Matthew 6:19-24 | "Genuine Devotion"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Take your Bible or your device, please, and open it to Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 6 as we look again at what the Lord Jesus has to say in his Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

If you are visiting with us, we want to welcome you.

We've been working our way through Matthew's gospel, and we find ourselves this morning in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 19.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

I warned the first service, so I will give you the same warning.

I'm about to get preachy.

So get comfortable because you're going to get uncomfortable in a little bit from God's word.

Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 19, the word of God says to us, do not lay out for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

But lay out 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 eye is the lamp of the body.

So if your eye is healthy, 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 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 the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

Amen.

How devoted to you, how devoted are you to your car?

How devoted are you to your car?

Joss Quilte, a British man living in New Zealand, purchased a Model 2000 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Except the vehicle that he purchased wasn't in the best of condition, so on top of his purchase price, he shelled out an additional$7,500 to bring the car up to what he thought it should be in specs.

Sometime later, Joss and his girlfriend decided to move back to Britain, their homeland.

But he couldn't bear to leave his car behind.

So the two of them spent 10 months making their way over 40,000 miles home by means of that land cruiser.

But first they had to pay approximately$7,000 to ship the car from New Zealand to Malaysia.

And then they drove.

And drove.

And drove some more.

They drove through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Iran.

Then it was on to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France.

All before finally returning home to England.

For most of those 10 months, they slept in a mattress in the back of the car.

They had an encounter with the Taliban along the way.

And at one point they narrowly missed a suicide bomber.

But they made it all in one piece to their new home in England.

And since that point, they have become engaged and are planning to move to Scotland with the Toyota.

But before they do that, they have made plans to ship the car to Alaska because they want to make an additional trip from Alaska to Argentina in the Toyota.

Now I'm guessing that the majority of us are not as devoted to any of our vehicles as Joss is to his.

But are you as devoted to Jesus Christ as Joss Quilty is to his Toyota?

That old Land Cruiser holds Quilty's heart.

What holds yours?

Traveling thousands of miles in that car lights up Quilty's soul.

What lights up your soul?

Quilty was so devoted to that Toyota that it motivated him to endure thousands of miles and all kinds of risks for the sake of that particular vehicle.

What motivates your life?

Jesus addressed all of these issues with his disciples on that day when he was teaching them on the mountainside.

What did they hear?

What did they hear Jesus say?

Well, first they heard a description in chapter 5 of those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the promised king, he said.

And he explained in chapter 5 and verses 1 through 12 the kinds of people that make up his kingdom.

He said, those who make up his kingdom are the poor in spirit, who are poor because they're mourning over their sin.

And because they're mourning over their sin, they come to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for his righteousness, the king's righteousness.

Those are the ones Jesus said who would be satisfied in the kingdom of Jesus the King.

Now that revelation was astounding because it was a direct contrast to the common view of how to be accepted by God.

That's why Jesus said in chapter 5, verse 20, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

From that point on, Jesus brought out the common views of faith and religion.

They were seen especially in the religious leaders of the day.

But as he did that, he redirected his disciples' attention by giving them a proper perspective on living out their faith.

You see, the Judaism of the time was characterized by three primary activities, and we've covered those in chapter six.

There was giving to the needy, praying, and fasting.

Those three activities were integral parts of the Jewish faith.

Everyone did them.

That's why Jesus said over and over again, when you do this, when you do this, it was understood and expected that people would participate in the religious duties of their faith.

But the common methods displayed by the Pharisees were twisted.

They were twisted.

The Pharisees performed all of these religious duties for a reward, not from God, but from other people.

They approached their faith in order to look good, to put on a good show in front of others so that they might receive praise in return, that they might be adored by their followers and earn respect from those who trusted them.

But Jesus teaches us that we are to do every spiritual action for God, not for other people.

Even if that means we have to do it in complete secrecy.

Because Jesus said, God sees in secret.

He knows what we do, and he knows what is done for him and what is done for other people.

And he will reward what is done in secret.

Any reward then that we gain from being like the Pharisees, from living out our faith in public so that others can see it and praise us, any reward that we get from that is only temporary.

It will be gone just as quickly as it comes.

That's why later on in the New Testament we are told, as Jesus' followers, do everything for the glory of God, not other people.

If a part of us is thrilled when other people notice our spirituality, then it's pride that's driving us, not the glory of God.

Now we have to know that by this time in Jesus' sermon.

We follow Jesus not for what we get out of it in this life.

Our pursuit of Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and we pursue him in faith, love, and obedience, all of that is for him and because of him, not because we get to look good in the process.

If everything in our faith, in our following of Jesus, is done for his glory and for eternity, for heaven, instead of the rewards of the present, that means that we could get nothing for following Jesus right now.

In the present.

We could get nothing today in this world.

In fact, going back to the Beatitudes at the end of the Beatitudes, Jesus says if we follow him in that kind of way, we can even face persecution and death.

That's quite the reward.

Jesus says we need to delay our reward and delay our gratification for following him until we see him.

But if we're going to do that, if we're going to be okay with pursuing the glory of God and rewards in heaven, then it must be worth it.

From a human perspective, if only God knows about my giving and my praying and my fasting, so that I never receive praise or encouragement from anybody else, then my reward in heaven better be good enough to keep me going.

Otherwise, why would I do it?

That's a human way of thinking, obviously, but it's a reality.

You see, Josh Quilty was convinced that it was worth thousands of dollars and ten months of driving and sleeping on a mattress in the back of his car to be able to keep a car.

Is Jesus worth you focusing on heaven and eternity, even if it means hardship in this life?

Are you devoted to Christ or to this world?

In these six verses, Jesus lays out three different examples, and they all point to the same truth.

There are three different illustrations, three logical arguments to prove his point.

Each argument is based off of an antithesis.

He says, either this is true or this is true.

It can't be both.

It's one or the other.

And the first one that he lays out is like this: He says, Do not treasure up treasures for yourself on earth.

Instead, treasure up treasures in heaven.

Jesus uses a play on words there.

Because he knows that we're all going to treasure up treasures.

That's part of our human nature.

We're going to pursue a treasure.

Maybe it's your bank account.

Maybe it's your 401k.

Maybe it's maybe it's your maybe it's your cars.

Maybe it's your family.

Or your friends.

Maybe it's your home.

Your toys, your belongings of some kind.

There's a myriad of things that could comprise earthly treasures.

But we must come to grips with the fact that we will pursue a treasure.

Right this minute, you are pursuing a treasure.

In your heart, you are pursuing a treasure, and you will either pursue a treasure that benefits you in this lifetime, or you will pursue a treasure that benefits you in eternity in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you pursue treasure for this life, your treasure is continually in danger.

Your expensive clothes are in danger of being eaten by bugs, of getting snagged by the corner of the counter or by the animals that you have in your home.

Your money could all disappear in a stock market crash.

Your toys could be stolen.

Your prized car could be wrecked or horribly scratched.

Your home could burn down.

Your family could all die of disease.

Nothing is ultimately safe in a sin-cursed world.

If you pursue treasure in heaven, your treasure is safe for eternity.

Why is that?

Well, it's because God protects it, He keeps it safe.

The things that kill and steal and destroy in this world have no place in God's heaven.

It's all about location, location, location, realtors tell us.

Five times in two sentences, Jesus uses the word where.

Where is your treasure?

Where is it located?

The emphasis is on the location of your treasure.

You will treasure up treasure.

Where will you put it?

Of course, the different locations require different kinds of treasures, don't they?

We can't take our toys with us, they tell us.

So if we're going to treasure up treasures in heaven, then we must be working towards a different kind of treasure than we treasure up on earth.

But Jesus doesn't go into detail about that here.

He simply assumes that we understand that he's talking about spiritual treasures.

Because the point of his example is directed at our hearts.

He says, Don't focus on this, don't treasure up things here.

Instead, treasure up things here.

Why?

Because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Do you see the logic?

There's a command here.

Pursue heavenly treasures.

Pursue them wholeheartedly.

And the logical reason has to do with your heart.

Jesus wants your heart to be focused on heaven, on eternity, on his kingdom, not on the earthly treasures that can go away like that.

Think of this in light of the whole Sermon on the Mount.

If our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, then the focus of our treasure is going to be on heaven, not on the treasure of the present.

If our earthly treasures grab our hearts, then our righteousness is no different than the Pharisees.

Ultimately, then the question becomes what kind of heart do you possess?

Do you possess a heart from Christ for his kingdom, or only an earthly heart drawn by the things of this world?

The attention of their followers was the reward that grabbed the hearts of the Pharisees.

They treasured up the acclaim of people.

A 2,000 Toyota Land Cruiser is what grabbed the heart of Josh Quilty.

What grabs your heart?

What grabs your heart?

Thank you, man.

I asked this question because that's the point of Jesus' statement here.

Whatever grabs your heart will reveal your relationship to the kingdom of Christ.

Whatever grabs your heart will reveal your relationship to the kingdom of Christ.

Whatever grabs your heart will unveil volumes about your devotion to Christ.

Now there's a second example beginning in verse 22.

And here we see a statement.

And that's then followed by this antithesis.

If this is true, okay, then this.

But if this is true, then something else.

If you have healthy eyes, then you will be able to see well.

Except I need new bifocals.

If your eye is healthy, you'll be able to see well.

You'll have light enter your body, you'll be able to process what's in front of you.

But if you're blind, then all you have is darkness.

Think of someone, just making this up, no, not thinking of anybody in particular here.

Think of someone who has had some kind of terrible accident that brings on total blindness.

Before the accident, their eyes are full of light.

They have great vision.

They're capable of seeing, being able to see all the light in the world, but after the accident destroys their vision, it's only darkness.

There's no light for that person.

There's a logical conclusion, Jesus says.

If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?

If the only light that you truly have is, in reality, darkness, then you're in a rough place.

Use a different metaphor for a moment.

If the only freedom that you have is solitary confinement, then you're in a dark place.

If the only sense of freedom that you experience is solitary confinement, then that is a very rough place.

If the only light that you have available to you is a night with no moon and no stars at midnight in a North Dakota winter, then you're in a dark place.

Let's go backward for a moment.

If the only treasure that you have is a treasure that gets eaten up by moths and stolen by thieves, then is it really that great of a treasure?

Now Jesus isn't speaking about physical eyes here, is he?

In the first example, he used an earthly treasure to point to a treasure in heaven, a spiritual reality.

Here he uses physical eyes to point to spiritual sight.

How is your spiritual sight?

If you're going to walk in the light of Christ the King, following Him in spirit and in truth, taking up your cross daily, then you must have eyes to see Him and to see the truth that He teaches.

If you cannot see spiritual truth, then you live in spiritual darkness.

A darkness that is far worse than the darkness of physical blindness.

But how does one go from blindness to eyes that see wonderful light?

What can we do to make that change?

How can we go from having spiritually dark eyes to having spiritual eyes full of light?

Well, the answer is nothing.

There's nothing that you can do.

Listening to more sermons or going to more church services or reading more books or doing more confession isn't going to help you.

Only Jesus can help you.

Do you remember in John chapter 9 that the account of the man born blind?

John 9 · chapter mention

I love that passage, one of my favorite accounts in scripture.

Man born blind, never having had the sense of seeing light.

At one point in his life, he encounters the Lord Jesus.

And the Lord Jesus gives him brand new eyes in an instant.

He can see light for the first time.

A little bit later, he encounters Jesus again in a new way.

Because Jesus gives him new spiritual eyes to see, and the man says, Lord, I believe.

Then Jesus makes an astounding statement.

It's the Pharisees who are blind.

In John chapter 9, that's how it ends.

John 9 · chapter mention

Here's a man born blind who can now see.

And the ones who could see are blind because they can't see Jesus.

Now that's the that's the first level of intent.

We must have spiritual eyes from Jesus.

The second level, though, is practical.

Do the things of God light up our souls, or do the things of the world light up our souls?

Ask yourself the question what lights up your soul?

Does opening your Bible and hearing Christ speak, or having eyes to see Him, to have ears to hear and understand, does that bring joy to your soul?

Or is it the trash that's found on television and the refuse on the internet that lights up your soul?

Are you so infatuated with the darkness of this world that you have no desire for the light of Christ?

My friends, let's take stock of our souls.

What lights up our souls?

We have an enemy who works tirelessly to make the darkness of this world look as though it's the light of noon.

He's incessant at convincing us that the darkness, the evil, and the filth of this world are instead light, purity, and goodness.

Have we bought into his lies?

Are we drawn more to the lies of Satan than to the light of Christ?

Listen to Peter, the Apostle Peter.

Speaking to those who do have eyes to see Jesus, he says, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.

Why?

Why would Jesus give new eyes for people to see so that they might be his, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light?

Paul said that we have been delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and transferred, transplanted into the kingdom of light, into the kingdom of Christ, the God's Son?

Why then?

Why then would pornography ever light up our souls?

Why would abusing our spouses or our children ever bring satisfaction to our souls?

Why would lashing out in anger ever bring us a sense of justification?

Why would lying to cover up our sin ever give us a sense of excitement or freedom?

Told you I was getting preachy.

From where comes your light?

Has it been granted to you through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, or does it come to you from the evil energy of sin?

The ancient church in Ephesus lost their first love.

That's what Jesus said to them in the book of Revelation.

They wandered away from the light of Christ and they let the darkness of this world seep in until the darkness seemed to them to be like light.

Before that drift ever occurred, the Apostle Paul encouraged them.

He said to them, Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

For those who follow Jesus, who are part of his kingdom, our job is not to indulge darkness, but to expose it.

The soul of Josh Quilty was lit up by a car.

That's his treasure on earth.

And I'm afraid that we might be just like him.

Okay, maybe for us the joy isn't found in a car.

But maybe it's with other kinds of worldly treasures.

I want to give you a warning, friends.

If our hearts are grabbed by treasures that will eventually pass away, it's not going to be long before the darkness of this world seems to be like light to us.

And if we get to that point, how great is the darkness.

No, let's not be that.

Let the light of Christ dwell in you.

Lift up your eyes to see Him, the one who is light.

Let Him fill your sight, let Him be your light, let Him light up your soul.

Take your eyes off of any of the devil's lies and find Christ in the pages of your Bible.

What does that old hymn teach us?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

And the things of earth will grow what?

Strangely dim.

How?

In the light of his glory and grace.

Some of you younger folks are looking confused.

Learn those old hymns.

They're good.

Now there's a third example of devotion to Christ, and that's in verse 24.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or, there's your antithesis, he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money.

Now let's eliminate a potential item of confusion here.

This is not about money.

Matthew uses a Semitic term here that's often translated mammon.

That's the actual word.

It's a word that could refer to money, but it's broader than that, too.

It includes any kind of possession, anything that's earthly, anything that we might treasure up here on earth.

No, what Jesus is saying here is he's talking about devotion.

And when we connect this with the treasures and what lights up our souls, it's all clear that it's not just about money.

It includes money, but it's much more than that as well.

Jesus used mammon as an example of things that motivate our devotion.

Let's say that you're motivated to increasing your retirement savings so that you can travel the world in a few years.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just using it as an illustration.

Okay?

You're increasing your retirement savings so that you can travel the world.

You have a devotion to traveling the world, and that motivates you to save up money.

He's devoted to his land cruiser, and that devotion motivated him to do whatever it took to get that car to England.

Again, Jesus makes a statement no one can serve two masters.

And again, there's an antithesis.

Either one will be hated and the other loved, or devotion will be given to one and the other despised.

Now, by this time, I hope we understand treasures on earth or treasures in heaven.

Which one grabs your heart?

Either your eye is healthy or it's full of darkness.

What is it that lights up your soul?

Possessions or Christ.

Now is this question.

What is it that motivates your life?

It's another logical progression.

If two masters are placed before us to pursue in love and obedience and devotion, we'll be devoted to one and not the other.

We won't be able to give undivided attention to both of them.

Our interests will be divided.

But that doesn't stop us from trying, does it?

No, we're very good at trying to divide our devotion to God with something else.

God tells us to make worship with our church family a priority, but we make all kinds of excuses to skip it, don't we?

Family and God become dual masters, vying for our devotion.

Maybe it's the lake and God.

Maybe it's sports and God.

Maybe it's travel in God.

Maybe it's working overtime for extra pay in God.

For the Pharisees, it was God and the attention of other people.

They believed that they were devoted to God.

They said they were devoted to God, but they desired the attention of people.

What happens then?

God gets pushed aside.

That's what happens.

Jesus says, you cannot serve God and mammon.

You cannot serve God and possessions.

You cannot serve God and your own passions.

You cannot serve God and your own pleasures.

You cannot serve God and your own ends.

You cannot.

You do not have the ability to do so.

Mankind does not have the ability within him to follow and chase and serve two masters concurrently.

We cannot equally serve Master A and Master B.

There is no ability to do that within us.

So stamp out of your brain the idea that you can.

And don't try to argue with that truth because all that will happen is you'll end up explaining away your own idolatry.

Please hear the very clear word of God.

You are either devoted to Christ or you're devoted to another master.

There's no middle ground.

If you belong to the kingdom of Christ, having been given a new heart that treasures up treasures in heaven, and have been given new eyes, filling your soul with the light of Christ, then your devotion will be to one Lord.

So what motivates your life?

What motivates your pursuits?

Not all pursuits are evil.

Not all pursuits are bad.

God has put us here to work, He's put us here to play, He's given us this world to enjoy.

But why do you do it?

What motivates your passions?

Are you devoted to Christ or to something else?

Do the loves of your life ultimately lead you to Jesus, or do they lead you to pursue darkness?

Do your passions lead you to know Christ more fully or to love darkness more intensely?

Does your life display your devotion to Christ or your devotion to this passing world?

The fascinating passage.

I encourage you to just ponder.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 34.

Hebrews 10:34

These were people.

People that were hearing this for the very first time were people that were under persecution for their faith.

And this passage shows us the kind of devotion that we're talking about in the harshness of real life.

The author of the Hebrews writes to them, You had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.

How many of you would celebrate and have joy in Christ if you went home this afternoon after our lunch and found your house ransacked and all of your favorite things taken away?

I know I wouldn't.

I'm just being honest.

You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.

Why?

Because you yourselves had a better possession that lasts, that abides, that remains.

What a shame if we stand before God and say in all honesty, I was devoted to my land cruiser.

Jesus, I passionately pursued porn.

Jesus, I was devoted to being real.

I was devoted to following my heart.

Sinclair Ferguson, I think, said it very convictingly in his book, Devoted to God.

He said, if we do not desire heaven as a world of holiness and freedom from the presence of sin, as a world of delight in Jesus Christ that is, we participate in here and now, whatever possesses us to think that we will love it and enjoy it or him, then.

If you enjoy darkness now, what makes you think you're going to enjoy Jesus in heaven?

Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

If you are not a Christian, or if you're wondering if you're a Christian, you have to start there.

You can be as good as you could possibly be and still be left out of God's heaven.

You could have amounted treasures upon treasures on earth and still be denied entrance.

I beg you recognize your sinfulness and see in Jesus Christ, the one whom God put forth as a satisfaction for your sin.

He paid the price.

Believe in him.

Express your trust in him and receive from him a brand new heart, brand new eyes to see him and a new devotion.

He offers it to you as a free gift.

And all of us are not exempt from this, from the truth of Jesus' words.

We must have a greater righteousness.

That kind of righteousness that includes a singular focus on heaven and eternity, that involves a spiritual enlightenment by God's Spirit, who gives us eyes to see and ears to hear what Christ says, and it demands an undivided service to Jesus the King.

Giving up the immediate rewards of this present world might feel like waiting for an eternity.

But we will reap the harvest in due season.

Don't give up.

Pursue Christ.

Reject the darkness and pursue Christ.

The writer to the Hebrews, after speaking of the plundering of their goods, said this: Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

For you have need of endurance.

So that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what he has promised for, and he quotes the Old Testament here, yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.

But my righteous one will live by faith.

And if he shrinks back, pursuing the darkness, my soul has no pleasure pleasure in him.

End quote.

Then he author continues on.

But we but we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed.

But we are of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

Run to Jesus.

Pursue Jesus.

Pursue the light and preserve your soul.

Lord Jesus, we come asking your cleansing and your forgiveness.

Oh Lord, we we so often think that the dark is so much more fun than the light.

Give us perspective to understand eternity.

To understand that there is more.

More than what is around us, more than what gives us pleasure in this human body.

Give us eyes to see you.

Give us eyes to see and to understand and to know that you are worthy of our pursuit, that everything else fades in comparison.

Give us eyes to see.

To see you.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.