Where is Your Treasure
Category: Worship & Praise
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 9, 2025
This is an article from Weinberger Divorce and Family Law Group LLC, written February 7, 2022. I want you to listen for just a second to what they say. Couples married for 20-plus years are now more likely to divorce than any other age group, according to a 2017 Pew Research Study.
The divorce rate among this demographic has doubled since the 1990s and is predicted to triple by 2030. Wow.
Couples that have been married for 20 years. Now, this is a couple years old. And you say, what’s the problem? Why is this? They’ve been married. They’ve had enough fights. They know what they’re going to fight about. You know, at least they figured out: do you put the toilet paper over the top or under the bottom? You know? Over the top, amen. Everybody knows that. Come on now. Or are you going to squeeze the toothpaste? They’ve got all those problems worked out in 20 years.
Which way, which one are you, Brother Chip? They got a plan, man.
How many honeymoons is it now? 33 honeymoons. Hey, man, that’s a good idea, I’d tell you. Need to do marriage counseling for people, brother. Awesome. But why? Let me tell you. Let me tell you. Here’s what’s happening all across America. They’ve been married for years, but they have put so much, or sometimes all their treasure, into the kids.
I’m for kids. We have a bus ministry. We have Sunday school. We’ve had it. We’ve got a Christian school. We’ve got all that stuff. But friend, your marriage is priority. One of the best things you can give your kids is a good marriage. And when you spend all your treasure in kids, kids, kids, kids, kids, kids, you’ve not been putting your treasure in your marriage. And your marriage is on the rocks because you’ve not been investing in it. Where your treasure is.
Put your treasure in your marriage. Get a babysitter. It’s not just kids. I don’t want to focus. The kids are like, man, why is he mad at us kids? We haven’t done anything wrong. And they haven’t. But sometimes it’s career, and working, you know, night and day and day and night, and making every penny we can find anywhere, low and high and high and low. We’re just… It’s all about money and treasure for our marriage? No. I’ve got to make money for my marriage. Hey, sometimes forget the money and build your marriage.
A whole lot of people living in a big old house, a nice car. Nothing wrong with that, but they’ve got all that. And praise the Lord, you’ve got that. I’m not doubting that. Please don’t. I hope I’m not coming across like that. But some people are living in all that, and they’re miserable because they’ve got a poor marriage, because they never have time and energy to put treasure in their marriage.
Hey, invest in your marriage, where your treasure is. Have date nights. Look, save the energy and emotion for your spouse. Work at it. If you’re not careful, life will just pull you apart, and you’ll be doing everything in the world—relationships and phone calls and everybody else—and you’ve got nothing left for your spouse.
Where your treasure is. Where your treasure is. Remember when you were dating? All right, I know that’s 450 years ago. I didn’t say.
Boy, you were putting your treasure in there then at that time. You were thinking about them all the time. Remember, you were talking on the phone until 3 a.m. Come on now. Wake up the next morning and be at work at 7 o’clock on time. Now, you’d sleep through work, but you were there. Man, Hallmark cards—they made a whole lot of money off of you back in the day when you were always getting a card, you know. Money, man, you were.
One of my relatives just said his son was dating a girl for a while, and it didn’t go really anywhere, and they broke up, whatnot, and he started dating another girl. And my relative said, “I think this may be the one, because he’s coming off with money on this girl here. He’s putting the big bucks out.” And you know what? They’re married today, about to have a child together. They’ve been married for over a year. But he was willing to put his treasure where your treasure is, there will your heart be also?
So don’t get so wrapped up in life. You’re putting your treasure everywhere else besides in your spouse. Someone, one of those old preachers, used to say, “Do what you did to get married, and you’ll never get unmarried.” Put your treasure in there.
Make a big deal. There’s something—and this is one of my little pet peeves, and I’ve got to get off my soapbox—but this is one of my things. I think I’ve mentioned it in Sunday school, but never in church: at Christmas time, you buy for, and you don’t buy for each other. Buy for each other.
Get something for each other. Let that be the biggest basket. Hey, just put treasure in each other. Wear your treasures. Where your heart is. Work at that thing. Work at your marriage. Hey, listen to this whole thing. Don’t listen to part of this statement here. Having an affair with your spouse. Everybody going off and putting all their treasure elsewhere, right? Hey, go ahead and put your treasure. Have some rendezvous with your spouse somewhere. Come on now. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Invest in it. It’s worthy of it, friend. Worthy of it.
Look, if you will—I got to get off that—look, if you will, over in Proverbs 23. Look over Proverbs 23, would you please? And so get us moving on because the clock doesn’t stop for me hoping in the barn. You know, they do have—they have the clock moved back there, you know. They didn’t take it down. I didn’t notice. Somehow they got it back up, you know. Look over Proverbs 23. Look at this, verse number 17. Wouldn’t you find that? Would you say, “Howdy, neighbor?” Good deal, good deal. Proverbs 23, look in verse number 17, verse number 17, Proverbs 23:17.
“Let not thine heart envy sinners.” Notice you have a little control. Don’t let your heart do this. Not like your heart’s going wild. You can’t—no, no, you’ve got some control over it. “Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long: For surely there is an end, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” Watch this, watch this. “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.” The world says, “Follow your heart!” A whole lot of girls have married a lazy, bum, creep of a guy because she followed her heart.
No, the Bible says guide thine heart in the way. Now, God can give you a good heart, unless they appear in heart if they see God. But we’re to guide. How do you guide my heart? By your treasure.
Hey, would you like—would you like for your heart to be in prayer? I mean, maybe 10 or 15 years down the road, would you like for your heart to be hot for the prayer closet where you, man, you’re like, “My prayer time alone with God is special”? And I’ve seen God answer a whole lot of prayers. Boy, I’ve just—I’ve seen the hand of God, I felt his touch. He’s met with me, he’s encouraged me, he’s taught me, he’s given what I need in the prayer closet. Anybody like that? You like that? Anybody want that? I want that. Am I putting my treasure in there?
You know, one of the greatest treasures you have is time. We all got the same amount of it. How much treasure? We have someone; they bought like a—I don’t know how you describe it—it’s a little enclosed gazebo in their backyard. They have a fenced-in backyard, privacy fence, but inside that they have those built-ins, and they have basically a heater in there. Maybe air conditioning, I’m not sure. And that was for their prayer time. Man, that costs a lot of money for that. Well, they’re investing in that. I like it. I think the greatest transactions in the kingdom of God happen not out in public; they happen alone in a prayer closet. That’s where they really happen. That’s where those contracts are signed and delivered, not in front of everybody, but alone with the Lord. That’s where those things happen.
I’m not saying you’ve got to have a room in your back, but are you investing in your prayer life? Are you putting treasure in there? Where your treasure is, there will you… I think about a man; he’s a multimillionaire. I haven’t talked to him in years, but literally a multimillionaire back when being a millionaire meant something. And he invested in our ministry in the beginning days of our ministry. And it got to be a form of fairly good friendship with him. And I remember him saying, “Brother Paul, would you pray over this? This is the list of the missionaries I support personally.” He supported 300 missionaries.
And I could tell when he’d get that list out, his heart was in it. We didn’t know each other real good, but we knew each other enough. I could tell, man, his heart—you know, I’m kind of like, “I’m supporting you, so here’s my heart. I want you to get involved in this prayer.” And he was, he was, he was, he was, he was into it.
We really don’t have newspapers that much anymore. Remember back in the day, you know, when they used to put the stock market in the newspapers? You see those businessmen, they’re looking, you know, and they’re going down that certain line and numbers and all that. For me, back in the day, I’m like, “Oh, there’s so many numbers, man. I mean, where’s the sports page at?” But they had treasure there, and their heart was there. You say, “I want my heart to be in souls.” Invest.
And interesting: “He that goeth forth and weepeth.” You don’t weep before you go, and then you get the burden for souls. You put your treasure in, then your heart follows. Guide thine heart in the way. I thought there’s interest. I never really noticed that much until Wednesday night. We were doing a Bible study on the book of Acts, and it became that last part of chapter number four. And Joseph, as well—pronounced his name; some will say Hoses—but it’s the guy that sold that land, and he gave it all. Remember Ananias and Sapphira in about the next chapter, but he gave it all. Remember the apostles, they surnamed him. They gave him the nickname Barnabas. Barnabas was one of the great, great Christians in the early church. I wonder if he hadn’t given so much treasure, if his heart would not have been in there like that. Maybe he’d just washed out like a lot of them did. But your treasure—where’s your treasure at? Where do you want your treasure to be at years from now?
I see people investing in this church here, and I’m so grateful for that. We’ve got a man in our church—just an amazing couple. And he’s working two jobs right now. He took on his second job; his second job works two nights a week. And the whole reason the employer hired him—and one of our men worked there and kind of set the whole thing up—he said, “Man, I can’t believe how much my employer is paying him,” but he’s paying him extra because everything he’s making on that second job, he’s giving to the building fund. I’m like, “Wow, that’s humbling to me.” Working an extra job just to give to the building fund. But hey, you know what? Their heart’s here. I don’t have to question if their heart’s here or not. Their heart’s here. Why? They put their treasure there.
My friend, however, the Lord is applying that truth to your heart and to your life: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. I remember visiting someone. We’ve got this barn theme, you know, in farm life, and someone—they live in a very country house and whatnot, and you drive down a dirt road, you get there, and it needs a little work. I don’t want to say too bad about it, but it just needs some work, whatnot. But you get there, out in the sticks, and you get to their house, and you start talking to them. Very quickly into it, I realized they had these huge tractors that they put in tractor pulls. And I’m talking about one tire—just one tire for that tractor costs over $1,000 just for a tire. I’m talking about those big old ones that are chromed out. I mean, they have to have—they have semis to carry them. And it doesn’t take long; you start talking about their tractors, you realize that’s where the heart is. Why? Of course, there’s treasure there.
I mean, you—I’m thinking of this place is, you know, man, this is like, what was it? The Andy Griffith—the ones that would come out of the mountains, the Darlings? Is that it? The Darlings? It’s like that. But then you start talking about tractors, and you walk inside their semi, and you’re like, “Wow, this chromed-out, amazing tractor, one tire over a thousand dollars!” Boy, you can tell, brother, that’s where their heart is. It’s a biblical principle: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let me say this; we’re going to close it out. You’re going to have a hard time putting your treasure in heavenly things, as just talked about there in Matthew 6, if you’re not sure you’re going to heaven.
Years ago, when I was young and battling my salvation, there was a tract going around at the time, and it said, “Saved, Sure, and Sold Out.” And that tract was so helpful for me. It talked about being saved, but then it talked about having your assurance of your salvation. You know, if you don’t have assurance of your salvation, it’s hard to sell out. You know, the Bible says you can know. 1 John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”
You know, the Bible talks about a revelation, the devil coming against us, and it says they overcame him—the devil—by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They loved not their lives unto the death. But that second part—if I don’t have a word of testimony to give about when I was born again, saved—if I have a word of testimony, then I overcome the doubts the devil’s putting on me. And you need a time and a place. I don’t remember the date that I got saved. I don’t know if it was eight or nine years old; it was right around there. I don’t know if it was a Sunday night or Wednesday night, but I remember that time and the place. And you need that, and then you get your salvation settled: I am a born-again Christian. I am saved. I’m going to heaven.
I’ll never forget a man. Him and his wife were in my office years ago. And I got to share with him the gospel, and we got down on our knees. And he prayed and asked Jesus to be his Savior. And he got up, and he said, “I got a time and a place now.” He had been in the discipleship class and heard that over again. And he said, “I got a time.” And he got assurance. Got it settled. He knows what he said. He got baptized even after that and sold out. But, friend, it’s hard. It’s hard to put your treasure in heaven if I’m not sure that I have my salvation.
It’s very important, yes, to be saved, but then have your assurance of your salvation. It’s so key. So very, very important. Then one last thought. I want to just get it in. I want to have time to develop it. But think about God. All right, you know, just stick with me here. We’re almost done, all right? Ladies, don’t put your shoes on. We’re not quite done, all right? We’re almost there. Circle the airport. We’re not landing quite yet. Brother Jim says, “You’ve been circling it for all 45 minutes now,” you know. Let’s think about God. God gave his greatest treasure to mankind: His only begotten Son.
No wonder God says the prayer of the upright is my delight. No wonder he says that his delights are with the sons of men. No wonder that you’re a big deal to his heart. No wonder that he says his thoughts toward you are as great as the number of the sands on the sea. No wonder, because he gave his greatest treasure for you. And where your treasure is… No wonder he loves you so much. He watched his Son bleed and die and be beaten for you. No wonder he cares so much about you. He gave his treasure. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. Maybe you’re there and you say, “Preacher, God has spoken to my heart, and I’ve got to get some treasure in the right place.” Maybe it’s a matter of, “I know where I want to be in 20 years. I want to go ahead and put my treasure there.” Maybe I need to adjust some things, but I want to get my treasure. When the test comes, maybe it is, “I want to make the right choice to give my treasure to the Lord.” But God spoke to me about that truth. God spoke to me. Heads bowed and eyes closed. If that’s you, just lift your hand and say, “Preacher, God spoke to me about this. I want to get my treasure. I want to make sure my treasure is in the right place.” Many hands, many hands. Lift them up. God spoke to your heart. I want to get my treasure in the right place. God bless you, so many hands.
By the way, I’ve watched those who put their treasure in God, and I’ve watched them sometimes get hurt, and their hearts wounded. Maybe death of a loved one, maybe their child didn’t turn out like they wanted. I watched them waffle somewhat. At the end of the day, I’ve watched them get back into serving the Lord because their treasure is in the right place.
Maybe you hear this morning and say, “Preacher, I need to settle my salvation. I have a hard time putting my treasure in heaven,” like that verse 20 says. I need to settle; I need to make sure I’m going to heaven. Is that you? Right there where you said, you said, “Preacher, I know for sure that I’m a sinner. I know that I understand there’s a penalty on my sin: death and hell. I do believe Jesus died and rose again. I believe that.”
And right now you want to go to Jesus, put your belief on him, all your faith—nothing you can do, no, not how good you are—but everything on Jesus and trusting in Jesus to save you. If that’s you, that’s you, that’s in your heart, “I’ve never done that. Right now, I want to get assurance. I need to settle this thing. I need to put all my faith in Jesus.” If that’s you, right there where you said, would you call to him? Maybe something like this: “Dear Jesus, I admit it, I’m a sinner. Now I understand that is the penalty. But Jesus, I’m not going to trust in what I can do. I’m trusting fully in you. Would you pay for my sins? Would you come into my heart? Would you be my personal Savior? Thank you for saving me, Jesus.”
With heads bowed and eyes closed, no one looking. “Preacher, I just prayed. Never had—I just prayed now for Jesus to be my Savior. I just called on him.” If that’s you, with heads bowed and eyes closed, “Preacher, I just did that.” Just lift your hand up. Anybody like that? Just slip it up. I just called on Jesus to be my Savior. Anybody like that? Boy, you get assurance. You get this thing settled. I’m on the way to heaven. And you’ll lay it for yourself: treasures in heaven. Would you please stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer.
Father, thank you for the wonderful truth. Lord, apply it, please, to every individual. Give us boldness to do what you’re tugging at our hearts to do. We’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. Jesus, then we ask.
Amen.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Where is your treasure＂ - Sunday AM 06⧸08⧸2025 [zgLJtYJrpfY]