Do not store up
for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal:
Me
thesaurizete
(2PPAM) humin thesaurous epi tes ges, hopou ses kai brosis aphanizei,
(3SPAI) kai hopou kleptai diorussousin (3PPAI) kai kleptousin; (3PPAI) (Job
31:24;
Psalms 39:6;
62:10;
Proverbs 11:4;
16:16;
23:5;
Ecclesiastes 2:26;
5:10-14;
Zephaniah 1:18;
Luke 12:21;
18:24;
1 Timothy 6:8-10,17;
Hebrews 13:5;
James 5:1-3;
1 John 2:15,16)
Now Jesus addresses the correct
attitude His kingdom citizens should have toward temporal possessions.
Ironside explains that...
All treasures are to be held in
subjection to God and used as He directs. He who is in touch with
eternal realities can well afford to hold earthly possessions with a
loose hand. Worldly wealth soon passes away and leaves him who has
nothing else poor indeed. But those who lay up heavenly treasure by
spending and being spent for God, while numbered perchance among the
poor of this world, will be rich in faith. When life is ended here they
will find endless treasure held in reserve above. The more we distribute
for the blessing of others as guided by the Lord, the more wealth we lay
up in Heaven.
Wilmington entitles this section
"The
only bank that’s fully insured."
Charles
Simeon wrote that...
Much of our Lord’s sermon on the
mount was intended to explain the true import of the Law, in opposition
to the false glosses with which the Scribes and Pharisees had obscured
it. But in many parts of it the instruction is general, and unconnected
with any particular persons or circumstances. The Pharisees indeed were
covetous: but the whole human race are more intent on earthly than on
heavenly things; and therefore the exhortation in our text may be
considered as equally important in every age and place. (Horae
Homileticae Volume 11, page 217) (Download
a Pdf of Simeon's bio by H C G Handley Moule)
Do not store
up - Do have this habit! Jesus does not say we cannot have a
retirement plan but is saying that is not to be the object or goal of
our life's work. As an aside, it is difficult to find Biblical support
for retirement per se. I am "retired" but now am now busier in the
Lord's work than I was in medical practice. Remember that in this
section Jesus is giving us His divine advice on how to handle anxiety
and worry. He is fully aware that anxiety and worry often have their
genesis (pathogenesis!) in regard to financial matters. And so He begins
by advising us not to be in the habit of treasuring up treasure for
ourselves. As Wycliff phrases it "Do not treasure to you treasures."
Spurgeon says...
Hold not earth's treasures with too
firm a grasp. Our bereavements would not be half so sharp if we always
viewed our friends as being lent to us. A man does not cry when he has
to return a tool which he has borrowed.
MacDonald
comments on the radical nature of Jesus' advice noting that...
In verses 19–21 Jesus contravenes all
human advice to provide for a financially secure future. (MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
These ancient
words by Jesus are so appropriate to our wealthy Western culture where
possessions often end up possessing their "owners".
Or stated another way, it is not wrong to possess things, but it is
wrong for things to possess us. The desire of many
in our society is to build our lives around the "things" we own. In
Jesus' day Luke records that the Pharisees were "lovers of money" (Luke
16:14)
Matthew Henry had a pithy
statement regarding riches writing that...
Man takes great pains to heap up
riches, and they are like heaps of manure in the furrows of the field,
good for nothing unless they be spread.
Keener writes that..
One researcher suggests that
professed followers of Christ take in 68 percent of the world’s income,
yet only 3 percent of that goes to the church and a tiny percentage to
world missions. (Keener, C. S. Vol. 1: Matthew. The IVP New Testament
Commentary Series. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press)
Not
uncommonly we make an arbitrary division of our life into that which is
spiritual and that which is material. Jesus demolishes that division
in this section declaring that in the final analysis one's heart
attitude toward material things is a mark of one's true spiritual
condition. Material and spiritual cannot be separated. As an aside,
attending church on Sunday (the "spiritual activity") should not and
ultimately cannot be separated from how one conducts themselves Monday
through Friday. This latter in fact is probably a more genuine
assessment of one's spiritual condition then their regular attendance at
church or Sunday School. Religion that is not real is just
that...lifeless religion! Religion that involves a vital relationship
with Christ 24/7 is real life!
Martin Luther wrote
that...
Whenever the Gospel is taught and
people seek to live according to it, there are two terrible plagues that
always arise: false preachers who corrupt the teaching, and then Sir
Greed, who obstructs right living.
Leon Morris quotes Glover
who
reminds us that “avarice is the vice
of respectability.” Whether they are rich or poor, people see no harm in
concentrating on getting more. Everyone has some “treasure,” the main
object in life. Jesus is asking whether that is to be the transient or
the eternal, and he warns that earthly riches may disappear. (The
Gospel According to Matthew. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press)
Matthew Henry introduces
this section commenting that...
Worldly-mindedness is as common and
as fatal a symptom of hypocrisy as any other, for by no sin can Satan
have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a visible
and passable profession of religion, than by this; and therefore Christ,
having warned us against coveting the praise of men, proceeds next to
warn us against coveting the wealth of the world; in this also we must
take heed, lest we be as the hypocrites are, and do as they do: the
fundamental error that they are guilty of is, that they choose the world
for their reward; we must therefore take heed of hypocrisy and
worldly-mindedness, in the choice we make of our treasure, our end, and
our masters.
John Piper
summarizes Mt 6:19-34 writing that...
"Seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness" is the large, overarching command
– be passionate about experiencing the saving, purifying, empowering,
love-producing, reign of God in your life and over all the world. "Thy
kingdom come!" – in my life, and over the nations.
Then "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" is a specific instance
of what seeking God’s kingdom involves. Seeking the kingdom of God and
his righteousness involves not trying to be rich on earth but trying to
be rich in heaven, that is, rich in God. Seeking the kingdom means
treasuring God and freeing yourself from the drag of earth.
Then "Do not be anxious" is the condition of the heart by which we break
free from our addiction to earth-treasure and give ourselves with
passion to heaven-treasure. By faith in his promises God frees us from
anxiety, and in this freedom we don’t crave treasures on earth anymore.
Those are the three main imperatives in the text. That is what Jesus
wants us to be like: Free from anxiety, seeking his kingdom, laying up
treasure in heaven and not on earth. That is the fruit of trusting Jesus
as our Lord and Savior and Treasure. This is the normal Christian life –
radical freedom from earthly things and earthly security, with a joyful
pursuit of God and his righteousness as our treasure. Everything else in
these 16 verses is foundation and support. Jesus doesn’t just tell us to
be this way; he gives us at least 12 arguments to help us. And he spends
most of his time giving us reasons not to be anxious in verses 25-34.
(Read the full message Matthew 6:19-34: Don’t Be
Anxious, Lay Up Treasures in Heaven)
Adam Clarke
wrote...
What blindness is it for a man to lay
up that as a treasure which must necessarily perish! A heart designed
for God and eternity is terribly degraded by being fixed on those things
which are subject to corruption....Take care not to shut up your bowels
of compassion against a brother in distress; if you do, the love of God
cannot dwell in you.
John Stott
writes that...
Worldly ambition has a strong
fascination for us. The spell of materialism is very hard to break (Stott,
John: Christian Counter-Culture. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount.
1978. IVP)
This heart
illness takes on a macabre humor in the popular bumper sticker which
reads...
"He who dies with the most toys
wins!"
Store up
(2343)
(thesaurizo from thesaurós = treasure, deposit = place
where something is kept = treasure box, chest, storehouse, storeroom.
English = thesaurus, a treasury of words)
means to amass or reserve, keep in store, lay, store or treasure up
goods for future use.
This verse is a
play on words and is more literally translated
don't keep
treasuring up treasures for yourselves
The
present imperative
with a negative (me) is a command to stop some action already in
process! Don't have the habit of storing up temporal
treasure on earth! Stop storing up temporal, perishable treasure, which
you cannot take with you to heaven! Have you ever seen a U-haul trailer
attached to the hearse? Did you know that funeral shrouds (burial
garment) don't have any pockets? Why would they need them? Job understood
these truths and upon loosing unspeakable wealth including his children,
he declared...
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken
away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21)
The saying is
true...You can't take it with you!
See related comments by Warren
Wiersbe on Psalm 49:13 -
Don't Trust in Wealth
The root word
thesauros in secular Greek means: a treasure chamber, a storage
room, granary, strong-box or a treasure per se. Even at a very early
period temples were built with treasure chambers, where gifts and taxes
in kind and money could be stored. The practice appears to have spread
from Egypt to Greece. Collecting boxes were also known (cf. 2Ki 12:10).
The verb thesaurizo
is used similarly in the sense of storing up treasure or putting it in
safe keeping.
John
MacArthur adds that...
The Greek also carries the
connotation of stacking or laying out horizontally, as one stacks coins.
In the context of this passage the idea is that of stockpiling or
hoarding, and therefore pictures wealth that is not being used. The
money or other wealth is simply stored for safekeeping; it is kept for
the keeping’s sake to make a show of wealth or to create an environment
of lazy overindulgence (cf. Luke 12:16-21).
(MacArthur, J:
Matthew 1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary
Chicago: Moody Press)
Jesus is not
advocating financial poverty as a means of attaining spirituality. The
problem He is addressing is when one accumulates wealth for "yourselves",
for that is when money which is otherwise neutral becomes one's "god" or
"idol".
Charles
Simeon adds the caveat that...
This is not to be understood as
though there were no situation or circumstances wherein it were
allowable to lay up money: for it is certainly the duty of all persons
to make provision for those whose subsistence depends upon them: those
who should refuse to support their aged parents or relatives would be
deemed worse than infidels: nor, by parity of reasoning, can they be
considered as acting more suitably to their Christian profession who
neglect to make a necessary provision for their children.
(Horae Homileticae Volume 11, page
217)
Jesus is not teaching that
believers are to be careless in handling their money. Solid financial
plans produce good stewards of the earthly resources that God has
entrusted to us.
Simeon
commenting on treasure on earth wrote that...
We are not to lay up “treasures.”
What is necessary for the carrying on of our trade, or for the
supporting of ourselves in old age, or for the enabling of our family to
maintain that rank of life wherein they have been educated, may be
considered as allowable: but what is laid up for the sake of enriching
and aggrandizing our family, may be justly included in the prohibition
before us. Of course, no precise sum can be fixed; because what would be
wealth to one man, would be poverty to another: but whatever argues
discontent, and a desire of elevating ourselves and our families above
the rank which Providence has allotted us in life, should be regarded
with a jealous eye and a trembling heart...
Christianity does not require a man
to cast away, or even to give away, his paternal inheritance, or all the
fruits of his own labour: but it absolutely forbids him to find delight
in treasuring up his wealth, or in looking to it as a source either of
safety or happiness. (Horae Homileticae Volume 11, page 217)
Spurgeon
advises believers to...
Hold not earth's treasures with too
firm a grasp. Our bereavements would not be half so sharp if we always
viewed our friends as being lent to us. A man does not cry when he has
to return a tool which he has borrowed
Christ here first teaches us how to
pray, and then teaches us how really to live. He turns our thoughts from
the object in life which allures and injures so many, but which is,
after all, an object unworthy of our search; and he bids us seek
something higher and better: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven,”
Moth...
Rust...
Thieves
Moth...rust...thieves - Jesus' point in this passage is that there
is no absolutely firm, unshakeable security to be found in material
things, which is ironic as "securities" is a financial term defined as
instruments giving to their legal holders rights to money or other
property. Securities include stocks, bonds, notes, mortgages, bills of
lading, and bills of exchange. Jesus is not condemning good stewardship
and wise investment in "securities" but is addressing our heart attitude
towards our "securities". Beloved, ask yourself...
"Where is my treasure?"
(If you need help answering this question, just take a look at last
month's credit card charges or look at the checks you wrote over the
past 6 months!) Your answer will tell you indisputably where your heart
is. And where your heart is will impact your level of anxiety and/or
worry. Beloved, I pray we as believers each invest wisely placing our
funds (including our time and talent) into the "bank of heaven", which
returns dividends now (e.g., affecting one's level of anxiety and/or
worry over money and possessions, etc) and will continue to pay
"interest" throughout eternity! Have you ever heard of such a fantastic,
"sure", "can't miss" deal! But like most "bargain deals" there are no
"rain checks" available! Once this life is over, the opportunity for
this "sale" ceases. Invest now in the only true security! Invest for
eternity in Jesus Christ! You will never regret your decision if you
respond affirmatively!
Invest,
Then rest,
Knowing your future is secure
In Christ!
MacDonald
minces no words declaring that...
This teaching forces us to decide if
Jesus meant what He said. If He did, then we face the question, “What
are we going to do with our earthly treasures?” If He didn’t, then we
face the question, “What are we going to do with our Bible?” (Ibid)
Warren
Wiersbe offers some wise words on this section...
Materialism will enslave the heart
(Matt. 6:19-21), the mind (Matt. 6:22-23), and the will (Matt. 6:24). We
can become shackled by the material things of life, but we ought to be
liberated and controlled by the Spirit of God. If the heart loves
material things, and puts earthly gain above heavenly investments, then
the result can only be a tragic loss. The treasures of earth may be used
for God. But if we gather material things for ourselves, we will lose
them; and we will lose our hearts with them. Instead of spiritual
enrichment, we will experience impoverishment. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
As background to
help understanding Jesus' words in this section it is notable that
in Jesus' day men would invest in possessions like clothing, grain,
gold, and precious stones, which then comprised a source of security
with which they sought to lessen anxiety about the future. The irony of
possessions is that instead of minimizing anxiety, the possessions
become a source of anxiety (sometimes even great angst!), since they are
always vulnerable to the vagaries of decay and loss! How true is the
paradox of insecure security!
Brown adds that...
The Palestinian archaeologist
sometimes finds hoards of coins in the remains of ancient houses. More
frequently he finds only traces of such hoards. The ancient peasant or
laborer had very little opportunity to use hard money; and when it came
into his hands, his instinct was to bury it rather than spend it. He was
especially moved to hide his little store of coins at times of political
disturbance: and there was always the danger of thieves or robbers. (The
Jerome Biblical Commentary)
Moth (4597)
(ses) is from the
larger division of order
Lepidoptera
(Moths, skippers, and
butterflies all belong to this order for all have scale-covered wings) distinguished
from butterflies by generally nocturnal activity and antennae which are
not club-shaped. The moth larva in many cases spins a cocoon for the
protection of the pupa or chrysalis, which is never the case with
butterflies. In the Bible the clothes-moth (species of genus Tinea) are
relatively tiny insects which lay eggs in woolen clothes upon which the
larvae later feed. Have you not experienced this distressing truth on
Sunday morning when you pulled your suit pants on only to see several
large irregular holes exposing your skin?! The moth larva feeds and
composes a cocoon of its silk together with fibers of the wool it is
eating, so that the color of the cocoon depends upon the color of the
fabric! Only the larval stage injures clothing. Take my word for it - a
significantly moth eaten garment is virtually beyond repair or at best
must be re-knit which is not cheap!
Several moth species in the family
Tineidae
are commonly regarded as pests because their larvae eat fabric such as
clothes and blankets made from natural proteinaceous fibers such as wool
or silk. They are less likely to eat mixed materials containing
artificial fibers. There are some reports that they can be repelled by
the scent of wood from juniper and cedar, by lavender or by other
natural oils. However, many consider this unlikely to prevent
infestation.
Naphthalene
(the chemical used in
mothballs)
is considered more effective, but there are concerns over its effects on
health. Moth larvae are not killed by freezing the items which they
infest. (from article on
economic significance of moths -
scroll down)
Moth
occurs 7 times in the OT always as a figure of speech to illustrate that
which is destructive (Job
13:28;
Psalms 39:11;
Isaiah 50:9;
51:8;
Hosea 5:12) or
frail (Job
4:19;
27:18).
Why would Jesus
mention "moth"? The ancient world greatly valued clothing and it was to
some extent a measure of an individual's wealth. Today, most people can
buy mass manufactured clothing with little difficulty, but as one can
imagine such was not the case when clothing was made by hand. In fact
sometime the rich would have golden threads actually woven into
their clothing, to display as well as store their wealth! The best
quality fabrics were woven with wool, one of the favorite entrees of
moth larvae, making their fine clothes vulnerable to destruction.
James
minced no words in his address to the worldly rich instructing them
to...
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for
your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and
your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver
have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you
and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you
have stored up your treasure! (James 5:1-3)
Job used
the metaphor of "moth eaten" declaring...
I waste away like rotting wood, like
a moth-eaten coat. (Job 13:28, NLT)
Isaiah
writes...
See, the Sovereign LORD is on my
side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like
old clothes that have been eaten by moths! (Isaiah 50:9, NLT)
For the moth will eat them
(sinful, unrepentant men) like a garment, and the grub will eat them
like wool. But My righteousness shall be forever, And My salvation to
all generations." (Isaiah 51:8)
God uses
the destructive nature of the moth to describe His effect on rebellious
Israel and Judah declaring...
I will destroy Israel as a moth
consumes wool. I will sap Judah's strength as dry rot weakens wood.
(Hosea 5:12, NLT)
Rust (1035)
(brosis from bibrosko = to eat) means first something that
eats or gnaws and then figuratively to that which causes erosion or
corrosion (Compare corrode, from the Latin rodo, to gnaw.) Strictly speaking rust is the red
oxide of iron formed by the corrosion of that metal, but by extension it
has come to mean corrosion produced on any metal. The word brosis,
while possibly alluding the effects of rusting, also refers to the
diseases which attack such wheat, grapes, cucumbers, etc. In no country
is the saying "where moth and rust consume" more true than in Syria. Any
metal subject to corrosion seems to rust faster in that country than
anywhere else. There are also many rusting fungi which the people have
not learned to destroy and which do much damage to the crops. Given the
fact that wealth in Jesus' day was often measured in grain supplies one
owned, the allusion to the destructive effects of various agents (fungi,
molds, rats, mice, worms, etc) on the granaries.
Luke
records an example of the ancient association of grain with wealth in
Jesus' parable...
The land of a certain rich man was
very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall
I do, since I have no place to store my crops?' And he said, 'This is
what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and
there I will store all my grain and my goods. 'And I will say to my
soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take
your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' But God said to him, 'You fool!
This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what
you have prepared?' So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and
is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21)
Destroy (853)
(aphanizo from aphanes = hidden) means to cause to vanish
or make disappear. The idea is remove out of sight and so get rid of.
Metaphorically, the idea is to destroy, corrupt, spoil, as does the moth
or canker. The process does not result in annihilation but simply
changes whatever is affected from one state to another. Destruction
means the cessation of being what a thing is and taking another form of
existence, but in context a form that is no longer useful to the owner!
This truth makes the following Proverb even more poignant...
Solomon
one of the richest men of antiquity
exhorts the wise reader to...
Cast but a glance at riches, and
they are gone. For they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
(Pr 23:5, NIV)
Hold loosely the
things of earth (Corrie Ten Boom)
Vincent
commenting on aphanizo adds that this is...
The same word
which is used above of the hypocrites concealing their faces. The rust
consumes, and therefore causes to disappear. (see notes
Matthew 5:16)
Thieves (2812)
(kleptes from klépto = steal) is literally a stealer: The
kléptes steals by fraud and in secret whereas the related word for
robber (lestes) steals by violence and openly. Kleptes is used
metaphorically to describe false teachers or deceivers who "steal men
away" from the truth as in John 10:8, 10; Hosea 7:1.
William Barclay writes of kleptes that...
The ancient world was cursed with
them. Houses were easy to break into. The robbers particularly haunted
two places—the public baths and the public gymnasia where they stole the
clothes of those who were washing or exercising themselves. It was
common to kidnap slaves who had special gifts. The state of the law
shows how serious this problem was. There were three kinds of theft
punishable by death: (i) Theft to the value of more than 50 drachmae,
that is, about Ł2. (ii) Theft from the baths, the gymnasia and the ports
and harbours to the value of 10 drachmae, that is about 40 pence. (iii)
Theft of anything by night. The Christian lived in the middle of a
pilfering population.
Break
in (1358)
(diorusso from diá = through, + orússo = to dig)
means literally to "dig through" an activity that was made relatively
easy to do through ancient dwellings often composed of mud walls or
sun-dried bricks.
Steal (2813)
(klepto cf. English, kleptomaniac) means theft, in which the
victim is deprived of property or possessions secretly and without
consent, and implies deception and dishonesty, in contrast to robbery
which denotes taking away of something from someone by force. The Greeks
called a burglar a “mud-digger”. (Compare Job 24:16, “In the dark they
dig through houses.”) which is why many people buried their
nonperishable valuables in the ground away from the house.
In view of these mud-diggers, well-to-do people usually tried other
methods to safeguard their wealth including investing money with
moneychangers, depositing it in a temple for safekeeping (interestingly
even most robbers balked at “robbing gods”) or burying it in the ground
or in caves. And yet in these "secret" place moth could still destroy
expensive apparel or rust could destroy the value of coins over time.
You may say
"I've never been robbed. Besides I have the best burglar alarm system
money can buy." Maybe. But have you thought about the erosive effects of
inflation, oppressive taxation, bank failures, stock market slumps and
crashes, expenses of a prolonged illnesses, all of which can have the
same effect as a robbery?
When someone
asked an immensely rich man whether his wealth had brought him joy, he
replied, “No, nothing tastes now.”
Job (a
very rich man) declared...
Have I put my trust in money or felt
secure because of my gold? (NLT) (Job
31:24)
In fact where
was Job's trust?
I have not departed from the command
of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my
necessary food. (Job 23:12) (Remember: People and the Word will endure
forever!)
The psalmist
writes...
We are merely moving shadows, and all
our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to
spend. (NLT,
Psalms 39:6)
Do not trust in
oppression, And do not vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, do
not set your heart upon them. (NLT,
Psalms 39:6;
62:10;
Proverbs 11:4;
16:16;
23:5;
Ecclesiastes 2:26;
5:10-14;
Zephaniah 1:18;
Luke 12:21;
18:24;
1 Timothy 6:8-10,17;
Hebrews 13:5;
James 5:1-3;
1 John 2:15,16)
The Narrow Way
What thousands never knew the road!
What thousands hate it when ‘tis known!
None but the chosen tribes of God
Will seek or choose it for their own.
A thousand ways in ruin end,
One only leads to joys on high;
By that my willing steps ascend,
Pleased with a journey to the sky.
No more I ask or hope to find
Delight or happiness below;
Sorrow may well possess the mind
That feeds where thorns and thistles grow.
The joy that fades is not for me,
I seek immortal joys above;
There glory without end shall be
The bright reward of faith and love.
Cleave to the world, ye sordid worms,
Contented lick your native dust!
But God shall fight with all his storms,
Against the idol of your trust.
Olney Hymns, William Cowper,
Cowper’s Poems, Sheldon & Company, New York
Solomon
writes these sayings that we might live wisely...
Riches do not profit in the day of
wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4)
How much better it is to get wisdom
than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. (Proverbs 6:16)
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy
to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the
wealth away and gives it to those who please him. Even this, however, is
meaningless, like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:26)
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves
abundance with its income. This too is vanity. (Material things demand
time and energy that could be better spent on eternal realities) When
good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what is the
advantage to their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working
man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much. But the full stomach of
the rich man does not allow him to sleep. There is a grievous evil which
I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his
hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had
fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had come
naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came. He will take
nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. And
this also is a grievous evil-- exactly as a man is born, thus will he
die. So, what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? (Ecclesiastes
5:10-16)
(Zephaniah 1:18;
Luke 12:21;
18:24;
1 Timothy 6:8-10,17;
Hebrews 13:5;
James 5:1-3;
1 John 2:15,16)
When someone
asked one of the richest men in the world what it would take to make him
happy he replied in all sincerity "One dollar more!"
No amount of
money will genuine contentment, the kind that God alone gives.
John Calvin
lamented that...
This deadly plague reigns everywhere
throughout the world. Men are grown mad with an insatiable desire of
gain. Christ charges them with folly, in collecting wealth with great
care, and then giving up their happiness to moths and to rust, or
exposing it as a prey to thieves. What is more unreasonable than to
place their property, where it may perish of itself, or be carried off
by men? Covetous men, indeed, take no thought of this. They lock up
their riches in well-secured chests, but cannot prevent them from being
exposed to thieves or to moths. They are blind and destitute of sound
judgment, who give themselves so much toil and uneasiness in amassing
wealth, which is liable to putrefaction, or robbery, or a thousand other
accidents: particularly, when God allows us a place in heaven for laying
up a treasure, and kindly invites us to enjoy riches which never perish.
John D.
Rockefeller once said,
“I have made many millions, but they
have brought me no happiness.” and
“The poorest man I know is the man
who has nothing but money.”
Cornelius
Vanderbilt added,
“The care of millions is too great a
load … there is no pleasure in it.”
Millionaire John
Jacob Astor described himself as
“the most miserable man on earth.”
Henry Ford at a
time when he was immensely wealthy once remarked,
“I was happier doing mechanic’s
work.” And John D. Rockefeller commented,
A Roman proverb
says that money is like sea water, the more you drink the thirstier you
get
In light of
these somewhat depressing quotations it is
not surprising that Jesus spoke of "treasure" or money quite frequently.
In fact, Randy Alcorn has estimated that
Fifteen percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic – more
than his teachings on heaven and hell combined (The Treasure Principle,
Multnomah, 2001)
It was Jesus
Who asked the piercing question...
For what does it profit a man to gain
the whole world, and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)
Jim Elliot
said that
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
On another
occasion Jesus instructed His disciples to...
Beware, and be on your guard against
every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his
life consist of his possessions." And He told them a parable, saying,
"The land of a certain rich man was very productive. "And he began
reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to
store my crops?' "And he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down
my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and
my goods. 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up
for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' "But
God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of
you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who
lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke
12:15-21)
Charles
Simeon wrote that...
Even if we could realize all our
expectations with respect to this world, our happiness must be short,
because life itself is coming speedily to a close: but there is not a
human being who does not feel the insufficiency of earthly things to
make him happy: What then can they contribute to our happiness in that
day, when nothing of them shall remain, except the fearful
responsibility for having idolized and abused them, and the tremendous
judgments of God for having suffered them to alienate our minds from
Him?
But the very exercise of grace is
happiness, independent of the reward which it will receive in glory; and
the more we abound in good works now, the happier shall we be to all
eternity; for “every one shall receive according to his own labour."
(Horae Homileticae Volume 11)
Augustine
wrote that...
If someone does something with the
intent of gaining earthly profit, that one’s heart is upon the earth.
How can a heart be clean while it is wallowing in the mud? On the other
hand, if it be fastened upon heaven it will be clean, for whatever is
heavenly is unpolluted. A thing becomes defiled if it is mixed with a
baser substance, even though that other substance be not vile in its own
nature. Gold, for example, is debased by pure silver if mixed with it.
So also is our mind defiled by a desire for the things of earth,
although the earth itself is pure in its own class and in its own order
MacArthur
rightly reminds us that...
Nothing we own is completely safe
from destruction or theft. And even if we keep our possessions perfectly
secure during our entire lives, we are certainly separated from them at
death. Many millionaires will be heavenly paupers, and many paupers will
be heavenly millionaires. But when our time, energy, and possessions are
used to serve others and to further the Lord’s work, they build up
heavenly resources that are completely free from destruction or theft...
Heavenly security is the only absolute security.
(MacArthur, J:
Matthew 1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary
Chicago: Moody Press)
Kent Hughes
presents a sad illustration of an ironic tragedy of hoarding material
wealth...
Mrs. Bertha Adams was seventy-one
years old when she died alone in West Palm Beach, Florida on Easter
Sunday 1976. The coroner's report read, "Cause of Death...
malnutrition." After wasting away to fifty pounds she could no longer
stay alive. When the state authorities made their preliminary
investigation of her home, they found a veritable "pigpen...the biggest
mess you can imagine." One seasoned inspector declared he had never seen
a dwelling in greater disarray. Bertha had begged food at her neighbors'
doors and had gotten what clothes she had from the S
