“A Christian’s Wealth” – Matthew 6:19-24

We are going to be talking about money today and so, in preparation, I researched (googled) what people would do for $100.  I found a website that asked this question and then gave some scenarios.  Don’t worry.  I’ll save you from the really gross ones that will haunt me forever.  Here we go.  Would you do these things for $100?

Punch your dad?  Say “I Love You” to the person making your burrito at Chipotle?  Not bathe for a week?  Eat a bar of soap?  Eat a USED bar of soap?  Call your boss “Daddy” for a week?  Shave all the hair on your head including eyebrows?  Let a toddler shave your legs? Introduce yourself as “Satan” for a month?

That’s all I’m going to read to you.  There were over one hundred of them which just proves that some people have way too much time on their hands.  I have another question for you.  I think it’s a much better question and will tell much more about you.  The question is, what would you do with the $100.  We know what you might do for it.  Now what would you do with it?

The question of what you would do for it might help answer how crazy you are.  The question of what you might do with it might answer how wise you are.  For some people, $100 might not be much and for some others they might think if they just had $100 all their problems would be solved.  How you use your money is a direct reflection of your wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 says, “Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.”  In other words, wisdom and money are both helpful but only wisdom can really save.  The million-dollar question is what is true wealth and what is true wisdom?  I say often that everybody wants to know the truth.  Nobody wants to be misled or lied to about anything and especially when it comes to money or anything that really matters.  What is the truth?

The Bible is truth.  It is our rock.  It is infallible and inerrant and is what we have to help us know exactly what truth is. And it has a lot to say about money.  It is a subject that Jesus Himself often brought up and we see in Matthew chapter 6 another instance of this as He preaches His famous Sermon on the Mount.  We are continuing to look at what Jesus taught because we, as disciples of Jesus, know that to be a disciple it means to learn from Jesus and then to teach others what we have learned.

The Sermon on the Mount is a great place for us disciples to just have a seat here on the side of the hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee and gaze up as the Master teaches in Matthew 6:19-24 about the subject of money.   

Matthew 6:19-24 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

There are three paragraphs here and despite the fact that some people see at least two different trains of thought here, I see it all being one train of thought with three points.  Jesus was a pretty good preacher and He knew how to break things down into three points.  If you are taking notes, the three points to see here are true wealth, true wisdom and true worship.  (Adrian Rogers outline) 

So, what is true wealth?  How rich is rich?  I read a study that said that over half the people in the US that have assets of 1-5 million dollars do not consider themselves wealthy.  Can you believe that?  Some guy with $5 million in the bank says, “Nah, I’m not wealthy.”  Do you know why that is?  Let’s ask the wisest man who ever lived.  Troy Pittman, what do you think?

No, I’m just kidding.  Troy’s not the wisest man who ever lived.  Solomon was, and Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:10, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.”  It is human nature not to be satisfied with what you have.  Solomon recognized it and he was not only the wisest man but also the wealthiest man to ever live.  So, this is coming from somebody who knew. 

In verse 19 Jesus is literally saying, “Do not treasure treasures here on earth.”  We all know that the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Tim. 6:10) We all know the truth of Proverbs 11:4 that says, “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath.”  And we can all relate to what Solomon said in Proverbs 23:5: “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” 

None of us would admit to loving money.  None of us would dare say we rely solely on wealth and yet money is the cause of as many problems today as it was in the days of Jesus.  We read His words here in verse 20 and we say “Amen!” and we believe it and we vow that we will store up more treasure in Heaven and we will do better about treasuring treasure but the days go by and we have to admit again and again that our heart, as it says in verse 21 is with our earthly treasure.

We have to admit it when we see our bank balance every month and we see where our money goes.  We have to confess it when we step back and look at where we spend our time and how we use our gifts.  Are they being used for the here and now or the yonder later?  “Pastor, that all sounds really good and I want to do that but I’m not sure how.  What does that really look like?”

Well, I’m glad you asked.  Let’s talk about what it means and what it looks like to store up treasures in Heaven.  If we are to invest our assets in spiritual things then that means we need to spend our time, talent and treasure on things going to Heaven.  What goes to Heaven?  Prayer and praise go to Heaven so we need to invest in those for sure and we will talk more about worship in a minute.  But souls also go to Heaven so we should invest our time, money and energy into what is going to get people’s souls there. 

Now, while it is important to invest our time and energy into spiritual things, Jesus says in verse 21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  He’s talking about money specifically.  Where is your heart?  Is it with the church; the hope of the world?  Or is your heart and your money somewhere else?  Now, I can just hear some of you thinking, “Oh, great.  Here it comes.  C’mon Ethel, let’s go.  All this guy ever preaches about is tithing to the church.  Money, money, money!” 

Well, #1, if you have been here any length of time you know that’s not true.  I rarely talk about money.  In fact, I talk about it much less than Jesus did.  I can quote any number of verses that talk about the wisdom of tithing; how the word means “a tenth” and 10% of our gross income is expected of believers but that’s not my message today.  In fact, I am going to tell you something I don’t think I have ever heard a pastor say before in my life.

This church doesn’t need your money.  You heard me.  I’ll say it again.  This church doesn’t need your money.  Do you know why?  This church doesn’t need your money because Jesus said, “I will build My church.”  He didn’t say He will build it if everybody tithes.  He didn’t say if there is enough money in the bank then I will build My church.  Jesus – who is God and who is the Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer and Deliverer and who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and IS LOADED – said He will build His church. 

So, I have to believe that this church lives and dies by His grace and mercy; at His word and by His Spirit this church will grow and thrive leading people in Lake Bridgeport and around the world to have a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. 

So…if God tells you to…give your money to the church down the street…if God tells you to.  Or give your money to support missionaries.  I would rather have a church full of missionary supporters who were obedient to God’s will than a church full of church supporters who thought they were doing this church and God a favor by giving their money. By the way, did you know that our church financially supports five different missionaries and ministries?

See, when Jesus says to store up treasures in Heaven, He is not saying that for the sake of the church.  He is saying it for the sake of the disciple.  He is not saying that we should support the church.  His message is to the person who wants to be blessed; who believes Jesus and wants to have true wealth; a person who wants to know the truth – not the “truth” of the world that changes every time somebody sees dollar signs. 

Maybe somebody should stop me but I have to preach it like I read it and Jesus was not talking about support for the church.  There are other passages that talk about that and we will see some of that but right here, Jesus is concerned for the eternal blessings of His disciples.  Do you want to spend your money on things that don’t satisfy or on things that will?  If you want an eternal inheritance that satisfies eternally; if you want true wealth, then deposit your money where it will do the kind of good that Jesus was doing.   

For your sake, deposit your money where lives are being changed.  For your sake, put your money where people are coming to know the Lord; where people are maturing and growing in Christ.  Deposit it where prayers are being answered.  Give to where marriages are restored.  Give to help the poor and the addicted and the incarcerated.  Is Christ Fellowship a place where all of that happens? 

Yes, it is but don’t give to Christ Fellowship thinking that a few bucks (or lots of bucks) are going to make you and God even for the week.  Don’t give out of guilt.  Don’t give expecting to get anything back in this world.  Deposit your money in the bank of Christ Fellowship – or the church down the street or to missionaries or wherever God leads you – knowing that God sees you and knows your heart like He knew the widow who gave the two mites (Luke 21).  “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”  God sees your heart. 

The church doesn’t need your money but you need to give it and knowing where to give it is the next part of the message Jesus is giving in verses 22 and 23.  Here Jesus turns from talking about our heart to talking about our eyes.  Several times in scripture the eye is equivalent to the heart, metaphorically. 

In Psalm 119 the psalmist says in verse 10, “I seek you with all my heart.”  And then in verse 18 he says, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”  So, Jesus is continuing His thought about how to invest in treasure that will last and says we will know where to invest if we have a “good eye”.

“Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it.”  J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 80.  Read again.  Wisdom!  Wisdom allows us to see where our heart is now and to know where it needs to be.  Just like our physical eyes allow us to see where we are and where we need to be, so do our spiritual eyes gained by wisdom. 

So, where do we get true wisdom?  Science?  Knowledge? School?  Friends?  The world would say yes but remember, everything Jesus said in this sermon is countercultural so don’t bet on any of that. I love how the New Living Translation translates Proverbs 4:7: “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!”  How’s that for a wise proverb?  But the question remains, how do we get it?  How do we get wisdom to know where our treasure is and should be?   

Well, here’s a couple of quick things about wisdom in general.  We all know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom as it says in Psalms and Proverbs.  Also, James says that we can just ask God for wisdom and He will give it generously. (James 1:5) 

Now, let me ask you about this next verse.  1 Chronicles 29:12 says of God, “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.”  Do you believe that?  Do you really believe that God is the source of all wealth?  If you do, raise your hand.  Well, if that is true then why would you not just go to God and ask Him for “good eyes” to see how much you are to give, how much you are to save and how much you are to spend on chrome for the Harley, knowing, believing and trusting that even if God tells you to give more than you think you should, you know He will provide for all your needs? 

Adrian Rogers was one of my favorite preachers and years ago he said, “Sometimes, when I get busy, I find my life not centered on Christ. I'm double‑minded, and I have to take a deep breath and say, "Only You, Lord. I want to be sin­gle‑minded about You." Then I take everything and just give it to Jesus. I give Him my work, my family, all my possessions, my position, my abilities, and even myself. There are times when I struggle with that, so I have to wrestle with my attitude until I can acknowledge Christ as Lord over all. Then it's as though my body is full of light.” 

Isn’t that fascinating?  He felt as though his body was full of light when he had “good eyes” (wisdom) to turn everything over to the One in whom all wealth comes.  That’s why Jesus is saying here that it takes good eyes to see where your treasure is and wisdom brings that trust that allows us to go to God with open hands because everything we have is His and everything He has is ours. (John 17) That’s true wisdom. 

Lastly, let’s see what Jesus says in verse 24 about true worship.  Verse 24 says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”  Notice that He doesn’t say that you shouldn’t serve two masters.  He says you can’t serve two masters.  It is impossible.  It will not happen. 

The word "servant" in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal but is his master's purchased property. Bought to serve his master's needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave's sole business is to do as he is told. (James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.) 

That does not sound like a very good way of life does it?  To be owned by someone else and to be on call for them 24/7 – not me!  I am not owned by anybody, right?  Wrong.  Jesus is saying that you will be owned by one of the two.  Either you will be owned by God or by money. 

Now a lot of people, probably most people would have to disagree with what Jesus is saying here.  They just know it’s not true because they do it all the time.  They serve God on Sundays and they go to work on weekdays.  It’s no problem.  Or they serve God with half of their hearts and money with the other half.  No big deal.  Or they say they serve God but really serve money or they even deny serving anything.  They serve themselves. 

Nowhere does God condemn having stuff, even nice stuff.  1 Timothy 6:17, in fact, says, “God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”  The problem is that when you take that money, that stuff, those good things God has provided and you start to cherish those things more than you cherish your relationship with the Lord.  Let me put it this way.  If you can go to God and say, “God, you can have every part of my life…except this thing”, then “this thing” has become your god.

God says in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another!”  We all just agreed that God is the source of all wealth.  If He is the source, the how dare we pretend to keep some of it from Him.  The thing is that God is not asking for your permission.  He gives and takes away as He sees fit.  He wants your attitude to be right so He can bless you even more, maybe here and now and maybe then and yonder. 

God wants your attitude to be right to have true wealth that comes from depositing your money where the work of God is being done.  He wants you to have true wisdom that gives “good eyes” to see where your treasure is and where it should be.  He demands true worship that says, “God, I give you every part of me and all that I have.  I’m not giving permission.  I’m just agreeing with you that you are the giver and supplier of all wealth and all good things and you can have all that I have because I know that ultimately, all you have is mine.  So I worship you in spirit and in truth and with all that I have.” 

All of that is countercultural.  The world says to get all you can because you deserve it.  But the Bible is truth and it says in Malachi 3:10, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” 

God doesn’t need your money.  This church doesn’t need your money.  As disciples, as we start to grow and mature in our relationship with Jesus, we see His blessings in our lives and will see the eternal blessings in Heaven when our attitude about money is right.  Do you have that relationship with Him today?

I’m not asking if you go to church or if you have been baptized or if your daddy was a deacon or anything else. I’m asking if YOU have admitted to God that you can’t do this. You can’t save yourself nor can you make yourself a better person for any length of time. Surrender to God and ask Him to come into your life and change it; to forgive your sin and clean you up and change your life to be more like Jesus. Do that today and start your relationship with Him right now, as the music plays.