There is no investment strategy more secure than laying up treasure in Heaven. There is no greater return on investment than seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven. Maybe it’s time we diversify our portfolio by dropping the junk stock of earth and going all in with the treasure of Heaven.
Peaking Out through the Curtains
The other day, while many were working or resting or enjoying a beautiful Saturday, a less placid scene was unfolding in front of our house. Neighbors huddled behind locked doors and peaked out through curtains. A simple fender bender had turned into something more sinister. A man was beaten and bleeding.
Eventually an ambulance came and the police investigated. The car belonging to the beaten and bruised young man was towed away. The neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief, from behind locked doors, peaking out through the curtains.
Danger is all around us, but its reality doesn’t often hit home until the danger itself appears near to home. We read yet another headline of a young life violently ended before it had a chance to begin. We celebrate all the men and women in blue who serve and protect, then we’re shocked and saddened to hear of one who abused the system, misused his power, and broke the law. We being to wonder, “Am I truly safe? Is my family truly safe?”
Of course, we worry about so much more: unemployment, the national debt, the stock market, the housing market; Isis, al Qaeda, war, refugees, poverty, hunger, sickness, disease, violence. We have so much to worry about!
Danger is everywhere. So what do we do? We lock our doors. We peek out through the curtains.
We’re so worried about that which can take our stuff, take our security, take our health, even take our lives. But Jesus sees things differently. He says our worry is misplaced. There are greater concerns.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
There are greater concerns than the immediate worries of the here and now. In Matthew 6:19ff, Jesus tells His followers not to worry about even the basic necessities of life. God will give us what we truly need.
Matthew 6:19-21 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.
Matthew 6:25, 33 25 "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? … 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
In Jesus’ day, so in our day: There is something more dangerous than violence lurking in the streets of our city. Some call it Mammon, some name it Materialism, some worship it as the Almighty Dollar. Whatever you name it, it can get ahold of you, become your obsession, your driving concern, your ultimate demise.
KJV Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Scot McKnight labels this obsession “mammonolatry.” He writes, “Money has a way of freezing our hands and feet and stiffening our hearts; it has a way of becoming, like Gollum’s ring, something we cannot do without and that becomes the focus of our attention” (Sermon the Mount, 212).
Consider your primary pursuits and priorities. Will what you’re pursuing today matter tomorrow? How about one, ten, one hundred or one thousand years from now? One day there will be nothing left in our bank accounts. Our retirement funds will be no more. Our homes will decay. Our cars will be nothing but scrap. Our trophies, awards, diplomas and photo albums will gather dust.
Only one life twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last!
MATTHEW 6:19-24
Matthew chapters 5-7 contain Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which He lays forth the pursuits and priorities of life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 6, Jesus calls us to pursue true treasure, the kind of treasure which never perishes, spoils, or fades.
Yet many pursue the applause of men more than the applause of the Father in heaven. Like the Pharisees, some religious people give to charity, pray to God, and fast from food only to be seen by others and praised by them. Jesus says they have received their reward in full. He says we should do our religious acts and good deeds in secret, so that our heavenly Father who sees what is done in secret will reward us.
Which do you think matters more? The momentary applause of earth? Or the eternal applause of heaven?
As with Matthew 5, so with Matthew 6: For Jesus, matters of the heart are the heart of the matter. Man looks at outward appearances. God looks at the hearth.
In Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus turns from kingdom values in our giving, praying, and fasting to kingdom values in the everyday concerns of our lives.
Today we encounter a choice between God and Money. In our next study we’ll encounter a choice between faith and worry. Both hinge on the same basic question:
Do we live only for now or do we live forever?
Since we live forever, why are we living only for now?
Our text in Matthew 6:19-24 presents us with 3 choices:
Choice #1: Two Treasures
Matthew 6:19-21 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.
Jesus is talking here about an eternal investment strategy. If you have enough money to save a little away, you may tune in to financial advisors who wisely counsel us to “diversify our portfolios.” Don’t go all into one type of stock. Balance risky stocks with more stable ones, various industry types, domestic and international, and so on. And don’t go all into stocks; be sure to diversify with bonds. Some people have enough extra money to diversify with various currency, precious metals like gold, and even fine art and jewelry.
Why do investment advisors counsel investors to diversify? Because investing money always involves risk! Risk of what? Loss! Anyone remember when the tech bubble burst or the housing market crashed? Anyone remember 2008?
Do you know what the overall risk of loss is for your financial portfolio? Add it all up: savings, stocks, bonds, precious metals, collectibles, personal property, real estate, homes, automobiles, everything. Do you know what the overall risk of loss is for the average investor? The average risk of loss is 100%!
Moths and Vermin devour. Thieves break in and steal. Oh, and even if your earthly treasure should be protected from moth, vermin, rust, and thieves, guess what. You’re going to die one day. And you can’t take it with you!
Don’t be like the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. Don’t be the guy who works day and night storing up for a happy retirement, only to wake up one morning on the wrong side of eternity. Don’t be a rich fool who finds security in fleeting riches. And while we’re at it, don’t be a poor chump who spends all his energy wishing to be rich in the junk of this world. Low class, high class, and middle class – none of it matters in the end. There is no class system in the Kingdom of heaven, where the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
KJV Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Any earthly investment strategy involves a 100% risk of losing it all. Thank God there’s a better way!
What if I told you I had insider information on an investment strategy that had zero risk of loss? What if I told you I had an inside track on an investment that would bring returns greater than the human mind can conceive? Would you believe me? Of course you would, because Jesus tells us how here in the text.
Matthew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Laying up treasure in Heaven means seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It means giving to the needy, praying to our Father, and fasting from food – not for human recognition, but for the smile of our loving Father in heaven. It means holding loosely to our riches and being generous with our wealth, because it never belonged to us in the first place.
Luke 12:33-34 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
There is no investment more secure than treasure laid up in heaven. There is no greater return on investment than seeking first the Kingdom of heaven. Maybe it’s time we diversify our portfolio by dropping the junk stock of earth and going all in with the treasure of heaven!
NIV Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Matthew 6:21 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The location of our treasure reveals the true orientation of our hearts. If all we’re worried about is the stuff of this world, our hearts clearly belong to the world and the ruler of this world, Satan. If we’re concerned about the priorities of Christ’s rule and reign, if we’re seeking His kingdom first, if our treasure is located in heaven, our hearts are there as well.
So what will it be? We can choose between two treasures. Temporary treasure on Earth? Eternal treasure in Heaven? The choice is yours.
Choice # 2: Two Visions
Matthew 6:22-23 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy [single], 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!
The eye as the light of the body is seen to be the window through which light enters the body and the light by which the body is able to find its way. The eye and the heart can be parallel or synonymous when speaking of pursuits and priorities, and that seems to be the case in this passage. It’s not unlike the worship song we so often sing, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.” Or consider the heart cry of the psalmist:
Psalm 38:10 10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes- it also has gone from me.
The choice confronting us here is where we will fix our eyes, what will we choose to focus on as of first importance. If we fix our eyes on the pleasures of this world, we show that the light within us is darkness. If we fix our eyes on our heavenly Father’s approval, we declare His praises as we show that we have indeed been called out of darkness into his glorious light.
Our eyes must be “single,” undivided. D. A. Carson writes, “Either God is served with single eyed devotion or He is not served at all.”
Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
2 Corinthians 4:18 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Your physical eyes may not work quite right, but what about your spiritual eyes? What about the eyes of your heart? Upon what are they fixed? Upon what are they focused?
Again, we are confronted with a choice between two options. You can fix your eyes on the things of earth, or you can fix your eyes on the things of heaven. The choice is yours, but I urge you: Focus your mind on things above. Fix your eyes on things that are eternal. After your final breath, when your heart flat lines, even the FDIC won’t be able to guarantee your earthly deposits. It’s time to open up a more secure savings account in heaven. It’s time to start seeking God’s kingdom and righteous first. It’s time for single eyed devotion. It’s time to lay up treasures in heaven!
Choice # 3: Two Masters
Matthew 6:24 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.
If there was any doubt as to what Jesus was driving at in this passage, verse 24 shows it the door. The word for “serve” is not a word for voluntary service or employment. It means slave. Either we’re a slave to God. Or we’re a slave to Mamman (money or possessions). There’s no middle ground. Michael Vanlangingham writes, “People fix their heart on where their treasure is (19-21); so they fix their eyes on what they desire most (Psalm 119:1, 18). …A misplaced heart and a clouded eye lead to a misaligned will that tries to serve two irreconcilably different masters” (1964).
We now see the love of money for what it truly is: Idolatry. Idolatry is anything or anyone beside God that comes first in our lives. First place always belongs to God. Anything else is idolatry.
Exodus 20:3 3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
Colossians 3:5 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
1 Timothy 6:6-11 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
You cannot serve God and money. Can you honestly say that God, not money, is your master? Try this simple test: Which occupies more of your thoughts, time, and efforts? God? Or the accumulation and protection of wealth? Possessions can easily possess us. It’s God or Money: You can’t serve both!
The truth is, if all we’re doing is amassing worldly wealth, buying nicer homes, trading up for better cars, putting more away for retirement, then all we’re doing is storing up treasure on earth. Now let’s be clear, the Scripture says we should provide for our families, save up for the future, and not be an undue burden to church or society. But the line between wise money management and worship of Mammon is a fine one indeed. Many of us spend more of our week worshiping at the idolatrous alter of earthly materialism than we do worshiping at the feet of our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, we see that an idolatrous perspective of Mammon is a deal breaker when it comes to eternal life (Matthew 19:16-26).
So what will it be? God or money? God or possessions? God or material things? You can’t serve both, so what’s it going to be? The choice is as basic as heaven and earth – no, heaven and hell. You can’t serve God and money.
Many of us pray for revival, and well we should. But it’s been said that God’s people shouldn’t pray for revival if they want to hold onto their money! When the Holy Spirit came upon the First Church in Jerusalem, they freely gave up everything to support each other as each had need! Check it out in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:34-37. Don’t pray for revival if you want to hold onto your money.
Apparently, the heart and the eyes and the wallet are more closely related than we will ever know. So we’re confronted with a choice between two masters. Who will be? The One True God who Loves You? Or the the false god Mammon? You can’t serve both. You’ve got to choose.
THINKING IT THROUGH
Matthew 6:21 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
1. Is your heart in the right place?
Where are your storing up treasure? Is your eye of your heart single for God? Or is it divided by the cares and concerns of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth?
Even if you’re poor, you’re not off the hook. Chances are, you spend just as much time thinking about how much you want wealth and riches as rich people do trying to protect and grow their wealth and riches. Even our dreams condemn us.
So who’s it going to be? You can’t serve both God and money. As with Joshua and the Israelites, so with us: We must choose this day whom we are going to serve. Will we serve the gods of American culture, or will we choose to serve the Lord?
The Scripture has a lot to say about the dangers of prosperity and wealth. It can easily turn aside our hearts and take our eyes off the prize. I think we too quickly dismiss much of what Jesus and the Apostles have to say about wealth, and I think we do it because we’ve been brainwashed by American culture and the cult of the Almighty Dollar. But there’s no getting around the fact that following Jesus reorients our entire perspective on worldly wealth.
Craig Keener gets it right when he writes,
“The issue is not that possessions themselves are bad but that a higher priority demands our resources. If we value what our Lord values rather than what society values, he demands that we meet the basic needs of people lacking adequate resources before we seek to accumulate possessions beyond our basic needs…We too easily dismiss Jesus’ teaching as Marxism, legalism, or hyperbole…I fear that many of us hear what we want because we have vested interests to guard – interests many Christians value more than they value the agendas of God’s kingdom. Our eyes are not single.”
James 4:13 - 5:3 13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"- 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
Did you hear that? “You have laid up treasure in the last days.” “For heirs of the kingdom to hoard riches in the last days is particularly shortsighted” (D.A. Carson). The end is nearer today than ever before. Every sunrise brings us one day closer to our Lord’s return – and our evaluation by the Master. But we go on about our business as if nothing has changed, as if everything will always be exactly as it is today.
2. So we’ve got a few choices to make, don’t we?
Treasure on earth or treasure in heaven?
Fix our eyes on the things of heaven or fix our eyes on the things of earth?
Serve and worship God or serve and worship Mammon?
Choose you this day whom you will serve, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Peaking Out through the Curtains
The other day, while many were working or resting or enjoying a beautiful Saturday, a less placid scene was unfolding in front of our house. Neighbors huddled behind locked doors and peaked out through curtains. A simple fender bender had turned into something more sinister. A man was beaten and bleeding.
Eventually an ambulance came and the police investigated. The car belonging to the beaten and bruised young man was towed away. The neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief, from behind locked doors, peaking out through the curtains.
Danger is all around us, but its reality doesn’t often hit home until the danger itself appears near to home. We read yet another headline of a young life violently ended before it had a chance to begin. We celebrate all the men and women in blue who serve and protect, then we’re shocked and saddened to hear of one who abused the system, misused his power, and broke the law. We being to wonder, “Am I truly safe? Is my family truly safe?”
Of course, we worry about so much more: unemployment, the national debt, the stock market, the housing market; Isis, al Qaeda, war, refugees, poverty, hunger, sickness, disease, violence. We have so much to worry about!
Danger is everywhere. So what do we do? We lock our doors. We peek out through the curtains.
We’re so worried about that which can take our stuff, take our security, take our health, even take our lives. But Jesus sees things differently. He says our worry is misplaced. There are greater concerns.
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
There are greater concerns than the immediate worries of the here and now. In Matthew 6:19ff, Jesus tells His followers not to worry about even the basic necessities of life. God will give us what we truly need.
Matthew 6:19-21 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.
Matthew 6:25, 33 25 "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? … 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
In Jesus’ day, so in our day: There is something more dangerous than violence lurking in the streets of our city. Some call it Mammon, some name it Materialism, some worship it as the Almighty Dollar. Whatever you name it, it can get ahold of you, become your obsession, your driving concern, your ultimate demise.
KJV Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Scot McKnight labels this obsession “mammonolatry.” He writes, “Money has a way of freezing our hands and feet and stiffening our hearts; it has a way of becoming, like Gollum’s ring, something we cannot do without and that becomes the focus of our attention” (Sermon the Mount, 212).
Consider your primary pursuits and priorities. Will what you’re pursuing today matter tomorrow? How about one, ten, one hundred or one thousand years from now? One day there will be nothing left in our bank accounts. Our retirement funds will be no more. Our homes will decay. Our cars will be nothing but scrap. Our trophies, awards, diplomas and photo albums will gather dust.
Only one life twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last!
MATTHEW 6:19-24
Matthew chapters 5-7 contain Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which He lays forth the pursuits and priorities of life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Matthew 6, Jesus calls us to pursue true treasure, the kind of treasure which never perishes, spoils, or fades.
Yet many pursue the applause of men more than the applause of the Father in heaven. Like the Pharisees, some religious people give to charity, pray to God, and fast from food only to be seen by others and praised by them. Jesus says they have received their reward in full. He says we should do our religious acts and good deeds in secret, so that our heavenly Father who sees what is done in secret will reward us.
Which do you think matters more? The momentary applause of earth? Or the eternal applause of heaven?
As with Matthew 5, so with Matthew 6: For Jesus, matters of the heart are the heart of the matter. Man looks at outward appearances. God looks at the hearth.
In Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus turns from kingdom values in our giving, praying, and fasting to kingdom values in the everyday concerns of our lives.
Today we encounter a choice between God and Money. In our next study we’ll encounter a choice between faith and worry. Both hinge on the same basic question:
Do we live only for now or do we live forever?
Since we live forever, why are we living only for now?
Our text in Matthew 6:19-24 presents us with 3 choices:
Choice #1: Two Treasures
Matthew 6:19-21 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.
Jesus is talking here about an eternal investment strategy. If you have enough money to save a little away, you may tune in to financial advisors who wisely counsel us to “diversify our portfolios.” Don’t go all into one type of stock. Balance risky stocks with more stable ones, various industry types, domestic and international, and so on. And don’t go all into stocks; be sure to diversify with bonds. Some people have enough extra money to diversify with various currency, precious metals like gold, and even fine art and jewelry.
Why do investment advisors counsel investors to diversify? Because investing money always involves risk! Risk of what? Loss! Anyone remember when the tech bubble burst or the housing market crashed? Anyone remember 2008?
Do you know what the overall risk of loss is for your financial portfolio? Add it all up: savings, stocks, bonds, precious metals, collectibles, personal property, real estate, homes, automobiles, everything. Do you know what the overall risk of loss is for the average investor? The average risk of loss is 100%!
Moths and Vermin devour. Thieves break in and steal. Oh, and even if your earthly treasure should be protected from moth, vermin, rust, and thieves, guess what. You’re going to die one day. And you can’t take it with you!
Don’t be like the rich fool in Luke 12:13-21. Don’t be the guy who works day and night storing up for a happy retirement, only to wake up one morning on the wrong side of eternity. Don’t be a rich fool who finds security in fleeting riches. And while we’re at it, don’t be a poor chump who spends all his energy wishing to be rich in the junk of this world. Low class, high class, and middle class – none of it matters in the end. There is no class system in the Kingdom of heaven, where the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
KJV Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Any earthly investment strategy involves a 100% risk of losing it all. Thank God there’s a better way!
What if I told you I had insider information on an investment strategy that had zero risk of loss? What if I told you I had an inside track on an investment that would bring returns greater than the human mind can conceive? Would you believe me? Of course you would, because Jesus tells us how here in the text.
Matthew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Laying up treasure in Heaven means seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It means giving to the needy, praying to our Father, and fasting from food – not for human recognition, but for the smile of our loving Father in heaven. It means holding loosely to our riches and being generous with our wealth, because it never belonged to us in the first place.
Luke 12:33-34 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
There is no investment more secure than treasure laid up in heaven. There is no greater return on investment than seeking first the Kingdom of heaven. Maybe it’s time we diversify our portfolio by dropping the junk stock of earth and going all in with the treasure of heaven!
NIV Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Matthew 6:21 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The location of our treasure reveals the true orientation of our hearts. If all we’re worried about is the stuff of this world, our hearts clearly belong to the world and the ruler of this world, Satan. If we’re concerned about the priorities of Christ’s rule and reign, if we’re seeking His kingdom first, if our treasure is located in heaven, our hearts are there as well.
So what will it be? We can choose between two treasures. Temporary treasure on Earth? Eternal treasure in Heaven? The choice is yours.
Choice # 2: Two Visions
Matthew 6:22-23 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy [single], 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!
The eye as the light of the body is seen to be the window through which light enters the body and the light by which the body is able to find its way. The eye and the heart can be parallel or synonymous when speaking of pursuits and priorities, and that seems to be the case in this passage. It’s not unlike the worship song we so often sing, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.” Or consider the heart cry of the psalmist:
Psalm 38:10 10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes- it also has gone from me.
The choice confronting us here is where we will fix our eyes, what will we choose to focus on as of first importance. If we fix our eyes on the pleasures of this world, we show that the light within us is darkness. If we fix our eyes on our heavenly Father’s approval, we declare His praises as we show that we have indeed been called out of darkness into his glorious light.
Our eyes must be “single,” undivided. D. A. Carson writes, “Either God is served with single eyed devotion or He is not served at all.”
Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
2 Corinthians 4:18 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Your physical eyes may not work quite right, but what about your spiritual eyes? What about the eyes of your heart? Upon what are they fixed? Upon what are they focused?
Again, we are confronted with a choice between two options. You can fix your eyes on the things of earth, or you can fix your eyes on the things of heaven. The choice is yours, but I urge you: Focus your mind on things above. Fix your eyes on things that are eternal. After your final breath, when your heart flat lines, even the FDIC won’t be able to guarantee your earthly deposits. It’s time to open up a more secure savings account in heaven. It’s time to start seeking God’s kingdom and righteous first. It’s time for single eyed devotion. It’s time to lay up treasures in heaven!
Choice # 3: Two Masters
Matthew 6:24 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.
If there was any doubt as to what Jesus was driving at in this passage, verse 24 shows it the door. The word for “serve” is not a word for voluntary service or employment. It means slave. Either we’re a slave to God. Or we’re a slave to Mamman (money or possessions). There’s no middle ground. Michael Vanlangingham writes, “People fix their heart on where their treasure is (19-21); so they fix their eyes on what they desire most (Psalm 119:1, 18). …A misplaced heart and a clouded eye lead to a misaligned will that tries to serve two irreconcilably different masters” (1964).
We now see the love of money for what it truly is: Idolatry. Idolatry is anything or anyone beside God that comes first in our lives. First place always belongs to God. Anything else is idolatry.
Exodus 20:3 3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
Colossians 3:5 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
1 Timothy 6:6-11 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
You cannot serve God and money. Can you honestly say that God, not money, is your master? Try this simple test: Which occupies more of your thoughts, time, and efforts? God? Or the accumulation and protection of wealth? Possessions can easily possess us. It’s God or Money: You can’t serve both!
The truth is, if all we’re doing is amassing worldly wealth, buying nicer homes, trading up for better cars, putting more away for retirement, then all we’re doing is storing up treasure on earth. Now let’s be clear, the Scripture says we should provide for our families, save up for the future, and not be an undue burden to church or society. But the line between wise money management and worship of Mammon is a fine one indeed. Many of us spend more of our week worshiping at the idolatrous alter of earthly materialism than we do worshiping at the feet of our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, we see that an idolatrous perspective of Mammon is a deal breaker when it comes to eternal life (Matthew 19:16-26).
So what will it be? God or money? God or possessions? God or material things? You can’t serve both, so what’s it going to be? The choice is as basic as heaven and earth – no, heaven and hell. You can’t serve God and money.
Many of us pray for revival, and well we should. But it’s been said that God’s people shouldn’t pray for revival if they want to hold onto their money! When the Holy Spirit came upon the First Church in Jerusalem, they freely gave up everything to support each other as each had need! Check it out in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:34-37. Don’t pray for revival if you want to hold onto your money.
Apparently, the heart and the eyes and the wallet are more closely related than we will ever know. So we’re confronted with a choice between two masters. Who will be? The One True God who Loves You? Or the the false god Mammon? You can’t serve both. You’ve got to choose.
THINKING IT THROUGH
Matthew 6:21 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
1. Is your heart in the right place?
Where are your storing up treasure? Is your eye of your heart single for God? Or is it divided by the cares and concerns of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth?
Even if you’re poor, you’re not off the hook. Chances are, you spend just as much time thinking about how much you want wealth and riches as rich people do trying to protect and grow their wealth and riches. Even our dreams condemn us.
So who’s it going to be? You can’t serve both God and money. As with Joshua and the Israelites, so with us: We must choose this day whom we are going to serve. Will we serve the gods of American culture, or will we choose to serve the Lord?
The Scripture has a lot to say about the dangers of prosperity and wealth. It can easily turn aside our hearts and take our eyes off the prize. I think we too quickly dismiss much of what Jesus and the Apostles have to say about wealth, and I think we do it because we’ve been brainwashed by American culture and the cult of the Almighty Dollar. But there’s no getting around the fact that following Jesus reorients our entire perspective on worldly wealth.
Craig Keener gets it right when he writes,
“The issue is not that possessions themselves are bad but that a higher priority demands our resources. If we value what our Lord values rather than what society values, he demands that we meet the basic needs of people lacking adequate resources before we seek to accumulate possessions beyond our basic needs…We too easily dismiss Jesus’ teaching as Marxism, legalism, or hyperbole…I fear that many of us hear what we want because we have vested interests to guard – interests many Christians value more than they value the agendas of God’s kingdom. Our eyes are not single.”
James 4:13 - 5:3 13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"- 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. 5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
Did you hear that? “You have laid up treasure in the last days.” “For heirs of the kingdom to hoard riches in the last days is particularly shortsighted” (D.A. Carson). The end is nearer today than ever before. Every sunrise brings us one day closer to our Lord’s return – and our evaluation by the Master. But we go on about our business as if nothing has changed, as if everything will always be exactly as it is today.
2. So we’ve got a few choices to make, don’t we?
Treasure on earth or treasure in heaven?
Fix our eyes on the things of heaven or fix our eyes on the things of earth?
Serve and worship God or serve and worship Mammon?
Choose you this day whom you will serve, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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