Pastor Logan J Ramsey
https://twitter.com/LoganRamseySDG
https://newharvestministriesneo.org/
New Harvest NEO
A Right Understanding of Treasures (Matthew 6:19-24)
He would take your copy of the scriptures and turn with me to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, we will be looking at verses 19 through 24. And we are, of course, continuing our verse-by-verse study through the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 6 verses 19 to 24, I would ask you to remain standing as we read the word of our God. Jesus says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. For 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." Once you join me in our word prayer, "Dear gracious Heavenly Father, as we receive your teaching tonight, as we receive the words of Thy Son, preserve for us by the Holy Spirit and the pages of Scripture to your God, we pray that we would receive it as your voice speaking to us now. Lord, we know that when Jesus dealt with the Pharisees, He said, "Have you not read what God spoke to you when we know that you speak through your word, we know that no prophecy ever came of one's own interpretation, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Let us receive spiritual meat during tonight. Father God, bless us time, may you be honored and glorified in our worship, so Christ name me pray. Amen. Thank you. In chapter 6 of the Gospel of Matthew, which is the middle section to the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus began this sort of intersection with a discussion on rewards. In verse 1 we read, "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." In the first 18 verses of this chapter, which also contained Lord's prayer, Jesus is teaching on religious practices such as almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, and as he does so, he is rebuking the false, pharacyical abuses of these things while also instructing us in the proper exercise of these duties. But all the while he is doing this, he is warning against the false rewards that were sought by religious hypocrites, namely the praise and the plot of man, while promising that God, his Father, who sees in secret and truly knows our hearts will reward our religious devotion and spiritual sacrifices that are offered up to him in purity, undefiled, not made for watching eyes to praise and applause of man, but for his pleasure and glory alone. We come then to verse 19 where Jesus is going to teach further on these eternal rewards, calling them treasures and admonishing us rightly to orient our hearts priorities as he sets these heavenly treasures in contrast to earthly treasures. This section is what will close out the rest of the chapter, but it can be divided into really two subsections in verses 19 through 24 which we are looking at in tonight's sermon. I got to turn this mic off. I apologize about that, but that is just distracting me. I haven't recorded, so John will still be able to upload this later, but in any rate, now that I can actually think, in verses 19 through 24, Jesus is really warning against the idea of making money and making wealth an idol, and this has with it the connotation of greed and desire and ambition. When you look at verses 25 through 31, excuse me, 34, we get something that is very often neglected in this conversation because Jesus tells us not to store for ourselves treasures in heaven. We are told not to idolize money, earthly things, the things we possess in this life. Usually when we think about that, we think about it in the context of the, I don't know if you have ever seen the political cartoons of the labor unions back in the 19th century, how you would have just these gigantic fat guys with the top hats and if you have ever looked into that, you just think about this big, just consuming, you know, sort of guy, and it is like that is sort of the image that we have in our minds when we talk about someone who makes an idol of wealth, someone who is just consumed with greed and just wants to accumulate more and more and more, and that is very much something that Christ warns about. That is what we will be talking about tonight, but what people neglect is that the very next section after what we are talking about tonight is everyone's favorite part of Matthew 6 when Jesus is admonishing us against anxiety and look how your father tends to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and we just love that passage and it is so full of comfort and devotion and it is so lovely and it is so wonderful, but you need to see these things together because what Jesus is warning about in that chapter is those who are consumed with anxiety about not having enough things and so you see that it is not just the rich man who can make an idol of money, poor people make an idol of money all the time by being constantly consumed with what they do not have and why is their bull bigger than my bull and so it can work both ways and so some of you may be listening to this tonight and I tell you not to make an idol out of money, not to make an idol of possessions and you think well what money, have you seen the size of my apartment, have you seen the car that I drew, but here is the thing, all of us no matter how much or how little money we have we can make an idol of it and so what we need to be taught by our Lord Jesus Christ is to have a right evaluation and understanding of treasures both spiritual and temporal and so in verse we come then to verse 19 where Jesus is going to teach further on the idea of eternal rewards that we have already talked about calling them treasures and admonishing us to rightly orient our hearts priorities as he sets these heavenly treasures in contrast to the earthly treasures and we begin I will read verses 19 through 20 as a refresher Jesus says "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust is destroyed 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" so in the first place we're told I've said it a few times already but you'll have it memorized which is good "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth" now this is not a command against the mere owning of possessions or having you know simply because you have money it means you're doing something wrong or anything like that many of God's saints in the Old Testament had possessions even riches and it was near sin you think about about Job who he was a wealthy man but then after his trial God rewarded him with twice what he had before now God rewarding Job with livestock and riches and wealth and children and all these things it was not sinful for Job to possess that and one of the things that has often been pointed out over against the rise of socialism and things like that is that when you read God's law in the Old Testament the law of Moses presupposes personal property rights the most famous example that you'll hear is the commandment against stealing comes with the notion that there is such a thing as owning a possession that belongs to you and doesn't belong to anyone else and then when you read say the case laws of the Old Testament there's actually a regulations for of the maintenance of your property if you own an ox that is known for being violent and you do not take heed of that and it goes and it causes damage to other people's property well you're responsible and the reason why you would be responsible is because well that ox that that belongs to you so so the idea of owning things is not something that's wrong in and of itself and even if it's in abundance it's not what is prohibited when Jesus says do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth to lay up for yourself treasures must be interpreted alongside the positive command to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven when when you look at this verse and when Jesus puts these things in comfort distinction to one another the way that you can interpret that is whatever is meant by laying up for yourselves treasures on earth is is opposite to laying up treasures in heaven and so to lay up treasures in earth as opposed to laying up treasures in heaven is to place your concerns place your affections more largely upon the things of this temporal world than the things of heaven this is the principle but the but the imagery of of laying up treasures also communicates an element of greed in one's abundance which we we already kind of touched on now wealth in and of itself is neither good nor bad wealth can certainly be used for good a wealthy Christian is able to provide for his family and Paul says that if a man does not provide for his own household he's worse than an infidel he's worse than an unbeliever so wealthy wealthy Christian can provide for his family perhaps set up an inheritance for his children he can dedicate that wealth to the church dedicate that wealth to other good works and the advancement of God's kingdom the reality of this temporal realm that we live in as things cost the money if you are a Christian and and if you're praying for as as I believe you should be legislation to abolish and criminalize abortion well the fact of the matter is it costs money to do things like that I was at a at a meeting recently in Cincinnati where we discuss some of these things and the reality is if you want to get a bill passed it you need resources it costs money to to have a to run a campaign to to get a bill through the house and do all these things and it's just it's the nature of the world we live in I once heard a Q&A and and RC Sproul you know one of our favorite theologians RC Sproul was talking about the the issue of of giving to the church and any said you know if you give me a hundred dollars depending upon how wise and prudent I am you know if I if I'm really unwise and I'm sloppy you know I might take that a hundred dollars and do 35 dollars worth of ministry or if I you know I'm a little bit wiser more prudent with it I can do 75 dollars worth of ministry and if I'm if I am just as efficient as possible you give me a hundred dollars and I can do a hundred dollars worth of ministry but you know what I can't do a hundred five and that's that's it's just the nature of this world we live in we have to we have to have jobs we have to have resources we have to be able to function in this world if your desire is to feed the hungry it's a noble thing to do I've been a part of churches where that was something that people prayed for and worked for it's a wonderful thing come Thanksgiving you talked to brother Mike Sartre and it helped put you to work passing out meals to the hungry things like that it's a wonderful thing to do but it it costs money you have to have resources to provide for that and so if your desire is to adopt children man isn't it amazing how hard and difficult the process of adoption is in this country I recently heard from a pastor Jeff Durban who is big and the fight again against abortion and sometimes people say well put your money where your mouth is you only care about the children in the womb not the children as soon as they're out there well he has him and his wife have personally adopted three children and most recently there's a case there was two pre preemie babies they were born premature twins and they were adopting them across state lines and it was tens of thousands of dollars to provide for that now now a lot of Christians around around the country donated to support that and so it's a wonderful thing but isn't that just amazing it's it's literally you know we this government this society that we live in has like the foster care system and we have all these different things and yet we make it so difficult for families who want to do good and and be loving to go and adopt a child it's so difficult to do that in this country it's it's really really amazing and but my point in giving all these different things is you can be a wealthy person who is a godly wealthy person you can dedicate your wealth towards a good things you know George Whitfield when he came across the Atlantic and when he was in Georgia for a little while started in orphanage he had the resources to do that and so he dedicated those resources something that's that's just good I mean how many Christians throughout the history of the world were the ones who were starting hospitals and and doing all these different things it's so so you can be wealthy and you can use your wealth for good and godly purposes the wealth itself is neither good nor bad but it is sanctified by the righteous Christian who wields it in wisdom and godliness if you read the the book of Proverbs you are going to encounter glorious divine wisdom from god on being wise and prudent with your money such that you do not come to poverty and so if you read the book of Proverbs and and being prudent and wise and smart with with finances is something that god's word is encouraging you towards obviously possessing finances being you know someone who is wise with their finances that's not something that's in and of itself a bad thing that being said we are no longer seriously reading the New Testament however if we overlook the many passages which speak to the danger that wealth can also bring if we are given over to a love of it the scripture says that the love of money is the root of all evils and you know so often I've I've heard of different all kinds of different pastors you know growing up in youth groups and all these different things and so I've heard this topic come up and I've heard so many preachers where they will will come to those sections that that warn against the dangers of money and then they'll spend the rest of the sermon rightly doing what I just did showing you that the Bible has a balanced understanding of things that wealth in and of itself isn't bad but then they will never like it's like they forget that the passage that they were just reading warned against the dangers of money so so we we can't you know pendulum swing the other way we have to have a balanced understanding yes everything that I just said about being prudent and wise with money and that wealth can be used in a godly way that is true very very true we can't then neglect the fact that we began this discourse by reading a passage of scripture where the Lord Jesus Christ is telling you not to lay up treasures here on earth balance balances what we need moderation is what we need the book of proverbs says that a man without self-control is like a city without walls we need to have a solid balanced moderated approach to the things of of this world and so hence we are told by Jesus Christ our Lord our Savior rose from the dead sits at the right hand of God he tells us not to store up treasures here on earth to place one's value and to find one's pleasure in the things of this world is especially foolish is they are all fleeting they're all temporary Jesus says that in regards to our treasures of that we have on earth as he says that moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal the treasures of the earth as glittering and as glamorous as they may seem are worthless in the light of eternity I recently read of of the seven wonders of the ancient world which are all these magnificent just these impressive displays of man's wealth and man's artistic ability and his construction and it's the actual concept of the seven wonders of the ancient world comes from the Greeks by the way and so most of these wonders are temples and things dedicated towards Greek gods and one Greek writer spoke of the temple of Artemis saying that the son himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus and you know what all of all of the seven ancient wonders of the world only one remains standing to this day that's the great pyramid of Giza and so mankind he stores his treasures on the earth but they do not last you know every one of those pagans who looked upon those wonders and committed idolatry is now dead they fade away and the gods that they were worshiping I know nobody seriously worships those gods anymore I know if you saw the it wasn't this most recent olympics but it was a year a couple years ago they had a ceremony and one of these ancient ceremonies that were dedicated on these ancient Greek gods and and that's just it's like for show I mean you have the the neo-paganism movement which is on I do not use tiktok but I I am told that this is something that's on tiktok where people are encouraging you know young young people especially young girls to start revering the old gods and everything like that but but nobody I mean seriously is paying homage to those gods anymore all these great structures and and the amount of sweat and blood that went into building these things and the amount of wealth and they're gone even though the pyramid in Giza it's missing it's top and so you know on our own day we think about the money that that we have and listen we have we have a fake economy the number in your bank account it's not backed by anything it's not supported by anything it's not it's not real there's no value inflation just keeps going up and up and up and then some men are recognize this and they think okay well here's what I'm going to do I'm going to go invest in precious metals or I'm going to invest in real estate or I'm going to invest in some kind of physical asset or a digital currency whatever it is but here's the thing someone with more guns comes along all your gold or whatever it's it's his his you're not you're not guaranteed anything in this life and in this once again balance understanding it's not to say that you don't try to be wise and prudent with living in the economy or anything like that I'm just saying do not put your trust in these things you are not promised any of them some men you know they they go well you see I'm cut from a different cloth and I I don't regard money I don't regard physical possessions but where I store my treasures and you know I like experience that I like to travel and I like to experience things and I like pleasure and the problem with that is while your body is going to break down you're not going to be able to have the same kind of fun that you did when you were in your 20s your memories are going to fade away you get a terminal illness and the treasures of experience and pleasure and and Joviality it's all going to slip right out of your fingers you're not going to hold on to it I'll be I'll be no think you are what about a man who you know it's not it's not money that I value it's not it's not pleasure that I value but it's knowledge it's wisdom now knowledge and wisdom are good things pleasure is a good thing in a proper Christian understanding of it pleasure it is good it is good to enjoy things the Bible says that God made oil he gave man oil to make his face shine wine to glad in his heart it's it's good to enjoy things it's good to appreciate things what we're warning against is making an idol of them and so the same way knowledge and wisdom glorious pursuits wonderful things you see you could have a man who that's what they dedicate themselves they try to read widely and under come to understanding but here's the reality you can get all Alzheimer's yeah Alzheimer's you can get dementia he can get you know in God's providence all his knowledge his cognitive function it's all talking to fade away they have you know different medicine medicines and things that they have these days or different therapies to try and incorrect it and and praise God for for the medical doctors who are working to combat those kinds of diseases but my point is simply no matter what anything in this life money pleasure knowledge you're not guaranteed any of it it can all be gone in the blink of an eye it can all be gone in a moment loved ones do not be like so many of the foolish sons of this world Jesus says to store up treasures in heaven for these treasures alone are truly and eternally secure these are the treasures that you will hope for as you take your dying breath you will beg and plead towards the Lord God that you have an inheritance above well then how do you do it how do we actually actively go about laying up treasures in heaven well the first thing that you must do is you must repent of your sin and you must believe the gospel for God is a rewarder of those who seek him and those who seek him alone i tell you the most precious gift one can receive is the gift of eternal life and christians habit christians have eternal life which means you can threaten all of the things we possess here on earth you can you can take our money you can take our food we sang to him tonight let good and kindreds go this mortal life also right you can take it all you can take it off for you you can't take Jesus Jesus says to fear him a fear not him who can kill the body and after that do no harm no fear him who can kill the body and then destroy the soul and how christians we we we have no basis for fear fear really doesn't make sense if you understand the christian faith and if you understand that all things in this world being governed by God's providence are all working for our good and for his glory we have eternal life receded in the heavenly places that Jesus is the good shepherd he will not let any of his sheep go no one can snatch the sheep from the shepherd's hands no one can take you from Christ Paul says who shall separate us from the love of God and the answer is no one no one no one shall separate us from his love and so you can take our money take our food you can kill our bodies to whatever it is but the soul lives above sometimes when life's troubles assail me I like to remind myself that I'm gonna live forever I am going to live forever you will too by the way everyone's gonna live forever all men are raised up in the last day there's a resurrection of of life there's a resurrection of judgment but nobody is temporary I was uh you know doing some reading today and and the interesting thing about about history is 99 percent that's a huge number but I think it's true 99 percent of the human beings who have ever lived up to this point we know nothing about them now we know that there had to be people there uh obviously we had to have had ancestors we we had to have had people that were walking this earth and and reproducing or else we would not be here so we know that there's people we don't know anything about them we don't know their names we we don't know anything they did uh because the vast majority of history is is unrequarded uh but you know what every single one of those people we know nothing about them they're not in any history books they're alive they're either with god they're they're maker and they're redeemer or they're in judgment but but they but their soul lives on that that's an amazing thing to to consider and so how small how short are your troubles here in this life going to seem after a few thousand years in paradise the other thing that Jesus teaches in this chapter though is that not only do Christians have the gift of eternal life we're talking about storing up our self treasures in heaven but there is the reality of eternal rewards and isn't it interesting uh that Matthew chapter six the chapter that we're in began with a discussion of eternal rewards uh in verse one Jesus says 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 and here we are talking again about about storing up treasures in heaven having these these eternal rewards god rewards those who seek him the book of Hebrews Hebrews 11 says without faith that is impossible to please god for god is a rewarder of for those who seek him and you must believe in him and believe that he will reward and so every time you commune with the lord whether it's private prayer whether it's fasting or engaging in charity the almsgiving whatever it is Jesus promises that the father who sees the secret will reward. Paul teaches in first Corinthians chapter three that at the day of judgment all of our works will be tested with fire that which we build with gold silver and prefstone will remain but that which we've built with wood hay and stubble will quickly burn up christians we only have so much life to live before we are called the stamp before this final day would you not get busy to labor with value one poet said it's only one life will soon be passed only what's done for Christ will last verse 21 Jesus continuing says for where your treasure is there your heart will be also Jesus presses presses here on this issue of idolatry if the treasures that we store on this earth if the treasures that we store excuse me are those kinds of treasures which are earthly in carnal on this earth in this temporal realm we will find that our hearts long more for this world than for heaven we will be found loving the creature more than the creator think about the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus in Matthew 19 and I'll just for the sake of the message I'll turn there because I want to want to read more of this passage Matthew chapter 19 verse 16 behold a man came up to him the hymn is Jesus saying teacher what good deed must I do to have eternal life he said to him why do you ask me about what is good there is only one who is good if you would enter eternal life keep the commandments he said to him which ones and Jesus said you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness honor your father and mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself the young man said to him well all these I have kept what do I still lack Jesus said to him if you would be perfect go sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful free at great possessions and I'll pause right there because I want to make some some comments on what I've already read this rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and he says teacher what good deed must I do to have eternal life and Jesus says why do you ask me about what is good there is only one who is good and so we neglect over that it's like okay but how does that actually fit in with the rest of what Jesus is saying well think about it what does God require of man to enter into eternal life is it not the case that we are justified by faith that Abraham believed God has counted in his righteousness and so this guy asked Jesus what must he do to enter eternal life Jesus response to them is to him is to tell him who God is there is one who is good and so that that's where it all starts is recognizing that but then you you you move along through the story Jesus says well if you want to enter into life then keep the commandments now we we say hold on a second well I thought we were justified by faith well yes we are justified by faith the reason we are justified by faith is that what God would otherwise require is perfect obedience to his law now all of us being fallen sons and daughters of Adam we can offer that Jesus goes forth he does that for us but if this rich young ruler is looking for a way to to earn his way and into into heaven keep the commandments and he falsely says to Jesus well all these have I kept what do I still lack Jesus shows him that though he is the sea he's deceived himself he thinks that he's right in God's side because of his external actions Jesus goes to the heart he goes he goes to the heart and he says well go sell what you have and get to the poor and you will have treasure and heaven young man heard this he went away sorrowful very great possessions you see though he he claimed to be obedient to the law of God his heart did not truly regard God as good above all of the things he his heart was set upon the things of this world he had many possessions he didn't want to let them go he didn't want to give them up so he goes away he's sorrowful and Jesus said to his disciples truly I say to you only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven again I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of anneal than for a rich person enter the kingdom of God now I hope that none of you have actually heard this but there was a you know a way people tried to get around this the difficulty of this taxon there was a popular interpretation I think in the 20th century that oh well you see in Jerusalem there was this gate and it was called the eye of the needle and the camel could go through it then it squeeze a little bit no it's completely false someone said that in a commentary then some other guy quotes it and then it gets passed on and people start believing it but it's not found in reality no think about what Jesus is saying take take the eye of a needle yeah any any the ladies here or do you sew or anything like that take take the eye of the needle camel Jesus says it's easier for the camel to go through that tiny you know smaller than my pinky it's easier for that camel to go through the eye of the needle and it is for a rich person under the kingdom of heaven just let the difficulty of that sit on you for a moment because it was difficult for the disciples too the disciples heard this this was verse 25 they were greatly astonished saying well who then can be saved but Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible my my brother he works at the the african safari over their important clinton and you can call him and you can say hey i'm a friend of logan i'm a friend of your brother i want to come see the camels and okay you can go to the camels and you can bring your sewing kit with you and you can try and you can try to get that camel through the eye of a needle you're not going to do it you're not going to do it it's impossible right so jesus uh the disciples asked jesus well who can be saved jesus says it is impossible so like that let that sort of sting for a moment who can be saved it's impossible it is impossible to be saved with man that is with man this is impossible but with god all things are possible that's that's a glorious glorious section and so how can a rich man enter the eternal life only with the grace of god only by the grace of god his divine mercy his divine favor shining down upon the soul removing that heart of stone giving the heart of flesh and sanctifying our affection saying dear god though i once was like the rich man and and and and my lord's parable who who stored up grain in his barn and and thought he would be satisfied for many years though i was once like the foolish sons of this world and i placed my value in the things of this life dear god i repent and dear god i cling to you only that that is is what is needed but as long as we remain in that former state of loving the things of this world and and next well not next week but two weeks from now i'll be talking about it from the other side because there are so many people who think that they are immune to the sin this sin as long as they are comparatively speaking poor but if you're the a person who just in god's providence you are not financially as well off as other people if you are the kind of person who then is just constantly looking at what they have i i've actually met people that if they saw you driving a nice car would get mad they're just just full of envy full of greed and it's like a whole honest second i don't i don't know about that yeah that person could be the the giant you know pig the the capitalist and the the marxist cartoon or whatever he might be like this this outlandish guy or whatever but you are sinning by being so just jealous and covetous and envious of what other people have no don't don't concern yourself don't spend your life concerning yourself with what other people have recognize god's providence and then that you are where you are as a result of his own hand and be content in that oh brothers and sisters be content do not be you know we like to call anxiety it's like a well i struggle with anxiety well if you really think about what anxiety is and some of you're going to get mad at me anxieties is sin because anxiety is what anxiety is is distrusting god's providence we can't we cannot be given to that and so do not allow your heart to be consumed with the things of this world that reading see us Lewis talked about the future or the way men look at the future and really when we focus on the future so much that focus is often accompanied with ambition and and greed or even even lustful pleasure and it's just constantly constantly pursuing what what we might have and what we might attain we can't we can't be consumed by that Thomas Watson the great Puritan says too much gold on board will sink they ship verses 22 through 23 Jesus says 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 and that that saying of Jesus the eye is the lamp of the body we um the idea behind that phrase and this is a common kind of proverb in that ancient culture is that the not that your eyes are literal windows that light pours into but just the idea is that everything you you perceive in your worldview is symbolized with your eyes because everything that you can observe or read comes through those senses and so Jesus talks about your eye being bad that that comes from the Hebrew idiom evil eye and what was an evil eye what does it mean for a man to have an evil eye well evil eye was a Hebrew metaphor for a person who looked upon others possessions with greed and envy a healthy eye belongs to a person who's not consumed with the things of this world but his whole outlook is centered and focused upon God and the things of heaven he does not neglect his earthly duties but he does not idolize material wealth and possessions and so what Jesus is admonishing us towards to is just a right evaluation of the world viewing things in proper perspective looking at money not being consumed by it but rather viewing money as a talent given to us and trusted to us by God to be improved for his own glory like I said wealth is neither good nor bad it is it's that's determined by the one who uses it you know many of our brothers who are big into defending the second amendment what's one of the common arguments a gun it's neither good nor bad a gun can be used to to defend my family to defend my property to to to put down and okay we all know what happened in butler pennsylvania recently one man had a gun used it to try to to assassinate the former president and then other men with guns use those guns to neutralize the the the individual who was a threat to the safety and to the lives of however many people were at at that event the the gun in the situation was neither good nor bad no it was the person wielding it and how it was being used all it's the same thing with money money in the hands of of charles virgin starting an orphanage in wondon and starting a a college for pastors that's that's good we we praise god for that this glorious uh uh but money in someone who wants to like i was reading about the the ceo of nestley wants to basically have a monopoly on water you know money and in the hands of wicked men can do great evil horrible things but it's not it's not the money this either good or bad it's how we're using it and so many people they they use their they're they're they're giving over to their money and they live their life in the pursuit of of a nicer car of a nicer house and then and all those different things well if your eye is healthy you'd be full of light but as long as it's bad you'd be full of darkness it's dark it's bleak it's sad it's somber to have someone who who would trade in diamonds to go play with marbles and that's what we do when we leave god aside for the pleasures of this life for even our our sin we're we're setting diamonds aside we're setting gold aside to go play with rocks we you know sometimes parents will laugh at around christmas time like look my my three-year-old we bought him this toy and he's more interested in building a rocket ship out of the box than he's actually is playing with the toy we laugh at that because we recognize from our perspective how silly that is it's like no the the box is not what's valuable what's valuable is the toy that came in the box so we laugh at that but how many people every single day of their lives neglect the creator and are consumed with the creation no you must savor savor the creator in the creation we we are just like foolish children as long as as we make this mistake verse 24 Jesus says no one can serve two masters for he 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 that word serve there comes from the greek term do lost some of you know depending upon its context can refer to slavery and i think that's how it's being used here because the idea is you cannot belong to more than one master there's a there's a possessive element in this kind of serving because i mean i can go do a john a job for john tomorrow and i can go do a job for guy on wednesday and so that sort of thing can happen but i cannot belong to one master well it's the same time belonging to another and that's what jesus is warning against uh he's warning against one who would give himself be totally devoted to christ or one who would be totally devoted to the things of this world either you belong to god or you belong to money and i just want to read and we'll close with this uh Matthew henry on the section and some of you know that the king james still translates that term money is mammon and henry is going to explain sort of this term for us and i hope it's a blessing to you henry says mammon is a syriaq word that signifies gain so that whatever in this world is or is accounted by us to be gain is mammon whatever is in the world the lust of the flash to lust the eye and the pride of life is mammon to some their belly is their mammon and they serve that so others their ease their sleep their sports and pastimes are their mammon to others worldly the riches to others honors and preference the praise and applause of men was the Pharisees mammon in a word self the unity in which the world's trinity sensors centers sensual secular self is the mammon which cannot be served in conjunction with god for if it be served it is in competition with him and in contradiction to him he does not say we must not or we should not but we cannot serve god and mammon we cannot love both or hold to both or hold by both in observance obedience attendance trust independence they're contrary the one to the other god says my son give me by heart mammon says no give it to me god says be content with such things as you have mammon says grasp at all that ever thou can't money money by fair means or by foul money god says defraud not never lie be honest and just in all the idealings mammon says cheat thy own father if thou can't gain by it god says be charitable mammon says hold thy own this giving undoes us all god says be careful for nothing or be anxious for nothing in modern english mammon says be anxious for everything god says keep holy thy Sabbath day mammon says make use of that day as well as any other for the world thus inconsistent are the commands of god and mammon so that we cannot serve both let us not then halt between god and all but choose you this day whom you will serve in a bod lyric source all of these all of this knowledge and all of this wisdom and teaching we've received tonight we've received the hand of god let us rejoice and be glad in that once you join me in a word prayer your gracious heavenly father as we have set aside our our time tonight for the praise and worship of your name and the the reading of your word the exposition of your truth you're gone we pray that you were honored and you were glorified in the praise and worship we offer we pray that as divine truth was made known that it was illuminated to our hearts and minds by thy spirit you're gone that we might evaluate our perspective and worldviews on these things pray dear god that you would grant us healthy eyes oh let us not be have an evil eye that leads to utter darkness but god let the way we view this world be healthy in in accordance with your word it's in Christ's name we pray Amen