Book: Matthew

True Religion!?

In this sermon, Pastor Babij answers the question, “What is True Religion?” He explains that true religion is gained when we rightly (biblically) understand who God is, who man is, and what God has done to solve man’s dilemma. Pastor Babij teaches that true religion is turning away from our own works and supposed goodness and turning to Jesus as God’s provision for sin’s payment, for salvation, and for sanctification. Pastor Babij, therefore, calls all men to truly repent and be saved.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

in the bulletin that your that was passed out this morning there’s a handout sheet with all the scripture that I’ll be using this morning you can take it and follow along with me as I go from passage the passage and I am starting out actually with Matthew chapter 1 verse 21 or the Bible says and she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sin and then I’m going to come back to that passage at the end of the message but today I would like to just direct your attention to the subject of religion and now because religion is a topic that many people talk about many people are involved with in some way but really what is it and what is true religion how do we know we’re right how do we know what we believe is the truth that is something that is important to know so I want you to think about something this morning by way of a question and the question is what does the word religion suggest to you well some may answer what comes to mind our ornate church buildings or maybe stained glass windows or a prestressed in cassock and surplice perhaps people praying or maybe a strange ritual or ceremony in a temple or at a Shriner in a church setting now you can go I can go on and on with these descriptions but there’s one thing a parent in the world is that religion is universal everywhere you go on the planet someone’s somebody’s bowing down to something someone religion is surely universal and everyone has thoughts about it manufactured you as well as I during holiday seasons when you family get together and talk usually they talk about two things religion and politics right those are usually the subjects and of course you try to avoid them at all costs but usually somewhere down the line you have a conversation with somebody about those topics the Encyclopedia of religion and ethics has 13 enormous volumes that only cover a fraction of man’s religious expressions William Blake once said man must and will have some religion but why what lies behind someone’s remarked that man is a religious creature well the clue is found in the very word religion it is a Latin word that means to bind back in fact religion is concerned with man’s greatest need which is to be bound back to God religious systems are man-made attempts at bridging the gap between God and man however almost all of those religious systems have no standard in which to measure what they believe is true or not so the end results of most religious systems give no real assurance about this life or the life to come and as far as man’s understanding of God it is at best lopsided and at worse correct really really completely incorrect so then at the end of the day man-made religions just make things more convoluted and confusing let me Friday Lord this morning I pray that you would use the word of God to impress upon our heart what true religion really is so Lord we can come and worship the God that we know is true the God that we know has done great things and the God who cannot lie to us for his very character permits it permits him not to lie and so I pray Lord Jesus this morning that you would help us to understand where we stand with you on this Christmas morning in Christ’s name I pray amen st. Augustine said long ago thou made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee so the question for us this morning is how can a person be bound back to God the Bible expresses this long lean in man’s heart where says in psalm 42 verse to my soul thirsts for God for the Living God when shall I come and appear before God and then psalm 84 first who says my soul long and even yearned for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the Living God it was pastor d James Kennedy who has now passed on and gone to the Lord who said this if you or I came up with a religion he said I can tell you what the message would be it would be follow this set of rules if you do it well enough then you may accept being accepted into Nirvana or paradise or heaven or wherever you’re trying to go don’t do this don’t do that and you will perhaps earn your way to heaven dr.

Kennedy continued to ask how do I know that is the way religion would be like and he said this because that is exactly what every religion invented by man in the world is like all the pagan religions of the world are the same yes they are the same no matter what form they are no matter what form they take it is always what a person can do to earn salvation the religion of works but biblical Christianity is not the same as others no it stands in a category category all by itself certainly it teaches the very opposite of all other religions it is the message of grace and grace is a wonderment when you read the Word of God it is nothing there’s nothing like it in the world every other religion teaches that we will get to heaven because of what we have done Christianity on the contrary teaches that we will get to heaven in spite of what we have done we hear all the time in the media that human beings deserve everything good but what we really deserve is the just condemnation condemnation of God we’re all guilty the amazing thing is what Christ offers us is not what we deserve but the very opposite of what we deserve he offers us free grace he offers us sovereign unconditional grace the free gift of eternal life paid for by his own son paid for at an infinite cost to those who will simply trust in Christ as their Savior for it says in Ephesians 2 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God not of as a result of works so that no one may boast it is a very strange thing indeed that God would have it so so if finding God is the most important thing in this life why do so many people fail to go through life without even have a relationship with him let alone a dynamic one most people live in a dangerous ignorance when it comes to knowing who God is the god of creation and who knowing who God is the God of the Bible which are the same what is man’s problem in this regard well man needs to be brought in touch with the Living God because he’s out of touch with the Living God see many people have a completely inadequate picture of God only the Word of God can give a proper view of the Living God so to answer the question how can a person be truly bound back to God and know it we have to ask three other questions and the first question is what is God and the only place to really find out what is God is we have to go to the Word of God just a few things about the character of God is this God is personal he is not a thing he’s not an it he is not a higher power or a mere influence he is the Living God who thinks works creates feels he is the god who’s who is far off and he is also the God who was near he is the God who can be talked to he is the God who can be approached in fact in Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah he says this but the Lord is the true God he is the Living God and the everlasting King at his wrath the earthquakes and the nations cannot endure his indignation thus you shall say to the the gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth from under the heavens it is he who made the earth by his power who established the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens and then God is also plural oh yeah he is one God the Bible says in Deuteronomy but he has revealed himself to us in three distinct persons as it tells us in second Corinthians 13 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all there you have Christ you have God the Father and you have the Spirit of God in that passage of Scripture but God is also eternal God never had a beginning he was neither created nor born nor did he evolved nor can he die for it says in Scripture in Psalm 90 before the mountains were born or you gave birth to the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God also God is independent his life was not given to him his power was not acquired his wisdom was not learned his knowledge was not gained he does not need anything he does not need you he does not need me he needs neither our wisdom nor our power nor our fellowship for it tells us in Scripture the God who made the world in all things in it since he is Lord of Heaven and Earth does not dwell in temples made with hands nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything he needed nothing but God did create things for this reason for it tells us in Acts chapter 17 it says that he created things so people would seek Him so they would seek God for it says in Scripture if perhaps they might grow for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live and move and exist and even some of your poets have said for we are his children being then the children of God we ought to think that the divine nature is like well we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone an image formed by the art and thought of man no God’s not like what we usually think he is like God is also sovereign he is the king over the whole creation he controls all the elements of time and space for it says in South 115 for our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases also God is holy he is completely without fault or defect without blemish or stain it says in Exodus 15 11 who is like you among the gods o Lord who is like you majestic in holiness awesome in praise working wonders see he is separate and different than what people think this can be seen by the way people use God’s name they use it as a swear word and as a joke they speak light-hearted about and casual about him as if he were somehow they’re equal they questioned his judgments they criticized his actions and they blame him when things go wrong actually once scripture sheds light on who God is if you want to be honest you have to conclude that he’s an awesome breathtaking person such a one that I would like to get to know matter of fact and then Revere and fear and worship because he is the God who created the heaven in the earth and the there’s nothing that created that was created that was not created by Jesus Christ because he is our Creator there’s a second question though to answer that ultimate question what is man what happened see man was created in dignity it tells us in Scripture and write the first book of the Bible Genesis 127 God created man in his own image and the image of God he created him male and female he created them you know that means that man did not crawl out of a slime pit he is not a refined ape nor an accidental concoction of atoms not at all humans were made by God in a special act of creation god made man separate and different from the rest of creation gave him dominion over the rest of the world in fact it tells us in Scripture that God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth subdue it rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth see God also made man so that he could closely relate to himself as the Creator were the only creature on the earth who can know who God is we can know why we’re here where we’re going where we go after we die we can have the the most complex questions of the world answered when we know who God is so man was created with dignity but what happened well man became disobedient to God man used his freedom wrongly and lost his fellowship with his creator because of disobedience where the Bible tells us in Genesis 216 the Lord God commanded the man saying i am from any of the trees of the garden you may eat but from this one tree you may not eat because God says this is mine don’t touch it you can have everything else but this right here don’t touch so when the woman saw that it was that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that your tree was desirable to make one wise she took from its fruit and ate and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate so because both the woman and the man disobeyed God his instructions sin entered into human history and plunged the whole human race into death and chaos so from that act came man became dead see man was separated from God and death and enemy entered into the human predicament where tells us in Genesis 217 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat and the day that you eat it you will die see the Bible speaks of death in two ways it speaks of spiritual death and spiritual death is separation of the soul from God that’s what happened to Adam and Eve back then where it tells us in Genesis 37 of Genesis chapter 3 verse 7 and the eyes of both of them were open and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord and among the trees of the garden and then it says and he drove the man out at the east of the Garden of Eden and he stationed cherubim and flaming a flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life man was cast out of the place where they can receive life which is the presence of God the Bible also tells us talks about physical death we all know about that one separation of the soul from the body both of these are enemies so it says in the days of Adam he lived 930 years and this is where it started recording it and man died 930 years as a long life isn’t it you wouldn’t want to live that long would you I wouldn’t see no humankind actually at that particular point man came the victim of disease of decay of deterioration the human being became a dead soul in a dying body a very bleak predicament man fell into and why because he disobeyed God also man became depraved we all now are born after the likeness of Adam and this is what it says in Genesis in verse 11 of chapter 6 it says now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the earth was filled with violence and God looked on the earth and behold it was corrupt and all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth and God said to Noah the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence because of them and behold I’m about to straw them from the face of the earth and then we have the worldwide flood so you see the depth of our problem is that you and me and Adam are linked sin has affected every single part of our nature it has affected our mind our will our affections our conscience our disposition our imagination everything has been affected by sin so sin has been transmitted to us at birth as soon as we start growing you can see very quickly in a young child that they will tell you know when you didn’t tell them the word no they will tell you they will lie to you they will do things that show they have a sinful nature it says in the Word of God in Romans 5 12 therefore just as the one man sin entered into the world and death through sin so death spread to all men because all have sinned and then Ephesians 2 and verse number 3 it says among them we to all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we’re buying nature children of Wrath even as the rest see the world that we live in is insane listen to these words written by a person looking at our world trying to desperately find purpose in life see if it resonates with your assessment of things and this is what the person wrote the paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers wider freeways but narrower view points we spend more time we spend more and we have less we buy more and we enjoy less we have bigger houses and smaller families more conveniences but less time more degrees but less sense more knowledge but less judgment more experts but more problems more medicine but less wellness we have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values we talk too much we love too seldom we hate too often we have learned how to make a living but not a life we’ve added years to our life but not a life to our years we’ve been all the way to the moon and back but we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor we’ve conquered outer space but not inner space we’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the soul we split the atom but not our prejudiced we have higher incomes but lower morals we’ve become long on quantity and short on quality these are times of tall men and short character steep profits and shallow relationships these are times of more leisure belleza fun more kinds of food but less nutrition these are days of two incomes but more divorce fancier homes but broken homes it is a time when there is much in the show window but nothing in the stockroom a time when technology can bring this letter to you and a time when you can choose either to make a difference or hit delete now you would think that these insightful words were written by some very wise adult with much learning but you would be incorrect these moving words were written by a columbine high school student shortly after the mass murders there on the high school grounds they saw something and they saw the emptiness of life by what was going on right in front of their eyes so see once we get a glimpse of who God is and then once we get a glimpse of who man is and what happened to man and their fall away from God then we have to ask the question the third question what has God done for the Bible says in Ephesians 24 but God being rich in mercy because of his great love which he loved us see God was rich in compassion and he saw our need and moved toward us to meet the desperate need that we all have and that is to rescue us from sins condemnation condemnation in God’s wrath so see our problem is our sin and our inability to do anything about it see our sin has separated us from God for even tells us in Isaiah the prophet Isaiah your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so he does not here and then of course our inability our inability has left us powerless to save ourselves to rescue ourselves from sins condemnation where the Bible says the wages of sin is death and that means eternal death complete separation from God after you die from it die from this world there is still eternal life because we have an eternal soul created in the image of God which cannot die so you have to go somewhere and everybody will be resurrected whether you go away from and separate from God in a place a lost eternity or with God himself everybody will be resurrected so God is also a God of love and mercy and grace so then the cure of sin is not found in ourselves it is not found in man’s ability to solve problems it is found not in a system of religion but it’s found in a person and that person is Jesus Christ he alone is the only one who is able to bring us back to the Father and cause us to be bound back to God only Jesus can remove the obstacle of our sin that prevents us from being made right with God so this scripture this morning that I started out with if you look on your sheets you’ll find that in Matthew chapter 1 verse 21 2 verse number 23 it says this she shall bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus now let me ask this I mean let me just say this what has God done God the Father sent Jesus to save us from our sin look what it says in the passage she will bear a son as you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the Prophet behold the Virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which translated means God with us see we sinners need to be rescued and that rescued is carried out by jesus at the cost of his life but there’s a second thing that God does for us in Christ in Acts chapter 3 verse 19 also on your sheet that god the father has sent Jesus to wipe out our sin not not simply to save us from it but to get rid of it forever and all the condemnation and guilt that goes with it if you look at acts 3 verse 19 it says therefore repent and return for what reason so that your sins may be wiped away in order that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times see ancient ink had no acid in it it could be sponged off the surface of the papyrus so the scribe could use it over and over and over again see because of the work of Jesus the record of our sin is obliterated it is sponged away by the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross it is gone never again to be brought up in the presence of God see that’s the hope that we have we could never once coming to Christ beacon m for our sin because Christ took all that condemnation paid it completely and fully for us there’s a third thing that the father does in regard to our sin and that the father has sent Jesus to make us clean in the presence of God now if you look again in 1st Corinthians 6 verse 9 through 11 on your sheets the last couple verses you’ll notice what it says and I want you to see what it says in first Corinthians 6 verse 9 oh it says oh do you not know that the unrighteous that unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and then it says this and such were some of you but what does God do in verse 11 but you were washed you were sanctified you were justified in the name of Jesus Christ in the spirit of our God see God washes us completely clean so when God sees you he doesn’t see your sin anymore you know what he sees he sees the pure clean righteousness of Jesus Christ shining on your account that’s what he sees so you see it’s what God has done for us that saves us and he’s done this and this season we celebrate that and then of course when Paul was giving his testimony Apostle Paul he said this now we do not delay get up be baptized and wash away your sins by calling on his name see so the only way we can have our sins washed away wiped away and saved from their condemnation is by calling on Jesus Christ that’s what God wants us to do our sin has separated us from God so God doesn’t hear us but when we get to the place where we realize God’s solution to our sin which is Jesus Christ and we Hall on him God hears us see God wants us to call on us that means use your mouth if you’re convicted in your heart that you are under God’s condemnation then the only thing that you and I could do is call on him ask him to save you he came into this world to save us that’s his job so see our soul has been soiled and stained and muddied by our heart of sin and buy our regulars of sin only Jesus has the willingness and the power to cleanse it so I asked you this sunday this Christmas Day a day when we are celebrating the birth of the Savior has he been born in your heart I would argue and I would urge you to humble yourself and acknowledge your sin if you have not trusted him yet and look to Jesus the Savior and invite him to come so he can be born in you so he can cleanse you so he can forgive you so he can transform you because he’s the only one who could do it so if you don’t look to Jesus the Bible just says you’re still lost you’re still groping for answers without him with no hope really and my friend when you leave this world and you leap into eternity which is by the way very very very long eons and eons of time without number where will you be with Christ in heaven or consign forever to a punishment in the lake of fire see the Bible says that Jesus came into the world with a grand goal in mind first Peter 318 tells us for Christ’s also died for sins once for all the joy for the unjust for what reason in order to bring us to God why does he have to bring us the God because we don’t know our way we have no directions so our inability to please God by ourselves means that the real change of Christian conversion must involve relying on Christ alone nothing you’ve done but everything God’s done I had does one do that in the Bible calls it repentance true repentance means that we turn away and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ we turn from the many individual sins by which we have offended God’s character and broken his law we turn away from any attempt whatsoever to justify ourselves before God by appealing to our Orthodox beliefs or acceptable behavior we turn to God to look to him to bar to pardon our sin to give us a right standing before him to bring us into close fellowship with him to bind us back to him that’s what we do and then we believe and true belief means that we trust only in the person who died in our place and rose from the grave and that’s Jesus Christ we trust Jesus as God’s appointed provision for the forgiveness of our sins we trust Jesus for moral power to affect change in our thoughts in our attitudes and our motives in our desires in our affections in our words and our actions in our patterns of relating to God and to others he transforms us and then we trust Jesus to keep us keep us saved keep us in true belief until he takes us out of this world into his presence where our faith will become sight we no longer will have to believe things without seeing we will be able to see God our belief will be complete see that is what this season is about so only Jesus can bind you back to God because he is the Savior because He is God and Jesus is the reason for the season amen let’s pray lord thank you this morning thank you Lord for all these dear people that you brought here today I pray Lord that the Word of God would bring to them a delight and a joy may be a joy they never had before because today may be the day they call upon you to save them from their sin and Lord there’s no one who is not a sinner so we’re all in the same boat we’ve sinned in different ways to different extents to different periods of time as far as length Lord but Lord you can save us from it all and I pray today Lord those who know you would rejoice and be conscious and pray for those who don’t know you and those who don’t know you today may be the first day they come to a realization about who God is who they are and what God has done and I pray Lord you would bind them back to yourself by repentance and belief and I asked this in Christ’s name Amen

December 25, 2016
Why God’s People Do Not Worry

In this sermon, David Capoccia examines Jesus’ teaching on worry in the Sermon on the Mount. David Capoccia explains two commands from Jesus regarding worry, two comforting metaphors from Jesus’ illustrating the believer’s relationship to God, and seven reasons from Jesus as to why Christians should not worry.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

well it’s my joy to bring forth God’s Word to you today god is great and so is his word let’s look together at the precious truth that God has for us this morning pray with me Father all the earth looks to you you are the king of everything and we need you to provide Lord opened my mind to be able to think clearly in my mouth be able to speak clearly open the hearts of those who listen those here Lord to understand believe and apply your word Oh God your word is very great glorify yourself now in Jesus name Amen if you’ve ever read through the Old Testament or at least the first five books you’ve probably come away with the following impression Wow the children of Israel are really dumb I mean how else can we explain their constant failure to trust God in spite of all of his miraculous provisions God sent ten incredibly powerful plagues against the Egyptians on Israel’s behalf then God released the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt God led the people by his own presence in a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud he parted the sea for them so that the people could pass through it on dry ground he then closed the sea on the Egyptian army completely destroying his riyals enemy these acts you would think should have made super clear to Israel that God cares about them that God is powerful and that when God says he’ll do something God will keep his promise but within three days of moving on from the red sea or the reed sea the people of Israel complained against Moses and by extension God for bringing them up to die in the wilderness without food and without water in response God graciously and miraculously provided the Israelites with manna quail and even water from a rock yet still later the Israelites fell into worried distrust and complained against God didn’t they remember anything how dense must the Israelites have been however if we know the rest of the scriptures and if we’re honest about our own lives we know we can be just like Israel despite what we read in the scriptures despite the testimonies of other believers despite the provisions of God that we’ve seen happen in our own lives we to fall into worry and doubt how am I going to get through this new trial where’s the money going to come from to pay for these unexpected bills what if I fail at this upcoming task one of those people at school start to dislike me how will I be able to cope with this new upcoming difficulty is God really going to provide you with a spouse what if I lose my job how will I ever figure out how to be a good parent and our anxiety we asked many such questions as these and as a result we become unhappy agitated depressed short-tempered sick and despairing worry feels terrible and it’s bad for our health it can literally kill you but we still easily fall into it are you worried about something this morning as something filled you with dread and uncertainty as to whether God will really take care of you do you see some upcoming difficulty either personally or nationally and wonder how will I get through that how will I cope with that well this morning Christ is going to give us a powerful weapon for us to put to death the sin of worry what’s that weapon his word because you see worry is indeed a sin it is a very deadly sin like a leech it saps our energy it saps our joy it dishonours God and once it sunk its teeth into us the habit of worry is very difficult to dislodge but worry is no match for the word of God our Lord is going to show us the way to freedom from worry today so that we can be the people he called us to be a people marked by trust in God and not worry if you haven’t done so yet please open to Matthew chapter 6 Matthew chapter 6 our text is from verse 25 to verse 34 but we’re going to start reading in verse 24 to give ourselves just a little bit more context so Matthew chapter 6 starting in verse 24 reading down to verse 34 follow along with me as I read 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 for this reason I say to you do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on it’s not life more than food and the body more than clothing look at the birds of the air that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not worth much more than they and two of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life and why are you worried about clothing observe how the lilies of the field grow they do not toil nor do they spin yet i say to you then not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these but if God so closed the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace will he not much more clothe you you have little faith do not worry then saying what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing for the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you so do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself each day has enough trouble of its own as we examine this passage today we will divide it into three parts first Christ commands regarding worry Christ commands regarded worry second comforting illustrations of God’s relationship with us comforting illustrations of God’s relationship with us and third reasons to obey Christ commands reason is to obey Christ commands before we get to those though let me remind you of this passages context some of this will be review from my last sermon with you we’re in the Gospel of Matthew written by the former tax collector and lover of money Matthew also called Levi our text appears in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount which begins in chapter chapter 5 and ends in chapter 7 Christ Sermon on the Mount is all about reasserting what true righteousness is in contrast to false righteousness true righteousness Jesus teaches is by faith in the mercy of God and false righteousness is by works seeking to earn God’s favor in Chapter six the chapter in which we find our text Jesus teaches that true righteousness does not seek its reward on earth neither in man’s approval nor in accumulating treasures true sciousness seeks its reward in heaven this is not only God’s command as Jesus tells us it’s also just wise storing up seeking or clinging to any treasure on earth whether it’s material or otherwise it’s foolish since those treasures will all pass away but treasures in heaven will last forever and how does one obtain this treasure in heaven by righteousness by the obedience accomplished by faith now our new passage today is closely linked to the one that we examined last time it may have even noticed that verse 25 begins with a phrase for this reason this means that this phrase appears this means that the truth that was expressed in the previous verse or versus forms the basis from the instruction we are about to hear from Jesus indeed it’s very logical that the next topic that Jesus would discuss would be wearing it’s like Jesus anticipates his audience’s reaction rabbi Jesus I understand what you’re saying about seeking treasures in heaven however I still got to live in this world I have to survive each day until I get to heaven and surviving is hard I’m worried that if I simply seek God and his treasures in heaven but I won’t have enough to make it on earth what do I do Jesus with this context in mind we’re now ready to examine our new text and Jesus’s answer here’s the first part of our text Christ commands regarding weary and verses 25 to 34 we’re going to examine this in an overview fashion first we see two commands from Christ will discuss them both together the first command don’t worry about your needs first command is don’t worry about your needs the second command seek after God and his kingdom purposes seek after God and his kingdom purposes those are Christ’s two commands notice the first command not only begins the passage but is repeated throughout it verse 25 do not be worried about your life verse 31 do not worry verse 34 so do not worry about tomorrow some commentators see verse 34 as a slightly different command than the earlier to one being the earlier ones being about food and clothing and drink and this last command being about the future I would say however that verse 34 is just a restatement of those earlier commands using different words to worry about food drink or clothing is in essence to worry about the future your word that you won’t have those things in the future so they’re really the same the first command is repeated three times the second command appears only once in verse 33 though as we’ll see in a moment both commands are actually in mind at the beginning of the passage verse 33 says but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness notice again the repetition of the first command Christ really wants to emphasize to us that we should not and must not worry worry is forbidden three times by our Lord Jesus Christ how gracious of him we must not trifle with worry Christ treats worry as a serious issue and so should we also notice that just like the previous passage we examine verses 19 to 24 we have two contrasting commands before the commands were do not store up treasures on earth but do store up treasures in heaven in our passage today verses 25 to 34 the commands are do not worry but do seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness let’s examine these commands a little more fully by now going back to verse 25 the start of the passage let’s read that verse again for this reason I say to you do not be worried about your life as to what you will eat or what you will drink nor for your body as to what you will put on notice again the phrase for this reason Jesus is referring to what he just taught about treasures and most specifically what he said about serving two masters jesus said you cannot serve God and money because of that do not worry huh how does worry relate to serving two different masters the connection may not seem or may not be apparent at first but it’s actually pretty basic when you worry you are no longer fully serving God when you worry you are no longer fully serving God something else has grabbed your attention as more pressing and important than God worry actually makes you into one who serves wealth through worry wealth and possessions become more important to you than Christ this is why it’s not surprising that the other command contrasting do not worry in our passage today is seek God one of these actions necessarily cancels out the other if you worry you cannot seek God’s kingdom but if you seek God’s kingdom we cannot worry you don’t have the capacity to do both you are like a slave that cannot serve two masters these masters have opposing wills you cannot satisfy them both to worry is to serve the God of wealth not the true God and therefore the son of god forbids us from doing it God requires total devotion to himself therefore we must not worry but what does it mean to worry the Greek word here for to be worried can be translated to be anxious to care for or literally to take thought to take thought the king james version of this passage actually translates the verse with that little translation it says this therefore I say to you take no thought for your life worry does come down to thinking doesn’t it you just keep thinking and thinking about some problem turning over and over in your mind some future danger and its potential effect on your life your psyche and your happiness worry is continual fearful thought a continual wondering about whether you will really make it through some situation and get what you need Jesus says don’t do that stop doing that take no thought for your life in its needs don’t be weighed down and care for your life at all don’t worry at all now Jesus doesn’t mean that you should literally have no thought about your temporal life even if you’re not worried you still have to think and make choices about your life but in comparison to what God does want you thinking about you should essentially be taking no thought for your life what does God want you thinking about oh we’ve already seen it in the context treasure in heaven his kingdom his righteousness heavenly things that’s what your mind is supposed to be thinking about not worries God does not want our minds distracted by worrying about our temporal needs it is temporal needs that are in mind and Jesus command not to worry the text says do not worry about your life and do not worry about your body life and body here are both meant in a temporal way as seen in Jesus’s immediate clarification don’t worry about your life or body that is don’t worry about food don’t worry about drink and don’t worry about clothing good drinking clothing or pretty basic needs they apply to all people since creation God has designed humans to eat and drink for sustenance as well as for pleasure without food and water now after the fall we get sick and we die clothing has been a need for us since the fall we need clothes to cover the shame of our sinfulness to protect us from others to sustain us in the various environments in which we live our anthesis anus in the various environments which we live we need clothes to keep us warm and to protect us from the sun’s burning rays without adequate clothing we also will get sick and die beyond this speaking of clothing we also need in a way a certain level of adornment for life’s tasks I could simply go through life in a burlap sack but if I want to look respectable if I want to have a job for one of them tain normal relationships i need at least adequate clothing certainly food drink and clothing would have been sources of worry in christ time as food and drink and even close were not as available as they offer us today in America we have running water in our homes and plenty of relatively cheap food and drink available in supermarkets for most Israelites however they had to grow their own food hoping that the harvest was good enough that they had both something to eat now and something to eat in the future by Christ time food could also be obtained in the marketplace but that still required money and it wasn’t as cheap as it is for us now water was available in local Springs wells and rivers but these could dry up or become contaminated with bacteria or other things to make one sick this is why most people drank wine mixed with water back then those healthier but why means you need grapes which means you need a good grape harvest and even when you made wine you again had to hope that your wine didn’t run out before you could get some more when it came to clothing most Israelites needed to make their own clothes this was not easy work nor was it easy to obtain the materials to make clothing therefore most Israelites didn’t have that many sets of clothing they’d hoped that the clothes that they did have would last until the family could make or buy more if one set of clothing was ruined or stolen that was a serious setback as I said we don’t usually worry about food drinker clothing today because of how available these things are for us to buy but we do sometimes worry about whether we have good enough clothing is this a good fit it’s a good color to the good material and while we may not worry about these things themselves we do worry about that which helps us obtain these things money we worry about money how will I have enough money this month we tell ourselves to buy food to buy clothing to buy to pay the rent to pay the utilities to pay for insurance to pay for the phone and for the internet and to make payment on the car I also need to save for the future save for medical emergencies save for retirement and oh yeah give to the church it seems like our money runs out pretty fast so we can become a source of worry for us but even when Jesus mentions food and clothing he’s really talking about life’s needs in general those three examples are representative we often say that man needs food clothing and shelter to survive but back then they usually thought of man’s needs only in terms of food and clothing perhaps because because of their climate sleeping outside wasn’t the worst thing in the world if you do a search actually through the Bible for the terms food and clothing whenever they’re used together you’ll see that the pair is often used to describe man’s basic needs we don’t have time this morning to look at a many examples but here’s one example first Timothy six seven eight Paul says for we have brought nothing into the world so we cannot take anything out of it either if we have food and covering with these we shall be content Paul says we can be content with just having your basic needs met just food and clothing but again that’s representative of basic needs so here in Matthew Jesus is commanding us not to worry about our needs don’t worry about your needs don’t worry about whatever is necessary to sustain your life instead second command seek God seek His righteousness seek obedience seek his treasure in heaven don’t be distracted from seeking God by worrying about life’s needs now perhaps these commands make you a little uncomfortable it should be obvious that if you obey Christ commands here you will not be able to make sure you’ve secured your own needs someone else will have to make sure for you that you will be provided for we would have the ability and the desire to do that for you well God actually the reason you don’t have to worry and that you don’t need to spend your thought and effort and trying to secure your needs all your thought and effort to secure needs is because God will do it for you Jesus shows us this I mean he shows it throughout the Old Testament but Jesus also shows it to his audience in the Sermon on the Mount with two illustrations to comforting metaphors describing what our relationship to God is like so now we come to the second part of the sermon we’ve seen the commands now we look at too comforting illustrations of our relationship to God too comforting illustrations of our relationship to God the first illustration comes from verse 24 and is carried into verse 25 and it’s this our relationship to God is like a good master providing for his slaves our relationship to God is like a good master providing for his slaves notice again verse 24 which says 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 the word sir in both instances in verse 24 is dulu 0 meaning to serve as a slave so Jesus was saying no one can serve as a slave to masters and you cannot serve as a slave both God and wealth not only does the slave illustration show us the impossibility of partial or double devotion it should also give us comfort that God will provide for I needs describing us as slaves of God here is not to be taken as a negative thing there were indeed many slaves in Christ time and afterwards who endured unkind sinful and brutal treatment from their masters but God is not that kind of master he is a good and kind master who buys slaves away from their old owners sin and Satan God empowers his slaves to do righteousness he rewards his slaves for their service which is unheard of in a slave master and God also intimately provides for the needs of his slaves for truly only a foolish slave master would not provide for the needs of his slaves if a slave master did not provide enough food water or clothing for his slaves then his slaves would suffer they would lose strength they would become sick they would even die any of these things would result in loss for the master furthermore if a master said I will not provide for your needs you will have to provide for your own food and clothing this too would be foolish because the slaves would then be distracted not fully able to devote themselves to the Masters will or his commands because they would be taking time and energy away from that to secure their own needs again the master would suffer loss if he did not provide so even an unkind master would grudgingly provide adequate food in clothing for his slaves how much more a kind master who actually seeks the good of those who on to him God wants to provide for us in such a way that we are not distracted he wants to free us up to enjoy him to pursue the reward that is with him and in him he is a great and kind master so this first illustration should give us confidence God is like a good master providing for his slaves he will provide for us the second comforting illustration comes from a phrase that we see in both verse 26 and in verse 32 of this passage Heavenly Father Jesus uses the phrase Heavenly Father so our second comforting metaphor our second comforting metaphor is this God is like a good father providing for his children God is like a good father providing for his children in the New Testament Jesus loves to refer to God as a personally connected father using phase are using the following phrases my father your father your heavenly father your father in heaven the Old Testament writers very seldom refer to God as a father let alone their own personal father but the Son of God really wanted to emphasize in his ministry the intimately caring nature of our God so he repeatedly describes him to us as your father this too should be comforting when it comes to worry because fathers provide for the needs of their children that’s just basic parenting children especially young children cannot provide for their own needs they cannot grow food they cannot make clothes they cannot go out and find water or dig for water neither can they hold jobs and make money children rely on their parents especially their fathers to provide for them only the worst of fathers would be so derelict as to not provide for the needs of his children but God is not just a mediocre father he’s the best father he owns everything he has all power all wisdom all love he rejoices to provide for every single need that his children have Jesus says this directly later on in his sermon on the mount turn over just a little bit to math Matthew chapter 7 verses 9 to 11 Jesus talks about people seeking God through prayer seeking their father through prayer and he says this in verse 9 or what man is there among you who when his son asked for a loaf we’ll give him a stone or if he asked for a fish he will not give him a snake will he if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him God is a father who loves to provide he wants his children to simply seek obedience to their father and not be worried not be distracted by seeking to provide their own needs so we see the second comforting illustration from our Lord Christ God is like a good father providing for his children there are other company illustrations of this kind elsewhere in the scripture God is described as a commander providing for the needs of his troops so that they do not need to be distracted by civilian affairs Christ is described as a husband providing for the needs of his bride so that she is not distracted from loving and submitting to him the Lord is described as a good shepherd providing for his sheep so they don’t need to worry about anything except following the Shepherd’s voice but the Lord has even more for us we’ve seen now Christ can and we’ve seen comforting illustrations of God’s care for us but now the Lord seeks to persuade us through wisdom to not worry and simply seek God’s kingdom and now come to the third part of today’s sermon reasons to obey Christ commands reasons to obey Christ commands our Lord gives us seven reasons different pastures and commentators labaik discount this passage down a little bit differently with a few more or less reasons grouping them together I’m grouping it into seven I think that’s the way it works best in the text these reasons are helpful for us to deal with the various doubts that come up in our minds as to whether we can really trust the Lord to provide so let’s move now verse by verse through the passage and discuss each reason as it appears starting in the second half of verse 25 Jesus says it is not life more than food and the body more than clothing here’s the first reason for us to not worry but instead seek God God does not want you to miss out on life’s grand purposes God does not want you to miss out on life’s grand purposes the question in the second half verse 25 is a question with an expected answer isn’t life more than food a more than food and clothing yes of course it is even the pagans at times understand this surely life is more than simply acquiring food drink and clothing our basic needs our life is not less than these things they are legitimate needs but life is so much more than these things you are so much more than a collection of organs needing sustenance and covering you are living soul meant to enjoy and obey God you are not meant the simply accumulate stuff were survive you and your body were meant to glorify Christ worry prevents us from seeking out these greater more important part of life we stay stuck on the first most basic level constantly seeking after things we were never meant to stay there nor will we be happy if we do we would count it great folly and waste to come to the end of our lives saying well did a good job staying alive but that’s about it the majority of our life’s thought and energy ought to be directed to life’s greatest purposes worry won’t let us do that but seeking God will so this is the first reason to obey God does not want you to miss out on life’s grand purposes the second reason to obey Christ by not worrying is found in verse 26 I’ll be read that look at the birds of the air that they do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them you’re not worth much more than they here’s the second reason not to worry God already takes care of creatures who cannot prepare for the future God already takes care of creatures that cannot prepare for the future focusing here on the basic need of food and drink Jesus makes an observation about birds Jesus may have even pointed out some birds flying overhead when he gave this teaching birds were and are very common in Israel what’s Christ observation about birds birds do not prepare for the future they aren’t like good farming humans birds do not so that is they do not plant crops they do not reap that is harvest crops and they do not gather into barns they don’t gather food and store it for the future but birds do work they fly they build nests and they go out each day looking for food for themselves and for their young and in this way somehow birds get enough food to live and even thrive one proof just go outside look up listen here and see all the birds around these animals are flourishing even though from a human perspective they don’t do the wise thing they don’t store up for the future they don’t protect themselves from unexpected food shortages but God still sovereign Leah ranges that birds will have food in fact God does this with all creatures Psalm 145 verses 15 and 16 says of God the eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due time you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing in due time God gives every creature his food whether that creature is able to store up food like the ant or whether that creature is not able to store food like the bird so is God saying we shouldn’t store up anything for the future no the Bible exhorts us to wise stewardship including imitating the diligence and foresight of the ant however if do too difficult circumstances you are not able to store for the future or you suddenly lose what you had stored it for the future do not worry at all you can be sure that God will still adequately provide for you how do you know God already does it for the birds and by the way Jesus says are you not worth much more than they are you not worth more than they another rhetorical question of course you’re worth more than a bird you were made in God’s image you were made with the capacity to know and worship God you were a special creation and if you’re saved then God is your loving master and father God counts you more valuable and worth taking care of than a bird and yet he takes care of the birds if God takes care of the birds who are lesson for and then he will also take care of all people who look to him they are more important to him than Birds so we see Christ’s second reason for obedience God takes care of creatures who cannot prepare for the future the third reason to obey Christ and seek God’s keep God’s kingdom instead is her instead of worrying is found in verse 27 and who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life here’s the third reason to obey Christ’s commands God not you is the one with power over life God not you is the one with power over life this verse gives us another rhetorical question from Jesus who among you by worried thought or activity can lengthen his life by even one hour the expected answer is none of you no one this is even clearer in a parallel passage Jesus gives the same teaching about worry that he does here in Luke chapter 12 verses 22 to 32 is apparently a different occasion but the same teaching Luke records some extra words from Jesus on this Third Point here’s what Luke 12 25 to 26 says I’ll read the verse again the one that’s the same and which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life span if then you cannot do even a very little thing why do you worry about other matters Jesus says if you can’t buy your constant effort thinking and worry even lengthen your life by a tiny amount even one hour what makes you think that worried thought and activity is going to accomplish anything else for you that is absurd thinking but you might be saying to yourself wait a minute can’t I lengthen my life can’t i add an hour or more by engaging in healthy activities like good eating and exercise can’t i also shorten my life by engaging in risky activities i think I actually do have power over my life sorry Jesus says you don’t you do not truly have power over your life to lengthen it or shorten it the reason we misunderstand this idea is because we confuse causes and means we confuse causes and means we confuse what really has the power to affect our lives with the usual methods that that power manifests itself yes people who make healthy choices usually live longer that is the usual way that God ordains that people reach the span of life that he marks out for them however some people who make healthy choices nonetheless live short lives and some people who make risky unhealthy choices nonetheless live very long lives it’s always strange you see it on television or in the news when someone who lives past 100 reports that he or she was a heavy smoker drinker or drug user for most of their lives you think that shouldn’t happen but it does you see what really controls the length of our lives is not our different choices but God who are Dame’s that we make the choices that we do and either causes those choices to have significant or insignificant effects God is the one with the real power over life he can make your choice result in nothing for you or he can make it result in very substantial effects on your life he’s the one with the power does this mean then that we should become fatalistic or the road caution to the wind no we were obligated to be obedient and to act in wisdom furthermore we are commanded not to presume or test the Lord remembers st. even tempted Jesus that way God said he’ll protect you throw yourself down he just says nope scripture says don’t put God to the test but we need to understand that the one who ultimately the power to cause anything to happen in our lives is not us it’s God this concept is also true when it comes to our work we often think if I just work hard and work skillfully I should get my desired result but we forget that the one that enables us to work hard and skillfully is God we also forget that God can make much hard work and skilful effort come to nothing and God can make minimal work and bumbling effort produce a great result listen to what Psalm once wrote 172 I think it’s 127 but listen to what one of the psalm says unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it unless the Lord guards the city the watchman keeps awake in vain it is vain for you to rise up early to retire late and to eat the bread of painful Labor’s for he God gives to his beloved even in asleep wow that’s pretty striking right God can make your efforts mean nothing and even when you give no effort like when you’re sleeping God can provide for you and by the way guess who wrote that song Solomon talk about someone who might be tempted to think because of his wealth and majesty and kingship that he really had the power to do things but Solomon new know all that I have has come from God and unless God blesses my work I can accomplish nothing what great wisdom the one who has the power over life is ultimately God not you now we usually get this at least in this church we usually get this when it comes to salvation we say I can’t save him only God can I’m simply trying to be faithful as a messenger and as a means but we need to apply this understanding to the rest of our lives because really you can’t support yourself God must do it the means through which God’s provide for the mean in which God provides for you is usually through your own work but if you suddenly aren’t able to work where if your work turns out badly don’t worry because it wasn’t your work that was really sustaining you it was God this is a really sobering and liberating truth because it means we can stop saying that I do enough that I save enough that I say enough it means we can also stop berating ourselves for our mistakes in the past oh why did I invest in that why did I say that to this person why did I forget to take care of this task now I’m doomed no we can stop going crazy trying to work steady or network in order to provide for ourselves yes God has called us to be wise and called us to be obedient including through doing faithful work but he is ultimately the one with the power not us no mistake is too big for God to overcome and no success too great for god that totally nullify we must simply do our day’s work and then trust God trust God to provide this is the third reason given to us from Christ for us to obey God not you is the one with power over your life the fourth reason for us to obey Christ commands appears in verses 28 to 30 now read those now again and why are you worried about clothing observe how the lilies of the field grow they do not toil nor do they spin yet i say to you they’re not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these but if god so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the it is really not much more clothe you here’s the fourth reason for us to obey Christ commands God already provides perfect adornment for creation that cannot join itself God already provides perfect adornment for a creation that canna adorn itself this reason centers in on our need of clothing as an example here again Christ may appoint it to something that was nearby hey see those flowers over there consider he says those lilies actually the word translated lilies is a little vague it can better be translated as wild flowers because it included more than lilies ever seen a field of wildflowers blossoming it’s very beautiful john macarthur notes that in israel during the time of Jesus wild flowers would have included such flowers as irises narcissus I gladioli and cap lilies I looked a picture of these flowers wish I could show them to you because they’re gorgeous rich hues of red pink blue purple orange yellow and white on blossoms of delicate petals and no one but God takes care of wild flowers they’re wild after all now the aspect of these wild flatter wild flowers that Jesus directs us to consider is that they don’t provide their own clothes Jesus says they don’t toil or spin toil refers to hard labor flowers do not work a difficult day job just so that they can buy clothes neither do they spin that is spin thread they don’t spend time making clothes for themselves all flowers do is grow and accept whatever adornment God gives them but Jesus says that not even Solomon looked better than these wildflowers Salman was the most glorious King in Israel’s history he was rich enough to anoint himself in whatever he wanted and wise enough to know what looked attractive and what didn’t but the simple flowers the meadow Jesus says look more splendid than Solomon ever did and yet Jesus also notes these flowers are so transient these flowers these grass Jesus says two ways to refer to the same thing wildflowers they’re only alive today and tomorrow a thrown into the furnace ever bought flowers or tried to grow flowers know the flowers don’t last long they they blossom and then their blossom goes away and they wither flowers eventually die dry up people gather them and use them as fuel get God still takes interest in adorning short-lived flowers this tells us something about God God loves to adorn his creation God loves to adorn his creation why to show forth his glory creation declares the glory of God so the Scriptures tell us right God can’t help but adorn the grass of the field because God must glorify himself he must show the beauty of his mind God loves to adorn even shwood lived flowers what Jesus point well God so delights to adorn near worthless flowers God will surely delight to adorn you because you are worth so much more to him than flowers you again or a special creation and if your gods child God loves you God is coven entered with you to care for you he will make sure that you’re adequately adorned and you will even make you beautiful what’s that you say is God promising me expensive clothing and a slim figure no no he’s not God does not anoint every creature the same way though all are beautiful and bring him glory for example we might not think that grasshoppers are very beautiful but look more closely and you will see God’s beauty we might not think that sparrows are very beautiful but look more closely and you will see the beauty of God so it is with us God may provide us with simple clothes and a plain face and so most we may not seem very beautiful but look a little more closely and you will see the glory of God and His creation especially for us as a spirit of righteous contentment shines through that’s what makes this beautiful God may provide some with expensive clothes but we should not expect that nor agonize after that we’ll have time to look at it but first Peter 3 says it is the inner beauty that we are to seek after that will shine through whatever outer adornment God gives us and will make us truly beautiful now does this mean we should just let our outer appearance go not even bother to comb our hair in the morning no of course not your spouse will appreciate your effort to make yourself look nice and we would never want our appearance to get in the way of the gospel but Christ word here about wild flowers shows that we can and must stop obsessing about our outer adornment clothes jewelry hairstyles hair restoration whatever it is if God is motivated to make his creation beautiful when it is not important and unable to provide for itself at all then he is able to make us adequately and even beautifully adorned without our worrying about it so we see the fourth reason Christ tells us not to worry God already provides perfect adornment for creation that cannot have gone itself the fifth reason we are given to obey Christ commands comes in verse 32 verse 32 says for the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things here’s our fifth reason to not worry and instead see Christ’s Kingdom God wants us to stand out from our worried world God wants us to stand out from our worried world the term Gentiles here refers to godless people pagan people unbelievers in the true God they are full of worry but we are not to be like them and we can observe this worry in our own society can’t we the spirit of the age is survival of the fittest dog-eat-dog it’s a rat race as they say you’ve got to always be working always worrying because if you’re not someone else is going to leave you in the dust and take what you need there’s no caretaker for the unbelieving as far as they’re concerned they have to do everything themselves and therefore they can never rest even the gods and religions of unbelievers do not allow for any rest because they are works religions you must always be working always sacrificing to please the gods and you never know whether you’ve really done enough so you have to keep on working keep on worrying keep on offering in the hope that maybe the gods will like you and help you survive and give you perhaps a nice afterlife moreover our world is obsessed with idols and people scurry about not just after basic needs but things that they call their needs lusts of various kinds i need this product I need this experience I need this position to be happy secure or satisfied so they run run run run run run run and keep on worrying now actually the unbelieving do not really provide for themselves they think they do but they don’t as we’ve already seen God is the one who provides even for them God and mercy grants them provision for their needs yet they are not thankful and they never rest they never turned to him for their provision and they never feel secure and even when they do feel secure for a moment it is the false security often shattered by sudden calamity but Jesus reminds us you’re not like them you’re not like them you’ve got God covenant in with you he has the power and willingness to provide for you you do not need to act like the godless warriors they store and hoard items thinking that those things will make them secure but you are not afraid to give away or get rid of those things that might distract you because you know you have God their lists of needs keep on increasing and they are desperate fulfill to fulfill every one of them but you do not create false needs worthless idols are therefore content in God let us beware if we find ourselves acting like the people around us who do not know God when it comes to worry they have reason to worry in a way we don’t we should beware if we find ourselves like them so this is the fifth reason Christ gives us to obey God wants us to stand out from our worried world two more reasons here’s the sixth and it appears in the second half of verse 32 for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things the sixth reason to obey Christ commands is this God knows your needs better than you do God knows your needs better than you do God is not unaware of anything you need whether its food clothing sleep or something else God cares about your needs and is passionate about providing for your needs so that you’re not distracted from him by worry but sometimes we suspect this isn’t true you get a rough night sleep say and then you tell God oh no God I won’t be able to handle today because you didn’t give me enough sleep God says actually I knew your needs I’ve given you exactly what you need for today you didn’t need more sleep or else I would have given it to you trust me well maybe you say God don’t you know that I can’t handle my spouse is sinful behavior right now don’t you know that God God says actually I know all your needs I provided you exactly what you need in this moment I always take care of your needs trust me and be obedient even in this difficult situation this too is a sobering but liberating truth if God knows all our needs that we never have to fear that we are somehow under provided for or under equipped for life this is true even when our most basic needs appear to be lacking because you may have been thinking even as we’ve gone through this sermon yeah that’s nice Dave but what about the Christians being killed right now by Isis what about the Christians dying of hunger where exposure doesn’t look like God gave them what they needed even Paul lacked basic provision at times he says this plainly in first Corinthians 4 11 he says to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed and are roughly treated and are homeless Paul experienced lack even of food and clothing did God not provide for his knees no it’s not that Paul was not complaining he was giving glory to God he said this was what we needed he knew that the suffering he experienced and the meek provisions was necessary for him and for the expansion of the gospel that was more important that even getting a full provision of his basic needs so it is with us we must never say God anything but that don’t make me ask other Christians for help don’t cause me to dip into my savings account don’t let me lose my job otherwise I’ll accuse you of not providing for my needs let God have his perfect way humble yourself he knows your needs better than you do it maybe even necessary needful that you or I one day suffer persecution and martyrdom for Christ but that will be what we need that will be God’s perfect provision it will be better for us than if we continue to survive and lest we fear getting through that experience god but God will provide for us when that day comes so that we are able to endure it so we have our sixth reason not to worry God knows your needs better than you do our seventh and final reason to obey is probably the most powerful we see it in verse 33 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you this is amazing our final reason given here by Christ to obey is this when you seek the greater over the lesser things God gives you both when you seek the greater over the lesser things God gives you both God tells us it’s not an either/or choice obtain God’s reward in heaven or survive it’s actually both or none both or neither obtain God’s reward and survive as you see cause reward chiefly or seek to survive and lose both your life and your heavenly reward what a promise when we see God and his reward we will not only get that God will give us the kingdom God will give us heavenly treasure but God will throw in perfect provision in this life as well to worry and miss out on seeking God then is the most foolish choice that anyone could ever make he who chooses worry we’ll have misery all his life he will ultimately die and then he will suffer in Hell eternally like Solomon who chose wisdom over long life wealth or the death of his enemies so we when we choose the best will be given the lesser things as well this is our seventh reason from Christ for obedience when you seek the greater over the lesser things God gives you both so with such powerful promises with such amazing provisions from God let us wage war on worry and put that sin to death let it not be true of us that which was true of Israel and true of the crowd that Jesus was speaking to you of little faith we need not be slow in believing God he’s given ample reason for us to trust him let’s review what we’ve heard this morning first Christ commands regarding worry don’t worry about your needs instead seek after God and his kingdom purposes too comforting illustrations of God’s relationship with us God is like a good master happy to provide for the needs of his slaves God is a good father happy to provide for the needs of his children and then Jesus’s reasons to obey the seven reasons God does not want you to miss out on life’s grand purposes God already takes care of creatures that cannot prepare for the future God not you is the one with power over life God already provides perfect adornment for creation that can’t adorn itself God wants us to stand out from our worried world God knows your needs better than you do and when you seek the greater over the lesser things God gives you both understand God has not called us to be passive testing his promises by refusing to obey his commands to work or to exercise wisdom but neither has God called us to fret or to trust in our work if you are in Christ this morning you have the power and obligation to put worried to death you have the power by God’s Holy Spirit to believe God and say no to the flesh that whispers let’s keep thinking about this problem because we’re not sure we’ll be okay you’re the power to say no to that and to believe by faith you have the power to jettison from your life those things which cause you to stumble unimportant activities or objects that just cause you to worry now you won’t have the grace to handle tomorrow’s troubles today but God will take care of tomorrow until tomorrow arrives when tomorrow comes God will give you the grace if you’re not in Christ this morning you should be looking to God pray for your provision but you’re not there for you don’t have the power to stop worrying actually in a way you have much reason to worry the God who is currently mercifully sustaining your life is not at all obligated to continue doing so you’re not his slave you’re not his child your rebellious enemy you have no guarantee of good in this life from God he’s doing you good but there’s no guarantee you look and it will continue and you have a ternal torment ordained for you in the next life unless you repent turn from your sin then repent not looking to God or repent of your not looking to God for your provision and looking to yourself instead repents of making the things of Earth your treasure and begin seeking your treasure in heaven trust Christ to make you righteous and acceptable before God do not trust in your works only Christ can make you righteous and save you trust the father to take care of you as you seek to be obedient to him for the rest of your life but this is what we all must do because but God’s people they do not habitually worry I was closing prayer father would a great great great great truth Oh God we sometimes assume that we are just going to have to worry like everybody else or that yeah we’re not supposed to worry but we just are going to keep on falling that was not your intention your people do not worry father and you gave us this excitation so that we would not worry that is so gracious of you god the rice you command us not to worry because you care because you’re good and because you will bring yourself the glory and honor that you deserve by providing for your people oh god help us by your spirit please to put the sin of way to death to believe you to not be like Israel to learn from their example as we ought to God and to just love you as we look to you each day even through the trials for whatever provision you have ordained in Jesus name Amen

November 8, 2015
Storage Wars: Where is Your Treasure?

Do you ever wish you were rich, or at least a little richer? Do you find yourself content in the treasures of this world? Or are you constantly looking to treasures in the next world? In this sermon, David Capoccia examines Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding where we should amass treasures. David Capoccia explains two commands regarding the treasures we must seek, two reasons for those commands, and three warnings in relation to those commands.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

really grateful for the opportunity to be able to bring the word to you this morning it’s a joyous and a sober responsibility let me pray one more time oh Lord God you are so great Lord glorify yourself now help me to be able to explain your word I pray God that your spirit would work cause us to understand it cause us to apply it Lord Jesus I pray in your name amen if you’re a fan of musicals like I am and you’ve probably seen or heard of the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof story follows a Jewish man named tevya living in the countryside of zarist Russia in 1903.

tevya lives with his wife and five daughters struggling to maintain his Jewish beliefs and traditions in the midst of life’s trials one of those trials is tevya’s lack of wealth at one point in the story when tevya complains about his poverty a socialist leaning Jew remarks to him money is the world’s curse to which tevya replies may the Lord smite me with it and may I never recover in the musical tevy even sings a song entitled If I Were a Rich Man in this song He Daydreams about how good his life would be if he could only enjoy wealth he’d have a nice house his wife would be so happy he’d be well respected by all his neighbors he’d even have the time to study and discuss the scriptures with other men tevya ends the song by actually uttering a prayer he says Lord who made The Lion and the lamb you decreed I should be what I am would it spoil some vast Eternal plan if I were a wealthy man have you ever felt like tevya have you ever said to yourself if only I were rich or if only I’d married someone rich then you say to yourself then I could take my ease I wouldn’t have to work so hard be so stressed out be so worried about the future I could be happy and I could even devote more time to serving in the church or maybe being rich seems a little vain to you you simply wish you were a little richer just a few more things that you want once you get those things then your spirit would feel settled if only I had this you say to yourself if only I made this much per year if only I could reach this goal then I’d feel satisfied and secure or maybe you feel content you don’t want or need anything more but the reason for your contentment is not godliness it’s because you’ve already accumulated all the material Treasures you’ll ever want or need you say to yourself I’ve got enough money to handle whatever the future sends my way and I have enough possessions to keep me entertained and comfortable well at least for now I can take life easy well if you find yourself in any of these states this morning discontent without more wealth or content in your wealth I have bad news for you well actually the news only seems bad at first it’s really good news it’s great news and it’s not my news it comes from God God has something to say to you about wealth and about the treasures you spend your time and energy pursuing these words from God are found in Matthew 6. so if you haven’t done so yet please open your Bibles and turn there Matthew chapter 6 we’re going to be looking at verses 19 to 24 today Matthew 6 verses 19 to 24.

starting in verse 19 this is our lord Jesus speaking do not store up for yourselves Treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but store for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in our Steel for where your treasure is there your heart will be also the eye is the lamp of the body so then if your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of Darkness if then the light that is in you is Darkness How great is the darkness no one can serve two masters if either you will hate the one and love the other or he’ll be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve God and wealth the meaning of this passage or most of it is pretty plain however I don’t think that you and I have fully thought through the words of this passage or diligently applied them therefore I want to investigate them with you this morning we’re going to see in this passage seven things we’re going to see two commands I’m going to see two reasons for obedience and we’re going to see three warnings two commands two reasons for obedience and three warnings but before we look at that let me give you some context this passage we’re reading Matthew’s gospel Matthew also called Levi used to be a tax collector a lover of money a cheater of his Israelite brethren for the sake of material gain but Christ called him Christ saved him and made Matthew into an apostle and a writer of one of the Gospels our text in the gospel of Matthew appears in the middle of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount we don’t have time this morning to fully investigate this sermon but it’s important we know it’s about what it’s about so let me summarize its content The Sermon on the Mount presents a contrast between true righteousness and false righteousness a contrast between true righteousness and false righteousness true righteousness is on the basis of faith in God’s mercy through Jesus Christ false righteousness is on the basis of perfectly keeping God’s law and therefore earning his acceptance true righteousness produces good works as Believers become lovers of God it’s not based on works it produces works false righteousness produces only prideful and idolatrous works true righteousness receives an eternal reward from God false righteousness receives a temporary reward on Earth and eternal judgment from God these are the things Jesus presents in his sermon to make the contrast between true and false righteousness abundantly clear Jesus zeros in on the behavior and teaching of Israel’s religious Elite look briefly at Matthew 5 20.

a little bit before our Passage there Jesus says this for I say to you then unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven now that is a bombshell statement it’s like you can hear the minds of the people in the crowd just going boom because the scribes and Pharisees were considered the most holy men of the day they were the most serious about God’s commands they taught the Old Testament to the people you’re saying I have to be more righteous than them but in truth as many of you know the Pharisees and scribes were not righteous at all while claiming to obey God’s word they were actually flagrantly disobeying it therefore Jesus spends a lot of time in a Sermon on the Mount exposing the false righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes and reasserting God’s true standard we see this right after verse 20 and chapter 5 and this exposure continues into chapter six and Matthew 5 21-43 Jesus explains that true righteousness is more than external obedience and keeping the letter of the law he uses anger sexual lust divorce dishonest vows personal Vengeance and hating enemies as examples these things are all evil before God but the scribes and Pharisees excuse themselves in these areas with a shallow interpretation of the Old Testament they Twisted the meanings of God’s law to say oh I’m not sinning in these areas then in chapter 6 verses 118 Jesus shows that true righteousness looks for the Eternal reward of God and not the temporary reward of man’s approval Jesus uses giving prayer and fasting as examples scribes and Pharisees love to do these acts but they did them in front of others because they wanted a temporary reward Jesus shows that this is not only foolish but it is evil in God’s sight then in chapter 6 verses 19 to 34 where we find our text for today Jesus continues to expose the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you remember the scribes and Pharisees were great lovers of money and what it can buy this has explicitly stated in Luke 16 14 the Pharisees Who Loved money in contrast Jesus shows true righteousness looks for the Eternal reward of God and not the temporary material Treasures of the Earth this was Jesus’s main point in this section of his sermon and since that’s the section where that’s the section we’re looking at it will be my main point here is God’s message to you listening today from Matthew 6 19 to 24.

true righteousness seeks after the Eternal reward of God and not the temporary material Treasures of the Earth seek the reward of God and not the temporary material Treasures of the earth that’s what true righteousness does if you’re truly righteous that’s what you do well how and why is this true how does Jesus explain it well let’s investigate that now look again in Matthew 6 19.

I’ll go through this verse by verse do not store up for yourselves Treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal here we see the first command and therefore the first point in my outline my sermon outline will be seven points this is the first one it’s a command do not store up Treasures for yourself on Earth that’s the first point do not store it for yourselves Treasures on Earth this is a command from the king of the universe it’s not a suggestion it’s not advice it’s an order refusing to heed this command is rebellion against your creator you are not allowed to store up Treasures on Earth what does it mean to store up and what qualifies as a treasure well the word for store up here can be translated a mass Reserve lay up store save put aside or treasure the idea is seeking after and collecting Treasures to enjoy or benefit from both now and in the future collecting seeking after now the word for Treasure is just that a treasure something that you think is valuable precious or useful physical wealth is specifically in mind with this word but the principle extends Beyond material possessions you can treasure something other than material wealth Christ says You must not seek after collect or amass Treasures on Earth well why not well the reason is very straightforward here’s Point number two in my outline Point number two Treasures on Earth will not last Treasures on Earth will not last Earthly Treasures don’t last for two reasons as presented in the text natural corrupting forces and evil Covetous forces natural corrupting forces are represented by moth and rust have you ever had a moth in your closet or in your pantry moths ruin your stuff they ruin your goods they lay eggs in your clothes or in your food and when the larva hatch they eat and they ruin your goods and you don’t have to do anything to get moths they just show up they find ways into your house there’s simply a natural corrupting Force rust is similar when iron gets wet it interacts with oxygen in the air and turns the iron into iron oxide AKA rust rust not only looks bad it weakens metal we have various ways of protecting our metals from rust today but rust is tenacious rust eventually will get your car it will get your machines and your various tools it’s simply a natural corrupting Force you don’t have to invite it it’s automatic but we’re not just talking about moths and rust here as I said these are representative we’re talking about all kinds of forces of natural corruption and ruin actually the word translated rust in our Bibles literally means eating or consumption all Earthly Treasures are subject to consumption to eating to corrosion to deterioration of one kind or another this has been true since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden it’s just a fact things on earth break down or become consumed but it’s not just natural corruption that’s the problem there are also evil Covetous forces to be aware of as well people will want to take your Earthly Treasures from you Jesus says thieves break in and steal ever had something stolen your car your jacket your wallet your phone your Xbox you work really hard to buy something you work hard to preserve it protect it so that you can enjoy it and then someone just steals it from you very frustrating but it’s not just thieves in the night that want to take your Treasures it’s also lawyers government officials hackers swindlers terrorists enemy soldiers to name a few men are covetous people are Covetous they want your Treasures and they will work hard to take them from you Treasures on Earth just don’t last they break down naturally and evil people want to take them from you and even if you somehow maintain your treasure so that it’s not consumed and so that no one can steal it don’t forget that you yourself are deteriorating your body is breaking down you won’t have the ability forever to protect or enjoy your Earthly Treasures due to your own declining Health declining strength and declining mental ability eventually you will die this will finally cause you the loss of all your Earthly Treasures you can no longer access whatever you had because you’re dead you’ve passed into eternity none of your Treasures from Earth can come with you you’ve lost them all we can add to this also that eventually God will destroy the Earth and all its Treasures with fire According to second Peter 3 12.

so we can appreciate the wisdom from God and this command for us not to seek after or to amass Treasures on Earth there’s a very good reason Treasures on Earth will not last you will not be able to enjoy them or own them forever they will naturally break down people will try to take them from you you will age and die and the whole earth will one day be destroyed but you should ask yourself we should ask ourselves are we obeying this command from God or are we still seeking after and amassing accumulating Treasures on Earth Treasures that will do us no good to help us appreciate this command a little more ask ourselves this question what kind of treasures do people collect on Earth what are some examples well there are all kinds here are some that I’ve brainstormed this is of course non-exhaustive list there are material possessions people working hard to acquire more and better things money food cars animals houses businesses stocks bonds jewelry Furniture dinnerware antiques artifacts decorations clothing fashion accessories machines Electronics appliances art plants then there’s the body people work hard and obsess over preserving the beauty strength and life of the body got to exercise eat healthy take vitamins use various creams and scrubs plastic surgery hair loss prevention hair growth tanning losing weight the body could be a treasure that we seek after and Preserve and there are virtual Treasures people working hard to create obtain and amass items that only exist in a virtual space high scores characters avatars Virtual Worlds virtual Badges of achievement virtual items MP3s blog posts Word documents websites YouTube videos PowerPoint presentations there are virtual Treasures then there are abstract Treasures people working hard to obtain something that’s less tangible power Fame friendship love popularity praise knowledge security accomplishment finally there’s The Treasure of experience some people recognize the transient nature of life and they therefore say it’s not about what you own it’s about what you’ve experienced don’t buy stuff buy experiences therefore people work hard and a mass various and more experiences eating traveling sex theatrical and musical performances book reading movie and TV watching playing games Sports skydiving mountain climbing nature hikes hunting drugs alcohol Etc there are all kinds of treasures these all these Treasures all belong to the Earth but do we recognize that none of these will last none of them all material possessions prayer perish and can be stolen our bodies will naturally age they will become less attractive no matter what we do and our bodies will die our computers our video game consoles and the internet internet will one day no longer exist or be accessible and whatever gave us an abstract treasure will eventually give way abstract Treasures are based on material Treasures you’ll lose whatever abstract treasure you had and our experiences they’re gone as soon as they’re finished they become fading memories and one day we won’t even be able to seek out new experiences or even remember them the question is what do you consider your Treasures for what are you working hard what are you agonizing to obtain what are you trying to collect in a mass what are you storing up if you are seeking after or storing up any of these Earthly Treasures you are not only acting foolishly you are rebelling against God one side note speaking of experiences may I recommend that you as a Christian retire the idea of a bucket list it’s not as if when you get to heaven you will tell God why did you take me now I still hadn’t fulfilled everything in my bucket list I never got married I never got to go to Paris I never climbed Mount Everest I never got to watch every season of Doctor Who I feel like I missed out God you think you could send me back so I could finish you won’t say that you instead say something like oh God you are amazing nothing on Earth can compare with you being in your presence is fullness of joy God let me never be apart from you you’ll say something like that so with all this talk of how Earthly Treasures will all disappear one day are you feeling depressed has the Bible reigned on your materialistic parade well let me add some more sobering words from Solomon and Ecclesiastes King Solomon as many of you know was someone who wasted his life or at least part of his life pursuing Treasures on Earth listen to what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 5 verses 10 to 17.

you don’t need to turn there just listen he who loves money will not be satisfied with money nor he who loves abundance with its income this too is Vanity when good things increase those who consume them increase so what is the advantage to their owners except to look on the sleep of The Working Man is Pleasant whether he eats little or much but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep there is a grievous evil which I have seen Under the Sun riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt when those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had father to son there’s nothing to support him as he had come naked from his mother’s womb so will he return as he came he will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand this also was a grievous evil exactly as a man is born thus will he die so what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation sickness and anger but perhaps you’re thinking to yourself all right so maybe it is vain to store up Treasures on Earth I know that none of them will last but they’re all I’ve got I’m gonna die someday why not enjoy life while I can well God has not simply doomed you and I you and me rather to a vain existence he’s actually provided you with a stunning alternative this is what we read about next look now at Matthew 6 20.

but store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal this is Jesus’s second command and it is the third point in my outline store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven do store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven don’t store for yourself Treasures on Earth do store for yourselves Treasures in Heaven this too is not optional it is a command from Christ lay it for yourselves Treasures in Heaven don’t you dare disobey this command notice two details in this verse God says here that you can and must store up treasure in heaven that’s surprising even amazing there’s something you can do now in this temporary world that’s all going to perish that will result and treasure for you in heaven what you do in this world will have great impact on your treasure in the next world wow moreover notice the phrase for yourselves this phrase appeared previously in verse 19. do not lay up for yourselves Treasures on Earth but lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven do you notice the implication God wants you to be motivated by the thought of obtaining treasure for yourself in heaven God doesn’t ask you to store up treasure in heaven for him or for the church or for your relatives but for you for yourselves God is perfectly fine with you seeking a reward for yourself with a sanctified self-seeking he ordains that He commands that but you must seek your treasure in the right place in heaven not on Earth the Earth is a terrible place to amass treasure but Heaven is the perfect place why is heaven the perfect place again Jesus gives us the reason this is point number four in my outline here’s the reason treasure in heaven will last treasure in heaven will last there are no moths or rust In Heaven There Are No thieves In Heaven There Are No corrupting or Covetous forces at all in heaven nothing can take Heavenly Treasures away from you once you place them there just think of all the Earthly Treasures you’ve lost or will lose that time when someone stole your favorite sweatshirt a time when there was a fly in your salad and you couldn’t eat it a time when your computer crashed and you lost all of your data a time when you had to pay a fine for something that you did that wasn’t even wrong none of that happens in heaven God is too good too perfect too strong to let any of your heavenly treasures be lost or stolen what kind of treasures are there in heaven you may ask what kind of treasures are there well the Bible describes all kinds far greater versions of all of Earth’s Treasures we don’t even know the half of it but let me give you a sampling there are material Treasures in Heaven there is a Heavenly City with its gold and jewels there are the fruits and the leaves of the Tree of Life there’s the water of the River of Life there are white robes crowns a white stone with a name on it that no one knows except you in Christ there’s a new body waiting for you well the final version won’t come until after the resurrection but you will one day be raised with a glorious body a beautiful body a body that cannot die it cannot age it cannot become injured it cannot feel pain or grief it’s a body that will reflect the glory and goodness of God there’s holy friendship waiting for you in heaven there’s the love and gratefulness of all those to whom you ministered while on Earth and to whom you received Ministry from there’s the peace and security of being in the father’s house with no one being able to remove you from it there’s the comfort of sitting down together for a meal with Christ there’s the accomplishment of your lord telling you well done good and faithful slave there’s the authority of sitting on Christ’s throne with him there’s the power of ruling and serving in Christ’s Millennial Kingdom there is the continual experience of being in God’s Majestic presence of hearing God’s rightful Praises ReSound and ReSound and participating in those praises But ultimately there is God himself Christ Our portion and our great reward we will be married to the son of God we will dwell in the bosom of his love and His glory forever God will be our God he will dwell with us as just as Revelation 21 6-7 says Jesus speaking it is done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the Water of Life without cost he who overcomes will inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be my son amazing Treasures pardon me they can never be stolen they can never pass away you will always have them to enjoy now you may ask but don’t all Christians receive the same reward in heaven why work to store up Treasures in Heaven if the reward will be the same no matter what I do well it is true that in one sense all believers will receive the same reward in heaven this is the point of Jesus’s parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 verses 1 to 6. you may remember the parable even though some workers worked for 12 hours and others worked for only one hour they all receive the same wage the same reward however it is also true that you will not receive the same reward as everyone else in heaven your reward will be dependent on what you did while you were on the Earth we don’t have time to fully explore this truth this morning but let me show you one passage that illustrates this principle turn over to First Corinthians chapter 3 verses 10 to 15.

First Corinthians 3 10 to 15.

Paul is speaking in this passage about how carefully he sought to build up the Church of Corinth and how all teachers and Believers must be careful about how they seek to build up and serve the church look at verse 10.

according to the grace of God which was given to me like a wise master builder I laid a foundation and another is building on it but each man must be careful how he builds on it for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid which is Jesus Christ now if any man builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones wood hay straw each man’s work will become evident for the day we’ll show it that is the day of judgment because it is to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work if any man’s work which he has built on it remains he will receive a reward if any man’s work is burned up he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved yet so as Through Fire did you notice the distinction even if you build with perishable materials that all burn up when assessed by God if you are a Believer you will still be saved you will still receive that reward every believer will receive that reward on the other hand depending on whether you built with good imperishable materials or bad perishable materials you will either gain reward or suffer loss in other words not every believer gets the same thing by the way we see the same concept when it comes to judgment everyone who does not believe in Christ will suffer the Eternal Wrath of hell same judgment same punishment for all they all die eternally but the level of suffering will be dependent on each man’s Deeds and how much knowledge they had of God when they committed those deeds in light of these truths about Rewards about Treasures we again see the wisdom of Christ’s command store up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven they will last for eternity Treasures in Heaven will last for eternity your limited time on Earth will have a great impact on your heavenly Treasures on your heavenly reward now you may ask well how do I do it how do I store up Treasures in Heaven how do I obtain the reward well Jesus has already shown you he’s already showing you in The Sermon on the Mount how do you do it obedience you do it by obedience obey the commands of Christ be like Jesus Christ and you will gain Treasures in Heaven just look back at the beginning of chapter six if you give without caring if people see you or not then you will gain a reward give for the reward if you pray and fast without caring if people see you or not you will gain a reward your father will see it he will give you reward pray and fast for the reward love your wife for the reward submit to your husband for the reward raise your children diligently in godliness for the reward love and serve others for the reward even if it’s just giving them a glass of cold water as Matthew 10 42 says you do that you will not miss out on your heavenly reward care for the poor care for the sick care for the orphaned and the widowed why for the reward use your skills and Gifts in the church to gain a Heavenly reward submit to your employer submit to the government for a reward live sexually self-controlled for a reward above all tell people about the gospel for your reward the more you love the more you follow after the more you speak about the more you obey our King Jesus Christ the more you lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven this is an amazing truth an amazing truth but do you believe it do you believe that there really are Treasures in Heaven awaiting you if you believe in and Obey Jesus Christ do you believe enough to say no to your fleshly feelings calling out for continual Indulgence are you storing up Treasures in Heaven these are very important questions so important that Jesus gives us three warnings regarding these two commands there are three warnings These Warnings also work as tests to help us diagnose our inner state let’s look at the first warning verse 21.

chapter 6 verse 21.

for where your treasure is there your heart will be also here’s the fifth point in my sermon outline your thoughts and affections indicate the kind of treasures you pursue your thoughts and affections indicate the kind of treasures you pursue your heart and your Treasures always go together don’t deceive yourself into thinking yes I know I’m amassing Treasures on Earth but my heart is really with God I’m a Believer I love God it’s not possible heart doesn’t work that way your thoughts your desires your affections they always follow the things that you deem most valuable they follow your Treasures so what consumes your thoughts what do you find yourself Desiring the most what would you what would really satisfy you what do you love to talk about and learn about more than anything else what do you spend most of your time and efforts pursuing the answer to those questions will indicate where your Treasures are if your heart and mind are devoted to the things of the world the Treasures of the world oh let me say that again if your heart and minded devoted to the things of the world then the world is where your Treasures are and therefore you will lose all of your Treasures one day but if your heart and mind are devoted to the things in heaven to God then Heaven is where your Treasures are and you will never lose those Treasures this is the first warning from Christ your thoughts and affections indicate the kind of treasures you pursue but he gives a second warning in the next two verses let’s read those verses 22 to 23. the I is the lamp of the body so then if your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of Darkness if then the light that is in you is Darkness How great is the darkness here’s Point number six in my outline your view of others wealth reveals your heart your view of others wealth reveals your heart now these two verses are somewhat perplexing at first they don’t seem to fit with the context regarding wealth I looked at various commentaries on these two verses and each interpreter said something a little different they’ll all agree that Christ is saying something here about our perception and what it reveals about our inner self let’s see though if we can make some more sense of this analogy there are two main views that we can take about this analogy based on where the light in this analogy is coming from there’s the outer light View and the Inner Light View out of light view works like this the I is a lamp and that it lets you see the world and the world’s light if your eye is clear and healthy then light from outside can rightly come through the eye and reach the inside of the body and illuminate it but if the eye is bad and clouded and dark then light from outside cannot come through the eye and illuminate the body the body therefore remains dark on the inside therefore if the light that is in your body which in this view we’d have to interpret as the I if the light that is in your body is dark how much darker is the rest of your body how much darker is the inside of your body if this is the way the analogy is supposed to work then Jesus must mean something like this when you perceive Treasures rightly when you understand the truths that I’ve been speaking about rightly the rest of your life is put in proper order but when you don’t perceive Treasures rightly then the rest of your life is in disorder and darkness if you cannot perceive the basic truths about Treasures then how dark must you and your life be your insides must be very dark your life must be full of sin you don’t even know how much sin this makes a certain amount of sense but there’s another way to view this analogy the Inner Light View Inner Light view works like this the eye is a lamp and that it shines forth whatever is inside the body if the eye is healthy and clear then the inside of the body must be full of light but if the eye is dark or evil which is the literal translation of verse 23’s word then the body must therefore be full of Darkness if the window to the inside is dark then imagine how dark it must be inside for this view the phrase evil eye is particularly important you see an evil eye is not just a description it’s a figure of speech it’s an idiom that was used in Christ’s time and even before that just as it is today today to give someone the evil eye is to give them a malevolent stare but this comes from a long established Superstition regarding Envy it was thought that those who envied you might give you the evil eye a look that resented you and which came with a curse a wish that hurt and tragedy would come upon you because you have more or better things than the one looking at you ancient peoples therefore had all kinds of defenses against the evil eye and even today there are various charms and incantations people use to protect themselves this sense of Envy can also be seen in the Bible’s use of the phrase evil eye now the Bible does not say that there’s a curse that you can actually curse somebody just by looking at them but there’s the idea of Envy attached to this phrase evil eye for example in Matthew 2015 which I referred to earlier we have the parable of the workers and the vineyard in that Parable after the master gives everybody the same ways for working in the vineyard some of the workers complain but the owner of the vineyard says this to them is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own or is your eye envious because I am generous literally is your eye evil because I am good he’s asking them are you envious and resentful because I’m showing generousness or generosity to these workers we also see the phrase in Mark 7 22.

I’ll give you the two verses around it for some context and Mark 7 21-23 Jesus says this for from within out of the hearts of men or out of the heart of men perceive the evil thoughts fornications thefts murders adulteries Deeds of coveting and wickedness as well as deceit sensuality Envy slander pride and foolishness all these things proceed from within and defile the man wait a second I didn’t see the phrase evil eye what was that for David well it’s because it’s been translated as something else when you see the word Envy in Mark 7 22 it literally is the phrase evil eye to have an evil eye is to be envious and notice where does the evil eye come from Within now this phrase does not appear often in the scriptures so I don’t want to be too dogmatic about this it does appear two other times in Proverbs speaking of envious and selfish men but if Envy the evil eye is in view in Matthew 6 then the meaning of the analogy verses 22 to 23 would be something like this your outlook on others wealth is an indicator of your inner state if your outlook is generous then you must be full of light inside but if your outlook is envious and resentful then you must be full of Darkness inside if the outside is so noticeably dark then just how bad must it be inside this latter view makes more sense to me that’s why I’ve titled my point after it but either way the principle is similar is your life full of obedience to Jesus then you must be full of light and storing up Treasures in Heaven is your life full of Disobedience to Jesus is your life full of envy do you hate to hear about how other people are doing well or doing more successfully than you do you hate to see your friends and acquaintances enjoying Earthly Treasures that you don’t get to enjoy are you giving people the evil eye then you are full of Darkness and you are seeking to store up your Treasures on Earth this is the second warning from Jesus your view of others wealth shows what’s inside it shows what your Treasures are Jesus gives one final warning in verse 24. let’s read that now Matthew 6 24 no one can serve two masters for either you will hate the one and love the other or he’ll be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve God and wealth here’s the seventh and last point of my sermon outline outline double devotion is impossible double devotion is impossible the analogy here is one of slavery and it describes an impossible situation I love the words of the Puritan Matthew Henry about this listen to what he writes in his commentary on this verse quote Jesus 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 and dependence for they are contrary the one to the other God says my son give me thy heart Mammon says no give it me God says be content with such things as ye have Mammon says grasp at all that ever thou canst money money by fair means or by foul money God says to fraud not never lie be honest and just in all thy dealings Mammon says cheat thine own father if thou can’t scain by it God says be charitable Mammon says hold thy own this giving undoes us all God says be careful for nothing that is be worried about nothing Mammon says be careful for everything thus inconsistent are the commands of God and Mammon so that we cannot serve both let us then halt let us not then halt between God and Baal but choose ye this day whom you will serve and abide by our choice again we must not deceive ourselves we must not say to ourselves I can do both I will pursue Earthly treasures and Heavenly Treasures no that’s impossible one negates the other if you recognize that you are pursuing something on Earth or some things on earth as your treasure know for certain that you are not pursuing God and His Heavenly Treasures in the same way if you choose to pursue Earth or Heavenly Treasures know that it means you must give up seeking after all Earthly Treasures but this is a very wise transaction to make it’s a very wise decision to make as Jesus has shown us Treasures on Earth will not last Treasures in Heaven will last it’s just like the missionary martyr Jim Elliott said he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose so in review of these points our lord Jesus is speaking to you and to me today and he says this do not store for yourselves Treasures on Earth they will not last do store it for yourselves Treasures in Heaven they will last and don’t deceive yourselves your thoughts and affections indicate the kind of treasures you pursue your view of others wealth reveals your heart and double devotion is impossible let me give you one more exhortation and then a few clarifying comments if you’re listening and you’re hesitating you’re not sure if you want to give up the Earthly Treasures or perhaps your heart is hardened you insist upon pursuing and collecting the treasures of this world then hear this last warning from James this comes from James chapter 5.

come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth eaten your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire it is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure behold the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields and which has been withheld by you cries out against you and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of sabayoth you have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of want and pleasure you have fattened your hearts in a day of Slaughter you have condemned and put to death a righteous man he does not resist you listen to James listen to the Holy Spirit if you store for yourselves Treasures on Earth know that you are also storing up something for eternity but you are not storing up reward you are storing up for yourself God’s Wrath you are fattening yourself like an animal for Slaughter God is a jealous holy God he has the right to all glory and worship he will not tolerate you giving his glory to the treasures of this world therefore repent and cry out to God for mercy in Jesus some quick last thoughts based off of our passage and some questions you might be thinking is it a sin for Christians to be rich should Christians give everything away well Christians should give away whatever they need to to prevent themselves from serving or being distracted by wealth remember Jesus’s parable of the soils what was the third soil the one choked by Thorns what were the thorns the deceitfulness of wealth and the cares of this world the plant was made unfruitful there was no salvation there we are told to flee from idolatry including idolatry to wealth immaterialism so whatever you need to cut off do it for the sake of reward but it’s not a sin for Christians to be rich those who are rich and are Christians actually have a special opportunity to use their wealth as stewards for the glory of God supporting the work of the church practicing Hospitality giving to the needy caring for brothers and sisters in the congregation for good examples of this see job see the Proverbs 31 Woman see Lydia in the New Testament it’s not a sin for Christians to be rich what about principles of stewardship don’t I need to take care of my family well of course you do need to take care of your family but don’t overestimate that neither underestimate that your family doesn’t need the latest tech or for you to pay all their college bills if you can do that great but don’t let going beyond the Necessities prevent you from laying up Treasures in Heaven on the other hand don’t forget that your familial responsibilities extend beyond the nuclear family according to First Timothy 5 8 you should take care of your parents and grandparents if they are not able to support themselves what about saving for the future shouldn’t we do that well it is good for you to save money for future Ministry opportunities or for unforeseen calamities but don’t put your security in savings don’t let those things prevent you from obtaining reward in heaven the very next statement from Jesus after the passage we looked at today is all about do not worry do not worry because the Lord will provide for you now this doesn’t give us license to be poor stewards but it does free us up to minister to today’s needs and to store up treasure in heaven now someone will someone might also say like tevya I’d like to serve the Lord but I need to First achieve a certain Financial goal once I do that then I’ll get serious about seeking Treasures in Heaven this is complete folly you may not even be alive tomorrow and then what will all of your accumulated wealth mean for you besides if you don’t love the Lord enough now to serve him and seek him and his treasures when you’re your Earthly wealth is small but what makes you think you will want to serve him when your Earthly wealth and material Comforts have increased I’m sure there are many more questions we could raise and other applications we could speak about but this will have to do let us now speak to the Lord in prayer oh Lord what a beautifully sobering Passage God if we cling to Earthly Treasures this is like a dagger but a good one Lord because we’ve got to get away from them we’ve got to stop seeking the Earthly Treasures oh Lord God it is just amazing that we really can amass Treasures in Heaven Treasures with you you call us to do that God what a sweet and wonderful thing you do not forget our righteous Deeds you do not forget the good things that we do you are taking note of them and you are rewarding each one of them what do we do the all these things only by your spirit we can never do them by any of our own strength and yet God let this be our motivation let God I pray that all the people listening here would really believe that there are Treasures in Heaven for their obedience and that they would amass those things that they would seek those things that they would love to just do more and more of that and not get caught up amassing the treasures on Earth oh Lord God you are glorious thank you for this word in Jesus name amen

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