Sermon on the Mount (IX)Sermon on the Mount (IX)

The Trouble With Earthly TreasuresMt 6.19-24

Mt 6:19-24“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 and wealth.”

They Tend To Accumulate They Tend To Accumulate

• They get “stored up” – vs.19

Mt 6:19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal”

They Tend To Accumulate They Tend To Accumulate

• They get “stored up” – vs.19

They Tend To Accumulate They Tend To Accumulate

• They get “stored up” – vs.19

They Tend To Accumulate They Tend To Accumulate

• They get “stored up” – vs.19

Mt 6:19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal”

They Tend To Accumulate They Tend To Accumulate

• They get “stored up” – vs.19

Luke 12:21“So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

They Are Temporary They Are Temporary

Mt 6:19-20“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”

They Are Temporary They Are Temporary

1 John 2:15-17“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

They Are Temporary They Are Temporary

• Contrast treasures in heaven:

1 Pet 1:4-5“…to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

They Steal Our HeartThey Steal Our Heart

• Where is your heart?

Mt 5.21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

They Blur Our VisionThey Blur Our Vision

Mt 6:22-23“ 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!”

They Blur Our VisionThey Blur Our Vision

• A “clear eye” can see what is most valuable

• A “bad eye” = a covetous or envious eye.– The things we see (material possessions,

money) prevent us from seeing the things we cannot see (eternal, spiritual things).

They Become Our MasterThey Become Our Master

• “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and wealth” – vs.24

Lk 12.15

“For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions”

They Become Our MasterThey Become Our Master

• E.g. Debt enslaves us:

Prov 22:7“The rich rules over the poor,

And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.”

The Trouble With Earthly Treasures

• They Tend To AccumulateThey Tend To Accumulate• They Are TemporaryThey Are Temporary• They Steal Our HeartThey Steal Our Heart• They Blur Our VisionThey Blur Our Vision• They Become Our MasterThey Become Our Master