REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain: moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Key verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10:14).
FLIP CHART: John Stott’s outline of SOM.
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust 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 good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, 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 he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
TABLE ACTIVITY: What title would you give to 6:19-34?
INTRODUCTION
John Stott titles 6:18-34 as “A Christians Ambition.” He feels that in this section Jesus warns us against materialism of the irreligious. You will note that “the Gentiles” are on his mind here and the challenge is to renounce their value system.
In the Beatitudes Jesus calls us to a higher righteousness; Then to a broader and deeper love and a deeper piety. Now he calls us to a higher ambition. Mt. 6:19-34 talks about “A Christian’s Ambition.”
Vs. 32 says that the pagans run after all these things, food, drink, clothing, material things. The word for “run after” is often translated “diligently seek, fuss about, aim their life at, be deeply concerned about, clamor for.” Vs. 33: The word “seek” in “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” is the same word. We are to run after, be deeply concerned about, fuss about, aim our life at, the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.
The subject of this entire section is about what should dominate a Christian’s thoughts. Materialism dominates a pagan’s thoughts. The Kingdom of God and His righteousness must dominate a Christian’s thoughts.
Mt. 6:1-18 dealt with the danger of improper practice of spiritual disciplines as illustrated by the religious leaders of the day. Jesus now warns against the materialism of the pagans. Kingdom citizens, those who wish to have a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the Pharisees, must avoid both perils, both pitfalls.
REVIEW:
I. Biblical Support for Private Property
QUESTION: What support for private property in the Scripture?
Abraham was very rich. Job was rich both before and after his trials. God gives us the ability to produce wealth (Deut. 8:18). There are verses in Proverbs challenging us to go to the ants to learn (about work and saving). And there are other Scriptures about working hard, making money, avoiding poverty, and providing for our own families.
II. Our Private Property is Not Our Own
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. (Psalms 24:1-2)
ILL: A girl who grew up in London and never visited the country was finally taken out of the city. While walking in the country she saw some beautiful flowers and asked her chaperone, “Do you think God would mind if I picked one of his flowers?”
OBJECT LESSON: Sticky Note on our credit card: It’s Not My Money.
III. Where Your Treasure is, There Your Heart Will Be Also.
The heart refers to our whole inner man, the core of our total being, the wellspring of all we do. This epigram says that if we follow the focus of our hearts we will discover the state of our heart.
1. What occupies our thoughts when we have nothing else to do? What occupies our day dreams?
2. What is it that we fret about most? What do we worry about? If someone asked us “What is your major concern?” what would you say?
3. Apart from your loved ones, what or whom would you most dread losing?
4. What are the things we measure others by? Do we measure others by clothing? By their education? By their homes? By their athletic prowess? Do we measure others by their success in the business world?
5. What is it that we know we can not be happy without?
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
1. Defining “Treasure” & “Laying Up”
2. Storing Up Treasure on Earth
3. The Folly of Materialism
EARTHLY TREASURES
I. DEFINING “TREASURE” AND “LAYING UP”
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . . 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . . 21 For where your treasure is . . . . .
The Greek word for “treasure” is thesaurus from which we get “thesaurus” which is simply a treasure of synonyms.
Alexander McClaren wrote about treasures: Whatever each man thinks best, that which he most eagerly strives to attain, that which we most dreads to lose, that which, if he has, he thinks he will be blessed, that which, if he has it not, he knows he is discontented. (Expositions of Holy Scripture, VI, 303).
QUESTION: which of these five questions is the most helpful in helping me determine the focus of my heart?
1. What occupies our thoughts when we have nothing else to do? What occupies our day dreams?
2. What is it that we fret and worry about? If someone asked us “What is your major concern?” what would you say?
3. Apart from family, what or whom would you most dread losing?
4. What are the things we measure others by? Clothing? Education? Their homes? Athletic prowess? Success in the business world?
5. What is it that we know we can not be happy without? (Hughes)
The Greek word for “store up” comes from the same Greek word as treasure, e.g. thesaurus so “store up for yourselves treasures on earth” … could be translated “Don’t treasure up treasures.”
Store up / Lay Up – means to gather together and heap up and hoard against the future. In Romans 2:5 it is translated “storing” up wrath.
II. STORING UP TREASURE ON EARTH
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
WEALTH IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
Garments were considered a part of one’s wealth in the Middle East. Today, in some of the world’s poorer countries garments still hold very high value. Remember Achan stealing and hiding the garment (a beautiful robe from Babylonia) in Joshua 7:21-26. Garments were of such importance and value that they were passed down as a family inheritance.
ILL: Growing up with two shirts and two pair of jeans for school. My Indonesian friend who had only two shirts and then wore a different shirt on a trip to another city. A shirt borrowed from a friend.
The word “rust” is an approximate term of the word “eating” and refers to the spoiling action of worms upon food in storage. Food was also a source of wealth, especially in a society that was always concerned about the next meal.
Money and valuables were generally buried in one’s house or sometimes in a field.
What is odd here is that Jesus is speaking to very poor people, and he is telling them not to “store up treasures” on earth.
ILL: Dutchman visiting me in Madiun. The main change he saw from 1953 to 1970 is that now the Javanese farmers all wore shirts. Ngadiun said that the difference between 1965 and 1972 is that all of the village people now wore sandals. Of course the big change today is the large number of motorbikes owned by farmers.
“Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables of Jesus deal with money. One out of ten verses in the NT deals with this subject. Scriptures offer over 500 verses on prayer, fewer than 500 on faith, and over 2000 on money. The believer’s attitude toward money and possessions is determinative.” (MacArthur, 418)
10-15% of everything Christ said related to money and possessions.
Jesus “saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them’” (Luke 21:1).
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mt. 6:33).
MATERIALISM
QUESTION: How do we define “materialism”?
Materialism is the theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and the highest value in life.
QUESTION: Are we materialists? What are some of the signs of materialism?
Some signs of being a materialist:
(1)Anxiety over money as shown in worry, arguing and hassling about money;
(2) Irresponsibility shown in spending more than we earn;
(3) Covetousness, envying what other have and wanting what they have;
(4) Selfishness, no joy in giving, feeling obligated to give;
(5) Greediness, a never ending desire for more;
(6) Discontentment with what we have;
(7) Unfaithful in using our personal wealth for the extension of God’s kingdom.
(John MacArthur)
In 1950, 10% of all income in the USA was spent on luxuries. By 1980 that figure had risen to 30%. By 1990 it had risen to 40%. (MacArthur)
Our treasure today is not just money but our house, lake and mountain home, boat, travel, retirement, 401k, travel, cars, vacations.
ILL: A woman from a poor village in Bangladesh was visiting a Christian family in Toronto. The morning after she arrived she looked out the kitchen window of the people’s home. “Who lives in that house?” she asked the woman from Toronto.
“Which house?”
“That one, right there.”
“Oh, that. No one lives there. That’s a ‘house” for the car.”
The woman from Bangladesh was amazed and baffled. “a house for the car,” she kept saying. “a house for the car.” Picture that woman looking out our kitchen windows and saying, “A house for the cows, a house for the shovels, a house for the lawn mower, a house for the tractor, a house for the plough, a house for the pool supplies.”
Someone has said that Americans worship a God called “More.” Others refer to the religion of materialism as “Meo-Theism.”
III. THE FOLLY OF MATERIALISM
What are some of the things that point out the folly of materialism?
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
Wealth in itself is not bad, in fact it is neutral, neither good nor bad. It is like a knife, just a thing. A knife can be used for evil or for good.
Most clothes in the ancient world were made of wool and moths love wool. Even the richest people had trouble protecting their clothing from moths.
Wealth was often held in grain. Remember the Rich Fool that bragged that we would tear down his barns and make bigger barns. But rats, mice, worms, insects would still destroy the grain of the rich.
Non-perishable treasures were often buried in the house. But the houses were often made of clay so thieves could dig through the walls and steal goods. John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl” illustrates this problem where a poor Indian finds the pearl of great price and tries to hide it in his home.
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WEALTH DOES NOT INCREASE HAPPINESS
There is research that indicates that suicide rates increase with income. In other words the more money you have the more likely it is that you will kill yourself. Another medical study back in the 80s said that if you make over $40,000 a year subtract two years off your life.
(MacArthur, taken from the web).
ILL: Wealth does not create individual happiness and it doesn’t build a strong country, either. A study in the recent issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest addresses how economic status is no longer a sufficient gauge of a nation’s well-being. The authors argue that the psychological well-being of its citizens is the greatest measure of a nation– not the well-being of its economy. “While wealth has trebled over the past 50 years…well-being has been flat, mental illness has increased at an even more rapid rate, and data, not just nostalgic reminiscences, indicate that the social fabric is more frayed than it was in leaner times,” the authors state. Prosperity is neither the answer nor the cause of satisfaction. . . . It has been assumed that money increases well-being and, although money can be measured with exactitude, it is an inexact surrogate to the actual well-being of a nation. In a 1985 survey, respondents from the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and the Maasai of East Africa were almost equally satisfied and ranked relatively high in well-being. The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have no electricity or running water and live in huts made of dung. It follows, that economic development and personal income must not account for the happiness that they are so often linked to. (This article is published in the latest issue of the Psychological Science in the Public Interest,
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WEALTH TUGS AT OUR HEART, MIND, EMOTIONS – Loving our treasures affects our whole personality, our heart.
Martin Lloyd-Jones feels that materialism corrupts the whole mind.
READING: So what does the mirror of your treasures say about your heart? What are the things that consume your thoughts, and maybe even your energies and finances and affections? “The things we treasure actually govern our lives,” wrote Carson. “What we value tugs at our minds and emotions; it consumes our time with planning, day-dreaming, and effort to achieve” [77].
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Are these things weighted with eternal value? Even good things can become evil if we value them as the ultimate treasures of our lives in place of eternal treasures. John Calvin put it like this, “It is as if He said, it would a strange thing, and less than worthy of them, if their souls should sink to the level of earth, when their treasure is in heaven” [216].
Paul wrote that Demas left him because he loved this present evil world.
(II Tim. 4:10)
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WEALTH CAN GUIDE ONE IN MAKING WRONG DECISIONS
READING: Are any of you that are called Methodists thus merciful to your children? Seeking to marry them well (as the cant phrase is;) that is, to sell them to some purchaser that has much money, but little or no religion? Is then the light that is in you also darkness? Are ye, too, regarding God less than mammon? Are ye also without understanding? Have ye profited no more by all ye have heard? Man, woman, think what you are about! Dare you also sell your child to the devil? You undoubtedly do this (as far as in you lies) when you marry a son or a daughter to a child of the devil; though it be one that wallows in gold and silver. (John Wesley, in a sermon on the web)
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INCREASED WEALTH CAUSES DECREASED GIVING
One study indicated that over a 17 year period when income increased by 31%, giving went down 8.5%.
One Romanian pastor said that 95% of the believers in Romania passed the persecution test but 95% of them flunked the prosperity test.
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WEALTH WILL BE MEANINGLESS IN ETERNITY
How important will our beautiful coffee table, a special dress or ring be 100 million trillion years from now in heaven?
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WEALTH DOES NOT ALWAYS FREE US FROM DEBT
Our penchant for “more” seems to keep many in debt.
The American work song: “I owe, I owe, It’s off to work I go.”
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WE CAN’T TAKE OUR WEALTH WITH US WHEN WE DIE
Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21). A Spanish proverb says, there are no pockets in a shroud. As is common today, “You never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul.
ILL: An old miser called his doctor, lawyer, and minister to his deathbed. “They say you can’t take it with you,” the dying man said. “But I’m going to try. I have three envelopes with $30,000 cash in each one. I want each of you to take an envelope, and as they lower my casket, throw in the envelopes!” Each man tossed in his envelope as requested. But on the way home the minister confessed, “I needed money for the church, so I took out $10,000 and threw only $20,000 into the grave.” The doctor said, “I, too, must confess. I’m building a clinic. So I took $20,000 and threw only $10,000.” The lawyer said, “Gentlemen, I’m ashamed of you. I threw in a personal check for the full amount.” The old miser’s material fixation produced a futile scheme to take his wealth with him, but the scheme did not even survive his burial because of the materialism of his three friends. (Hughes, 207)
SO WHAT???
1. Christians should be pre-occupied with and run after the expansion of God’s Kingdom and the pursuit of personal righteousness.
2. We need to avoid be careful that we are not materialists.
3. Wealth in this world is insignificant in the light of eternity. Therefore focusing on gathering wealth for the sake of wealth is folly.