Sermon on the Mount

Open your bibles. We are going to read from Matthew chapter 6. We're carrying on, as I said, the start in our series on the sermon in the Mount. Jesus is teaching us all sorts of things. Could be reading from verse 19.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in in steel. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where Moths and Vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in in steel. For where your treasure is, There your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

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? No 1 can serve 2 masters. Either you'll hate the 1 and love the other, or you'll be devoted to 1 and despise the other. You cannot serve both god.

And money. Well, good evening from me. My name is Rory for those who don't know me, and may I add my welcome to you? And we're carrying on with this this amazing sermon on the mount, so we're gonna pray, and then we're gonna get stuck into it. Let's pray father.

We thank you so much for your word. We thank you that It is relevant now. We thank you that it is truth. We thank you that within it, we may live lives that honor you. And so we pray now that as we consider these verses in Matthew chapter 6, that you will help us to understand that we may be encouraged to continue living for Christ, that we will be longing to live for him above all others.

And so we pray that you'll help us now as we consider these verses. In Jesus' name, our man. So I thought I would begin with a quote. So before I came tonight. I got reminded of a quote from a bloke called Tim Keller, who's a pastor in America, And I was looking for a bigger quote, but I found this tweet, and I thought I'd start with this tweet and if I have enough time, I'll end with the quote.

Okay? So here's the tweet that he he tweeted. You don't get to decide to worship. Everyone worships something The only choice you get is what to worship. Calle repeat it in case you weren't awake.

You don't get to decide to worship. Everyone worships something, everyone. The only choice you get is what to worship. In other words, every single person, everyone in this room, everyone tuning in at home, We'll choose to worship something. We'll choose to live their life for something.

We'll choose to want something, to desire something, to pursue something. And so the question I'm asking tonight is, what is it that you choose to worship. What is it that you're pursuing? What is it that informs your decisions? What is that that informs your priorities.

What is it that you have your eye on that is the most important thing in your life? Now we've been listening to Jesus go through this this amazing sermon on the Mount. And what he wants is his disciples, is the people that follow him to have him and his kingdom at the core of everything. He wants them to have Kingdom perspectives. He wants them to be fully focused on him.

He wants them to live for him. He wants them to be totally faithful and completely loyal to him. And so that's what he's sort of dealing with in these verses that we have here. He wants us to worship him. He wants us to be about him.

He wants us to find our meaning in him. And so he uses 3 metaphors to drive this home, 3 metaphors. And so the first 1, is where's your treasure? Where's your treasure? That's my first point.

Where's your treasure? Look with me at verse 19 to 21. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moss and vermin do not destroy. And where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So the first metaphor that Jesus starts talking about is where are you gonna store your treasure. And sort of linked to that is what is your treasure? Where is it that you will store your treasure And what is your treasure? Now, I guess we're all very familiar.

We're trying to keep our possessions safe. I I imagine the majority of us here and some of us aren't so successful at keeping our possessions safe as others. But we try and keep them safe, so we might use we I guess, we've all got bank accounts unless we're completely crazy, or or we've all got keys to to lock up our homes, to make sure that nothing robbed from home. We've all got keys for our cars. Well, actually, you know, to lock in locks and on locks, but also, obviously, we need it to drive.

So we know what it means to keep our possessions safe. And we know what possessions we want to keep safe. What ones do we put most value upon? But the question here that Jesus is asking, is will you store your treasures on earth, or will you store them in heaven? Will you pursue earthly treasures, or will you pursue heavenly treasures.

Will you go for the temporary, or will you go for the eternal? And what Jesus is saying here is that if you store your treasures in Earth, if you pursue earthly treasure, they will never last. I mean, if you look down at the the passage, it says, where moths and vermin destroy. So the idea here is that you you you you sort of invest your life in getting these really costly, precisely rich oriental garments. But if you have these beautiful garments, listen, if a moth gets to them, And when a moth sees that lovely little bit of garment, it's gonna go to town on it.

Otherwise, it it shouldn't be called a moth. Or Vermin. The idea here is that if a lot of people would have had farms, and they would have had their store houses with all the supplies and all the products in, And then a little rat if I don't know if you ever had a rat, it's 1 of the worst things ever. A little rat gets in and it starts to go town on that on that on those supplies. Well, you might you've even seen, like you know, when when you see the I don't know if anyone saw A couple years back that David Attenborough show, and there there was those locusts, and they just devour everything.

In other in other translations, it talks about rust and and and there's this idea that if you've got some precious metal, listen, it won't last. It's gonna it's gonna rust. So in other words, things in this world, treasures in this world, storing things in this world, it's never gonna last. In even in your lifetime, they don't last. I mean, it's the same today.

You buy a nice little a nice little bit of clothing, a nice t shirt, They will fade. If you get certain size, they rip. Okay? In in I mean, when you're in school and your trousers ripped, you were absolutely devastated. They fade.

They they get holes in, moss still gets them. They're still around. We had a rat in our house. We've had mice that gusting little things. I mean, and then we we now have better equipment, I suppose, and we have very precious technological things.

I mean, if you look at my phone though, you'll see crack down the side of it because I didn't look after it. I had a case. I took the case off. Why did I take the case off? And now it smashed?

Every phone I've had, iPhone I've had has broken. In fact, I think I'm pretty sure they're designed to break, so they're rubbish hate it. Or maybe it's it's just money, but the thing is money can't last as well. Sometimes money loses its value. You think about inflation.

I mean, you just need to look in this world and look throughout history, and you will see that there are companies And they're they're they're are individuals that have lost huge amounts of money. I was looking it up. IBM in like 19 90 something lost like 20000000000 pound. I mean, it's incomprehensible. A lot of people professional sports people after they finished their sports career, lose all their money.

Or if if an economic crisis happens, it all goes. If you know anything about Weimar, Germany, which I do, because I'm a history teacher, you will know that when the economic crash happened, the people that were affected the worst were the middle class, and all their savings where they stored their money was gone. Worthless. It just goes. And if it's not destroyed, then it might be stolen.

I had an iPod once. Someone broke into my brother's car and robbed it. It was devastated. Had all my best music on. But thieves, you see here break in and steal.

In those days in in in Palestine, in those days, people had mud sort of baked mud houses, and a thief would come in and chisel away, get in and rob all your stuff. Not that dissimilar now. I remember there was a a heist in London, wasn't there where they tried to rob a bank and they got a huge drill to drill in and try and rob all the money. I looked up another place. 1 of the worst armed robberies of a bank was the Dunbar armored robbery, lovely name in America.

Where they stole 18900000.0 dollars, which today is about 35000000. So it might not get destroyed in this world, but your possessions, your riches will certainly it will could also be could also be stolen. Now okay. Fine. If this things don't happen in your lifetime, Well, certainly, when you die, you're not taking these things with you.

So death is the last thief. I mean, I mean, many people have tried to take lessons with them. The Vikings used to do this. They used to get buried with their stuff. Tooting Car Moon.

He said, oh, I'll take all my stuff with me. They used to actually kit like Berry slaves with them as well for their afterlife. A bit harsh on the slave. But did they take it with them? Well, I can tell you no because you can go into London, into the museum, and you can see their stuff is there.

So what crisis say in here is that it is foolish to store up treasures in earth. To pursue the things of this earth as an ultimate thing is foolish. Rather verse 20, store up treasures in heaven. Why? Well, if you look down at his words, it says where moss and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in in steel.

The reason why you wanna store up things in heaven is because it's eternal. The reason you wanna store things up in heaven because they will last forever. It's worth storing up in this bank account because this will never be penetrated by a thief. This will never be penetrated by a moth or vermin. It's secure.

It's safe. It's eternal. And the bible really really does an amazing picture of of showing us what these these this eternity will look like both in a physical sense, and a in a in a spiritual sense. And so you can go throughout scripture, and you can see the metaphorical language, things like in I think it's in anxiety where it says, you know, the the the the wolf will lie down with the lamb or the lamb will lie lie down with the lamb. Right?

There's peace, there is joy, there is happiness. When you get to revelation, it's just wonderful imagery where it says There will be no more crying. It will be an end of crying, end of weeping, no more tears, no more mourning, no more death. It's eternal. And the ultimate treasure of heaven is Christ.

Is God the Father. If you go to Revelation, the pinnacle of heaven is that God says, I will be there God and they will be my people. At the at the center point of the this new garden city, if you read revelation, it's a wonderful picture is Christ. Is God the Father. That is the ultimate treasure.

And so Jesus says in verse 21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. See, what you value what you value the most is the thing that will govern you. What you cherish is the thing that's gonna take up all your time. And if it's the things of this world, Then that is the thing that you'll be thinking of. That is the things that you'll be desiring.

That are the things that you'll be spending your time planning on getting. But you've gotta hear me, it's only temporary. But if you value Christ and his kingdom to come, then you will get eternal treasure. Now that, for me, I don't know about you, But that for me seems like a no brainer. I could go for the the temporary or I could have the eternal.

I could go over the thing that lasts a few years or I could go over the thing that is boundless and lasting. I was reading Don Carson, and he says, ask yourself this. How important will contemporary transient, in other words, they don't last. How important will contemporary transient values How important will they appear to us in 50000000000 trillion millennia? Gosh.

After all that time, I don't think you'll be looking back going on. I wish I'd really live my life for a couple more bob. Now, what I'm not saying is that I'm not saying that all riches and possessions are bad. Don't hear me wrong here. I'm not I'm gonna just a pop at riches.

Because I think they are good. They're God given gifts. In fact, in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 17 to 19, it says this. Command those who are rich in this present world, not to be arrogant nor to put their hope and wealth, which is so uncertain. We've seen it some But to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment, command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

In this way, They will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the Come Engage so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. So I'm not having a go at riches and possessions, and and neither's Christ in 1 sense. In fact, he says, you can use your your possessions and your wealth and your riches in this age to store up heaven treasures in heaven in the next age. And and many people have done that. Many people have given money to see the furtherance of the gospel, to see people saved, to see people welcomed, to see people healed, and they will reap the benefit in glory to come.

So we're not against riches and possessions, but If that is your ultimate in life. If that's the thing that you're all about. If you're only about getting a load of money so you can go skiing in the out. If you're all about getting a load of money so you can buy a nice car like a jaguar or something. If you're all about getting so much money that you can retire and go on a yachting holiday constantly.

That's all your life is consumed by. Then Jesus says, that will be it for you. It's temporary. It will not last. So ask ask yourself, where are you storing up treasure?

What is it that is your ultimate value. And the way you think the way you you might wanna find out the answer to this question is Think about your deepest desires. Think about think about your deepest desires. Study them. And when you discover when you study those deepest desires, you'll see what your treasure is.

So what is it, as I said, that consumes your time? What is it that you daydream out. You know when you go into screen saver mode? Some of you might have gone into screen saver mode right now. Often when I teach kids to do, where they have that I call it the soulless luck you might have heard about it.

So yeah. Stop out of it if you ask you. And you're going that thing, and what is it that you're thinking about? And daydreaming about? Is it and it doesn't just have to be rich?

Is it might be our popularity or or my kids and how I I want my kids to succeed or what is it? What is it that you think about? What is it that you that informs your decisions? Now 1 of the ways that if especially if you're a young person, you've got you're on social media or you like to watch videos on YouTube or something, That might be a good indicator of what your treasure is. Now, that's good because if you go into the search page, you'll get a whole load of things And it goes down and down and down and down, and this is a danger because you're scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, and it just has everything that you want.

So what is it that's on that page that's tailored to you saying, watch me, watch this, have this, have that. What is it in your life? That you're filled with your life that you are all about. Is it Christ? Is he of ultimate value to you or is it things of this world?

Well, Christ says, If it's the things of this world, it will not last. But if it is me, then it will last forever. So how do we make sure that our treasure is in heaven? How do we make sure that our treasure is in heaven? Well, here's my second point.

They're all questions. How's your eyes? I looked at you and you've got glasses on. So terrible. Actually, with the glasses are good.

How's your eyes? How's your eyes? Look with me at verse 22 to verse 23. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

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 the darkness? So here's the picture. You've got a lamp or or maybe a window. And we all know that if you light a lamp or if you have a nice clean window that allows light into the whole room and it lights the whole room up.

Right? Nice and easy. Jesus is very good to us because he gives us nice and simple examples for us to follow. But if the lamp is poor, Maybe it's 1 of those terrible energy lights. You remember those energy?

I don't know if anyone's got them anymore, and you switch them on. You're like, is that working? In those days, it might have been a non trimmed wick. Or or it you know, when you go to have you ever seen factories that, you know, plug out horrible sutt and some and they they just cover the the window with soot and grime. And if that's the case, then the room will not be lit up.

There's darkness. And what Jesus is saying is that the eye is like a lamp or a window, and the room is the body. And if your eye is healthy, then your body will be illuminated. Your body will be full of light. Now what does it mean for your eye to be healthy?

Well, the King James version actually translates healthy as single. Single. In other words, the eye is single focus. The eye is not divided. It it it has 1 vision.

It fixes itself on 1 place. If I look at colossians chapter 3, verse 1 to 2. Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. It's not set your my set your eyes on Christ and a few trinkets.

It's set your eyes on Christ at your hearts on things above, set your mind on him. So your eyes are not on this word if there are a healthy eye, if your eye as well if you go to the opticians and they say it's a healthy eye, that's because you can see the letters at the end of the old room that you're in. Well, just like that, in a spiritual sense, if your eye is healthy, it will be focused on Jesus Christ and on the world that is to come. It will be your eyes will be fixed on the 1 who called himself the light of the world in John chapter 8. And as we look at Christ, as we look at the light of the world, as we look at him just like a window of its open and its cleaner brings in light into the room, as we look at Christ, the light of the world, our bodies will be full of light.

What does it mean then to be filled with light? Well, when we go to the bible and it talks about being filled with light, it's about revelation. It's about having the truth of God's words. It's about as I get God's word and I get his truth, then I live a life that is pure. We radiate light then.

It's interesting that Just a chapter before, if you look back at Matthew chapter 5, and verse 14, it says, you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. And then in verse 16, in the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. See, as you look at Christ, As you listen iced, as you bring yourself before his word, you will understand what it means to live as his follower. You will understand what is true.

You will understand what pleases him. You will understand why that is the best way to live And when you understand that and you understand how grating this and lovely he is, then I will live a life that is pure for him. That is what it's like to have a healthy eye. As I have a single focus on Jesus, I will realize how beautiful and glorious he is, and I will store up my treasures there. So what's the opposite to this?

Verse 23, if your eyes are unhealthy, And the opposite to a healthy eye, the 1 that was a single focus is a double vision. Is a double vision. It's an eye that that looks all around at everything in the world. It's an eye that looks That that trinket there and and that treasure there and, oh, I want a bit of this and I want a bit of that. It's an eye that that that cannot see past the world that it is in.

It only can see what is around them. So what's the result? Or just like the grimy, sooty factory window. There is darkness. There is darkness in the body.

There is darkness to Christ There is a darkening to the future world that is to come. And so because there is a darkening, because your your eyes are just focused on all these little things, and and what what can I get in this world that that that you know, might give me some sort of meaning, I suppose, you have no sense of truth and you have no sense of right living? And just like if you were in the dark, and you're trying to walk around in the dark, you're gonna be whacking chose and you're gonna be smashing into things. I did this when I was at university, actually. I had 1 of my clumsiest weeks at university.

And I thought it was a great idea to run into my room in the pitch black to get something. And unfortunately, I wasn't a bit of a a mucky person at that time. I'm much better now as you can all see. Look at how I present myself. I've run into the room.

I've tripped over something, and I've put my foot down to stop myself falling, and I've again, things don't last. I've smashed my laptop screen. Yeah. So here's that's 2 illustrations for you. Don't run around in the dark.

You'll hurt yourself, and things don't last. But that's what happens when you're in the dark. You're you're bumming around. You're just trying to make sense of it all, but you can't. And you then have them go, oh, well, I'll just live there anything.

See, if your eyes are on the treasures of this world, you'll be completely blind to the treasures of the next world. You'll just be so consumed with this world that you won't even appreciate that there's something to come. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6 to 10 says this. Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation, and a trap, and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves. With many griefs.

See the two's perspectives there? I can either live for the world that has to come, recognizing that it's not worth just trying to acquire things in this life. And just live for the next, or I can pursue the things of this world in darkness, to my ruin and to my destruction. So how are your eyes? How's your eyes?

What are you looking at? What are you looking at? Are you single focused? Or have you got divided vision. See, what your eye is on is what is gonna master you.

What your eyes on is what go is gonna master you. And so here's my third question. Which master will you serve? Which master will you serve? Look with me at verse 24.

No 1 can serve 2 masters. Either you will hate the 1 and love the other, or you will be devoted to the 1 despise the other you cannot serve both God and money. Now the image that Jesus is trying to bring to us here is not like a a servant or an employer with an employee to a sense. It's more like a slave with his owner. And if you know about slaves in these days, they only had 1 owner.

They weren't part shared by they weren't going, okay. Well, I've done my work for you, mate. I'm now gonna go to my other owner. Doesn't work like You have 1 owner. So Jesus is saying you've got 1 owner.

You got 1 master. And and the language about love and hate and and despising 1 and and devoted to the other. Actually, it's it's a common technique used in this sort of language. Right? So you might remember when Jesus says, you know, whoever doesn't hate his family, basically, won't get into won't get into the kingdom.

But he's not saying you actually have to, you know, beat your parents up. He's saying that actually, it's about intensely preparing 1 thing over another. And so, what is it that you're gonna prefer? Which 1 are you gonna choose? Which master are you gonna serve?

Which master will you come underneath? And live for. And look at the 2 masses that God puts forward at the end of verse 24. You cannot serve both God and money. Now that word money is actually mammon.

And the original meaning of that word, mammon is things to put your confidence in. Things to put your confidence in. And what then happened to that word is it kind of evolved into all material possessions. And I guess it it it went into all material possessions because that is the thing that man and woman ultimately put their trust in, their confidence in to save themselves. And so Jesus is saying, the master you choose to serve is the 1 you're gonna put your confidence in, is the 1 you're gonna put your trust in.

But you can't serve both. See, if you try and try and serve both. You'll just be so pulled apart that you just end up choosing 1 over the other. If you try and serve both, what usually happens is 1 will be means to serve the other. It's just a means for me to serve the other.

So I could either go, yeah. Okay. I I kinda like God, but it's just a means for me to be successful. You get a lot of people like this, actually. A lot of The lads that I know who who play football and for for the academy at at Chelsea football club, It's all like, in God we trust.

And then you think, well, what god are you trusting in now? It doesn't matter. 1 lad. He will never listen to this. He's got Psalm 23 written on his on his on his thing, on his arm, tattooed.

So odd, you know, you're familiar with that Tsarma. You know, I've got a clue about it. It's just a means for him to be successful in football. Or it might be the other way. I might have money, and I might use it to serve God.

But it'll never be both. You can't serve 2. You can't play for 2 sports teams. It'd be that that's impossible to do. You know, you can't pay for 2 Premier League clubs.

Or if you're a lawyer, you can't you can't both the defendant and the prosecution, that would be weird. Right? Your honor, this man is guilty, your honor, this man is innocent. What which 1 is it? Yeah?

You can't do both. You can't serve both. So what master are you serving? What master are you living for? What master are you worshiping?

What master are you trusting in? Think about it. Think about your master. When you have to make a decision, which master do you listen to? So for instance, when a crisis hits your life, who do you show your allegiances with?

When when maybe you've you you've faced a financial difficulty, do you then turn to money and things to sort yourself out when you're would you turn to the things of this world, whether that's popularity or the the self help book. Is they the things that you turn to? Are you turning to the treasures of this world to sort your life out, or do you listen to God's words? When when you're faced with a prospect of maybe getting a new job. What is it that it's direct you.

What is it that you're listening who is it that you're listening to? Are you listening to the voice that says, look, this is a good idea to get a new job because listen, you're gonna get a 10 grand pay rise. And that means that you can buy lots of new stuff. Or do you think what an opportunity this is for me to serve the lord? Is this a position that I can take to serve Christ?

When you're thinking about a new house, are you thinking Well, I'd love a new house, a bit more space to store my all my stuff, get a snooker table, maybe have a pool. Am I thinking like that? And actually, I can compete with those who are sort of my equals. Or are you thinking, how can I serve Christ if I buy this new house? Can I use this house to be hospitable?

Can I use this house to be welcoming? Can I use this house as a place where we tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ? Think about it. Christ says, Surerve God. Christ says, focus on him.

Christ says, Store your treasures in him. Make him your treasure. And you'll see in chapter 5 in verse 33, it says seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. I'm gonna end on this on this quote here by Kelly. I don't know how long I'll get through it, but this is this is the actual quote I was looking for.

Here's what Keller says. Everything has got to live for everybody, sorry, has got to live for something. But Jesus is arguing that if he has not that thing It will fail you. First, it will enslave you. It will be your master.

Whatever that thing is, you will tell yourself that you have to have it or there is no tomorrow. That means that if anything threatens it, you will become inordinately scared. If anyone blocks it, you will become inordinately angry. And if you fail to achieve it, you will never be able to forgive yourself But second, if you do achieve it, it will fail to deliver the fulfillment you expected because it's temporary. He then goes on to quote, a man called David Foster Wallace, who says everybody worships.

But if it's not God, it will eat you alive. And what did he do He commits suicide. It means it's just so empty. It doesn't offer it doesn't if it's your ultimate stuff, it will never feel what it promises. He ends like this.

Jesus says, Unless you're worshiping me, unless I'm the center of your life, unless you're trying to get your spiritual thirst quench through me, and not through these other things Unless you see that the solution must come inside rather than just pass by outside, then whatever you worship will abandon you in the end. If Christ is not your greatest treasure. If Christ is not the thing that you focus on, if Christ is not the 1 that you choose to serve, then, ultimately, you'll be dissatisfied. Ultimately, you will have no meaning. Ultimately, you'll be destroyed.

So maybe you're here and you've never did Christ. Maybe you're here and you realize that you've just been living for all of these things in this world, that you've been chasing at at all of these things. You've been worshiping and living your life for all of these things, and you've never found satisfaction. You've never been fulfilled. Well, look at Christ.

He says, if you want real treasure, that last forever. If you want a master that will never let you down, then put your trust in me, not on the things of this world. And maybe you're here tonight and you've trusted in the lord Jesus Christ to be your Savior. But like all of us, you realize that there are times where you take your eyes at the price. And when you take your eyes at the price, you start to live for the things of this world.

Well, then may I encourage you to repent to refocus on the lord Jesus Christ? Look at him and say, wow. There is something truly glorious. Wow. There is someone who truly satisfies me.

Wow. There is true treasure in him. There is 1 who never lets me down. And as you refocus on him, as you look to the light of the world, be filled with light, and live a life for him. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for these these words, and we pray that you will help us to heed them. We pray that we will not be people who seek to store up treasures in this world. But actually, we look to a better world, a better treasure, the lord Jesus Christ, We pray that we will look to serve him over the things of this world. And so we pray that you will help us with this now in Jesus' name, amen.