your HOME is
And finally, 3). Your Giving Determines Where Your HAPPINESS is
In Acts 20:35, is actually where that famous quote of Jesus is, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” We live in a consumer culture where we are programmed to receive all we can get, and this worldly thinking often transfers to our life with Christ, and we find ourselves praying, “Oh God, please bless me – Oh God, please give me – Please take care of me – Please make this happen for me.” And often, we fail to even think about giving to God what he asks for.
One thing is for sure, we are good at receiving from God, but the giving to God part can easily take a back seat in our lives.
It’s true that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it’s true that by our giving God’s blessing will come back to us.
Luke 6:38 (ESV)
38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
In the context of this verse, this promise applies to us giving mercy, grace, forgiveness – and our money. And Jesus says the measure you use to give will be the measure used to give back to you.
God wants you to gain what is eternal by releasing what is temporal.
Jim Elliot (a famous missionary who gave his life) said,
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
Haven’t you known (or heard of) people who have everything in this world, and they’re miserable. You see it every day – people who win the lottery end up miserable. Heiresses trying to fill their emptiness with everything of this world, only to be more miserable after every attempt. Rock stars and movie stars with money, glory, and fame who kill themselves with drugs because of the emptiness that the riches of this world bring them.
And yet, we still think all we need is some more money and some more stuff, and then we’ll finally be happy. King Solomon figured this out when he was the wealthiest man on earth.
Ecclesiastes 5:10–15 (NLT)
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!
. . .
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver.
. . .
15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
We can’t take it with us, but we can send it on ahead by storing up our treasures in heaven. And many of you have done just that both here in the local church and out there in the Word By Mail family. Your giving has allowed us to produce fruit far beyond our size and it is all treasure – safely stored up in heaven.
God wants your heart and mammon wants your heart – Jesus says you can’t serve both. Where your investment is, where your money is, that’s where your heart is.
We have seen great God-sized work here because there are people in the local church and the Word By Mail family who understand the “send it ahead” “Treasure Principle.” And we have had the privilege of storing up our treasure in heaven and experiencing the blessing of giving while we’re still here. We get the blessings of giving while we’re here and the eternal rewards when we get there – it doesn’t get any better than that.
Again – if you want to learn more about the Treasure Principle of giving, see us afterward or text us at (951) 928-8582, and we’ll send you this book – free.