If y'all are like me, you've been extremely challenged by what we've heard and encouraged. Part of me is kind of sad to see it come to a close today, but as I was given the opportunity to speak and you watch Chad and Brother Tom and Jacob, and they just seemingly hit home run after home run after home run, the last thing you want to do is get up there and foul out or strike out. But I know if I preach the text, I can't mess up too much. So that's where I'm going to try to stay. So we're going to be preaching on God is servable. God is to be served. And we're going to do this from Matthew 6, if you want to turn there. The portion we'll preach is Matthew 6.19 through 6.24. But like any text, sometimes it's good to get a running start before you get there. You can't just really jump in it. But you can't go back too far, we'd be here all day. Plus, I didn't study much prior to chapter 6. But anyway, chapter 6 is a portion of Scripture which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. It's a three-chapter sermon in Matthew's account of Jesus preaching and teaching and warning these disciples, the crowds. And Jesus here has been contrasting true religion from false teaching. He's been teaching what is true, and he's been exposing what is phony. So let's just begin in Matthew 6, verse 1. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others." So, you see, these hypocrites, he refers to them here, when they would actually give to the needy, they would sound a trumpet. You know, just drawing attention, just whatever it took to draw attention to this act of charity. You know, when I first read this, my mind wondered, is Jesus exaggerating to make a point? Maybe He's just exaggerating to make a point here, but then I remembered, how often do we see a corporation on TV or even individuals on TV and they're giving money with a camera crew? You know, a huge ceremony, sometimes even a ribbon-cutting ceremony, having one of those big ten-foot checks. Is that any different? You have your reward. Now, I want to make sure we don't miss this. In Matthew 5, 16, it has this. Back one page. I'll go up to 14. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand, and it gives light to all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." So, in chapter 6, Jesus seems to be coming down on them because they were seen doing these good works. But over in chapter 5, he's saying you need to be doing good works that are seen by other people, right? So, how do we balance these two things? Because there's not a contradiction here. What's going on is Christians are to be seen doing good works. But they are not to be doing good works simply to be seen. That's the balance. And we're going to have to walk a balance all the way through chapter 6 here. Just for instance, Don Poore has been staying with us these last few days. I guess I should have sounded the trumpet before I said that, shouldn't I? But anyway, Don's been going to stay with us and we knew this for quite some time. You know, Tracy told me about a week ago, she said, when Don gets here, you better not be good to me. And I said, oh no, I'm going to wait on you hand and foot. I'm going to do the dishes. I'm going to really put on a show, right? It's not that I'm bad to her, and that's a true story now. It's not that I'm bad to her, but nine times out of ten, I'm going to serve Brian. It's just who we are. You know, in that church, as we come together as a church, we can appear as if we're serving God. But six days a week, are we serving ourselves? And then Jesus, He rolls right on, and He goes in 5-15, He starts in verse 5. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. So He speaks about these hypocrites here praying and how they would pray these long, repetitive prayers just to be seen by others. And this is a little rabbit, but we should catch it pretty quickly. Earlier, Jesus talks about in 6, 1 through 3, or 1 and 2, what God sees. And here he's talking about what God hears. How does Jesus know what God sees and hears? Who does he think he is? Jesus is God. And I guess I've just, that really grabbed me this past week, who better to teach you how to pray to God than God? You know, that's what Jesus was God in the flesh, and He's sitting here, the man, Jesus, telling you what God hears. And here's how you pray. You can't get that kind of information from, all I can tell you is what Scripture says. But He is one who speaks with authority, as they said. And then Jesus rolls right on into verse 16. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. So when they would fast, they would go around, you know, just sometimes even putting ashes and sackcloth on and just, oh man, don't mess with me, I haven't eaten. I'm fasting. You know, they would just really put on a show. That's what they did. And they would fast the same way they would pray, the same way they would give, Every religious act they went through, every pious act they did was self-serving. And notice the pattern that Jesus just clearly points out. They were practicing their righteousness before the people in order to be seen by them, verse 1. Verse 2, what's it say? In order to be praised by others. Verse 5, when they're praying, He said, they were doing this just to be seen by others. And you get to verse 16. They would disfigure their faces so that their fasting may be seen by others. Who were they attempting to glorify? Themselves. Everything they were doing was for show. It was all fake. Now, when you read this, you can have two responses. You can shake your head, shame on him. Or you can take the scripture, which I believe is a proper response, and evaluate your own heart. Look in. Is this me? Lord, is it I? That's what the apostles did when they were in the room with Jesus, and he said, tonight, one of you is going to betray me. Is it me, Lord? And he don't correct them for that evaluation. Lord, is this me? Is this me? How do I know if I'm doing this for just show? And so Jesus is fixing to give us an amazing lesson about two treasures, two eyes, two masters, and He does it with one purpose. To warn them. You know, Matthew 5, 2. Let's just look at this real quick. This is how the whole Sermon on the Mount began. Seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. He opened His mouth and He taught them. That's how this whole thing started. Jesus saw the crowds and He just sat down and began teaching them. God is knowable. We read about that Friday, right? Here Jesus is teaching them, warning them. And He's addressed them in 1-18 on whose approval have they been seeking. They've been seeking the approval of men the whole time. But now He's going to address, what are you seeking? Are you seeking to lay up treasures on earth? I'll read 19-21. Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now it starts right off, do not lay up. This is what they call a present imperative verb in Greek. And by present tense, what it means is an ongoing action. It's constant, it's continual. You know, it's imperative, which means it's a command. You know, and see, it has the do not, it has that negative in front of it, so it means to stop and act in progress. What Jesus is saying is, stop laying up treasures. That's the point He's starting to say. Stop laying up treasures in heaven. I'm sorry, stop laying up treasures on earth. Constantly and continually, you have to be constantly and continually fighting against this temptation. And Jesus is warning those around. Like I said, He had that large crowd He's warning. And He's warning us today. Do not lay up treasures on earth. The problem is, we're past the do not part. We need to stop. And that's what He's saying. Stop laying up treasures on earth. You know, the Lord speaks on money five times more than He does any other subject. That's interesting, isn't it? You know, He speaks of it, even Paul is going to mention it in 1 Timothy 6, you know, those who desire to be rich fall into a temptation that leads to their ruin, leads to their destruction. Money is a huge snare for all of us. I read about a survey in 1992, so these numbers may move, but the pattern will stay the same. The people were asked how much money they would have to have to live the American dream. Those who earned $25,000 a year or less said if they could make $54,000 a year, they'd live the American dream. Those who made $100,000 a year said that they needed $192,000. So you see the pattern. It's never enough. You make 25, you need 54. You make 50, you need 100. You make 100, you need 192. It's never going to be enough. That's why Peter says in 2 Peter, he says, you are a slave to whatever overcomes you. Whatever controls you to that, you are a slave. You can't have your heart in two places. You can't have your focus in two places. You can only have one, number one. regardless of you sports, there's only one first place. And now the key to this warning is yourself. Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth. You know there's a parable Jesus speaks of in Luke 12, you don't have to turn there, I'll kind of sum it up real quick, about a man, a rich man, who had an abundant harvest. He says, soul, what should I do? You know, what should I do? And it says, look, I will tear down my barns, I will build bigger barns, I will store all my grain and all my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and be merry. Then God said, you fool, this night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? You can't take it with you. So is the one who lays up treasures for himself is not rich toward God. So this rich fool mentioned here laid up treasures for himself. And that man is not rich toward God. The ones we're talking about here are laying up treasures for themselves. They are selfish, self-interest. They were seeking to serve themselves. Now, I don't want to jump on the wrong side of this, because there's nothing wrong with working hard. There's nothing wrong with providing for your family, making wise financial decisions. We're told all that. 1 Timothy 5 says we are to provide for our families, and if we neglect to do that, we're worse than an unbeliever. 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that the parents are supposed to provide and lay up for the children, not the children for the parents. So, we're supposed to wisely plan for our children's future. But here's the balance. It's not what you're doing. It's not what you have. It's your attitude. It's your motivation. And we saw that all the way through here. Is there anything wrong with giving to the poor? Or the needy? No. Is there anything wrong with praying? Anything wrong with fasting? But see, these hypocrites made it sin because what was their intention behind the whole thing? To glorify themselves. They were doing it all to be seen. So if everything you're doing is for yourself, you're laying it up for yourself. Seems self-explanatory. And he says, when you lay up treasures on earth, he defines that as where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. It doesn't last. You can buy something that's supposed to have a 10 year warranty and it won't, nothing lasts. We see this. It will either deteriorate old houses or be stolen or destroyed. You know, being in the timber business, we may put on a 40 acres and 60 acres. Dan, I'm sure you've seen this too. This has trees that's been grown for 30, 40, 50 years and as you begin to cut it, you run across an old house place. You know, the foundations are there, you know, or some old wood that you can tell, and you stand back and you look at the lay of the land, and you can just imagine that one time I'm sure it was a really pretty place. Not no more. It's been overgrown, it's been forgotten, it's been destroyed. So why, why lay up treasures on earth where this stuff just, you can't take it with you, it's just gone? We're reading through 2 Samuel, we've been in Zechariah some, and I think when the Babylonians came into Jerusalem, it said every great house in Jerusalem was burned and destroyed. Even if it don't deteriorate, it will be destroyed. It's not going to last. Don't lay up your treasures on earth. You know, you could be like Pharaoh who thinks he could take it with him. You know, you see all these tombs in Egypt and they all, what, the pharaohs would always have gold and all this treasure in their tomb with them so when they went into the afterlife, they would have, you know, a good fun to get started. And I always wondered when I hear those stories, probably the guy who sold them that idea is the biggest genius of all of them. Sure, put it all in there. You know, they put it all in there and he probably goes in and gets it two or three weeks later, and they come in behind him and it's all gone. I told you, he took it with him. You know, you need to do the same. So, I think that was just part of his little ploy. It was a Ponzi scheme way back then. I read a hymn, or it's a poem, that says, only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. So we get the do not lay up, and now we're going to get a positive, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. This is also present imperative, indicating we ought to constantly and continually be laying up treasures in heaven. Consider how normal it is for us to invest. And you'll hear a financial planner may tell you things like, look, you'll never grow. If you don't sacrifice it, if you don't risk, you'll never grow. And so many will invest 90% of their income or 90% of all their wealth, all their resources into something that may or may not pan out. Just in hopes of receiving a good return on your investment. A return that's not promised. So why is it difficult for us to invest our time our energy, our resources for the things of God. Yet it's easy to invest time, energy, resources for me, things that please me. And here's the answer. You will sacrifice for your God, whether your God be the Lord or whether your God be money. You know, people make sacrifices all day on things that they idolize. whether it's business or fill in the blank. You will sacrifice for your God. The things you treasure, the things you sacrifice for, the things that occupy your mind, that is where your heart is. Where your treasure is, is what Jesus says, this is where your heart will be also. So if your heart and mind are on the things of God only from 10 to 12 on Sunday, and yet you claim He has your heart, what occupies your mind? Where is your focus? In what and where do you invest? How do you view your possessions? How do you view the world? All these are things that Jesus is getting to the heart of here. And as we get to verse 22 and 23, they really seem out of place. You know, there's many who can quote, you know, the first passage here about, do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth. And many can quote verse 24. No one can serve two masters, but very few really read, or very few can even quote 22 and 23. It's just not as studied as the ones that are around it. But it's just as important. So let's read 22 and 23. The eye of the lamp is the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, the whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? This is referring to the good eye or the healthy eye. The healthy eye can also be the good eye in some translations. Now, don't turn there again. I promise I won't let you turn later on, so just bear with me. But in Proverbs 22, it says this. Proverbs 22, 9 says, whoever has a bountiful eye or a good eye will be blessed because he shares his bread with the poor. The New American Standard said whoever is generous will be blessed because he shares his food with the poor. So, the good eye is referring to someone who is generous. The guy with a good eye, the generous man, shares his bread and he will be blessed because of that. And that was a common teaching all the way through the Old Testament. And the good eye, in my opinion, refers to their worldview. They see things in light of eternity. They see the things here on earth. Don't last. You know, they're destroyed and thieves break in and steal, but the guys with the good eye, they see things in light of eternity. And that shouldn't shock us. In Luke 6 it says, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. So our speech reflects what's in our heart. Right? So, Jesus here is saying how we see the world is an indicator of what's in our heart. A man with a good eye His heart is generous. His heart is generous because he sees God as the giver of all blessings. And himself, simply as the stewards of these gifts. And if God chooses to give you an abundance, what do you do with it? Do you take that abundance and store it up in treasures on earth? Stop doing that! That's what he's saying. Now the good eye here is going to be contrasted against the bad eye. You see, if your eye is healthy or your eye is good, he has that, and if your eye is bad, so now he's going to contrast that with the bad eye. So if someone with a good eye is generous, then someone with a bad eye would be tight-fisted, greedy, or envious, correct? Turn to Deuteronomy 15. Now when you get to Deuteronomy 15, We're going to read about a law or an ordinance that they had back then. In Deuteronomy 15, I'll give you just a minute to get there. Verse 1. At the end of every seven years, you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release. Every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. Okay? Simply put, every seven years, if someone owed you money, you forgave the debt. If you owed someone else money, your debt was forgiven. Every seven years. So, in 2000, your debt was forgiven. In 2007, your debt was forgiven. In 14, in 21, you see the math. So, what happens is, come close to 2007, I made loan you money in 2001, because I got six years to get it back. But in 2006, you know, I'm starting to get a little nervous. I might as well get my money back before I have to forgive this debt. And that's exactly what they talk about here in verse 7. If among you, 15-7, one of your brothers should become poor in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God has given you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand, be tight-fisted against your brother. You shall open your hand and lend to him sufficient for his needs, whatever it may be. Verse 9, take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, the seventh year, the year release is near. And your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother and you give him nothing. And he cried to the Lord against you. Look, that word, your eye look grudgingly, that could also be your eye is bad or your eye is evil. Same word there. Not the same word we read over in Greek, but it's the same thought. Your evil eye. Your eye is evil because you know you're not going to get your money back. And so you will not lend to your brother. And we read about this over in Matthew 20 also. The evil eye. A little more to it than I initially thought. In Matthew 20, it refers to a man who goes out, who owns a vineyard, he goes out and he hires some laborers, he brings some in who start working early morning, he brings some more in that work midday, and he brings some in that don't work but one hour, and he gives them all the same amount of money. So they say, these worked only one hour, and you've made them equal to us. This is verse 12. who have borne the burden of the day in the scorching heat. And he replied to them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Do you not agree with me for a denarii? Have I shortchanged you? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I gave to you. Am I not allowed to do What I choose with what belongs to me. Or, do you begrudge my generosity? Or, is your eye evil? Is your eye bad? Is what some translation says. Is your eye bad because I'm good? So you see, the eyes here are so envious that they fail to see the goodness of God. I almost asked to show a show of hands, does anybody in here feel like they've been shortchanged by God? Then why would you ever be envious of another that He was generous to? Look, we've read about the evil eye in three different places. In the Old Testament and the New Testament. And all three times, and there's more than this, but all three times refers to what? Money. Possessions. No wonder why I said that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. When you love money so much that you will not lend it to a poor brother because you will not get it back, your eye is bad. When you love money so much that you're angry with your master for being generous to someone else, your eye is bad. And that anger clouds your judgment, it affects your whole body, it affects your whole walk with God. How great is that darkness? That's what Jesus says. Look, if we had someone, and I don't mean to make light of it, but if someone was physically blind, and they'd never been able to see a sunset, or a sunrise, or even their kids, your heart would break for them. And then you can imagine someone who's so tight-fisted, so envious, so greedy, so selfish, that they would actually lodge a complaint against God. And make no mistake, when you complain that someone's getting something they don't deserve, you deserve it more, and all this, your complaint is against God. And you lodge this complaint against God, how great is that blindness? How great is that darkness? That's what Jesus says. And when He talks about them having a bad eye, He says what? How great is that darkness? To see things with a worldview that's so messed up that you can't see God as the giver of all gifts. So you choose to hoard all this stuff and sink it in treasures that are on earth that will never last. Instead of giving it to somebody who truly needs it. How great is that darkness? Physical blindness is nothing compared to spiritual blindness. And Jesus called the Pharisees and the hypocrites blind guides. Did he not? So they were so blinded, they thought they could actually serve two masters. As Chad said, they could have one foot on the tarmac and one foot in the plane. Saying, let's go, Captain. They thought they could do both. Jesus says, no. No. Now when we get to verse 24, I want to make, this is not a separate thought. A lot of times it's read as if it's a separate thought. It's not a separate thought. It actually sums up everything he's been saying. No one can serve two masters. You either hate the one and love the other. You'll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. If you're laying up treasures for yourself on earth, you are serving money. If you're a tight-fisted, greedy, envious, with a bad eye, and thus a bad heart, you are serving money. And if you are serving money, you cannot be serving God. There is no way I think I can. No, you can't. He says you can't. If we were to look at this verse in Luke, turn to Luke 16. I think it's interesting, as Jesus is saying this exact same thing in Luke 16. So when you get to Luke 16, I'm going to read 13, but you'll be familiar with it. No man can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other, Or he would be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in money. Exact same thing he said in Matthew. But look at the very next verse. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money. We saw which category they fell in, didn't we? Pharisees, lovers of money, heard these things and they ridiculed him. They jeered at him. They began to scoff at him. Why? Because he was pointing out their hypocrisy. He had just identified their God. themselves or money or whatever. It wasn't him. You can't serve them, is what he's saying. And then he said to them, you are those who justify yourself before men. You're giving to the poor. You know, you make sure everybody sees it. You're justifying yourself before men. You're praying in the synagogues, these long-winded prayers, repetitive prayers, just to be seen and justified by men. You're fasting just to be seen and justified by men. God knows your hearts. That can be good and that can be scary. You know, we know our hearts are desperately wicked. So that's the scary side of it. But the good side of it is, you know, there's some who can just give more than others. You're not accountable for what you can't do. But you can spend time a lot of times with people, but instead you choose to pull everything back to serving self. So God knows your hearts. You know, when Tom was reading yesterday, he was mentioning, or he read, I guess it's Friday, 2 Timothy 3, it talks about in the last days, people will come who will be lovers of self. rather than, or, lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving, good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God. Now, at the very end of that, the rather than lovers of God does not just stand opposed to the lovers of pleasure. It stands opposed to that whole list. It says in the last days people will be lovers of self rather than lovers of God. They will be lovers of money rather than lovers of God. They'll be too proud to love God. Too arrogant to love God. Too ungrateful to love God. Too conceited to love God. And they'll love pleasures more than they love God. Because they can't serve two masters. You will love the one and hate the other. And you will serve who you love. Look, we have a perfect example of Jesus Christ who lived out all these attributes we're talking about today. Who lived them out when He was here on earth. In Philippians 2, it says He came in the form of a servant. The Creator came in the form of a servant. Matthew 20 says, the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. So if we are to imitate Christ, Serving God by serving others is the pattern Jesus Christ lived before us. Now I know there may be some who say, serving is mainly for the pastor, or the elders, or the deacons, or the Sunday school teachers. What does it say that I'm called to serve? What does it say that God saved me to serve Him? What does it say that God calls a people to Himself to serve Him? Turn to Exodus 7. Sorry to do this to you. This may not be the best example, but I like it. So we're going to see here, and many know this whole account. And many will quote, let my people go. That's what Moses said to Pharaoh, right? Let my people go. Now God is here calling out these whole people to Him. My people. They're His people. It says in Exodus 7 verse 16, verse 16. Let my people go. That's always quoted, isn't it? So that they may serve me. Moses, man, just got a little carried away. You know, a little nervous talker when he got in front of Pharaoh and says something, he just got carried away. But look over in chapter 8 verse 1. Thus says the Lord, let my people go, so that they may serve me. Look in 8 20. Let my people go, that they may serve me. Look in chapter 9 verse 1. Let my people go, so they may serve me. Look in 9 13. Let my people go, so they may serve me. Look in 10 3. Let my people go so they may serve me. Look, I mean, I haven't even read half of them. I promise you, there's 13 times that the Lord says this. Let my people go so they may serve me. Do you see a common theme? He saved us and called us to Himself to serve Him. And we serve God by serving others following the pattern of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's how we do it. You know, it also says that no student is above his teacher and no servant is above his master. So you're not too good to serve. I'm certain of that. And if our God came in the form of a servant, and if our God came to serve, and we are to imitate Him, which I think Tom's going to preach on next, then we should serve God by serving others and glorify Him in the process. Not doing it for self-righteousness, for self-recognition. We need to do it humbly, with a pure heart, with good eyes, serving God to glorify Him.