Treasures in Heaven:
We must never allow our sense of security in material possessions to
keep us from putting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to inherit
eternal salvation.
Here's Gene to explain:
As we look at this psalm, it's talking about treasures on earth
versus our treasures in heaven. And notice what we read, right in this psalm, in
verses 10 through 12, jumping in somewhat to the middle of this psalm. We read:
"For one can see that wise men die;
foolish and stupid men also pass away." By the way, that involves everybody. Right?
People who are wise, people who are foolish, were born to die. But notice when
that happens: "Then they leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their
eternal homes, their homes from generation to generation,
though they have named estates after themselves."
Now basically, this is not saying that they're annihilated or when you're dead,
you're dead.
What it is simply saying is, the house we live in, the body we live in here, goes
into the grave.
It is destroyed forever.
It's gone. That old body. It decays. Dust to dust.
"But despite his assets, man will not last;
he is like the animals that perish." In other words, we all die. Now,
human beings are different than animals in that God has created us in His image. And
from the whole biblical story, we know that our spirit lives on eternally,
either with God or separated from God. But the point is being made here is, you
can't put your confidence--or you shouldn't put your confidence--in
material possession. Because it's going to go.
And it's going to disappear and you're going to leave it behind.
We read on in verses 16 to 17:
"Do not be afraid when a man gets rich, when the wealth of his house increases.
For when he dies, he will take nothing at all; his wealth will not follow him down."
And as you think about this particular statement,
at least my mind goes to a man by the name of Voltaire,
He was a very wealthy man. He was a very brilliant man.
He was an atheist. He didn't believe in God.
He was very rich. But it's interesting that even though he was incredibly
critical of Christianity--
he tried to destroy Christianity--when he came to his own death bed,
this is what he said to the doctor: "I will give half of all I possess
if you will give me six months of life." He never got that because he died. And this
psalm was talking about individuals like that who died. In spite of their wealth,
in spite of their intelligence, they leave it all behind.
And here's where Jesus really helps us to understand this psalm.
He told a parable and it's really called "The Parable of the Rich Fool."
Remember? You find it in Luke: "Someone from the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell
my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' 'Friend,' he said to him, 'who
appointed me [a] judge or arbitrator over you?'
He then told them, 'Watch out and be on guard against all greed,
because one's life is not in the abundance of his possessions.' "
That's what this psalm is saying. "[And] then he told them a parable: 'A rich man's land
was very productive.'
He thought to himself, 'What should I do, since I don't have [anywhere] to store my crops?
I will do this,' he said. 'I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store
all my grain and my goods there.' [And] then I’ll say to myself,
'You have many goods stored up for many years.
Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.' "
But notice what God said to him: "You fool!
This very night your life is demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared--
whose will they be? That's how it is with the one
who stores up treasures for
himself and is not rich toward[s] God."
He leaves it all behind. And that's the
essence, really, of this particular psalm. Psalm 49 takes us back to that theme.
Verses 6 and 7:
"They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. [And] yet these
cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God." Now, that picture is a
beautiful home. That's one home by the way. And no one of us can judge and say
that's wrong per se. But if that's
all there is to life, what happens when we pass?
It's gone. The important question is, do we have a home in heaven?
Do we have treasures in heaven? And so there's a powerful lesson that really
comes from this psalm--
I think for all of us. Here's the question for reflection and response:
In what way does Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus clarify the eternal destiny of a
wealthy person who is not saved?
Who has put his hope in what he has down here-- in the abundance of possessions.
Well, you know the story.
Let me just give you the highlights: There was a rich man.
Jesus said. Lavish lifestyle.
That's all he lived for.
But outside this incredible palace that he lived in was a poor beggar. His name was
Lazarus. And he was sick. He was hungry. And I don't know how many times
this rich man walked by him and turned the other way and never did a thing for him.
Didn't help him.
Well, Jesus said, Lazarus died. And he went to Abraham's side. And it's interesting
that Jesus referred to Abraham. Because his whole audience right here are Jews
who claimed to be following father Abraham. And so Jesus is speaking primarily to
them, though certainly to all of us.
So the rich man dies as well, but he goes to Hades. He is separated from God. And
there's communication between this rich man and Lazarus. And he said, I’m in
misery. Help me.
But there's a great gulf fixed.
It's too late. And then the rich man said, well go tell my five
brothers that this is what is going to happen if you put your hope in
wealth. And your riches. And the response basically was, if they won't believe the
law and the prophets, they won't believe even if somebody comes back from the
dead. And of course, he's talking about his own death and his resurrection.
Because even then, many rejected the fact that Jesus Christ was God and that he
was the one who died and who rose again.
But the point being, there's a powerful principle here. And if you go to the
Life Essentials Study Bible where you have this passage listed,
it's a similar principle to what we have here in this psalm. And I simply call it,
"Luke Principle 37, Loving Money:" If we are blessed with wealth, ...
And that is a blessing.
It's not wrong to have wealth. And I thank God for people who have wealth.
Who are committed to Jesus Christ. And I know people that, if it weren't for their
generous spirit, there are certain ministries that couldn't survive. So God uses wealth.
[But] if we are blessed with wealth, we must not allow it to
harden our hearts and to cause us to miss God’s gift of eternal salvation.
And I might just add to that. Even as believers,
if we allow our hearts to be hardened, we lose perspective on why we're here.
Then we might fit into what Paul wrote in Corinthians. That we're building on
the foundation with
wood and hay and stubble. And we'll be saved. But all the rewards God wants to
give us for being faithful--
we have eternal life-- but everything is burned up.
"We're saved," Paul says, "as those who come through the fire."
I don't know about you, but I don't want that to be my life story. Or my life in
eternity. And this psalm really speaks, I think, to this powerful principle to live by.