Let's turn in our Bibles to Matthew's Gospel. Matthew chapter 6. I want to read to you from the 19th verse. And to the end of the chapter, we're going to take the whole chunk this morning. And I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew, and I'm not asking you to bite off more than you can chew in terms of this particular section, but I do think that it flows And that there is a main theme here that Christ is seeking to impress upon us. And so let us hear together the Word of God as it is found here in Matthew 6 verse 19 and following. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry 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? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Amen. Let us turn to God and ask His help as we come to His Word this morning. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Holy Temple of the Lord, of which we are a part, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, We thank you for the work of the Holy Spirit who has quickened us and drawn us into this great and glorious family. We thank you for the Holy Scriptures that make us wise unto salvation and teach us how we ought to live our lives. And we pray this morning that as we gather together in this place, that again, as your word would come forth, that, O our Father, we might hear the voice of God And that we might comprehend the things that your Son would have us to understand. And that our lives might be shaped by the words of Christ. That our Father, we might live lives that please you. That we might live lives that bring honor to your name, glory to your Son. And that Father, we would be a people who love what you love and hate what you hate. O Most Merciful and Gracious Father, draw near to us now, we pray, and illuminate our understanding by the power of Your Spirit sent down from heaven. For we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I wonder if you've ever sat down in your home and considered how many things you have acquired over the years. You look around in your living room and you see your furniture and you see your ornaments and you see your pictures and you realize you have many things that over the years you have brought together and they have become your possessions. You look at your dining area, you see your table and your chairs and whatever little fancy thing you might have put in the middle of your dining room table to make it attractive. You look at your kitchen. At least our women look at the kitchen. The men only go into the kitchen now and again. And we see all the many things that we have in our kitchen. Open the drawers. And maybe you're better to keep them closed again. Because there's so many things in there that it'll take you a week to sort them all out. Then you move into your bedroom. You see your bed, your bookcases perhaps. Perhaps a television. Perhaps a computer. Certainly pictures. And oh dear, we go into our closets and there are all the clothes that we have accrued over the years. Not one pair of shoes, but several. Not one shirt, but many. Not one dress, but quite a few. And we find that we have many things in our lives. And then if you're like me and you go into your garage or as you say, your garage, you suddenly realize how many more things you have that you never use. And you never ever think about until you look out there and say, someday, maybe I'll get to those things. And all of a sudden, as you think upon it, you realize there's a roof space too. And up there is really a no-go area. Because it's full of things. Things that you have bought. Things that you have been given. Things that you have accrued. There are many things here, there and everywhere in our homes. And of course there is nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. They are simply things. Material possessions. Material entities that we have gathered up over the course of our lives. All of us have them. Some of us have many more than others, but they're all there. And the Lord Jesus knew that such would be the nature of life, that we would traffic in things, in material things. And whilst there is nothing sinful about things in and of themselves, the reality of things, material things, brings a very subtle danger to our lives. And the Lord Jesus Christ, in his Sermon on the Mount, particularly in the portion that we're going to look at this morning, wants us to consider this. and to reflect upon this. And in particular, he wants to challenge us at a heart level with regards to the matter of what are you and what am I living for? Because if we were to take the things that we possess, they may testify that that's what we're living for. That that is the number one priority in our lives, is to gather things, possess things, own things, have things, love things, and be consumed by things. In other words, we are surrounded with the danger, the threat of materialism. You can't get away from it, brothers and sisters, because of what you are as a human being. And Jesus, knowing this, wants to speak to the matter as he stands before his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount and declares to them the true nature of the kingdom, the true nature of kingdom life in a fallen world, and essentially challenges them to consider in the light of materialism, in the light of the things that life is made up of, what are you living for? And I want you to consider that question this morning as you come with me and walk through this passage of our Lord's instruction here in the Sermon on the Mount. Notice first of all, I believe that Jesus identifies what being materialistic looks like. He identifies what being materialistic looks like in verses 19-21. And there are three things here that I want you to consider as we look at Jesus identifying what materialism looks like. It's character, first of all, I believe is spoken to in verse 19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Here we have our Lord giving us something that is very, very clear to ponder. Something that he sees clearly was a danger in his day and is a danger in our day. Do not, he says, treasure up treasure on earth. Where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. The reference clearly to the moth and the rust destroying and the thieves breaking in indicate to us that the content of the treasure box that Jesus is speaking of here is physical material things. Because physical material things can be attacked by moths, They can rust away and be destroyed. They can be stolen by thieves. And so our Lord here is going after the whole issue, I believe, of materialism. And He says to us, materialism is essentially the practice, the priority of storing up things on the earth and loving them above all else. It is not the possessing of things and not themselves. We all need things. We'd have had a long walk to church this morning if we didn't have a thing called a vehicle. So it's not that the thing itself is sinful, so much as the heart's disposition, the heart's attitude, and Jesus is going after that here. He's not saying that the possessing of things is wrong, but the pursuit of the possessing of things as the main priority of life. That is what Jesus is going after here. And so he helps us to understand something of the character of materialism as he wants to address this in our hearing. But notice its counterpart is then spoken of to help us further understand clearly what Jesus is addressing. But, verse 20, lay up for it yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. In verse 20, our Lord speaks of the counterpart of the thing that He wants to address and He wants to go after in our consciences. And He does it, I believe here, so that He sets up a very clear contrast in our minds. Our Lord was a master at teaching us truth through contrast. And so on the one hand, He says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. which can be eroded and destroyed and stolen. No, understand you must lay up treasures in heaven and there they cannot be eroded and stolen away. And our Lord here is wanting us to understand then further the whole matter of what materialism is as opposed to what He is trying to teach us is the counterpart of that or the opposite of that and that is a life committed primarily to spiritual things. The statement, I believe, clearly shows that spiritual things are in view because he speaks very clearly that these things are in heaven, that they can't be eroded physically and they can't be stolen physically by thieves. So he's now moving from the material to the spiritual realm and he's drawing a very stark contrast for us to consider. What does he have in view here? Very interesting. You read commentators and you see the different opinions that men have with regards to what are these treasures and I'm going to give you what I think he means by these treasures in some measure the light that I have at present would be this if you turn for example to Ephesians 2 consider there the words of the Apostle Paul Apostle Paul here in Ephesians 2 verses 8, 9 and 10 some of the most wonderful texts in this epistle regarding the nature of our salvation, says, For by grace ye have been saved through faith, and that none of yourselves is the gift of God, nor of works, lest any one should boast. But notice verse 10, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. There is no doubt that the Christian life, the life of the Kingdom, is inseparably connected then to the whole issue of us being created in Christ Jesus for good works. And if you go to chapter 4, you begin to see, I believe, in some measure, what Paul means here with regards to the whole matter of our lives taking on this Christ-likeness. In verse 25 he says, therefore, contrasting it with the previous section, because I don't have time to read it, the old life of the Gentiles, the futility of that way, he says, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour. For we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole, steal no longer, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification." And so whatever Jesus is talking about back in Matthew 6 regarding treasures laid up in heaven, He's talking about those things. that God is pleased with in regards to our character as those who have come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Those things that God will be pleased with and will reward on the final day as He sees the kind of life that we have lived as the children of the Lord. And if you turn to Galatians 5 and consider the fact that the Apostle Paul puts much emphasis there on the fruit of the Spirit As opposed to the ways of the flesh. I believe our Lord is going after those things. Particularly about our character that He wants us to understand. Those things in the spiritual realm. So that our lives might then not be characterized by a love for things and the gathering up of that which is material. Notice what Paul says in Galatians chapter 5. Verse 16. Walk in the spirit that you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And he says in verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. I am persuaded that whatever exactly these treasures are in heaven that Jesus is referring to here, He's referring to those things that please our Heavenly Father in us, in our lives. They filter out in good works in the way we deal with our neighbor, but they emanate from A heart that is transformed by grace so that God looks upon the heart whereas man looks upon the outward appearance. And so God sees that our motives were kind motives. Our motives were true motives. Our motives were honest motives. And that pleases our Heavenly Father. And Jesus wants us to understand that a life that is just given over to worldly, carnal, physical things with no consideration for heaven and for the unseen world, is a life that does not lay up treasure in heaven, but simply lays up treasure on earth. And you'll get all that you've got in this life, but have nothing in the life to come. And I believe that because of what Jesus then goes on to tell us here, verse 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. That's what He's going after, you see. It's the heart. It's not the fact that you've got a nice car. It's not the fact that you've got a nice house. It's not the fact that you've bought some nice bed linen for your bed. Oh no, I'm materialistic. It's nothing to do with that. If you bought that in the right motive, out of the right heart, because you're going to use it for the glory of God, because you've got somebody coming to show hospitality. Those are noble things. Jesus isn't going after that. No, he's saying, where's your heart? in regards to material things and spiritual things. That's what I want you to think about, dear brother, dear sister, dear disciple. And so Jesus makes it very clear here that the power of materialism is this, that it impacts the heart. Things in and of themselves are not sinful, but things draw us. And we can start to love them. And we can start to want them. in an inordinate way that draws us away from spiritual priorities. Jesus tells us, for where your treasure is, where your treasure box is, there your heart will be. So if your treasure box is simply on the earth, it's simply your house, it's simply your car, it's simply your bank account, guess where your heart is? It's in the car, in the house, in the bank. But if your heart If your treasure is being laid up in heaven, in other words, you're living for eternity and you're living for God and for the judgment day. Your treasure is up there in heaven and you're committed to that. And that, Jesus says, is what you have to understand in terms of the matter of what you are living for. What are you living for? Material things, spiritual things. That's the challenge. Does it make it complicated? Does it add in 52 other varieties of things we're going to try and figure out? No. Material, spiritual. Which is it that you are living for? He identifies what being materialistic looks like in verses 19 through 21. And then I believe he illustrates what materialism produces in verses 22 and 23. Now I have to confess this was the most difficult part of my sermon preparation because I had to figure out what exactly has this particular part of the message got to do with the rest of it. What is Jesus doing here? But after much wrestling I hope I understand it in my own mind but I hope more than that that what comes out of my mouth you understand in trying to communicate what Jesus says here because I believe here in verses 22 and 23 Jesus illustrates what materialism produces. It is imagery that is powerful But it requires close consideration. I want you to consider with me two things. What Jesus actually says, and then what Jesus actually means, I believe. First of all, what Jesus actually said. Let's read it. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Now don't lift it out of context. I'm just grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and saying, stop. Don't lift it out of context and start to try and figure out what can it possibly mean. It's in a context. Jesus is in the flow of a sermon here. He's hardly going to just simply stop and start talking about something else way over here that's got nothing to do with what he's just said and what he will still say after this text. Keep it in its context. Now notice what Jesus actually says. He contrasts, or rather, he speaks of the eye as the lamp of the body. and states that if the eye is good, your whole body will be filled with light. He then contrasts this with an eye being bad, and consequently the whole body being full of darkness. And he closes the illustration by stating that if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is your darkness. Now, what does he mean? Well, I'm absolutely persuaded that Jesus is using figurative language here to make a spiritual point. And that's where we've got to start using our brains to think about this. It's not easy always to get the picture of what Jesus means at times. We've got to be able to think it through. He's using a physical idea to convey a spiritual truth. The I in these verses, I believe, should be understood as analogous to the heart. Right? It's parallel to that in the previous verses. It's really a metaphor for it, I believe. By speaking of the eye being good and bringing light and the eye being bad and bringing darkness, the Lord wants us to think about what? The condition of the eye. Good eye, light. Bad eye, dark. It's the condition of the eye that he wants us to think about here. And I believe he's simply reinforcing the point that he's just been dealing with, the issue of the heart. Heart, treasuring, heart fixed on earthly things, that's where your treasure is, that's where your heart is. Heart fixed on spiritual things, then your heart will be in heaven. He's now saying, eye fixed on bad things, or an eye fixed on bad things, darkness, eye fixed on good things. And he's really drawing a parallel here for us to make the same point that he's just made, except for this. And this is a qualification he puts in, and I believe for a reason. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? What does Jesus mean? He's basically, I believe, saying this, particularly to his first century hearers. If you think that your eye is good when it's actually bad, you are self-deceived. That's what he's saying. So he's saying that materialism can produce subtly in us self-deception. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're walking in light when we're walking in darkness. We can deceive ourselves to think that our treasures are not really on the earth, they're in heaven, when in fact they are on the earth. And how do we do that? Well, I believe we do it by what Jesus asserts in verse 24. The challenge that materialism gives us. No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve two, serve God and mammon. Jesus is now throwing up for us in the illustration that he's used, the possibility of self-deception with regards to the influence of materialism on our life. And he's saying to us that materialism throws up a challenge to us as Christians. And you know what that challenge is? Serve me or serve Christ. But you can't do both. You cannot have two masters that you serve. You either serve one or the other, but not both. And Jesus wants us to understand that, brothers and sisters. He wants us to recognize that kingdom life is so radical, so challenging, that even in terms of those things that we all have, that we all enjoy in life, that those things can suddenly become the very idol of our life, the very thing that becomes the master, the very thing that becomes the slave driver, if you will, and we don't even realize that it's happening. And we need to then Think clearly, think biblically with regards to materialism and its influence upon our lives. Brothers and sisters, I assure you this morning as I preach it to you with passion, I'm preaching it to myself. Because it's convicting. And especially when you're preaching it in the richest state, in the richest country in the world. It'd be easy to not say that. It'd be easy to not say materialism is a danger. It'd be easy to not say materialism can deceive us. It'd be easy to not say you can be self-deluded regarding the influence of the things in your life. But, brothers and sisters, Jesus says otherwise. Jesus says to us, materialism brings, whilst many blessings material things can bring to us, it brings its own peculiar dangers. And we need to be alert to that and wake into that and understand that. And we mustn't stick our head in the sand and pretend it can't happen to us in good old America. This is the most relevant passage for a materialistic society like the one we live in. It's the most relevant passage for a middle class congregation like we are. The most relevant passage for a very blessed and well-off pastor like I am. And though I might want to shrink back from it and not like the cutting edge of it and not want to have to think through the implications of it, I would have to then throw my Bible away and give up the faith. And I'm not going to do that. So I have to stand before my Lord and say, OK, Lord, explain it to me. Make it clear to me. Challenge me. And He says, what are you living for? Material things or spiritual things? He says, recognize they can deceive you. You can think you are not actually materialistic, when in actual fact you are. And therefore you think the light that is in you is light, but the light that is in you is darkness, and you are deluded. Because you need to understand that there is absolutely no possibility of serving both things at once. It's either Christ and God, or materialism. But there is no coming together of the two things. Notice the universality of the statement that Jesus makes. No one in the spiritual realm can serve two masters, he says. There is nobody in the human race who has the ability to serve two masters. Such an idea is absurd. It is impossible. You do not have the ability to do it. Don't think that you do. You don't. You see, the Pharisees particularly, they were really masters at trying to give the impression they could do it. Jesus comes in and he just puts the sword of the Spirit right in there into their souls and he says, You can't do this. You can't serve God and mammon. It cannot be done. There is no such thing either as neutrality. Do you notice that? He doesn't say, well, move into the middle ground. Move into the neutral space. There's no neutral space. God, mammon, that's it. If you're after mammon, you hate God. If you're after God, then you'll hate mammon. And brothers and sisters, we need to understand that. Jesus is not ambiguous. Jesus is clear. As a child of the kingdom, he says you need to realize that it's very important that you have a conscientious choice to make if you are going to live in the kingdom of God. God or mammon? What are you living for? And with these assertions made then, the fourth thing I want you to see here is that he exposes the misery that materialism brings. Verses 25 through 32. Brothers and sisters, I know that you know something of this, and I confess, I also know something of this. These verses are probably some of the most well-known verses in this chapter, maybe in this particular sermon. But remember the context. We're living in a world, are we not? When you look out there, what do you find? People are worrying. People are filled with anxiety. But you look at your own heart and be honest before God and what do you find? Sadly, do you never worry about material things? Do you never worry about your paycheck, your bank balance, paying the next bill? Do you never worry about providing? Brethren, we do, don't we? Let's be honest about it. Just get real here and be honest. Nobody, I believe, who's ever walked the earth has ever not worried. And Christians are not immune from worry. And Jesus is talking to his disciples here. And Jesus is saying to them, listen, understand, understand the creeping influence of materialism. When that begins to be the predominating thing in your life, guess what you're in for? Worry. Worry. Listen to what Jesus says. He makes the connection between what he's already said and what he's about to say by that word, therefore. Which could mean, for this reason, in the light of all I've said, for this reason, I'm going to tell you, don't worry. Well, that's a nice little cliche, Jesus. Thanks very much. A little spiritual platitude that's supposed to stop me. But read on. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Notice verse 25. And this is so important not to miss. Is not life more than food? And the body more than clothing? You see the point he's making? In the light of what I've been saying about the material and the spiritual things, I want to expose in your hearing the misery that failure to hear me will bring you into. I know that you worry because it's part and parcel of being a fallen creature. It's part and parcel of being who you are as a sinner. Even though you're my disciple, you're a sinner. And worry is part and parcel of the fall. But I'm saying to you, listen to me, heed me. Understand that life is much more than simply the material. It's much more than simply food and clothing. It is that, it does involve that, but it's more than that. When that's all you're focused on, you are not understanding life itself. Who is the giver of life? Who is the taker away of life? Who are you factoring out of the equation? You're factoring out of the equation God, your Father, the one who provides for you. To help us understand this very clearly, Jesus employs two illustrations from nature here. And I have to confess, with my own imagination, I wondered as he was preaching, did he say, look at the birds? Because there were birds there. I don't know. Another question I have for the Lord. Look at the birds. There he is in the open air, under the open canopy of the sky. And as he's preaching to his people, he says, look at the birds. I'm telling you, life consists of more than food and clothing. Look at the birds. Who is it that takes care of them? Who is it that tends them? It is the unseen Spirit of God who sustains and holds everything together by the Word of His power. And as one who is a child of the Kingdom, you need to remember that and understand that. He says to us here at verse 28, Why do you worry about clothing? Why do you worry about food? God provides for the birds. Are you not more valued than them? Why do you worry about clothing? Look at the lilies of the field. How the Lord supplies what they need to grow and survive. Then he makes a most amazing statement. Just to make the point to a Jewish mind particularly, but for us who know our Bibles too. And yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory. Read the life of Solomon. Read what Solomon had. You want wealth? You want riches? Solomon's the man. But notice what Jesus says, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Your Heavenly Father is taking care of His creation. Your Heavenly Father is attending to His creation, every detail, down even to the very stature you have physically. Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to His stature? Some of us wish that we were able to worry herself another foot taller, it would be a good thing. You can't do that. Worry, he's saying, what does it accomplish? What does worry accomplish? What does anxiety produce? Misery! It's a miserable place to be! Jesus is exposing the misery that materialism, when it settles upon our souls, will bring us. And with that exposure then, he concludes in verse 33 with the fifth thing I want you to see. He declares the remedy that deals with materialism. This is his point. My wife and I met in a Bible college where this was the motto on our badge. So it has a special place in my heart, even as a text. I wish I could live it much more faithfully, but it's an excellent text. But seek first. the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things, see that? Things! All these possessions, all these things, they'll be added to you. Now notice, he's really saying this. Strive first and foremost for God and His ways, and recognize that everything else will take care of itself. Now, if you properly understand the depth of the implications of that, you will really understand what Jesus is saying. It's not, say a prayer and someday I'll bring you a Rolls Royce outside. That's not the kind of nonsense that is encapsulated in this teaching here. He's not saying that in some way it's a magical thing that we just have to use God like a big Santa Claus. It's nothing to do with that. That is not Christian theology. That is paganism. The Bible is very clear here what Jesus means. He's basically saying, so order your life in every single area of it that God is honored and glorified and that you're seeking to do what is right in His sight and you can be sure that material things will sort themselves out. He's not saying that the material things of life are not necessary, that they're irrelevant, but he is saying that they should be taking second place to the spiritual priorities of life. He's saying that there is such a thing, therefore, as priority in life. There is something more important than the material things, and that is the spiritual things of life, your relationship with God, your ordering your life according to what is right in the sight of Almighty God. That is Kingdom life. The King is first. His ways are first. I am submitted to His ways. And Jesus said, if that is what you set your feet into, the material things will sort themselves out. Does it mean that you'll get all your greeds? Does it mean you'll not have to still pray for your daily bread? That's part of being a citizen of the Kingdom. He's saying, priority first of all. Christ, the God, the Kingdom, the ways that are right in the sight of God. And brothers and sisters, that can be summed up quite simply. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and your neighbour as yourself. I'll come to that when we get to the application. But notice that he then just simply concludes and says, therefore, in the light of all these things, dear disciples, don't worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Take it one day at a time with the Lord." That doesn't mean don't plan. That doesn't mean don't have a pension. It's nothing to do with that. He's talking here simply about focus of heart and soul. That brings me then to three concluding applications that I want to bring to you. There can be no doubt when we traffic in this passage in the Word of God that we see clearly that we must understand that material things pose a real danger to the soul. Material things pose a real danger to the soul. If you haven't discovered that already, then hopefully you'll come to understand it more soon. Those of us who are older, those of us who have trafficked in the things of the Lord for many years, we honestly know something of that, don't we? The instruction of our Lord here in these verses make it clear to us that while the material things of life in and of themselves are not sinful, they pose a real danger to our souls. Because so quickly our hearts can be set on them. So quickly they can become the idols in our lives. So quickly we can lose our focus of having our hearts set on Christ and having our hearts set on the earth. And David didn't know what I was going to preach to you on this morning and I didn't know what he was going to say in the pulpit up here when he read Matthew. But I almost got goosebumps because he almost quoted verbatim from the sermon and he's not seen my notes. Regarding Peter taking his eyes off the Lord and allowing the storms to come at him and to then get his head down and he fell. You see, brothers and sisters, as physical beings, that's how God made us. If anybody's not a physical being here this morning, put your hand up. You won't be able to because you don't have one. We're all physical beings. That's how God made us. He made us body and soul. We will always be body and soul. In all eternity, we will be body and soul. That's the way our Father, our Creator, has made us. Therefore, because of that reality, the material things of life are relevant. A physical being needs a physical place to put his feet, else he's going to be falling forever. And they are relevant material things and they are necessary, but it's vital to understand what Jesus is going after here in our conscience. He's helping us to understand how easy it is, however, to allow these things around us to become the focus of our attention and the focus of our affections so that that's all we basically live for. And Jesus is saying to Christians, to disciples, that that's possible. This isn't a gospel message so much as he's telling the disciples, kingdom life. Listen, the kingdom, the spirit breaks in upon the physical world. And now there's a conscious tension going on between the work of God in the soul and the reality of remaining sin. And the crucible and context of it is the physical world in which you live. And you need to work it out in terms of where is your heart? Where are your affections? What are you living for? That's what Jesus is challenging his disciples with. Money and the pursuit of wealth will very quickly draw away your heart and your affections. I believe that those of us who have trafficked in the gospel for a long time and loved Christ for a long time can say that's true. We see it. especially the pressures of trying to simply make ends meet, that in itself can bring this peculiar trial. A desire to have more money, however, can quickly produce a workaholic mindset. Quickly, in a heartbeat. You don't even realize it. It's there. Now you're being driven by something else other than the Spirit of God. And soon it can become the driving force of your life. You don't believe me, there are Christian books written about this stuff. Christian counsellors have their counsellor rooms filled with men testifying to this reality. They once were elders, they once were deacons, they once were godly men in the church, and then what did they find? They began to have a pursuit of wealth that was inordinate and wrong, and consequently they took on a workaholic mindset. It became the driving force of their life, and before they knew it, what happened? Let me walk you through it. They began to neglect the private means of grace. Well, there's no time, you see. I'm up too early now. They began to work later, so there's no time when I come home. I'm too tired now. And when they began to neglect the private means of grace, they began to cut the very lifeline that an intense communion with God. Then he began from there to begin to neglect the public means of grace. Too busy, you see. Too tired. Now don't misunderstand me. You really could be too busy and really too tired and that's a reality. But listen, you've got to figure out priority here. That's the challenge. It's priority. What matters most in your life? That's what Jesus is telling us here. You've got to figure this out. Not play games with it. Not rationalize it. Not make excuses about it. I can write you the excuses. I can write a book on excuses and it will be a best seller. But Jesus isn't interested in that. Jesus is saying, what are you living for? Before long they can't get to prayer meeting. Before long they are too tired to make Sunday school. Before long they are bored with the worship. Before long the preachings do nothing for them. Before long they are not even able to be at home when they should be with their families. And what do we find? Their whole life. testifies that their treasure is on earth and it is not in heaven. And it's a recipe, I tell you now, for the grossest immoral fall. And if you don't believe me, come and I'll tell you stories that would make your hair stand on end. Your heart is subtly beginning to lay up a treasure on earth. And soon your mouth will be shut for Christ, because your conscience is bad, and your marriage will be under pressure, and your family will become distant, and you'll begin to live life like any other pagan soul pursuing the American dream. Brethren, I say to you this morning, beware. One of my biggest fears about coming to California is that I may fall into this very thing. People say, any fears about going to America, Pastor? I say, one of the things I fear, know my own heart, is this reality. I'm thankful I have men beside me who keep me accountable in that regard. And I don't want to lose that. That's a lifeline for me. Christ uses means, brothers and sisters. We're not mystics. He uses means. He can use the word of a brother, the word of a sister. He can even use a car crash to make you realize how much your car was an idol. If you don't believe me, it's happened. It's happened to me. how much I was setting my affections on things below, not on things above. Understand that material things pose a real danger to your soul. Notice secondly, view anxiety as evidence of wrong priorities. Now, I know this could be unpopular to say this, but I am absolutely persuaded of this, so I'm going to say it. View anxiety as evidence of wrong priorities. You realize that God in his grace has given us inbuilt alarm systems. Did you know that? Let me give you an illustration. You're standing at the edge of a cliff and you're looking down at 200 feet. What's the inbuilt alarm system? Fear. What does fear make you do? That close. I wouldn't even get that close to it because I just don't have a head for heights. But fear will draw you back. So it's good that you have that inbuilt alarm system. I am persuaded that anxiety plays a similar role in our lives at times. And I am persuaded that when Jesus says here, do not worry, he's saying to us, recognize that your anxiety is telling you something about where your heart is. Your anxiety is revealing something to you about the priorities in your life and about how your heart's focus has shifted away from where it needs to be. When anxiety descends upon us with regards to material well-being, it can often, and I don't say always, but can often be an indication that like Peter, we've taken a rise of Christ, his ability to help us through, his ability to help us out, his ability to draw near to us. And tragically the last thing we do, should be the first thing that we should be doing is that is getting on our knees again to settle our hearts in the midst of what is a trial. What could well be a difficulty. If a man loses his job, he's fired, there is automatic anxiety going to flare up in his soul. And the Lord Jesus says that when that happens, Recognize it's because you're worried about merely the temporal and you need to come back to me and sort it out so that we get your heart fixed first of all and then we'll walk you through the trial of trying to figure out what you're going to do. But I tell you now if you don't have your heart right with the Lord it won't matter what you do, you're just going to bounce around in a mess. You're not going to be able to put things in order and make things right in terms of focus. You're simply going to act purely by emotion. Now don't misunderstand me. Last week I preached about emotions and I'm still on the same frame that we have to have true emotional affection for Christ. But we've got to be careful with our emotions. They're not infallible guides. We've got to walk by faith. We've got to trust in God. And we have to ask Him sometimes, Lord, settle my bubbling heart. Settle my fearful soul. Settle my anxious spirit, Lord. I am consumed with this, Lord. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't think. It's just taking over me, Lord. And brothers and sisters, we've got to fight by going to Christ and asking Him to draw near and help us in that regard. There are times for me, I just simply get no rest until I sort that out. And it can be hours, it can be days, it can be weeks that I'm fighting with that thing. Because the reality is we're not taken out of our situation. We're still in the reality of the problems with our physical situation that we're facing. But Jesus wants us to understand that anxiety should be viewed by us as an evidence of, perhaps I should say, possibly wrong priorities or going in the wrong direction. We need to draw back again and we need to come to him and we need to seek him that he might quieten our spirits, that we might see our way through what may well be a legitimate trial in the material realm. Losing our job. Not having enough money to pay the bills. Maybe you come here this morning and say, Pastor, I've got such anxiety right now. It's quite possible. I can't believe you're this size. Pastor, you just don't know what happened to me at work this week. Pastor, you've no idea what's... And now you're really saying to me, I shouldn't worry? I'm saying, yes, you shouldn't worry. Because Jesus says you shouldn't worry. You shouldn't worry because Jesus says you ought not to do it. Not because Robert Briggs thinks it's a good idea. It's what Jesus says. He's in the light of the material pressures that are upon you. What you must not do is worry. Pastor, that's easier said than done. What are you going to do? Tell me to memorize a verse? No, I'm not going to tell you to do that. Well, that's not a bad idea. Much more than that has to be talked out, much more than that has to be addressed. You might be here this morning saying, Pastor, I really am finding it hard to make ends meet. How can I not worry? Pastor, if you only knew what was happening, Pastor, this is not something that I want to hear. Well, let me encourage you. And we're going to close with this. Let me encourage you to hear not my words this morning, but words of Jesus. Don't close your ears to Christ. He has something to say to your anxiety. He has something to say to your worried spirit. Apart from do not worry, which he tells you not to do. Be honest this morning about your life. Be honest about your relationship with Christ. Be honest about really the priorities of your life, the true state of your heart. You see, unless we can come to the place of honesty, unless we can come to the place of sincerity, we're just playing the game. Okay? And God says, if you regard iniquity in your heart, I will not hear you. So you better tell me it straight. The irony is, he already knows. Sin is so irrational that it makes us think he doesn't know, and somehow we're over here hiding it all, and he already sees it all. And we're foolish. Here's what Jesus is basically saying, and this is my final application. Be committed to a zealous pursuit of God and His ways. Now here's where we're going to get really radical this morning. It may be sometimes in life when things go wrong financially you have to sell your house. That may be the will of God. You've got the house? Yeah. That may be the will of God and that may be a way to alleviate the anxiety. Because God makes it plain, you're in above your mates. And some kind of financial trouble has come, it's come in providence, God may be saying, hey, you know what? You can get your mortgage down, you can get the debts down, but you're going to have to make a radical decision. Sell your house. Now you may not have to sell your house! And I'm not saying that's the first place you should go. I'm simply putting it into your mind that that may be what God wants you to do. But we live in such a materialistic society that that's not even a possible option. We'll get another credit card. And then we'll take that on. And we'll get another credit card. What is that doing? That's digging the hole deeper and making the anxiety worse. Do you see the point? Brothers and sisters, do you see how we as Christians can think the light that is in us is light and it's darkness altogether? And brothers and sisters we need to waken up to this. What is wrong with the fact that all of us would live in a condominium if that's how the economy goes? Is there a reason why Christians all have to live in ten acres of land? There's no reason for that. Now bless God when people are prosperous and that. There's nothing sinful about that. I'm not saying that. But the way it seems to me in evangelicalism today, the way it seems to me with all this Benny Hinn nonsense that's going around, it seems to me that we're supposed to have everything and more than everything and if we don't, we don't have faith. That's not in the Bible. It may be that I one day, and I was talking to my wife about it this week, it may be that one day I have to live in an apartment. with my kids, and we've got to cram in, and that's the way it's going to have to be. And if that's the way it is, because that's the will of God, I tell you now, I'll put my head on my pillow without anxiety, knowing that I am zealously pursuing God, and if that's what He wants me to live, what does He say? I ordain the boundaries of your habitation. And I say this to you, brothers and sisters, because I think it's time we start thinking out of the box in some regards, with regards to what we're deceived into. If it means you've got to drive a smaller car because the gas prices are horrendous, then buy a smaller car. What's wrong with that? Well, you know, I've always driven a four-wheel drive in a big suburban and, you know, it's safe on the road. I know all that. I know that. But if you can't afford the gas, what's the point of having it? What's the point of having anxiety to pay the gas bill when you don't have to. Just buy another car that's smaller and live within your means, which is the will of God, which is the mind of Christ. That's zealously pursuing after God and His kingdom. And I tell you, if Pastor King and I have to take pay cuts because the church has shrunk or people are poorer, so be it. That's the will of God. There's nothing wrong with that, brothers and sisters. That's kingdom living. And I am fearful that evangelicals think the light that is in them is light. And you know what it is? It's darkness. And great is the darkness. And we wonder why we've got so many people plagued with so many anxieties and so many burdens and so many problems. And you know what it is? They're not committed. Committed to a zealous pursuit of God and His ways. They're trying to serve two masters and they cannot do it because Jesus says it's an impossibility. And so I exhort you this morning, do you want to know what Jesus says to you? He says this, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will take care of themselves. He doesn't say take first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and you'll have the big house and you'll have the flashy car and you'll have all the clothes you want and you'll have the foreign holidays and you'll be able to do... He doesn't say any of that. He says you'll have food and you'll have drink. You'll have clothing on your back and you won't die. That's what he says. And is that not what we just need to really consider? As long as we're not going to die. As long as we've got enough food. And even if we do die, even if God brings a famine, and that's the way He takes us to heaven, as some Christians have died, are we not then going into heaven? And we're leaving it all behind anyway? Where is your heart, brother? Where is your heart, sister? What are you living for today? What are you living for? That's what Jesus wants to know. That's what He's asking you. What am I living for? In a generation in which materialism holds so much sway, It's so easy to get caught up in it without realising it, isn't it? Soon life is a dreary and wearisome, miserable existence when we get into what we call the rat race. Young people, listen carefully to this because you're going to have big decisions to make in the years to come about jobs and about housing and about all... Don't get into the rat race. Don't. Beware of incurring large debts. that you cannot pay off until you're 50. You'll be miserable. You will. It'll be hard. God can help, but don't get into it. If you see it ahead, avoid it. Don't be a fool and just traffic on in and say, it'll be alright. Don't buy in. Don't buy into the materialism of our age. Don't buy into the darkness that evangelicalism thinks is light. It will be a dreary, miserable experience. This morning, as you sit here, as I stand here, the Lord Jesus stands in the midst of his people through the preaching of his word. And he reminds us this morning of the priority that we should have when it comes to spiritual and material things. Spiritual must take precedent. It's a sober reminder. It's a humble reminder. It's an encouraging reminder. You know why? It sobers us because we know how real the things are that Jesus speaks of here, don't we? Let's be honest. We know how real they are. If you're going to go home some of you this afternoon, you've got to sit amongst your things. Remember what I said this morning about these things. It humbles us, doesn't it? You know why it humbles us? I'll tell you why it humbles me, because it exposes the true nature of my own heart and the real struggles of my own soul. But it's encouraging, and what this echoes, Because it reminds us that in the midst of our temptations, in the midst of these pressures, in the words of the hymn writer Thomas Binney, there is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode. An offering and a sacrifice, a Holy Spirit's energies, an advocate with God, Jesus Christ the King. We must follow Him and His ways if we would rise above these things and we would glorify God with the pressures that these things bring upon us. Brothers and sisters, may God help us in our materialistic world to make first priority His kingdom and His righteousness. Amen. Let's pray. Blessed Lord, how prone we are to love our things, how prone we are to pursue after things in this life that in and of themselves may well be legitimate, but so easily can take away our hearts and delude us and deceive us. Father, we believe your word is clear to our souls this morning that we must be a people in the midst of a much, a very much a materialistic age. We must be a people who first and foremost are seeking after Your Lordship and Your Kingdom. Father, forgive us for so often loving the things of this world more than the things of Christ. Deliver us by Your grace. Help us to order our lives in such a way, Father, that we will continue to fight the good fight of faith all the way to the end, that we might not become entangled, ensnared to those things, Lord, that so easily take away our faith, so easily influence our lives and make us anxious and worried. Father, if there are any in our gathering this morning who are particularly facing difficult financial, difficult economic circumstances, will you not come and gird up their hearts and encourage them? Will you not make it known to their brethren that we might be able to help them and use the means that you have ordained to alleviate the anxieties that plague us so easily. O most merciful God, build your church, we pray. Extend your kingdom upon the earth, we plead, and make us to be a people who seek first that kingdom and the righteousness of God. For we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.