Matthew 6:19-24, “living for the kingdom” [Listen]

Did you know God wants you rich beyond your wildest dreams? It’s absolutely true.

Our problem is that we settle for wealth that, at best, is of little true value. God’s desire for all of you is that you would be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams with a wealth that lasts forever.

Matthew 6:19-24 (NIV)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, 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. If your eyes are good (clear/single), your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”

In this section of Matthew we see three versions of the same message. Because this issue is so important, Matthew approaches it from three different “angles”. He wants to make sure we don’t miss it.

Version 1 – Verses 19-21:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Everyone invests time, energy and talent. The question is, “What are we investing in?” Make no mistake about it, if we devote ourselves to investing our time, energy and talent in the temporal, our hearts are aligned with the temporal. Where your treasure is, your heart is also. Youngster, college student, career person, retired person, God is not fooled. To say our hearts are dedicated to Jesus when this is not the way we’re living is a lie. Paul must have had this passage in mind when he wrote to Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV)

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Version 2 – Verses 22-23:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good (clear/single/focused), your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!“

There seems to be a bit of difficulty in the translation of verse 22. The word we see in the NIV as “good” is a little iffy. In and of itself this Greek word is probably better translated “single” or “clear” – maybe “focused”. Two thousand years ago the eye was understood to be a gateway into one’s sole. What the eye would focus on or look at would, in some sense, end up inside you – that’s actually fairly correct. When understanding verses 22 & 23 we must also look at the verses before it and the verses after it. So here is how I might paraphrase this, “Since the eye is the lamp of the body, if your eyes are fixed on the God’s
desires you will be filled with light. But if your eyes are bad (fixed on the values of this world) you will be full of darkness.”

Our life’s focus shows the condition of our sole. If our focus is Christ our sole will fill with light. If our focus is something other than Christ, in sole is filled with darkness.

Version 3 – Verse 24:

“No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”

Giving yourself to Jesus and giving yourself to the things of this world are mutually exclusive – you cannot do both.

Romans 6:16 (NIV)

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Here is the concept I wish to communicate this morning. We should think it entirely normal and expected that those God has rescued would give all they are to him and to the work of the Kingdom. There is an important role for this local gathering in this call. We must support each other in any way we can. We must pray for each other, encourage each other, care for each other, and lead each other by example.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Luke 14:33 (NIV)

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.