Godly Ambitions and Goals: Two Treasures and Two Visions
Matthew 6:19-24
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount provides for us a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God and those who have been called to become citizens of this Kingdom. We have been studying the Righteousness of God that is revealed from Heaven; it is received and experienced by Kingdom recipients in Christ. We have found that the Law of Christ ACTUALLY is MORE DEMANDING than realized: The Law of Christ is fulfilled, not only in external behavior, but in obedience to God FROM THE HEART. The Law of Christ is established in our hearts through the faith and the LOVE OF God IN Christ: When God’s Spirit comes into our HEARTS (a supernatural act of God) it effects change in our LIVES.
TWO TREASURES
In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus speaks about two different types of treasures, the first is verse 19: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in (dig through) and steal.”
The first treasure that Jesus mentions is EARTHLY treasure, which basically, we deal with every day of our lives, in some way, shape or form. We all have an earthly place to live, a place to lay our heads at night. We have cars and trucks to meet transportation needs. Earthly TREASURES all deteriorate over time. Bread molds, clothing wears out and many times becomes moth ridden; barns rot and eventually fall down, cars, furniture, houses all wear out and jewelry and money can be stolen. None of those things ever got continually BETTER over time, did they? “Rust” does not only refer to ordinary corrosion but to every material that is subject to wear, decay or loss. Anything that can “wear out” or decrease is NOT a SECURE investment: The Stock Market can fluctuates, homes values fluctuate and so Earthly treasures only have transient value. They have temporary value, so DO NOT CONTINUALLY be investing in them.
We all have some “forms” of Earthly WEALTH, and so all wealth is NOT BAD, but worldly-mindedness is sin. God gives us jobs as a means to live and supply for our families. We can enjoy God’s provision for us in material things. We can (try and) save for the future, but we have to be very careful that our focus on the earthly things does not become our “LOVE”. There are certainly examples of wealthy people in the Bible who used their riches for God’s glory without allowing their riches to put them in spiritual danger, but wealth certainly can become a “trap” to enslave people.
Jesus gives us another side of the proverbial coin in verse 20-21: "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. The other choice of treasure is Heavenly TREASURE. Jesus gives a stark contrast: DON’T store up earthly treasure BUT DO store up Heavenly Treasures which are moth-proof, rust-proof, and burglar proof. They are God-centered treasures which will never lose their luster because YOU are God’s treasure.
Listen to some of those irremovable treasures. Psalm 89:33: "But I will NOT break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.” And Psalm138:8: “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting ; Do not forsake the works of Your hands” God’s faithfulness will never fade.
John 3: 16 speaks of a life that will never end: Whosever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. John 6:37 &39: "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” It is a gift that will never be lost.
God’s love is a chain that will never be broken: Rom. 8:29-30: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren ;30 and these whom He predestined, He also called ; and these whom He called, He also justified ; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” And a love from which we shall never be separated: “(Nothing) will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
A calling that cannot be revoked, a foundation that will never be destroyed, an inheritance that will never be spent: “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5) These types of treasures are stored in Heaven and in the Heart. These treasures are characteristic of the Kingdom of God: We know them in part now, we have just a foretaste, but we know that in the future we will know them in their fullness and we will also know our Great God in His fullness. These treasures pay eternal dividends because they ARE from our Eternal God.
1 Timothy 6:6 tells us: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
What we hold of value in our hearts will control our lives. Verse 21 says “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we love money, greed, pleasure, self-indulgence will control our live. If the Kingdom of God possesses our hearts, the love of God will possess our hearts and our lives and the treasures of heaven will be our investment. (Think of the characteristics Jesus mentioned in the Beatitudes.)
Paul wept in Phil. 3:18-21: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ ; 21who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
Francis Chan, in his book, “Crazy Love”, says: A person who is obsessed (with Christ) thinks about Heaven frequently; obsessed people orient their lives around eternity: they are not fixed on what is here in form of them.” One thing is for certain: Piling up earthly treasure blurs spiritual vision.
Two Visions
Jesus talks about two types of treasures and then EXPANDS upon that idea in Mathew 6:22, He says: "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” The one kind of vision is very evident, that is PHYSICAL VISION. Our physical eyes act as lamps for our bodies. Eyes are NOT THE SOURCE of light, but they are like lenses or lamps that allow light to filter through. The benefit of having clear vision, is that it enables you to see and KNOW what you are doing in your environment. Instead of bumping around in the darkness, you are able to adjust to different circumstances and difficulties because YOU SEE. On the other hand, if you have blinded physical vision you are in darkness and don’t know what you are doing and you can’t avoid dangers and difficulties. YOU ARE IN THE DARK.
WE have to take a moment to look at the phrase in verse 22: so then if your eye is CLEAR: The word for clear can be translated, “Good, single, sincere, true, healthy, GENEROUS, not cloudy.” Col. 3:22 uses the noun form: Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service,(like the Pharisees or Scribes) as those who MERELY PLEASE MEN, but with SINCERITY (cleaness) of heart, fearing the Lord.”(So serving your master has spiritual essence and character: Serve the master clearly and sincerity as you are doing it to the Lord.)
Ephesians 6:5 says the same thing: “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh (that’s the reality of being in the world right here and now), with fear and trembling, in the SINCERITY of your heart, as to Christ.” (Physical service is secondary to SPIRITUAL significance or integrity in the hearts and lives of those whom God has regenerated.)
Listen to Matt. 6:23: "But if your eye is bad,(Diseased or EVIL) your whole body will be full of darkness.” “If then the light that is IN YOU is darkness, how GREAT is the darkness!” With this explanation, Jesus is making the transition to the other meaning of the eye or vision, YOUR SPIRITUAL VISON or sight. If your physical eye is bad, you’re in darkness; You’re blind, but if your SPIRITUAL eye is bad and IF THE LIGHT THAT IS IN YOU IS SPIRITUAL DARKNESS, that darkness is GREAT!
Having spiritual vision is having God-focused eyesight or vision. If you have BLINDED SPIRITUAL VISION you are have a far greater blindness. You HAVE TO be focused on God in your life, or you are blind. Verse 24 explains it clearly: 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. (mammon)”
Jesus is actually making a comparison here between Spiritual single-mindedness (or Spiritual single sighted-ness) and dual-sightedness (or dual- mindedness). Single sightedness means that you have a healthy eye, one that is focused on God alone. Healthy righteous spiritual eyesight recognizes that we are only stewards of everything we have received materially, and we will not allow materialism, lust, or greed to cloud that single GODLY-vision. We use all things for the glory of God because HIS LIGHT has illuminated our minds our hearts and our souls.
What can cloud our vision? What can cloud our spiritual eyesight? Earthly riches and materialism certainly can blind and enslave a person, making it impossible to serve God alone. Loving God is not merely a matter of the emotions but of heart, soul, mind, strength and even sacrifice. To love God requires service, and it is impossible for ANY PERSON to be devoted to worshiping the ONE TRUE God, and also be devoted to worshiping wealth.
There is a very good reason that Jesus says: You can serve EITHER God or Mammon: NOT BOTH. The root word for “serve” is “servant” or “bondservant”: It is utterly impossible to ENTIRELY give up your WILL to become one PERSON’S servant, and be able to do the same thing, EVEN IN PART, for someone else. If you try and serve both, inevitably your true allegiance will be displayed.
During this week of Good Friday, think of Judas Iscariot. Wasn’t it his desire and allegiance to riches that eventually caused him to betray Jesus?
Think of Paul. There came a time in the life of this former persecutor of Christians when he began to look down on whatever personal gain, prestige, or possessions he had prized at one time.
Paul said in Phil. 3:7-9: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
OUTLINE
I. Two Treasures
A. Earthly Treasures:
1. They deteriorate over time. They are not secure
2. They have transient value.
3. Wealth is not bad, but worldly-mindedness is.
B. Heavenly Treasures:
1. They are God-centered treasures
2. They are stored in Heaven and in the Heart.
3. They pay eternal dividends because they ARE from Eternal God.
4. What we hold of value in our hearts will control our lives.
II. Two Visions
A. Physical vision: Enables you to see and KNOW what you are doing in your environment.
B. Spiritual vision: Is God-focused
C. You can serve EITHER God or Mammon
