An Eternal Perspective

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

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ME:

Awana volunteers needed, talk with Pastor Zach at the Welcome Center after the service.

The church is not just an information delivery system, it is a body of believers who live in relationship with one another. Ladies, there’s a chance to build new and strengthen old relationships in a few weeks for the Ladies Game Night. Check the bulletin for more information.

Today we will be continuing our study called Summer on the Mount. If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 825. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you.

TRANS: Pray

Opening Hook

Rope illustration

This is your life, all that you will do. (create tension and act like the length of the rope is the length of their life, but cover up the colored end of the rope that actually represents their life on earth)

What would happen if we kept all of life into view when we make decisions, when we set financial priorities, and when we went about our spiritual habits?

C.S. Lewis famously said, “you have never talked to a mere mortal.” All of us will exist past this life. Do we live with that in mind?

Bottom Line

Live your life in light of the next.

Throughout the Sermon the Mount, Jesus has been teaching about the Kingdom of heaven, about rewards in heaven, and the warning of eternal hell. I’ll say this, you are unable to understand what Jesus is teaching unless you consider your whole existence, not just your earthly existence.

You are unable to be faithful to God when you do not keep your eye heaven while you are on earth.

TRANS: In our text today, we will take a look at several items that require a heavenly perspective.

Matthew 6:16–18 ESV

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

In Light of the Next

Fast properly, not for human attention.

Matthew 6:16-18

Recall to earlier in chapter 6 where Jesus is talking about prayer and generosity. He is warning people not to be like the hypocrites who do these things for the applause of people, but rather to pray and give for God alone. This is the third area that Jesus is bringing to our attention.

It seems that Jesus is pointing out some specific things that the hypocrites were doing. “Looking gloomy and disfiguring their faces.” Michael Wilkins sheds light on what was going on:

“Disfigure” (aphanizo) here indicates making one’s face unrecognizable from a normal perspective, with the intent to publicize the physical hardships endured while fasting. The hypocrites certainly did not want to be completely unrecognizable, which would defeat the purpose of trying to gain attention for their pious deed. During the fasting period they might disfigure their face by remaining ungroomed or perhaps by sprinkling ashes on their head and face as a sign of contrition. This was a deceptive way of letting others know of their extensive efforts to increase their personal piety.1

1 Michael J. Wilkins, Matthew, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2004), 282.

These hypocrites were fasting in order to be noticed, and Jesus declares “they have received their reward” — referring to human recognition. but Jesus rebukes this way of fasting. Notice he says “anoint your head and wash your face.” To anoint one’s head was a part of routine hygiene in the ancient world to prevent dry skin, and wash your face is self-explanatory. Jesus is saying, “when you fast, take a shower!” This was a practical response to how the hypocrites were disfiguring themselves while fasting to gain attention.

True spirituality does not care if others notice. They pray, give, and fast to be seen by the Father who sees what is done in secret. And such things bring reward. But the hypocrites had forgotten their primary “audience.”

Listen to what Louis Barbieri says about where the hypocrites were getting it wrong:

The Pharisees loved to fast so that others would see them and think them spiritual. Fasting emphasized the denial of the flesh, but the Pharisees were glorifying their flesh by drawing attention to themselves.1

1 Louis A. Barbieri Jr., “Matthew,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 32.

Here’s the purpose of fasting:

As your hunger increases, and your body weakens, to be physically aware of your spiritual reality.

You are needy and in need of God’s provision.

Your flesh starts to fight you in order for needs to be met, but you crucify the flesh along with its desires and seek God.

When you fast, the only way to do so properly is to fast in light of the next life. You are learning to become increasingly dependent on your heavenly Father, until you see Him one day in glory.

TRANS: And Jesus continues on this line of reasoning. When we live in light of the next, that changes how we fast and what we pursue.

Matthew 6:19–23 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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.

Seek heavenly treasures, not treasures you will lose.

Matthew 6:19-23

This is one of the most quoted sections of the Sermon on the Mount, especially in our culture of “stuff.” But Jesus uses a unique word, “treasures.”

This greek word has several senses and relationships, but it is only used in this sense one other time in the Bible. “

Matthew 2:11 ESV

11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Treasure is one of our 10 key concepts:

Treasure

Your treasure is whatever has the strongest hold on your heart.

Matthew 6:19–24

What you treasure is what you pursue. To treasure something is to put it at the top of the priority list.

Have you ever met someone with a different set of priorities than you? Of course you have! Why is that? It’s because priorities flow from the treasure of our heart.

There are lots of different “treasures:”

Money

Career

Reputation

Children/grandchildren

Vacations

Hobbies

Whatever our “treasure” is becomes the direction of our whole lives. What happens when we treasure the wrong things?

The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves 1 Our Problem with Shame

She was the chief executive of a successful marketing firm and had relied on her hard-driving style to get things done. She was bewildered that her company was listing, and her effort to work harder was not effectively righting the ship. She was running out of ideas. I inquired as to whom she could ask for help. Without hesitation she informed me that to admit she needed assistance was tantamount to resigning. “I can’t afford not to have ideas that work. If I have to ask for help, I will be seen as incompetent and the board will fire me.”

This woman “treasured” her position above all else. She will do anything to keep it.

The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves 1 Our Problem with Shame

“She didn’t get in, and I’m worried about what this will mean for her future.” This, coming from a mother who had worked diligently to do her part to help her daughter gain entrance to her top school choice. This might be understandable, except for the fact that her daughter was only three years old.

This mom “treasured” her kids having success. She will do anything to ensure it.

Jesus comments on the “eye” being either full of light or being bad. Jesus is making a comment about how what we put our focus on reveals our heart:

A “good eye” (agathos ophthalmos) signifies generosity (cf. Deut. 28:54, 56; Prov. 23:6; cf. Sir. 29:8, 10). Consistent with this, the term translated “healthy” (Matt. 6:22) is haplous, which can mean “simple” in the sense of lacking ulterior motives. Cognate terms mean generous in 2 Corinthians 8:2; 9:13; and James 1:5. If we follow this reading of Matthew 6:22–23, we see Jesus exhorting men to set their eyes on the right things.1

cf. confer, compare, see

cf. confer, compare, see

1 Daniel M. Doriani, “Matthew,” in Matthew–Luke, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. VIII, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 114.

Not only does treasuring the wrong things lead to burning ourselves out in trying to keep it, it leads to us losing it anyway. Jesus says that anything other than treasures in heaven will eventually be gone. Moths, rust, thieves, etc. It’s all going to be gone.

TRANS: Live your life in light of the next, or you’ll treasure the wrong things. Seek heavenly treasures.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “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.

Serve your Heavenly Master, not stuff.

Matthew 6:24

Now Jesus closes by talking about our allegiance. “You cannot serve two masters.” I imagine a work setting where there are two assistant managers. Typically what happens is the employees begin to like one and not the other, or some like one and some like the other. Even if both are the “boss,” one may be listened to more than the other. One may be strict and one is more lax, for example. That creates a culture depending on who is followed.

Here, Jesus is claiming that you cannot serve both God and money. One will be your master, and one demands the sacrifice of the other. God may ask you to serve Him by being sacrificially generous, and money will ask you to serve it by leaving God behind.

Why does Jesus talk about money so much? It’s because money can become like a god, and Jesus is using word-play here.

The word Jesus uses for “money” is the greek word “mammon.”

It comes from a root which means “to entrust.” Mammon was that which a man entrusted to a banker or to a safe deposit of some kind. Mammon was the wealth which a man entrusted to someone to keep safe for him, but as the years passed as the sands through the hourglass, mammon came to mean, not that which is entrusted, but that in which a man puts his trust. The end of the process was that mammon came to be spelled with a capital “M” and came to be regarded as nothing less than a god.1

1 Rod Mattoon, Treasures from the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2007), 159–160.

The reason Jesus singles out money is because it has a divine-like allure that can pull us away from serving God.

Money may be your master if…

You obsess over what money promises: security, happiness, status

You compare yourselves to and envy others.

A life free from comparison is a life of joy. A proper and Godly response to others having something that you don’t is true happiness for them.

You can’t stop working, to the neglect of your family (and sanity!)

You aren’t able to enjoy what you have

You assume you would not have any problems if you had more money

You treat money like an end and not like a tool

But serving your Heavenly Master requires seeing money in its proper place: use money to serve God.

TRANS: [text]

Application

Repent of your earthly perspective.

How many of you have either met a child or been a child? Ok, so, everyone. Children are notorious for something called “expediency.”

The dictionary defines this as: “Expediency is a noun that means the quality of being useful, practical, or suitable for a specific goal, often at the expense of what is right, fair, or honest.”

Or to put it another way, this is called “I want it now” syndrome.

Pay attention to Jesus’ teachings. We want…

Reward for following God,

Treasure that is satisfying,

To serve a master that will bring us flourishing and security.

These are *good* longings that our fleshly desires twist and distort. “I want it now” syndrome enters the picture.

Reward for following God can be gained from men, or from God. Will you wait?

Treasures are either the kind that last or the kind that are lost… will you wait?

A good master provides flourishing and security, but only your Heavenly master will provide that perfectly in Heaven. Will you wait?

To repent of your earthly perspective is to keep eternity in mind. It is to delay gratification.

When you are tempted to gain the approval of others, remember eternity.

When you are tempted to store up earthly treasures, remember eternity.

When you are serving money and all that it promises, remember eternity.

TRANS: Repent of your earthly perspective.

Seek the Kingdom.

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 363: Kingdom of God

“While serving as a missionary in Laos,” tells John Hess-Yoder, “I discovered an illustration of the kingdom of God.

“Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians. On the other hand, those who ate long-grain rice built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese.

“The exact location of a person’s home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited.”

So it is with us: we live in the world, but as part of God’s kingdom, we are to live according to his kingdom’s standards and values.

Seeking the Kingdom has more to do with taking on the values and culture of the Kingdom than location. But some people mistake being *around those who seek the Kingdom* for seeking it themselves.

*return to rope analogy*

There is a sense of urgency to seek the Kingdom. This (tape) amount of time directly effects this (rest of rope) amount of time. Some of us are here (beginning) some of us are here (near the end), and both truly do not have as much time as they thought when compared to eternity. Don’t you think there are people on this side who had wished they had made different choices on this side?

Live in light of the next. Know that you will be greatly rewarded by your heavenly master with treasures that do not fade. Your obedience in this life is rewarded in the next. Seek the Kingdom, Seek Jesus, and participate in the sharing of the Gospel.

Conclusion : When we live in light of the next life, we become free to honor God with this one.

Pray

Heavenly Father, forgive us for living as though this present world is all that matters. Expose the desires, treasures, and masters that compete for our hearts. Teach us to seek You alone, treasure what is eternal, and serve You with undivided devotion. Help us live this life faithfully in light of the next. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Talk About It/Think About It

How would an eternal perspective change what you pursue, value, and serve today?

Why can spiritual practices such as fasting become opportunities to seek recognition from others?

What would it look like to pursue God faithfully even when no one else notices?

What earthly treasures are you most tempted to treat as permanent?

Where do you feel the tension between serving God and pursuing financial security, comfort, or success?

What practical decision could demonstrate that money is your servant rather than your master?

What is one specific way you can place God’s kingdom first this week?