Unspoken Sermons · Chapter
The Heart with the Treasure explained
This chapter explores Jesus' teaching about laying up treasures in heaven rather than on earth, emphasizing that where one's treasure is, there their heart will be also.
What happens
This chapter explores Jesus' teaching about laying up treasures in heaven rather than on earth, emphasizing that where one's treasure is, there their heart will be also. It warns against attachment to transitory things—wealth, praise, pleasure—which corrode the inner self, and calls for centering one's heart on eternal, heavenly treasures.
Themes in this chapter
Inner Transformation and Perfection
The chapter emphasizes the condition of the heart—the inner self—and warns against its corrosion by worldly cares, urging a transformation toward heavenly treasure.
Critique of Religious Legalism
Though not directly about legalism, the chapter critiques a superficial or external religiosity that seeks praise of men or worldly approval, pointing instead to the inner heart's orientation.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
The Lord whose words are the focus of the chapter; he is the Word and the Truth, and his teaching about treasure and heart is expounded.
- God the Father
Referred to as the Father in heaven, the one who sees the heart and is the source of life and truth.
- Mammon
Mentioned as an object of worship for those who give their lives to accumulation of wealth.
Key passages
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The place where you store what you value most is where your deepest affections and identity will dwell.
This is the key verse (Matt. 6:21) that the chapter unpacks, showing that the heart shares the fate of the treasure.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
Do not accumulate possessions that decay or can be taken; instead, invest in what is eternal and secure.
The opening exhortation from Matthew 6:19-20, which the chapter interprets as a warning against attaching the heart to corruptible things.