Matthew 6:19-24

Scripture Reading: Luke 12:16–21 & 1 Tim 6:8-11

LAST TIME

We Started Chapter 6 in the Sermon on the Mount

Theme of the Sermon: How to Have Greater Righteousness Than the Scribes and Pharisees

In Order toBe a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom, We Must have Greater Righteousness Than Them

In Chapter 5, Jesus Taught His Listeners How to Rightly Interpret and Obey the Law From the Heart

In Chapter 6, Jesus Begins Teaching His Listeners How to Live Out Their Righteousness

We Shouldn't Practice Our Righteousness Like the Scribes and Pharisees

Jesus Calls Them Hypocrites

They Only Give to the Poor, Pray, and Fast For the Purpose of Being Seen

These 3 Practices are Representative of the 3 Areas of Life in Which We are to Practice Righteousness

We are to Love Others and Show That Through Our Actions Toward Them

We are to Love God and Have a Sincere Relationship With Him

We are to Work on Self-Improvement in Becoming More Like Jesus

Jesus’ Disciples are to Practice Their Righteousness in Each of These Areas With Sincerity

Matthew 6:19-24

Jesus is Going to Continue Showing Us How to Practice Our Righteousness

He is Now Going to Address a Topic That Most of Us as Americans Really Need to Hear

This Lesson From Jesus Challenges and Confronts Me

And if You Will Be Honest With Jesus For the Next Few Minutes, He Will Challenge and Confront You as Well

Jesus is Going to Talk About Our Money and Possessions

But Even Deeper Than That…

He is Going to Talk About Our Relationship to Our Money and Possessions

And if We Want to Be Citizens of His Kingdom and Receive All the Blessings That Come With That…

We Need to Take a Long Hard Look at Our Relationship to Our Money and Possessions

Matthew 6:19 (NASB)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Is Jesus Saying it is Wrong to Have Wealth and Material Possessions?

No, We Have to Be Careful Not to Take a Verse and Automatically Assume its Most Extreme Interpretation

Many of the Most Righteous Individuals in the Bible Were Very Rich People…

For Us to Assume Jesus is Saying Having Wealth and Possessions is Sinful Would Seem to Contradict the Scriptures

Nowhere Does the Bible Condemn:

Having Possessions

Saving For a Rainy Day, Retirement, or to Provide For Our Families in the Future

Those Who Don’t Take Measures to Provide For Themselves and Their Families are Condemned in the Scriptures

The Greek Word For “Store Up” is the Verb Form of the Word For “Treasure” in This Same Sentence (Store Up = thēsaurizō) (Treasures = thēsauros)

“Don’t Treasure Treasures For Yourself On Earth”

Jesus Isn’t Condemning Having Possessions…

He’s Condemning the Heart That Views Wealth and Possessions as its Treasure

He’s Condemning the Selfish Accumulation Worldly Goods

There’s a Difference in Saving and Hoarding

There’s a Difference in Thinking About the Future When Dealing With Your Money and Covetousness

The Thing About Treasures on Earth is That They Don’t Last

Moths Will Eventually Destroy Your Clothing

“Rust” = Eating

This Can Refer to Rust Eating Away at Metals, Bugs and Rats Eating Away at Food Supplies, etc.

“Break in” = Dig Through

This Refers to How Thieves Would Dig Through the Mud/Clay Walls of the Average House of That Day

The Greek Word For a Burglar Meant “Wall-Digger”

Jesus’ Point is This:

“Why Make Earthly Wealth and Possessions Your Treasure That You Seek to Selfishly and Covetously Accumulate For Yourselves?”

“These Things Will Never Last!”

Matthew 6:20 (NASB)

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

Instead of Your Focus in Life Being On Accumulating Earthly Treasures…

Jesus Tells Us to Focus On Accumulating Heavenly Treasures

There is No Moth or Rust or Rats or Pests or Thieves or Anything Else That Can Take That Treasure Away

What Kind of Treasures is Jesus Referring to?

We Aren’t Told Specifically…

But We Already Know They are Better Than Any Treasures We Could Accumulate Here

They Will Last Forever

Which Abundance of Wealth and Possessions Should We Work Toward…

The Kind That We Get to Keep For a Short Amount of Time?

Or the Kind That We Get to Keep and Enjoy Forever?

Which Should We Treasure More?

We Have a Choice in Which Treasure We Seek to Accumulate

It’s Obvious Which Treasure Has the Greatest Value

But Most People Choose the Treasure That Won’t Last

Why?

For a Number of Reasons

Because it’s Much More Immediate

Because Most People Would Rather Live For Today Rather Than Tomorrow

Because It’s Visible (the Other Takes Faith to See)

Jesus Then Tells His Listeners That the Treasure We Choose Says a Lot About the Kind of Person We Are

Matthew 6:21 (NASB)

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What Does This Mean?

The Location of Your Treasure is Where You Heart/Mind Will Be Focused

If Your Treasure is Earthly, Then Your Heart/Mind Will Be Focused On Earthly Things

If Your Treasure is Heavenly, Then Your Heart/Mind Will Be Focused On Heavenly Things

And Your Choices and Actions are Shaped By What Your Heart/Mind Treasure/Cherish the Most

If You’re After a Worldly Treasure, You’re Going to Behave in Worldly Ways

But if You’re After a Heavenly Treasure, You’re Going to Behave in Heavenly Ways

Our Behavior, Choices, and Actions are Proof of Where Our Hearts Are

Matthew 6:22 (NASB)

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

This Verse Always Confused Me

First, Because it’s a Difficult Verse to Understand

Second, Because it Seems Like Jesus Completely Switches Topics

This Verse is a Little Difficult to Understand, But Jesus is Not Switching Topics

He is Still Dealing With the Topic of a Wealth

He Tells Us the Lamp of the Body is the Eye

Our Eye Gives Light to Our Body

If Our Eye is Clear/Healthy/Good/Sincere/“Single”…

Then Our Whole Body Will Be Full of Light

That Still is Kind of Confusing Though, Isn’t it?

In Jewish Writings, the Eye and the Heart Were Often Used Synonymously

And a Good Eye Represented a Generous Attitude

In Essense, When Our Eyes/Hearts are Sincerely and Singularly Focused on the Treasures of Heaven…

Our Whole Bodies Will Be Filled With Light

That is to Say, as With the Previous Verses, When Our Hearts are Fixed on the Proper Treasure, Our Actions Will Prove it

Matthew 6:23 (NASB)

But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Just as a Good Eye Represents a Generous Attitude…

A Bad Eye Represents a Stingy, Greedy, Covetous Attitude

And When a Person’s Eye/Heart/Light of the Body is Dark, Then Their Whole Body is Full of Darkness

This is the Person Whose Eye/Heart is Focused On Accumulating Earthly Treasures

That is a Dark Path Where No Light Shines

They Are Blinded By Their Covetousness and Greed

And Their Behaviors, Choices, and Actions Prove it

Dark and Terrible Things are Caused By Those Who Treasure Earthly Gain

They Can’t See That the Path They are On Will Only Lead to Loss, Destruction, and Death

Matthew 6:24 (NASB)

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Jesus is Now Using Slavery as an Illustration

A Slave Cannot Wholeheartedly Serve 2 Masters

Slavery Demands Total and Undivided Loyalty and Service to the Master

Jesus Says it is Impossible to Serve God and Mammon (Aramaic For Money and Possessions)

By Using an Aramaic Word, He is Personifying Wealth

He is Contrasting Service to the One True God With Service to the False God of Covetousness (Colossians 3:5 - Greed/Covetousness is Idolatry)

You Can’t Have a Divided Loyalty Toward God and Anything or Anyone Else

To Be His You Must Be Totally Devoted to Him

If You Choose to Serve, Love, and Devote Yourself to God…

You Will Find That Wealth Becomes Nothing to You

But if You Choose to Serve, Love, and Devote Yourself to Wealth…

You Will Find That God Becomes Nothing to You

There are Many People Who Disagree With Jesus On This Subject

They Believe it is Possible to Be Truly Devoted to God and Devoted to Accumulating Great Wealth For Themselves On Earth

But Here’s What That Always Ends Up Looking Like:

They Serve God On Sundays and Wealth On Weekdays

Or They Serve God With Their Lips and Wealth With Their Hearts

Or They Serve God in Appearance and Wealth in Reality

There is Never True Devotion to God in Such Cases

Sadly, a Lot of Christians Think Like the Old McDonalds CEO

He Was Once Asked What He Believed in:

Ray Kroc - “I believe in God, family, and McDonald’s. And in the office, that order is reversed.”

Isn’t That How Many of Us Think?

Our Loyalty and Devotion Can Change Depending On the Time, Place, and People We are Around

Many People in America are Afraid of the Many Prevailing Ideologies That are Being Proclaimed in Our Country

They Believe These Ideologies Pose a Great Threat to Christianity

Ideologies Like Marxism, Communism, Islam, Humanism, Atheism, LGBTQ Activists, the Community Church Movement

Many of These Ideologies Do Pose a Threat to the Free Practice of True Christianity…

But the Greatest Threat to Christians in Our Country Today is Not Any of These

Our Greatest Threat Isn’t Outsiders Seeking to Stop Us

It is Our Own Hearts Being Turned Away From Christ and Toward the Riches That are So Easily Attained in Our Society

When We Looked at the Book of Lamentations in Bible Class a Few Months Ago…

We Talked About Literary Devices Found in the Bible Called Chiasms

Chiasm = A Literary Device in Which a Sequence of Ideas are Presented and Then Repeated in Reverse Order

“When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going”

“If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail”

There are Many Chiasms in the Bible, and This Verse in One of Them

Here’s How They are Structured:

A - No one can serve two masters

B - for either he will hate the one

C - and love the other,

C - or he will be devoted to one

B’ - and despise the other.

A’ - You cannot serve God and wealth.

The Important Thing to Know About Chiasms is That the Main Point is Always in the Middle

In Typical Writing Styles, You Always Put the Main Point at the Beginning and End

But in Chiasms, it’s the Opposite

Jesus’ Main Point Here is Love and Devotion to God

It’s Easy For Us to Focus On the Serving 2 Masters Part of the Verse Because That’s How the Verse Begins and Ends

But in a Chiasm, the Main Point is in the Middle

What's One Thing That God Wants More Than Our Service to Him?

Our Love and Devotion to Him

People Can Serve God Without Truly Loving or Being Devoted to Him

But Everyone Who Loves and is Devoted to God Serves Him

In This Text, Jesus is Telling His Followers to Love and Be Devoted to God

And to Seek to Accumulate Heavenly Treasures, Not Earthly

Application

Again, We Have to Be Careful Not to Take Jesus’ Words to Extremes That He Never Intended

Jesus Isn’t Condemning Having a Great Job That Pays Well

Having Good Jobs and Making Lots of Money Isn’t Sinful

Trusting in Our Good Jobs and Loving Money is Where Sin Enters in

And What We Do With Our Money Proves Where Our Heart Belongs

Do We Selfishly Hoard All of Our Money to Ourselves?

Or Use it to Accumulate Lots of Possessions For Ourselves?

Or Do We Use Our Money For God’s Glory and For the Purposes of His Kingdom?

How Many of Us are Willing to Sacrifice Wealth and Possessions to Help Others in Need?

This Was One of the First Things the Early Church Did

They Gave Up What They Had to Help the Needy

How Do We Store Up Heavenly Treasures?

Jesus Tells Us to Store Up Treasures For Ourselves in Heaven

And the Opposite of That is Storing Up Treasures For Ourselves On Earth

So, in Order For Us to Store Up Heavenly Treasures, We Have to Stop Our Pursuit of Hoarding Riches and Possessions For Ourselves

When I Change My Mindset From Earthly Treasures to Heavenly Treasures…

I Will Begin to See a Greater Purpose For My Wealth

My Greed Will Turn to Generosity

Istead of Always Looking to Get More, I Will Be Looking to Give More

I Will Use My Wealth to the Glory of God and For the Building Up of His Kingdom

Remember What Paul Told Timothy to Tell the Rich?

1 Timothy 6:18–19 (NASB)

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

Do Good to Others

Be Generous

Be Ready to Share With Those in Need

That is How We Store Up Treasures For Ourselves in Heaven

And That is How We Recieve True Life

Invitation

Now the Only Question is:

Are We Going to Put This to Practice?

Are We Going to Practice Our Righteousness the Way Jesus has Just Described?