Treasure in Heaven

In the Sermon on the Mount Christ said something startling. Instead of laying up our treasures on Earth, He commanded us to lay them up in Heaven:

Matthew 6:19-21: “19 Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

This passage is quite important, and yet it is widely overlooked. People tend to spiritualize it, thinking that it is somehow talking about spiritual blessings. Readers assume that the verse means “Serve God and He will bless you spiritually” and then move on, not realizing that they have completely misunderstood what Christ said.

Jesus is not talking about spiritual blessings here; He is talking about physical property. Stop and think about it for a minute. Can moths eat holes in your spiritual blessings? Can thieves break into your home and steal your spiritual blessings while you are away on vacation? Of course not! The only type of treasure that could be eaten by moths or stolen by thieves is physical treasure. What Christ is saying is that we ought to store our physical treasure in Heaven so that it can’t be stolen – and so that our heart will be focused on Heaven and not on Earth.

It’s common for people to assume that the pursuit of wealth is somehow a bad thing, but Christ never said that. Jesus did not finish the passage by condemning the pursuit of wealth or ordering His servants to take a vow of poverty. Instead Christ said we should put our valuables out of harms way. Jesus actually encourages us to “lay up treasures” – as long as we’re keeping them in the right place!

I realize this entire concept may seem strange, but that’s because of our own unbelief, not because of anything contained in the passage itself. I ask you again: can moths eat spiritual blessings? Satan may wreck havoc in our life, but if he was the real threat to our treasure then why not mention him instead of moths? The examples Christ uses draws our attention to physical property. He could easily have said something like “Don’t try to get physical wealth in this life, but instead give your goods to the Lord so you can have a closer walk with Him,” but He didn’t. He also could have said “Give your earthly treasures to God so that He can bless you spiritually,” but He didn’t say that either. What Christ actually said was radically different.

Very few people believe that we will have possessions in Heaven, but possessing things is not evil. Ownership and private property did not come about as a result of the Fall. We can own goods in this life without sin. It may seem strange to imagine owning things in Heaven, but since Christ encourages us to amass Heavenly wealth then it must be possible.

How we amass this Heavenly wealth is dealt with in several other passages. One key way is to give to the poor:

Matthew 19:21: “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

Luke 12:31: “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

I’d like to point out one more time that Christ describes this Heavenly treasure as something that is real and tangible. He talks about bags that do not wear out and goods that are not eaten by moths. If Christ was talking spiritual blessings He could easily have said so, but He didn’t. Christ did not say “Seek the kingdom of God and you will be drawn closer to God, which is your reward.” Instead He talked as if the treasure was some type of physical good that would ordinarily be subject to the wear and tear of this life.

Another key way to amass Heavenly treasure is to be persecuted for serving God:

Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Luke 6:22: “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”

Another way is to receive the servants of God as what they are, or to help others in the name of God:

Matthew 10:40: “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

The Bible also speaks of crowns that we can earn, which is another form of reward:

I Corinthians 9:24: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

There are actually several different types of incorruptible crowns. Paul elaborates about one of of them in 2 Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

The crown of righteousness will be given to all those who long for the return of Jesus Christ and are excited about His return. There are many Christians today who dread the return of Christ and hope He stays away as long as possible; those people will not be receiving this crown.

Another type of crown is the crown of life:

James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

Revelation 2:10: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

As we can see, the crown of life is given to those who endure temptation. Christ wants us to love Him, and the way we show our love for Him is by keeping His commandments (John 14:15). This means that those who keep His commandments prove that they really do love Him. Those who endure temptation and defeat it, choosing to walk in the ways of God instead of the ways of the flesh, will be given the crown of life.

Peter speaks of the third type of crown – the crown of glory:

I Peter 5:1: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”

This crown is promised to those who faithfully and selflessly take care of the Church. It appears that it will be given to pastors, evangelists, and elders who faithfully executed their job. Those who did well will be given the crown of glory, and those who were faithless will lose it.

It’s worth pointing out that in Revelation Christ warns us that we must be careful because these crowns can be lost:

Revelation 3:11: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

Our salvation cannot be lost and eternal life cannot be lost, so Christ is clearly not talking about either of those. What can be lost are our crowns, because they are rewards for a life well lived. If we dread the return of Christ then we will not be given the crown of righteousness. If we live selfish, carnal lives then we will never receive the crown of life. Finally, if we are pastors that choose to side with the world instead of with the Bible then we will never receive the crown of glory.

The one theme that is common in all of this is service to God and His Kingdom. If we give up the things that we have and sacrifice them for the kingdom of God – if we spend our lives building up His kingdom and serving Him – then we will have treasure in Heaven. If you want to lay up treasure in Heaven, this is how you do it.

As w can see, Christ is clearly talking about rewards for service – a gift that Christ has promised to give those who have performed acts of service for Him. These acts of service may be as large as dying for Christ or as small as giving a cup of water to a thirsty child, but none of them are too small to be noticed and none of them will go unrewarded. Jesus actually encourages us to “leap for joy” because of the rewards that we will receive! He wants us to look forward to these rewards and to set our hearts on them. He wants our heart to be focused on Heaven.

The word “reward” in Luke 6:23 is the Greek word misthos (#3408). According to Strong’s Hebrew-Greek Concordance it means “pay for service … hire, reward, wages”. Another word for it would be salary. This is an amazing thing, because Christ is not obligated to give us anything in return for what we do for Him:

Luke 17:10: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”

Christ does not owe us anything for our lives of service – when we obey Him we are simply doing what He has already commanded us to do. Yet, in spite of this, out of His deep and passionate love for us, He offers us rewards. It is not a repayment of a debt (for no one can obligate God), but instead it is an amazing act of mercy and grace.

Usually when I teach this I run into very strong opposition to the entire idea of rewards. People are very opposed to this idea. Some argue that in Heaven “there are no big I’s or little U’s”, meaning everyone has the same reward. Others say that God is our reward and it’s wrong to look for anything else. Still others claim that looking for rewards is “unspiritual”.

These objections sound wise, but they are all mistaken. Christ dealt with this in Matthew 19:

Matthew 19:27-30: “27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

It is interesting to note what Christ did not say. When Peter asked what reward he would receive in return for his service, Christ did not rebuke him, nor tell him that he would receive no special reward, nor say that God was his reward, nor say that eternal life was all he was going to get. Instead Christ actually said he would receive a special position of authority that no one else would have – Peter and the other disciples would be given thrones and judge the tribes of Israel!

From this passage alone it is clear that everyone’s reward is not the same. This also disproves the idea that everyone’s position is identical – some people (like the disciples) will be given more authority than others. Notice that verse 30 says that “many that are first shall be last”. It does not say that “everyone will be the same”! Some people, because of their acts of service to God, will have greater positions than others.

The idea of being rewarded for our service makes some people uncomfortable, but this is Christ’s idea, not our own. God is not somehow doing something wrong by generously rewarding people. The Lord is not rewarding us because God owes us something; He is rewarding us because He loves us. It has nothing to do with our worthiness and everything to do with His generosity. This passage makes clear what we will do with the rewards Christ has promised to give to us:

Revelation 4:9-11: “9 And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

What are these people doing with their crowns? They are casting them before the throne of God and worshiping Him. The Lord had glorified them, but they turned around and used their glory to worship the Father. Nothing was directed toward self; instead, everything was directed toward God.

The word “crown” in this passage is an interesting one. It is the Greek word stephanos (#4735) and means “a badge of royalty, a prize in the public games or a symbol of honor” – in other words, a reward for emerging victorious in a contest. These are not crowns of authority but crows of victory – prizes, not scepters. The crowd in the throne room of Heaven took their crowns and used them to glorify the Father.

Christ even taught several parables on this subject. In Matthew 25:14-30 and in Luke 19:11-27 Christ tells the story of a ruler who entrusted his servants with various possessions and then went away on a long journey. When he returned he gathered his servants and asked them to account for what they had done. The ruler’s response to his servants’ faithfulness is very striking:

Matthew 25:20-21: “20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me give talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

Luke 19:16-27: “Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.”

In both parables the ruler rewarded those who had faithfully served him. This is quite unexpected, because the ruler had entrusted his possessions with servants. Being faithful managers was simply a part of their job; they didn’t deserve a tip for it. Despite this, not only were they rewarded, but they were rewarded extravagantly! When the ruler returned he entrusted entire cities to them simply because they had been faithful with a small sum of money. It would be like faithfully managing a few thousand dollars for a businessman, doing it well, and being rewarded by overseeing a hundred-million-dollar stock portfolio. There’s simply no comparison between the act and the reward.

What really mattered to the ruler was that his servants had been faithful, and since they were faithful he rewarded them with joy and far greater responsibilities. The money had simply been a test of their personal character, and since they passed they went on to better and brighter things. It didn’t matter if their pound had gained two pounds or five; what mattered was that they had faithfully served their master.

It is worth noting that the servant who was not faithful had his reward taken away:

Luke 19:24-26: “24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him [the unfaithful servant] the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.”

It’s tempting to think that Christ is talking about the unsaved in this passage, but He is not. The unsaved are dealt with in the next verse:

Luke 19:27: “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before me.”

The message Christ is teaching is crystal clear. The servants who faithfully served their master were rewarded. The servant who was not faithful had his reward taken away and given to someone else. Finally, all of those who refused to be servants at all and who rebelled against the ruler were executed. Christ is definitely not teaching that everyone will have the same reward in Heaven, or that He places no difference between His faithful servants and His unfaithful ones. In Revelation 21:4 it does say that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:” but it does not say that everyone shall receive the same reward. In fact, I Corinthians 3 says quite the opposite:

I Corinthians 3:11-15: “11 For other foundation can no main lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.”

This passage is clearly saying that every man’s work will be tested, and anything that does not pass the test will be lost. Like the parable of the talents, a reward is given to some but not to others. Those who wasted their lives and built upon straw were still saved, but suffered loss. They attained eternal life but received no reward. It does not say that they will suffer pain and bitterness throughout all of eternity, but it does say that they will miss out on something.

In summary, I believe that the Bible teaches that Christ does reward our Christian service in this life with Heavenly treasures in the next. I also believe that we will give an account of our life to Christ, and those who were not faithful will miss out on rewards that will be given to those who served faithfully. Some, like the disciples, will have positions of greater authority than others. These rewards are given out of the generosity of God and are for the glory of God, not for our own vanity. All things are done for the honor and glory of God – and it pleases God to reward those who lived faithfully for Him.