Testing for Greed – pt 2 (Matthew 6:19-24)
Testing For Greed – part 2
Matthew 6:19-24
Last time we met we started this penetrating text of Jesus
As He continued to address the importance
Of not storing up treasure here on earth.
Jesus opened the chapter by saying:
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
He told us that there is a real danger that you and I
Could achieve something here on earth, but be a pauper in heaven.
He then revealed this danger in a spiritual sense through:
Hypocritical Giving
Hypocritical Prayer
Hypocritical Fasting
All of which accumulate treasure here, but gain no reward there.
But those aren’t the only areas in which we store earthly treasure.
We also do it with our money.
And so last week Jesus left the concept of religion
And introduced the concept of GREED.
And again, I don’t have to spend any time trying to convince you that
Greed is a sin and that is heinous in the sight of God.
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”
So we don’t have to spend any time this morning
Trying to drive that point home any harder than that.
Instead the issue before us is not determining what greed is,
Or even if greed is bad.
All we are trying to do is determine if we have greed in our own lives.
And for that we find here three scenarios
By which we can evaluate our lives.
(Three questions regarding money)
We saw the first last week, – DO YOU STORE IT?
Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
And as we said then, the Greek word for “store up”
And the Greek word for “treasures” is the same word.
Only once it is used as a verb and once it is used as a noun.
Literally Jesus was saying, “Do not treasure your treasure.”
It is not that having treasure is wrong.
It is not that having a savings is wrong.
The danger comes when you get in to protection mode.
And Jesus even gave His reasoning
As to why you should not treasure this treasure.
The reason is because you can’t keep it.
“moth and rust destroy, and…thieves break in and steal”
And we talked about that in Jesus’ day wealth was measured in three main ways, GARMENTS – GRAIN – GOLD.
If you put your wealth in garments, the moth will eat it.
If you put your wealth in grain, the varmints will eat it (rust translates brosis – “to eat”)
If you put your wealth in gold, thieves will steal it.
Your treasure isn’t secure here,
And Jesus wants you to keep your treasure.
Furthermore living solely to protect this treasure
Will cause you inevitably to pass over someone who genuinely needed it.
And God’s instruction to the rich has been clear.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.”
Which is of course exactly what Jesus said.
If you want your treasure to be secure, then store it up in heaven.
Be generous, share, so that you can store up treasure in a place
“where neither moth nor rust destroys,
and where thieves do not break in or steal;”
And so we remember why Jesus told us not to treasure our treasure here.
And then He revealed the danger
That comes along with treasuring our treasure.
(21) “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Your heart follows your treasure.
And if you store up treasure and begin to treasure it,
Then eventually it will pull your heart away from God.
And we saw the rich young ruler who could not follow Christ
Because his treasure had already stolen his heart.
And that was the first scenario.
Do you wonder if you have greed, then ask yourself this question in regard to your money: “DO I STORE IT?”
If so, then greed is present, and it must be dealt with.
But as you noticed, there are two more scenarios by which we evaluate our lives.
Do you store it?
#2 DO YOU SEEK IT?
Matthew 6:22-23
Supposing you passed the first test, lets look at the second.
And the reason for another test is that the first one is incomplete.
The first test is designed only to reveal greed in the life of the rich. In fact a poor man reads that statement and instantly says,
“That’s not me”.
A poor man doesn’t even have money, let alone money set aside.
And so to talk to him about storing his treasure is without application.
And a poor man can breeze through that first test and say,
“I passed with flying colors, I haven’t stored anything.”
But that doesn’t let the poor man off the hook.
Because the second scenario can apply to any heart,
No matter if that person is rich or poor.
Now we are not dealing with the storage of treasure,
We are dealing with the desire for it.
And Jesus even gives a unique analogy for desire.
(22) “The eye is the lamp of the body”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
WHAT DOES A LAMP DO TO A ROOM?
It brightens the room.
It illuminates what could not otherwise be seen.
And so initially we learn that our eye is an indicator of our heart.
Our eye provides insight into our heart.
WHY THE EYE?
It is with the eye that we SEE and RECOGNIZE and even SEEK.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “His eyes lit up when he saw…”?
It indicates that he liked or wanted what he saw.
Maybe you have heard the concept of
Something making someone’s eye twinkle.
It is the concept of revealing desire.
That is what the eye does.
The eye is a revealer of the heart.
If the eye wants it, then it is clear that the heart wants it.
The eye also signifies our focus and our purpose.
It is in an indicator of what we are seeking.
“That really caught my eye”
(Well it wouldn’t have caught your eye if your heart wasn’t interested)
And so it helps us understand what Jesus is talking about here.
“The eye is the lamp of the body”
In other words, what your eye desires
Is an indicator of what your heart desires.
And is therefore an indicator of what type of heart you have.
Then Jesus continues.
“so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”
“clear” translates HAPLOUS
“simple” or “single” – some see it as meaning “pure”
The man who only seeks the things of God with his heart,
Will therefore only want the things of God with his eyes.
If your eye is only looking for the things of God…
If your eye is only looking for opportunities to serve God…
If your eye is only looking for opportunities to grow the kingdom…
If your eye is only looking for opportunities to store up treasure in heaven…
Then rest assured your heart is clean.
Rest assured “your whole body will be full of light.”
If all you are looking for with your eyes is spiritual treasure,
Then you can know your heart is in the right place.
(23) ”BUT if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”
This brings the opposite connotation.
“bad” translates PONEROS
“toilsome” or “laborious”
Instead of an eye that is singular wanting only the things of God.
This is an eye that is greedy wanting everything it sees.
It is an eye that literally wares itself out seeing all the stuff it wants.
It is the eye that no sooner gets what it craved,
Than it is already craving something new.
The advertising industry thrives on this type of eye.
Ever sat with a child while watching Saturday morning cartoons?
Every commercial will feature some new toy,
And your child will want every toy that is featured.
And the problem is that the eye that is “bad”
Or laboring to achieve everything else
Indicates a heart that desires the world.
An eye that wants all that stuff indicates a corrupt and idolatrous heart.
And that is dangerous, for notice what Jesus says next.
“If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
In case you missed it,
That is a thought provoking statement.
Jesus knows that if He simply asked the people
About the condition of their heart, they would all say, “My heart is good”.
No one would say, “I’ve got a corrupt heart.”
Jesus knew that by in large everyone thought they had a good heart.
And so Jesus gives a piece of penetrating logic.
If your eye is bad, that is in an indicator that your heart is bad.
But you thought your heart was good.
So if what you thought was good was really bad, how bad are you?
AND DO YOU SEE THE DANGER THERE?
First we learned that your greed will pull your heart away from God.
Here we learn that greed will blind you
To your true spiritual condition.
Let’s go again to the rich young ruler.
Matthew 19:16-20 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
Is that not fascinating?
Here is a man who rejected Christ.
Here is a man who chose sin over righteousness.
Here is a man who refused to submit his life to Christ.
Yet, when he evaluated his own life, he thought he was good.
It is obvious that he had absolutely no spiritual discernment.
His greed had blinded his true spiritual condition.
He couldn’t even see what he was.
And so you see why greed is so dangerous.
Not only will it lead you away from God,
But it will lead you away from God without you even realizing it.
1 Timothy 6:7-10 “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. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
DID YOU CATCH THAT?
“some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
REMEMBER GEHAZI?
That servant of Elisha who decided to go ahead
And charge Naaman the leper for his cleansing.
Gehazi was inflicted with Naaman’s leprosy until the day of his death.
AND YOU SEE GREED ISN’T LIMITED TO THE RICH.
Here we are not talking about people who have money.
We are talking about people who want money.
And we definitely see it in our day.
Sometime go to Allsups and watch the poor line up to buy lottery tickets.
(Don’t be shocked like you though buying lottery tickets was a spiritual thing)
Sometime go to one of these cities of legalized gambling and watch the poor feeding slot machines.
WHY DO THEY DO THAT?
For the chance dream of winning a million.
Friend you would be far better off to put your dollar
Towards feeding the poor, or towards funding missions,
For there you are guaranteed to get a treasure.
But it is just another indicator of a carnal greedy heart.
AM I GREEDY?
Well, let’s ask a couple of questions about money.
Do you store it?
Do you seek it?
If you are forced to answer yes, then greed is present in your heart.
And again Scripture says that is idolatry.
#3 DO YOU SERVE IT?
Matthew 6:24
What do you mean, do I serve it?
Well, is it your master?
Are you continually caught having to shift your life
In order to make money to obtain the things you want?
Or even better yet, are you continually having to shift your life
In order to pay for the things you already have?
All of a sudden your treasure has become your master.
Now I know this one is tricky, and I don’t want you to misunderstand me here.
Scripture does not say that work is wrong.
Nor does Scripture say that it is wrong to work
In order to provide for your family.
In fact Scripture places a high value on work.
DO YOU REALIZE THAT WORK WAS INITIATED BEFORE THE FALL?
Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”
God has always intended that you and I work.
Proverbs 6:6-11 “Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest” — Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.”
Proverbs 14:4 “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.”
Proverbs 12:11 “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.”
We even see this in the New Testament.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.”
Furthermore Scripture teaches that one of the reasons we work
Is to provide for our families.
1 Timothy 5:4 “but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.”
1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
2 Corinthians 12:14 “Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.”
And so I am not saying that if you have to work to provide
Then you are somehow a servant to your money.
No, work indicates a service to your family.
The problem occurs when you have to work more than necessary,
Because aside from providing for your family,
You are also trying to obtain the world.
And I don’t think it is all that hard to tell the difference.
Does your work keep you away from your family?
Does your work prohibit you from serving God?
Work is a gift from God as His way of providing for us,
But when we are so intent on obtaining the world
That we become a slave to it, then we have a new master.
And that again is obviously idolatry.
And it is impossible to be there and be a servant of God.
“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.”
And isn’t that true?
Have you ever had your money cause you to despise God?
Let me give you an example.
You have something you want to buy,
Maybe you have started saving, maybe you are about to.
And all of a sudden some mission offering comes up at the church,
Or some benevolent need arises.
And now you are mad
Because God wants you to give to those causes
And it means you might not get that thing you wanted.
It caused you to despise God.
You see, you can’t have it both ways.
If you are serving wealth, then you are not serving God,
Because it is impossible to do so.
That is what Jesus said in the parable of the soils.
Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
And there one more time we understand the danger of greed.
• It pulls your heart away from God.
• It clouds your own spiritual discernment.
• It not only renders you incapable of service, but will also cause you to hate God.
And how do I know if I have greed?
• Do I store money?
• Do I seek money?
• Do I serve money?
And friend if greed is found present in your life,
Then you need to run to Christ and not only ask for forgiveness,
But also for cleansing.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Jesus will fix your heart.
And now I want to close with what I think is one of the greatest lessons on the struggle with money in all of Scripture.
Many of you are already familiar with it.
TURN TO: PSALMS 73
(we obviously can’t cover it in extreme depth, but we can get the point)
This morning if greed is present in your life,
Then you need what Asaph needed.
You need to spend time in the sanctuary of God
And let God show you the “end” of the greedy.
And when you see that,
You will wonder why you ever wanted to be rich,
And you will see the tremendous value it is in knowing Christ.
So this morning, draw near to God, and let Him change your heart.
Until you and I can say with Asaph:
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
