1. But lay up.

2. Lay up treasures in heaven.

“how important will your ‘present pursuits’ be in 100 million trillion years from now? How important will our wallpaper be? How important will our promotion be? How important will our fame be? Are we making the right investments no in our lives?” (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 212)

“These earthly treasures are so powerful that they grip the entire personality. They grip a man’s heart, his mind and his will; they tend to affect his spirit, his soul and his whole being…everyone is affected by them; they are a terrible danger.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Lloyd-Jones, 365)

3. Treasures in heaven are secure.

“The Holy Spirit teaches us to fasten our thinking upon God. Then when we come to deal with property and money and everything to do with the matters of earth, He reminds us that our real treasure is in heaven. Every effort to persuade myself that my treasure is in heaven is sure sign that it is not. When my motive has been put right, it will put my thinking right.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Chambers, 56)

“The less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become.” Hudson Taylor (The Treasure Principle, Alcorn, 21)

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

“Do you wish you cared more about eternal things? Then reallocate some of your money, maybe most of your money, from temporal things to eternal things. Watch what happens.” (The Treasure Principle, Alcorn, 45).

Sermon Questions

1. What five things did you eliminate following last week's sermon? Was it valuable for you to do this?

2. How do you give for eternal purposes instead of temporal ones?

3. What greater way can you give to eternal purposes?

4. Have you struggled with holding on instead of giving away? Do you have a story to tell about how "These earthly treasures are so powerful?" How has God helped you in this?

5. How does one continue to be generous to God and not selfish?