Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
The Four Gospels • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 46:45
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· 5 viewsMorning 1 September 24
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Order of Service
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Welcome
Hymn - WE TRUST IN YOU, OUR SHIELD AND OUR DEFENDER (769) - EDITH G CHERRY 1872-97
Hymn - WE TRUST IN YOU, OUR SHIELD AND OUR DEFENDER (769) - EDITH G CHERRY 1872-97
Psalm Reading
Psalm Reading
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons.
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Prayer
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Teen Talk
Hymn - FOR I'M BUILDING A PEOPLE OF POWER (MP 151) - DAVE RICHARDS
Hymn - FOR I'M BUILDING A PEOPLE OF POWER (MP 151) - DAVE RICHARDS
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Notices
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Hymn - GLORIOUS THINGS OF YOU ARE SPOKEN (570) - JOHN NEWTON 1725-1807
Hymn - GLORIOUS THINGS OF YOU ARE SPOKEN (570) - JOHN NEWTON 1725-1807
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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Sermon
Sermon
Unlimited Trust in God
Unlimited Trust in God
Condemnation of the Opposite
Lack of trust in God produces feverish anxiety
Amounts to idolatry, for its accompanying attachment to mammon means detachment from God (v24)
Blurs vision, by being preoccupied with piling up material wealth, obscures the real goal of our existence (v22-23)
Confuses values, for it attaches primary significance to what is secondary and vice versa (food more important than life, clothing than the body) - v25
Defies all reason
for it barters away heavenly for earthly treasures, imperishable for the perishable (v19-21)
forgets that it cannot even add a single hour to a person’s life-span (v27)
borrows tomorrow’s troubles as if today’s were inadequate (v34)
refuses to consider that if, even as Creator, God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, that he will care for his children (v26, v28-32)
Unlimited Trust in God
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Amounts to idolatry
Amounts to idolatry
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Earthly Treasures
moth
rust
thieves
Heavenly Treasures
Pardoned
Enroled in the Kingdom of Heaven
Father’s Love
Spiritual Blessings
Teachings throughout Scripture
a faithfulness that will never be removed (Ps. 89:33; 138:8),
a life that will never end (John 3:16),
a spring of water that will never cease to bubble up within the one who drinks of it (John 4:14),
a gift that will never be lost (John 6:37, 39),
a hand out of which the Good Shepherd’s sheep will never be snatched (John 10:28),
a chain that will never be broken (Rom. 8:29, 30),
a love from which we shall never be separated (Rom. 8:39),
a calling that will never be revoked (Rom. 11:29),
a foundation that will never be destroyed (2 Tim. 2:19),
and an inheritance that will never fade out (1 Peter 1:4, 5).
Scripture does not condemn trade or accumulation, or planning for the future
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Money can also be a snare...
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
A person’s real treasure is their ultimate aim in all strivings
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
The heart cannot be in both places at the same time
Acquisition of money, fame popularity, prestiage power
Sincere and humble gratitude to God
joyful recogniton of God’s soverignty in his own life and in every sphere
Blurs Vision
Blurs Vision
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Parables not to be taken figuratively
Jesus uses as a parable later in his ministry Luke 12:22-34
Sell your possessions and give to the needy
We use our eyes to get about, but they also reveal our true nature
Healthy eye - vision is clear - body will be illuminated
Bad eye - vision is poor - body devoid of light (darkness)
“If then the light in you (source of light) is darkeness, how great is the darkness!”
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
You cannot serve God and Mammon (Aramaic: physical possessions and resources)
If we love God we will show this by being devoted to him, placing everything at His disposal and to serve Him
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
This supreme, self-sacrificing, enthusiastic allegiance cannot be given to both parties
There is only one True God
Mammon-Worship is idolatry
Return....
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
“The Psychological tension that builds up in a person who imagines they are able to serve both masters becomes so servere and unendurable that in attitude, word and deed they will sooner or later begin to show whether their real allegiance lies.” Hendriksen
Example: Judas Iscariot
Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Confuses values
Confuses values
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
“All mixed up” with respect to priorities
Recap key points:
Earthly treasures do not satisfy, and setting your heart on them forfeits heavenly treasures (v19-21)
Yearning for such earthly riches blurs mental and moral vision (v22-23)
A choice must be made between God and Mammon (v24)
Therefore, do not continue to set your heart of the latter
food & drink, to keep alive
clothes, to keep dressed
Afterall, your heavenly father who gave you your life and body will sustain them
He who provided the greater - life & body
Will also furnish the lesser - food & clothing
Is not life more important than food and body than clothes?
Do not then confuse priorities!
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Return....
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
“Do not be anxious” - worry/concern
Do not have this bad habit
Do not be distracted
life - condition of living
healthiness
happiness
exhuberance
energy
vitality - state of continuance of life
Do not be distracted… example
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Defies all Reason
Defies all Reason
Anxiety defies all reason
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Jesus expounds on v25 - Food
This was the “crossroads of bird migrations”
The skys were full of birds (26 types)
Lev 11:13-19 - lists 20 different birds from eagles to heron & bats (unclean)
Lev 12:6 - Pigeon & Turtle dove
Ps 84:3 - Sparrow & Swallow
Luke 12:24 - Ravens
Matt 23:37 - chickens & rooster
Birds neither sow, reap nor gather into barns - yet they are fedd and kept alive by their creator
The birds are by far from lazy
Men alike the birds not only sow, reap and gather into barns they are often filled with dreadful forebodings
While birds are “carefree”, men are “careworn” - tired, worried & unhappy
If the birds who are unable to significantly plan ahead have no reason to worry then Christians endowed with intelligence should not be filled with apprehension.
How much more than the birds will the Creator look after those made in His very image
“Are you not of more value than they?”
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
You can worry yourself to death, but worry has never added or solved anything.
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Jesus expounds on v25 - Clothing
“Why are you anxioys about clothing?”
Wild flowers grow - neither toil nor spin
Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Grass - wheat & hay
If God provdes for the short-lived flowers or grass, he will surely provide for His children
“Oh you of little faith”
Disciples fear of drowning during a storm at sea (Matt 8:26)
Peters similar fear (Matt 14:31)
Disciples failure to remember the lesson they had received in connection with Christ’s miracle working power (Matt 16:8)
Worrying they had not bread
Despite previously witnessing
“five loaves for the five thousand”
“seven loaves for four thousand”
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
The Gentiles in their fear scheme, even robbing others to satify their need.
Emperors would rise and fall over food and clothing
Christians must be distinctive and not sink to the level of the Gentiles
Trust God and do not be afraid
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
Recognise God is King
God has established His Law
Obedience, both is legal standings and ethical conduct
All these things will be added to you
Active obedience...
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Trust in God’s promises
Pray
Spread the Gospel Message of Salvation
Out of gratitude perform good works to benefit men and to glorify God
Jesus Summerises...
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
God has not given us strength today for tomorrow’s difficulties.
Do what is right before God today and Trust God for His blessing tomorrow
Hymn - MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN (1261) - Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty & Graham Kendrick
Hymn - MY WORTH IS NOT IN WHAT I OWN (1261) - Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty & Graham Kendrick
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology