Good evening, Masters Bible Church. What an honor. What a tremendous honor to get to speak behind a pulpit to declare the Word of God, to bring the Word of God and to bring encouragement, hopefully encouragement to you all. Tonight we're going to be looking at a section of the Gospel of Matthew in Chapter 6. So if you have your Bibles with you, if you would turn to Matthew Chapter 6. This is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Let's bow in a word of prayer just one more time before we get started. Heavenly Father, humble ourselves before you, before the preaching of your word and before the proclamation of your gospel. We thank you for the kingdom and the king that you have come and you have offered salvation to your people and you have made salvation for your people. Help us to understand your words, help us to understand your message that you said so long ago but is still applying to us today. Help me as I proclaim and teach and preach in the name of your precious Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. So, in the first book of the New Testament, Matthew is on a mission. to show his Jewish readers that Jesus is the Messiah. He's the promised seed. Now this seed is mentioned in Genesis 3.15. God gives the gospel first to a very interesting character. God gives the gospel to the serpent first. Isn't that interesting? It's all about the one who will come and crush the serpent's head. The one who will come and take victory over the devil. He will restore everything. Amen? The promised seed. The hope of this one who will come is teased throughout the centuries. It's teased throughout the generations. It's teased in Abel. Is Abel the promised seed? No. Eve thought Seth was supposed to be the promised seed, a replacement for Abel. No. After Seth, we see death after death after death. Promised seed after promised seed after promised seed. So much potential. So many people. No. When we come to Matthew's gospel, he shows how the prophecies of the Messiah are all fulfilled in Jesus. We use the term fulfilled prophecy a lot, and I want to pause so that we're not underwhelmed by that idea. The idea of fulfilled prophecy, the promised seed, the Messiah, must be in direct line with Abraham. In the Gospel of Matthew, he shows how Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of Matthew. He's emphasizing Jesus as King, the promised seed and the King. He shows His birth. He must be born of a virgin. This fulfills the prophecy spoken in Isaiah 7. In chapter 2, he gets a visit from the kingmakers from the east, that's the Magi. Matthew shows him fleeing Egypt to escape Herod. So when he comes back, this fulfills the prophecy that he has to come out of Egypt in Numbers 24 and Hosea 11. Then he shows the slaughter of the children fulfilling the prophecy spoken by Jeremiah. Chapter 3 is John the Baptist fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy as he heralds the arrival of the Lord. Prophecy after prophecy after prophecy. Then the baptism of Jesus when the Father and the Holy Spirit join Jesus in proclaiming and identifying Him in His glorious identity. In chapter 4, Jesus is in the desert for 40 days just as Israel was in the desert for 40 years. Can you see the meaning, the loaded meaning for the Jewish reader? These are what we would call nowadays Easter eggs. They're just completely jam-packed with meaning. Matthew shows him as the promised seed tested by the devil. Matthew shows him as the promised seed as he comes out of Galilee fulfilling Joshua's prophecy. Through the first four chapters of this gospel, Matthew proves beyond any shadow of a doubt to the Jewish mind that Jesus is the one they've been waiting for. The promised seed of Abraham, but for us, the promised seed going all the way back to Genesis 3. The one who would fix everything that we ruined. In chapter 5, he goes up on a mountain and sits down to teach them. Do you think this is loaded with meaning for the Jewish mind? From a mountain, explaining the law. It doesn't get any more Moses than that, does it? So the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, the image doesn't get any more Moses than it does in Matthew 5. God gave Moses his law from a mountain to his people Israel. God the Son giving his law from a mountain to his people. According to John MacArthur, the Sermon on the Mount does four incredible things. It shows the absolute necessity of the new birth. It intends to drive the listener to Jesus Christ as man's only hope of meeting God's standards. The sermon gives God's pattern for happiness and for true success. We're going to be landing a little bit right in there in our text tonight. And the fourth thing is a life obedient to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount is the church's greatest tool for evangelism. Let's get some context in this timeline by turning to Matthew 4 verses 23 through 25. In verse 23, And Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. And the news about him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and he healed them. And large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. This passage, which leads up to the Sermon on the Mount, shows that Jesus has already had a far-reaching ministry before the Sermon on the Mount is given. He had greatly angered the scribes and the Pharisees. He has already stirred them up. When He gives the Sermon on the Mount, He answers the questions of the multitudes, questions like, who are you? I am the Messiah, I speak on my own authority, that's chapter 7 verse 28 and 29. I have come to fulfill the law, chapter 5 verse 17. Who will be in your kingdom? Those that will be in my kingdom will have the characteristics listed in the Beatitudes. They will have a righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees. That's chapter 5, verse 20. But the scribes teach us and the Pharisees demonstrate righteousness. The scribes teach us and the Pharisees demonstrate righteousness. How can we surpass that? The scribes teach you false righteousness. The Pharisees demonstrate false righteousness. Do not be like them. Well, how will we enter the kingdom? You are to seek, knock, and ask, and enter by the narrow gate. Beware of the false prophets who sound good but will lead you astray. Follow me and your foundation will be solid and you will not fall." It is in this mystery of the kingdom, the church, which is currently the kingdom of heaven spiritually, that we find the application of Jesus' sermon to us. What is the theme of the Sermon on the Mount? It's actually found in Matthew 5, verses 17 through 20. Let's turn there right now. It's right over the next page. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the theme right there of the entire Sermon on the Mount. Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Those who would enter into the kingdom of heaven must have righteousness that exceeds those two groups. Entering the kingdom of heaven requires more than an outward bending to rules and regulations. It is a matter of a changed inner life. Even a cursory examination of the sermon demonstrates that it cannot be lived on human abilities alone. Here's the key. You must be born again. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. You must be born again. In other words, if I just clean up my act, then I'll be okay. Or if I'm a little kinder, I'll be okay. or obviously I'm better than those people, I never hit my wife, I never stole from anyone, I never killed anyone, wake up. You are not a good person. Wickedness dwells in your heart. You may not be as bad as you could be, but that is not the question He will ask you on that day. On that day, many will say, Lord, Lord. Didn't we do all these incredible things? Wasn't I a good enough person? I mean, I went forward at that meeting and prayed that prayer. I put my money in the offering plate. I was nice to everybody. If you consider yourself a good person who deserves heaven, that is self-righteousness. That is what the Pharisees thought of themselves and Jesus condemns them. Your soul is in danger of hell. Wake up. Cry out to Him. Christian, have you drifted from Him? Have you? Have you drifted? Wake up. Cry out to Him. You are lost if you have any confidence in your own goodness. This is the good news. This is forgiveness. It's not up to you. The requirement He requires is perfect obedience. Perfect. In every way, shape, and form. You say, but nobody's perfect. You're right. But is that his fault? No, you did this. I did this. And we know it. Have you blown it so badly, sinned so wickedly that you've written off hope of forgiveness? Too many years away from Him? Too many wasted opportunities, too much lost time? Wake up, run to Him. He's full of grace. He's full of forgiveness. He knows all of it. He has seen all of it. You thought it was hidden. You thought it was secret. No. Give it to Him. Confess it to Him. Your dirty little secret is neither little nor secret. Jerry Bridges says, your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace. Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they have earned God's blessing through their behavior. Guilt-laden believers are quite sure they have forfeited God's blessing through their lack of discipline and disobedience. Both. have forgotten the meaning of grace because they have moved away from the gospel and have slipped into performance relationship with God. Amen? This is the leaven of the Pharisees. They had a wrong view of themselves, so do we. I'm a good person. They had a wrong view of the world. You're to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. We say, I'll keep my head down and I'll blend in. Don't want to make waves. They had a wrong view of God's law. Keep the whole law? This is what we say. We say, nah, I really don't like that part about the male headship thing. He can't be serious about that whole no sex before marriage thing, can he? They had the wrong view of religious duties. Matthew 6 says, giving alms, praying, fasting. We say, as long as I can see the benefits, that sounds good to me. The Pharisees were trying to achieve perfect obedience. And I believe in the beginning of their movement, I believe they were actually trying to do that. But in the end, they say, I'm going to heaven because I... I'm nice. I'm a good person. I keep the law. But Jesus isn't only addressing the Pharisees here, is he? No, there are thousands and thousands of other people there. Who are they? What are they like? According to estimations, about nine out of every ten persons lived at a subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. The world had only rich people and poor people. There was no welfare system, no social safety net, no way to improve one's social status. All the power rested in just a few families. Most of the population of the empire lived either in rural areas or small towns. Mostly in small towns and villages this means that about 80 to 90 percent got their living from agriculture Large-scale commercial activity was rare except for the building of cities Herod's construction projects he had a lot of them and so did Caesar Did you know there was a there was a construction project going on just a few miles from Jesus's hometown? So when we call him a carpenter He was probably a construction worker, which is interesting, but not like middle-class construction worker like we have. Think more like day laborer. So Jesus in Matthew 6 is showing His disciples and the crowds and us how the Pharisees' view of wealth is warped. Their false doctrine leads to false standards. This leads to false behavior. This leads to false values, leading to hypocritical religion. This is a train, this is a progression, and it always seems to be fueled by greed and immorality. Will you turn to 2 Peter chapter 2 with me? In verses 1 through 3, and in 14 and 15, there's a description. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. And then down in 14, having eyes full of adultery and unceasing sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, they are accursed children. Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Baor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. The Pharisees have warped and twisted, and they're not done. They're still around. Do we have any examples of what happens when the guilt and the greed and the avarice and the aggressive nature of seeking the wealth the Pharisees were loading themselves up with? Do we have any examples of that? In 1 Samuel chapter 2, we see this very clearly in Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of Eli. In Joshua chapter 7, we see Achan's sin. He secretly took some of the forbidden spoils, including silver and gold and a beautiful Babylonian robe. Throughout history of the church to the present, we see religious charlatans. Today, we see the behavior of the Pharisees in what I would call new Pharisees. This is the prosperity gospel. So who are they? Anyone who is consistently emphasizing money and getting very rich by fleecing the flock, that's a new Pharisee. Anyone who's teaching that God's approval can be seen in the accumulation of visible wealth or any other measurable worldly thing, that's a new Pharisee. They sell salvation based on you can do it, have a positive attitude, exercise your faith muscles and you'll be gods, gods with a little g. Basically, it's up to you, but it starts with you sending in that check so that God will bless you just like He's blessing me. Once again, John MacArthur says, others, like the scribes and Pharisees, have used their material prosperity as imagined evidence of their spirituality. imagined evidence of their spirituality, proclaiming, without shame, that they are materially blessed because they are spiritually superior. This is exactly what the Pharisees had been doing. In the spirit of Hophni and Phinehas, deceived by their own greed, they had twisted up the scriptures to serve their own lusts. They built an entire religion off of Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 9. Let's turn to that right now. Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments, which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. And here's what they built their religion off of. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd, and the young of your flock. Blessed shall your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in. Blessed shall you be when you go out. Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. I wonder what they thought about that one. They will come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing upon you and your barns and all that you send forth your hand to do and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you as a holy people to himself as he swore to you if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in his ways. This is exactly what the Pharisees had been doing. Do you see the material blessings, the temporal blessings, the farm, the barn, the domination over the enemies? All of the worldly things that they wanted are all found right here. But they couldn't see all the warnings. They had blind spots, selfishness and greed embedded in their thinking. We have blind spots, selfishness and greed embedded in our thinking. They can be tough to see because they're sins of the heart. We carry the same problem as the Pharisees. There are indicators, though, to our blind spots. See, these blind spots are gateway sins that bleed out into our speech. They bleed out into our thinking. We say things like, you know, I really need a new thing. I really wish we had that. New house, new car. I really like those shoes. I need a new suit. We can't seem to go past the blue signs on the freeway that have all the fast food restaurant images on them without exiting impulse buy. Starbucks and Dutch Bros are empires for a reason. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. By the time Jesus enters history, the Old Testament has already given many warnings against accumulating wealth for its own sake. Pharisees were under a great self-deception and they had been ignoring all these warnings. Ecclesiastes 5.13 says, there is a sickening evil which I have seen under the sun, riches being hoarded by their master to his own evil demise. Isaiah 23 says, and her gain and her harlot's wages will be set apart to Yahweh. It will not be treasured up or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food and choice attire for those who inhabit the presence of Yahweh. So our text this evening is in the flow of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6 verse 19 says, "'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 neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So then, if your eye is clear, 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 that is 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 one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in wealth." Our Lord is showing us, I believe, three different points that line up well for a three-point sermon. The wrong and right treasure, the wrong and right vision, the wrong and right master. So let's look at the wrong and the right treasure. Jesus says in verse 19, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Well, it says in Proverbs 23.4, Do not worry yourself to gain wealth because of your understanding. Cease. Do you make your eyes fly up to see it? It's not there because it certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies towards the heavens. That's in Proverbs. That's way before Jesus said this in the Sermon on the Mount. It's almost like he's pulling from another source of truth there, a continuing source of truth. What does Jesus mean by treasure? The word, it kind of means, it can mean several different things. A place of safekeeping, a casket, a storehouse. This word also carries the idea of stacking or laying out horizontally as one stacks coins. Think Ebenezer Scrooge in his office. The idea here is accumulation for the purpose of hoarding wealth not for use, but simply for the sake of keeping it, possibly for lazy overindulgence. So let me ask you this, is Jesus' warning about the earthly treasure itself as if somehow the physical nature of money or physical possessions in general are dangerous? No. We already know through the several scriptures that we should work hard and save. Proverbs 13, a good man leaves an inheritance. Proverbs 6, go to the aunt, oh sluggard. Proverbs 14, in all painful labor there is profit. Proverbs 21, desirable treasure in the abode of the wise. The foolish man swallows it up. 1 Corinthians 16, set something aside so that when I come. 2 Corinthians 12, saving for your children. Jesus isn't against the physical nature of treasure. So is He telling everyone to become poor? Is He a socialist? 1 Timothy 6.17, let's turn over there real quick. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." Well, that doesn't sound like he's condemning anything. Paul says this to those who are rich in this present age. He doesn't command them to give away all their wealth. Well, you might say, well, what about the rich young ruler in Luke 18 and Matthew 19? Jesus told him to sell all you possess and distribute it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come follow me. Only once did Jesus ever tell this to somebody. And that's because that was this man's particular idol. Jesus is not commanding poverty. He's addressing an instance of idolatry. Not the man's wealth, but his unwillingness to part with it, otherwise known as covetousness. He says, do not store up treasures for yourself on earth. Do not store up treasure literally means do not treasure up treasures. So what about personal possessions? John MacArthur says again, both the Old and New Testaments recognize the right to material possessions including money, land, animals, houses, clothing, every other thing that is honestly acquired. God has made promises of material blessing to those who belong to and are faithful to Him. So he's not warning against personal possessions. God expects, in fact, commands his people to be generous with their possessions. Proverbs 21, all day long, the fool is insatiably craving while the righteous gives and does not hold back. Psalm 37 says, the wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives. Luke 6 says, give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over. For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return." Matthew 6 says, therefore, when you give to the poor, generosity is required. And to have it, you must have some personal possessions. So, some of the Old Testament heroes that we see were pretty rich. Abraham was very rich, influential and militarily strong. He was compared in strength to many of the Canaanite kings of his day. Job had vast wealth, lost it all, and then Yahweh restored him to greater wealth than he had in the beginning. The Bible gives much counsel for working hard. Exercise good business practices in Matthew 25. The hard-working ant is our example in Proverbs 6, as I already mentioned. All labor is profitable as opposed to mere talk leading to poverty. That's Proverbs 14. By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established, and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." Proverbs 24. He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty and plenty. Proverbs 28. Church history gives us a tremendous example of wealthy people. John Wesley earned considerable amounts of money during his very long ministry. However, when he died, he only had 28 pounds in his estate because he had continually given away his wealth to the Lord's work during his life. George Mueller was a pastor who saw over 400 million dollars pass through his hands during the time of his ministry to orphans in England in the 1800s. He kept only what he needed to live and gave away the rest. Make no mistake, it is right and good and proper to make reasonable plans for the future, to make wise investments, to have money to carry on a business, to give to the poor and support the Lord's work. Do you save up for a rainy day? Do you save up for someone else's rainy day? Someone once said, why buy $500 shoes when I could buy 500 people's shoes? I like that. The phrase, storing up treasures on earth, when people heard Jesus say this, what was in their minds? What images does that conjure up for them? Well, in ancient times, wealth was saved up in the form of clothing, grain, you know, precious stones and metals, kind of like we have today. They didn't have mass-produced clothing, so compared to our day, their garments represented a considerable investment. Rich people sometimes had golden threads woven into their clothing, both to display and to store up their wealth. But the best clothes were made of wool, which the moth loves to eat. Tough to keep wool clothing. Grain. Wealth was also often held in grain, as we see from the parable of the rich farmer in Luke 12, who said, I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. Jesus is talking in the Sermon on the Mount about storing up treasures for yourselves on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Well, the moth we've talked about, the rust, this word for rust is actually a word that literally means eating. This makes sense of the idea of eating when we're talking about grain storage. Thieves, the word for thieves in there is literally like digging or digger. As in, I hid my treasure in a field and someone found it and dug it up. Or as, I hid my valuables in my home and someone dug through the wall and stole them. Everything was subject to the eroding effects of taxes, the economy. Does that sound familiar? Any valuable you can imagine, any asset to be owned, traded or sold is subject to the law of moth, the eating or rust, and the thief. Now, obviously, we don't express our storing up in terms of clothing or grain like they did. We have digital assets like crypto, physical assets like precious metals or even real estate, paper assets like stocks and bonds, treasury notes backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, so they're totally secure. So Jesus' warning about on the earth still holds, doesn't it? It still rings true. It's still not secure. It still gets eaten, it still gets eroded, it still gets stolen. Think about it. Can you out-save the truth of what he's saying here? Can you build it so securely that it can't be stolen, or eaten, or seized by the government? Moth, rust, thief. How sad is it that momentary decisions for temporary things equal an eternity in hell? We leverage so much time and effort to gain all of these things that are all going to burn. Turn with me to Luke 16, would you? Let's go to verse 19. Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that during your life, you received your good things. And likewise, Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted here and you are in agony." When our time and our energy and our possessions are used to serve others and to further the Lord's work, they build up heavenly resources that are completely free from destruction or theft. There neither moth or rust destroys and thieves do not break in or steal. Jesus is not warning about the treasures themselves. Earthly things are not moral or immoral. This issue he's warning about is about security founded in a decaying world or in yourself. It's about trust placed in dying things like your social security account or your 401k. It's faith founded on lies, like the preachers who lie, the new Pharisees who lie about the promises of wealth, if you'll just cut that check. Jesus is dismantling the teaching of the Pharisees. The crowds had been lied to by the greed of their leaders, and he's exposing them. These are poor people buying the lie, sold to them by clever con men. Why do you imagine Jesus is so angry with them? He calls them names like brood of vipers. Is that because they had bad doctrine? Partly. Or because of what happens when smart people use God's Word to lie and take people's money and steal from them. In Mark 12, there's a story of a widow who gives. And that story gets used over and over and over again as an illustration for how you really need to dig down deep and give more. You ever notice that? The prosperity preachers love to teach that story. He is calling them out. He is saying, You have set up an entire system to rob people of their resources, to take advantage of poor people, to take advantage of people with no hope. You're offering hope for sale. When Jesus arrives on the scene, this is a street fight. The problem is they brought a knife, and he's got a full armory. Habakkuk 3, 17 through 19. Turn there with me real quick, would you? Lost my place here. This is an illustration of Israel under the leadership of certain kinds of people. Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no produce on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields yield no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in Yahweh. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. They have completely destroyed Israel's relationship with God. He's highlighting the motivation and the self-seeking greed of the Pharisees. He's saying, for yourselves on earth. He's addressing the motive of storing up earthly treasure. He's addressing the why of it all. The issue is about security. It's about trust. It's about faith. The example of their leaders The example of their leaders, they're saying security for me, trust in me, faith in me. He's showing the people the emptiness and foolishness of greed, the deadliness and destructive nature of covetousness. These poor people could be just as greedy and selfish as their religious leaders though. If they didn't have anything to store up, they'd be hoping for it. They'd be chasing it, following their leaders to destruction. The issues are security, trust, and faith. What are you trusting in? What are you holding your security in? What do you have faith in? But Jesus says, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. The right treasure is Jesus Christ himself, amen? The security he offers, trust in him to provide, the faith in his provision. So what are your treasures? What's your security? What is it that if you lost it tonight, it would devastate you? Or would you shrug? Maybe it's not a thing, maybe it's a who. That particular someone, if you lost them, or if they betrayed you, or if they died suddenly, would you be okay? Would you praise the Lord with Job? Jesus links treasure with seeing and with vision. Let's look at verse 22. The eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, 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 that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? So Jesus is posing the idea of two kinds of eyes, two kinds of seeing. Where there was a wrong and a right kind of treasure, Lovely. Wow. Well, that was providential. Never carry your phone up to the sermon. As I continue, where there was a wrong and a right kind of treasure, He now presents the wrong and the right vision. These verses expand on the previous three and the eye becomes an illustration of the heart. The lamp or lens of the body is the eye through which all light comes to us. It is the only channel of light we possess and therefore our only means of vision. Seeing is like feeding that takes place with our eyes. The heart is the eye of the soul through which the illumination of every spiritual experience shines. It is through our hearts that God's truth His love, His peace, every other spiritual blessing comes to us. When our hearts, our spiritual eyes are clear, then our whole body will be full of light. According to Ephesians 5, 8, we are children of light, as it says. For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. As His children who have been saved by grace through faith, our spiritual eyes are open. We are to manifest lives that are like a physical eye that is ablaze with the light of God's love. For the Lord Jesus is the light of the world. He is the one who gives us his own perfect inner light. Those who believe in him are to walk in spirit and truth. They are to reflect his own shining illumination. This is the light of the truth of the gospel. The word he uses for clear is actually metaphorically used in other places to denote life, welfare, guidance. As his children, we have been saved by grace through faith. Our spiritual eyes are open. The Lord Jesus is the light of the world, the word of truth. Eye-seeing is understanding the truth. And our whole body will be full of light. only if you were born again, if your eye is clear or single, as the King James Version says. Proverbs 23, 26 says, give your heart to me, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways. That's that word, let your eyes delight. It's clear or single. Colossians 3, 22, the integrity of the heart, fearing the Lord, it's that same word. This word for clear is closely related to the idea of liberality. Romans 12 talks of generously and without false motives. 2 Corinthians 9 says people who give seed to the sower, that's financial support for ministry, liberally, generously. James 1.5, God giving wisdom generously, also known as salvation. In other words, if our heart, represented by the eye, is generous, our whole spiritual life will be flooded with spiritual understanding. This is a fruit of salvation, regeneration, being born again. If our eye is bad, however, if it is diseased or damaged, no light can enter, and the whole body will be full of darkness, as Jesus says. If our hearts are loaded down with material concerns, they become blind and insensitive to spiritual concerns. The eye is like a window. When clear, it allows light to shine through, but when dirty or bad, it prevents light from entering. Puritan Matthew Mead said, where the grace of God takes hold of the soul, it makes it as a weaned child to all worldly things. I like that. J.C. Ryle said, let your Christianity be so unmistakable, your eyes so single, your heart so whole, your walk so straightforward that all who see you may have no doubt whose you are and whom you serve. Job explains how the eye and the heart are inseparable when controlling desire. He said, I have cut a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze at a virgin? Job 31.1. So the individual with a bad eye has no way of recognizing true light, thinks he has light when he does not. What is thought to be light is therefore really darkness, and because of self-deception, how great is the darkness. Paul warns about this in 2 Corinthians 11, but I fear that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. The principle is simple and sobering. The way we look at and use things is a sure barometer of our spiritual condition. The things we hold in our eye, meditate on in our heart, are the same indicator of our walk with the Lord. So a serious question here, what do you look at? What do you hold in your eye on your phone, on your television, on your computer, when you shop, when you drive? Take an honest inventory, the answers will tell a story about your heart and what it wants. Do you love Christ? You will want to look at his word, it will excite you. You will be enthralled to know him more. The heart is very slippery, wicked, and deceptive. The eye has a feeding effect on the heart. The heart has a leading effect on the eye. It's reciprocal. We look at what we want, we want what we look at. Billions are spent in advertising every year for nothing? No, they do it to gain your attention, to draw your eyes, to draw our eyes towards things. This is covetousness. So is covetousness a big deal? I mean, so what if I want something, desire something, that I want to buy, or desire something belonging to someone else? Lot did that when he chose the plain of the Jordan, he lost his wife. Jacob did that in defrauding Esau of his father's blessing, he lost his mother. Achan did that in hiding the treasure that he had stolen. He lost his whole family and his life. Eli's sons, in coveting and taking the flesh of the sacrifice in 1 Samuel, they lost their lives and their souls. Saul, in sparing Agag because he had recovered the spoil of the war that belonged to the Lord in 1 Samuel, he lost his whole kingdom. She wanted the fruit, and she lost paradise. The rich young ruler already had and refused to release. So the rich young ruler, he already had everything he wanted, but he refused to release it. That's just a different form of covetousness. So what do you have that you just won't part with? Judas, in betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, ask him how he likes his bargain. Demas in forsaking Paul for the love of the world in 2 Timothy 4. He didn't keep his eyes on the prize. He tried to play both sides. He certainly worked with Paul, but he forsook him in exchange for the world. Each one of these verses, each one of these examples, not only illustrates the principle of covetousness causing the eye to be bad and the soul to be dark, but also it transitions us to our third point. The wrong and the right master. 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. We cannot have our treasures both in earth and in heaven. We can't have our eyes seen clearly or be damaged at the same time. We cannot serve two masters. The word for masters is often translated as Lord and refers to a slave owner. This word does not mean employer. Many people today hold two or more jobs and may faithfully have fulfilled their obligation to both their employers, but that's not the idea of this word. This word is the master of a slave. By definition, a slave owner has total control of the slave. For a slave, there is no such thing as partial or part-time obligation to his master. He is owned and totally controlled by and obligated to his master. he has nothing left for anyone else. To give anything to anyone else would make his master less than master. Not simply difficult, but absolutely impossible. To serve two masters and fully or faithfully be in the obedience of each is impossible. Imagine Patrick Mahomes. Walking across the field during the Super Bowl and joining the Philadelphia Eagles as their quarterback in the middle of the Super Bowl during a timeout with two minutes left in the game and the score tied. Unthinkable. There would be violence in the streets, burning cars and such. He would be publicly condemned and have to hire personal security for his safety. That was for you, Joey. Over and over, the New Testament speaks of Christ as our Lord and master and the Christians as his slaves. Paul tells us that before we were saved, we were enslaved to sin, which was our master. But when we trusted in Christ, we became slaves of God and of righteousness. That's Romans 6. We cannot claim Christ as Lord if our allegiance is to anything or anyone else, including ourselves. And when we know God's will, but resist obeying it, this is evidence that our loyalty is other than to Him. We can no more serve two masters at the same time than we can walk in two directions at the same time. We will either hate the one or love the other or hold to the one and despise the other. John Calvin said, where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority. Our treasure is either in heaven or it's in earth. The orders of those two masters are directly opposed and cannot exist. The one commands us to walk by faith and the other demands we walk by sight. The one master calls us to be humble and the other to be proud. The one master to love light and the other to love darkness. The one tells us to look toward things unseen and eternal and the other to look at things seen and temporal. A person whose master is Jesus Christ can say when he eats or drinks or does anything else, he does all to the glory of God. He can say with David, I have set the Lord continually before me. He can say with Caleb when he was 85 years old, I followed the Lord fully. Your treasure. You can give it all away, all you possess. You can keep your eyes clean, disciplined. You can control your watching, really clean up your act, control your desires and whitewash the old tomb. But if you don't belong to the Master who made you, pledge allegiance to Him and Him alone, forsaking all others, it's all pointless. Your life will end. You will lose all you have. I ask you tonight, do you love Jesus Christ? Do you? Does it show in your spending, in your giving, in your saving? Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you? Does it show in what you look at, what you want, what you meditate on, what you talk about, what you think about? Do you obsess about kingdom priorities or do you dream about things that twinkle and shine and fly across the screen and you wish you had? The latest trends and the newest thingies, iPhone 16. Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you? Is it evident? Who is your Master? When it's all over and the books are opened and you stand before Him, will He know you?" Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your grace and Your forgiveness, and mostly for Your Son, Jesus Christ, for sending Him to die on the cross for our sins. There's no possible way we can live for You without Him. Help us to abide, help us to be there with You, knowing You, studying Your Word, loving You, hoping in You, planting our security in You and in nothing else. Go before us this evening as we meditate on what we've heard, in Jesus' name, amen.