Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
December 26, 2004 - W0452

Have you ever wondered what keeps a sailboat upright through waves and stormy seas? If you’ve ever seen the underside of a sailboat, you would’ve seen a long ballast that extends deep down into the sea with a heavy weight at the bottom that pulls down on the boat and actually keeps the boat upright. In our lives, we have a similar system that acts as a compass for our Christian lives and helps us navigate through storms and precarious reefs of life. That system is a set of core values we keep deep down in our hearts, and just as the markers and stars that the old sailors navigated by, those values must never change and never move.

God calls these guiding values in our lives “treasure” and the Bible tells us to guard and protect them:

“Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you” (2 Tim. 1:14).

In fact, the Bible suggests these treasures are our foundation and without it…

THE TREASURE:

“If the foundations are destroyed, what can even the righteous do?” (Ps. 11:3). (Prov. 22:28).

As this passage infers, these core values or treasures are foundational to our lives. They must be stationary markers: non-negotiable and absolute. When you don’t understand foundational markers, and you let them move or shift, your life becomes dysfunctional. If your markers move or change, you won’t be able to use them to navigate through the wilderness of life.

So what are these treasures? The very first treasure is…

·        AN UNASHAMED IDENTIFICATION [WITH CHRIST].

“Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord…who has saved us and called us with a holy calling…” (2 Tim. 1:8-9).

The Bible tells us to not be ashamed of our faith because if you’re ashamed, you’ll start to be influenced by the world instead. We are not to be ashamed of the Lord, in fact, we should be representatives for Him. When you identify with the Lord, temptations are set back. Think about it for a moment, if you’re walking around wearing a Budweiser shirt, it wouldn’t be surprising for you to be invited to go drinking, but if you’re wearing a shirt that says, “Jesus is Lord”, what are the chances that someone will invite you out for a beer? The way I heard one person put it, “If you fear God, you will fear nothing else but if you fear man, you’ll fear everything else.”

An unashamed identification with Christ is first treasure; the second is understanding…

·        THE BOTTOM LINE:  SALVATION.

“Our Savior Christ Jesus…abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).

Your walk with Christ, your salvation, is your second treasure. You need to be okay with just you and Jesus. Let your motto be, “Jesus and me make a majority.” When we face hard times, for example when there is a betrayal or death of a loved one, we need to be okay with just Jesus; otherwise, we start doing things to get the attention of others and then we may not make wise decisions. On the other hand, if I am okay with just Jesus and me and know He will get me through whatever the situation may be, I can be calm in Christ, and can live and make decisions with wisdom.

Understanding salvation and that Jesus and me make a majority is important because it will keep the outside storms of life from becoming inside storms. Outside storms won’t upset or capsize you if you keep and protect this treasure deep in your heart. It is also important to be secure in that because one day you’ll be standing before the Lord, alone.

That peace that only Christ can give is our second treasure and our third treasure is…

·        TRUSTWORTHY & WISE DECISION MAKING.

“Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 1:10).

There must be a standard of sound words and wisdom by which to navigate and manage life. So what are the characteristics of wisdom from above? “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

The wisdom from which you will make wise decisions is the third treasure. You see, I don’t need the applause of men but of heaven. If we seek the approval of man and live in such a way that man or the world acknowledges us, we may not act wisely because we are seeking the wrong treasure. Don’t make decisions out of fear of what others may think, to satisfy  cravings, or to be acknowledged by man; rather, make decisions out of wisdom from above:  purity, peace, gentleness, and mercy…without hypocrisy.

So now that we understand what our treasures are…

·        an unashamed identification with Christ,

·        the bottom line:  Salvation, and

·        trustworthy & wise decision making,

how do we guard them?

HOW TO GUARD THE TREASURE:

1.    PROTECT WHAT GOES IN YOUR HEART.

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil…” (Luke 6:45).

Our hearts are receptacles that store things we allow into them. What many of us don’t seem to understand however is that we can choose what to allow into our hearts or not. People may say things to us that are untrue, hurtful, or just not good (i.e., of God), but rather than keep the lids of our hearts closed and let those things pass right through us, we let those things get deposited into our hearts where they become toxic and eat away at us. And, as the passage above suggests, from that hurtful, evil treasure will come forth evil. However, if we are wise and use the principles of God to evaluate the comments that come our way to discern good comments from evil and only allow the good treasure into our hearts, we will bring forth good from the good treasure in our hearts. The trick is to remember that we can choose what kind of treasure to build in our heart; as the Bible urges…

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23).

If you have a deceitful heart, from it will come deception. If you have a greedy heart, you will lust after worldly things. If you have an evil heart, it will cause pain.

But how do you discern good from evil? Listen to the markers in your heart and make sure you’re okay with God? Check in with Him frequently (e.g., daily devotions) and remember that you and He make a majority. 

Watch what you allow into your heart. Censor what you allow in. Judge what you let in by asking yourself, “Was it from or of God?” Build good treasure. For example, daily devotions…let it in and build you up. On the other hand, don’t let people’s negative or inadvertent comments in. Don’t live with the lid of your heart stuck open! It will make your heart unsure, intrepid, hesitant, and fearful. Then, you’ll end up giving your heart away to the world.

Too late?  Wondering what to do if you already let too much in? Simply ask for forgiveness. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

Once you accept responsibility for protecting your heart and understand that you can choose what to let in and what to dump…

2.    PAY MUCH CLOSER ATTENTION TO WHAT GOD IS SAYING!

Hebrews tells us why:  “For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Heb. 2:10).

Slow down when you’re reading the Bible.  Don’t gloss over it just to say that you’ve read it without understanding what you’re reading. The Bible is God’s word and He will breathe life into it according to your need. And when you receive His message as He meant it for you, carry it deep in your heart so it will be there for you to draw upon as you need it. As the passage encourages, pay close attention to what God is saying to you so it will remain with you and become part of your treasure.

Then lastly, how do we protect the treasure so it grows?

3.    INVEST THE TREASURE DAILY.

“For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him” (Matt. 13:12).

Our treasures are like languages, if you don’t use them, you’ll lose them. As you make decisions, ask yourself, “Is this a wise decision according to God’s word and treasures?”

Without a ballast, a sailboat is subject to all the currents and waves of the ocean; and without the core values that God calls treasures, we are subject to the drifts and storms of this world. The treasures of our heart are the weight that keeps us upright. The weight of God – which if we do not compromise – will get us through this world. Remember, an unashamed identification with Christ, our salvation, and trustworthy and wise decision making are treasures we should guard by protecting what goes in our hearts, paying closer attention to what God is saying, and investing our treasures daily. Let’s be Guardians of the Treasure.

Discussion Topics

1.      Have you ever been in a situation where your faith was questioned or challenged in public? What was the situation and what did you do? Did you respond without shame? If not, why not?

2.      Was there ever a time that you felt all alone, except to realize that God was always there? What did that feel like? Having had that experience, what do you think of the motto, “Jesus and me make a majority?”

3.      How good are you at protecting your heart? Share about a time when you let something you shouldn’t have into your heart. What was the result? How would things have been different if you had not let it into your heart?

4.      Share two ways that you feel you can invest God’s treasures.