Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
This morning we have the absolute privilege of continuing in our study of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. And before we get into the text, let me remind you that Jesus’ sermon is really a contrast between the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees and the truth of the kingdom of God. In fact, Matthew 5:20 “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” is sort of the entire thesis statement of Jesus’s message. In other words, this is the standard if you want to be a righteous citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Pharisees were only concerned with outward appearances - piety. They taught that being holy was all about works and the external pretenses of life all the while, they had wretched, darkened hearts. They taught that as long as you don’t kill someone, you’re alright. Jesus said, that if you hold anger in your heart you’ve committed murder in your heart. They taught that as long as you don’t commit adultery, you’re good. Jesus said that if you even look at a woman lustfully, you’ve already committed adultery in the heart.
And the same is true when it comes to money and treasure, which is where we are at today. Now, I don’t go out of my way to preach about money. So if you are new with us, this is not the norm. But I do preach verse by verse through the Bible, and as much as Jesus talks about it, I will talk about it. You’ll be interested to know that Jesus talked about money 5 times more than any other topic. So it must be important, but it needs to be presented biblically. There is no get rich scheme in the Bible with God. Jesus’ concern is the condition and attitude of your heart toward such things. So with that let’s read the passage together.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “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! 24 “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. (Matthew 6:19–24)
Have you ever heard about a man named Forrest Fenn? Forrest Fenn was a pilot in the US Air Force, earning the rank of Major and awarded the Silver Star for his sermon in Vietnam, which flew 328 combat missions within a year. After his service to his country, he ran an art gallery where he made his fortune, sometimes bringing in up to $6 million a year. He died in 2020 at the age of 90 years old, but not before publishing his memoir in 2010.
In Fenn’s memoir, The Thrill of the Chase, Fenn described a treasure chest containing $1 million dollars in gold coins he said he buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, somewhere north of Sante Fe. The value of the chest today is estimated to be upwards of $2 million dollars. Fenn said that stories in his memoir included clues to the chest's location and that the poem found in the chapter "Gold and More" contained nine clues that would lead the chest. The result was a modern-day treasure hunt that stretched from Sante Fe to across the Canadian border.
In 2020 Fenn posted in his blog that the chest was found. "It was under a canopy of stars in the lush, forested vegetation of the Rocky Mountains and had not moved from the spot where I hid it more than 10 years ago. I do not know the person who found it, but the poem in my book led him to the precise spot. I congratulate the thousands of people who participated in the search and hope they will continue to be drawn by the promise of other discoveries. So the search is over. Look for more information and photos in the coming days."
The victor at first remained anonymous but was later identified as Jack Stuef, a medical student from Michigan. In an attempt to give honor to Fenn, Stuef only removed a couple of artifacts from the chest and left the treasure in its hiding space for others to continue to search. Those items were auctioned in December 2022, bringing in $1.3 million dollars.
Some say the whole thing is a publicity stunt, which Fenn and Stuef both deny. There have been several documentaries as a result of the treasure hunt. The sad result of all of this is that 5 people lost their lives in pursuit of a treasure in the rugged wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.
It’s a modern-day parable of what people will do to feed the greed of money in their hearts. Some people will risk everything - their life, their families, their eternity - to find a treasure that will not contribute one day to their eternity. Someone once said, that “money will buy a bed, but not sleep; books, but not brains; food, but not friends around a table; a house, but not a home; entertainment, but not happiness; jewelry, but not beauty; a crucifix, but not a Savior.” (Rick Labate, Sermon Central). And that’s the whole point to Jesus’ words here in the Sermon on the Mount, “Where your treasure is there your heart is also.
I don’t think it is by accident that the first 18 verses of chapter 6 show the hypocrisy of the Pharisee’s religion. They gave to the poor hypocritically, worshiped hypocritically, prayed hypocritically, and fasted hypocritically. So it would be no surprise that their views of wealth and money would be warped because whenever you have false, hypocritical religion, you inevitably will find greed. Whenever you have a false teacher, it won’t take long to uncover a lifestyle pursuant to greed. Whenever a church begins to put it focus on sustaining a building or other things outside of the Kingdom, it will stop following and standing for the truth of God because it is more interested in pleasing people.
Let me give you a few examples of this. First, turn to 2 Samuel Chapter 2, where we find Eli, the priest sons, who are corrupt, evil, and vile men characterized by greed. In the sacrificial worship of Israel, Leviticus 7:30-35 says that the breast and right thigh go to the priests whenever someone borught an offering. But when people were brought offerings to the temple, Hophni and Phinehas would examine the offering first and take the parts they wanted, and gave the leftovers to God.
Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. (2 Samual 2:17)
Secondly, look at Ananias and Sapphira. The hearts of the Early Church were so kingdomly focused and so full of love, that they held all their wealth loosely and shared them with others in the church. Some even sold land and houses and gave of their profits to the apostles, who distributed the gifts to those in need. Two people in the church, Ananias and Sapphira, wanted to have the same pious appearances but also wanted in on the money. So they sold their property but only gave a part of the proceeds to the apostles with the pretense that they were giving all of the proceeds.
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? (Acts 5:3)
The result is that both Ananias and Sapphira lied to the apostles and the Holy Spirit and dropped dead.
But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. (Revelation 2:23)
The world says, “Get as much as you can. The more possessions and money you have, the more satisfied you will be.” The Pharisees equated money and possessions with holiness. False teachers today equate money and possessions with blessings. All of it is under the pretense of a greedy heart. Now where did they get such an idea?
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord, your God, will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. 7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. (Deuteronomy 28:1–7 )
“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15)
The truth is, when we trust God for our needs and we remain obedient to His commands, He will bless you. The problem is that the Pharisees applied this with greedy hearts to mean that the more you possess, the more you’ve been blessed. They equated wealth with holiness and poverty with sin. So the more you have the holier you are.
Do not desire his delicacies, For it is bread of falsehood. (Proverbs 23:3)
A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 28:20)
The problem is everything here on earth will one day completely fade away. Nothing you possess here on earth will add 1 day to your eternal rest. So, Jesus identifies for us three alternatives when it comes to wealth in this text. Two Treasures, Two Visions, and Two Masters. And We have a choice as to which ones we will be our lord.
Jesus said there are two treasuries - here on earth or there in heaven. And he’s asking us to choose where we are going to invest. Don’t invest in the things down here, invest yourself in the things of God. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
?For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10)
Now Jesus isn’t saying that we are to live in abject poverty. He does not say that it is a sin to have wealth. He’s saying that if you live for the wealth, you won’t live for the Lord. Let God provide you with whatever He provides you and you keep your treasure and focus on the things of Heaven.
A slave will not be corrected by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no answer. (Proverbs 29:19)
not lagging behind in diligence, being fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, (Romans 12:11)
G. Campbell Morgan said, “You are to remember with the passion burning within you that you are not the child of today, you are not of the earth, you are more than dust, you are the child of tomorrow, and are of the eternities, you are the offspring of Deity, the measurement of your life cannot be circumscribed by the point where the blue sky touches the green earth. All the facts of your life cannot be compassed in the one small sphere upon which you live. You belong to the infinite.”
Secondly, we have two visions: Look at Matthew 6:22-23 “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” I could spend an entire Sunday just discussing this, but let me summarize it.
To it plain and simple, you can’t look at two places simultaneously. If your life is centered around living for yourself and worldly things, you won’t be dedicated to God. Conversely, if your life is centered around living for God and godly things, the world will mean nothing to you. Whatever you have your eyes on, is where your heart will be focused.
Let’s say you invest all your money into Ford Motors stock. Before that, you would never pay much attention to the company. Now, every time you open the newspaper or your internet browser, you are going to want to look at how Apple stock is doing. When you see a news article on Ford or hear something on the news about Jim Farley, you are going to perk up. Every time you buy a car, it’ll be a Ford, you’ll try to convince all your friends and family to buy Ford products.
This is what Jesus is saying. If your eyes are focused on dark things, your heart will be dark. If your eyes are focused on the light of God and godly things, your heart will be alive with Him. What I desire, what I watch on TV, what I look at on the internet, what kind of books I read, whatever I’m looking at is the lamp to my heart. Will it be the world or God?
Thirdly, there are two masters, God and money. Matthew 6:24 “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.” We can focus our hearts on living the “American dream,” and all that comes with that, but in doing that, we are pushing God to the side. Conversely, we can make God the passion of our hearts, but that requires that we lay down our desire for possessions. Which do you choose?
That’s really what it all boils down to. Are you trusting in money or God? There’s nothing wrong with wealth or money. The love of money, even if you don’t have any, darkens the heart. There’s nothing wrong with getting paid well, but if that is your reason for living, you’re serving a false master. And no matter what, one day all that money and possession will leave you - or you will leave it. On the other side, you have a master who promised never to leave you or forsake you. He promised to watch over you, provide for you, and protect you here and in eternity.
So the questions we’ve got to ask ourselves today are: 1. Where is my treasure? What am I investing in, working toward, and hoping for? Are you serving in the kingdom? Are you giving to the Kingdom? Are you investing in God’s kingdom or your own? Where your treasure is, that’s where your heart really is. 2. What are your eyes focused on? Created things or the Creator of all things? Are your eyes fixed on the stuff of this world or are your eyes fixed on Jesus? 3. Whose your master? Are you being controlled by God or by greed? (Credit: Justin Miller, Sermon Central).
