The Imperishable Riches of the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:19-24

Main Idea: Devote yourself to God alone and gaining eternal treasure in heaven because all other pursuits will fail you.

1. Jesus Says to Pursue Heavenly Treasures over Earthly Treasures (6:19-21).
   1. What you treasure shows what you value (6:19-20).
   2. What you treasure shows what is in your heart (6:21).
2. Jesus Says to Pursue Light (Good) over Darkness (Evil) (6:22-23).
   1. Be single in your devotion (6:22).
   2. Be on guard against self-deception (6:23).
3. Jesus Says to Pursue God over Money (6:24).
   1. We can only serve one master.
   2. We can only satisfy one master.

Earthly treasures may leave us in this life. It is certain we will leave earthly treasures in our death. This simple but obvious truth helps us put things in perspective concerning what is of real, ultimate, and lasting value. It tells us what truly matters and is of true importance. We all have things we treasure, value, and are convinced are absolutely essential to our happiness and fulfillment. For some it is possessions, money, and the material things of life. For others it is reputation, standing, and status in society. Still for others it is looks, brains, education, or family. The list of material concerns could go on and on.

The concerns of the Christian, however, are different—or at least they should be. Daniel Boerman puts it well: “The Christian lives in this world, but his sights are set on the world above” (“Imperishable Treasure,” 39). Boerman is echoing the words of Paul in Colossians 3:1-2, which says, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus deals with the subject of our priorities, what we treasure. He does so by addressing the heart (vv. 19-21), the soul (vv. 22-23), and the will (v. 24). Our Lord wants us to have the right treasure, the right devotion, and the right master. It is possible, and even a temptation, to have the wrong treasure, to be devoted to the wrong thing, and to serve the wrong master. The stakes are high in this drama and battle for our souls. The missionary Adoniram Judson helps us see just what is on the line:

Life is short. Happiness consists not in outward circumstances. Millions of Burmans are perishing. I am almost the only person on earth who has attained their language to such a degree as to communicate the way of salvation. How great are my obligations to spend and be spent for Christ! What a privilege to be allowed to serve him . . . and suffer for him! . . . But in myself I am absolute nothingness. . . . Soon we shall be in heaven. Oh, let us live as we shall then wish we had done! (Life, 195)

Three clear and simple movements unfold our text in these verses. Putting them in context, Charles Quarles is right, “Verses 19-24 explicitly state the priorities that the model prayer [6:9-13] assumes” (Sermon, 233).

Jesus Says to Pursue Heavenly Treasures over Earthly Treasures

Matthew 6:19-21

Life is a series of decisions and choices. These decisions shape our character and guide our destiny. Forks in the road confront us again and again. We must ask ourselves, Which road will I take? Which path will I choose? Sometimes the choices are stark in their comparison: God or Satan, right or wrong, righteousness or unrighteousness, belief or unbelief, light or darkness, earthly treasures or heavenly treasures. The decisions we make are critically important. They have eternal consequences. Jesus simplifies our decision making. He tells us there are only two places where our treasures can be: on earth or in heaven. These are our two options.

What You Treasure Shows What You Value (6:19-20)

Jesus is direct: “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” The verb is a present imperative, a word of command calling for constant vigilance. Jesus says not to prize or treasure the things of this world as most precious. Earthly treasures do not last, and they can be taken away. They do not last because “moth and rust” can destroy them. They are here today and gone tomorrow. They lack staying power. And “thieves break in and steal.” We cannot protect them.

In our modern, idolatrous context we need to remember that looks fade and bodies wear out. The money and items we cherish can be stolen or lose their value. These earthly treasures are transient and temporary. So, what is our Lord’s counsel? He says to treasure the things that do last and cannot be taken from you. Verse 20 says, “But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.” The verb again is a present imperative. We should diligently and continuously pursue treasure in heaven. Earthly treasures are not secure, but heavenly treasures are eternally secure. Quarles is helpful when he points out,

In the Sermon on the Mount the actions that are specifically described as accumulating rewards include suffering persecution for Jesus’ sake (Matt. 5:12), loving one’s enemies (5:46), generous gifts to the poor (6:2-4), fervent and sincere prayer (6:5-6), and humble fasting (6:16-18). (Sermon, 234)

Jesus says these are things worth treasuring. These are things of real and lasting value. So we must ask ourselves where our treasure is located. We must ask whether our treasure is safely secure in heaven or unsecure on earth, where it will never last.

What You Treasure Shows What Is in Your Heart (6:21)

Jesus tells a story in Luke 12:16-21 that provides a helpful commentary on Matthew 6:

A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, “What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this,” he said. “I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, ‘You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’”

But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?”

That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

This story helps tie Matthew 6:19-20 to verse 21. If we store up treasure for ourselves on earth, then we will not be rich toward God or in heaven. In fact, the condition of our heart and what we value will become clear for all to see. Why? “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

One of the basic and fundamental truths of the Christian faith is that our heart (who we really are on the inside) should belong to God. He created us, and he has redeemed us in Christ, purchasing us with the precious blood of his Son. To love anyone or anything or to treasure anyone or anything more than Jesus is spiritual adultery. It is adultery of the heart. In Matthew 13:44 Jesus tells the parable of the hidden treasure buried in a field. When a man finds it, he is so delighted and joyful in his heart that “he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.” That treasure is the eternal kingdom of heaven. That treasure is Jesus. That treasure, which is worth more than all this world can offer, should be the treasure in our heart. Don Carson is right when he says, “It is a poor bargain which exchanges the eternal for the temporal” (Sermon, 77).

Jesus Says to Pursue Light (Good) over Darkness (Evil)

Matthew 6:22-23

Sometimes Jesus’s teachings can be hard to understand. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging this fact. Sometimes his teachings are purposefully vague in order to make us think. At other times the problem is due to the time gap between living in the first century and the twenty-first century. I believe verses 22-23 fall into this latter category. The basic truth, however, is not difficult to understand. It is a well-known theme that is repeated throughout the Bible. Light represents good, and darkness represents evil. We should pursue light (good) rather than darkness (evil).

Jesus uses the images of light and darkness to draw attention to what we love in John 3:19-21. There our Lord says,

This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.

So the basic principle of light and darkness is clear. The question is what specifically Jesus was teaching in these two verses by his use of the terms. Two truths stand out.

Be Single in Your Devotion (6:22)

Jesus says to his disciples, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” The eye is the source of light for us. Just as a window lets light into a house, the eye lets light into the body. Therefore, it is important that we have good, healthy eyes. Jesus tells us, “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Your whole body will be full of truth.

Because of the context some think the good or healthy eye represents generosity in giving. An evil eye is stingy and miserly. It is an eye focused on earthly treasures, not heavenly treasures. In contrast, a good and healthy eye is generous and giving. For example, Proverbs 22:9 says literally, “A good-of-eye person will be blessed, for he gives his food with the poor.” This interpretation is a legitimate and possible understanding of this verse. However, most commentators believe the good or healthy eye is one of fixed and single devotion. The idea is that you do not suffer from double vision, a double mind, or a double heart. Quarles says,

The good [healthy] eye is one whose focus is fixed on God and whose vision is not blurred by focusing on two objects at the same time, God and possessions. . . . In this adjective the themes of generosity toward others and singlehearted devotion to God coalesce to define the disciples’ proper view of possessions and riches. (Sermon, 249)

Carson adds,

The good eye is the one fixed on God, unwavering in its gaze, constant in its fixation. . . . The individual with a single eye toward kingdom values is the person characterized by maximum understanding of divinely revealed truth and by unabashedly pure behavior. (Sermon, 80)

This person’s eye is on the prize of one treasure, one kingdom, and one Master, and they will not be distracted by anything this world has to offer.

Be on Guard against Self-Deception (6:23)

Verse 23, sadly, presents the exact opposite scenario of verse 22. The focus is now on a bad and unhealthy eye. Your eye is bad if you are attracted to and looking at the wrong things. Again Quarles puts it well:

No room remains for God or pursuit of the kingdom and its righteousness (vv. 24, 33). (Sermon, 253; emphasis added)

Jesus is clear and direct: “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Your perspective on life, your priorities, and what is truly valuable and important will all be misdirected. You will not see things as they truly are. You will see, but you will see wrongly. Therefore, our Lord concludes, “So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!” The Message paraphrase is worth noting: “If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” Your self-­deception will be complete. You will have lost the ability to see life correctly. James Boice simply says, “If you are absorbed with money, you will miss everything else in life that really matters” (Gospel, 105).

Jesus Says to Pursue God over Money

Matthew 6:24

Jesus says the mark of his disciple is that his eyes are fixed on heaven, not earth. He says the mark of his disciple is that his spiritual vision is single, not divided. He says the mark of his disciple is that he serves the right master, not the wrong one. In verse 24 Jesus clarifies the situation we all face and the decision we must all make. John Piper well says,

There is something about God and money that makes them tend to mastery. Either you are mastered by money and therefore ignore God or make him a bellhop for your business, or you are mastered by God and make money a servant of the kingdom. But if either tries to master you while you are mastered by the other you will hate and despise it. This is why Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Much money makes a cruel master. (“Don’t Be Anxious”)

We Can Only Serve One Master

In verse 24 Jesus states a simple and irrefutable truth. It remains to this day a popular colloquial saying: “No one can serve two masters.” By the nature of a master-slave relationship, a slave can only have and serve one master. Sinclair Ferguson is right: “We should notice the obvious implication of Jesus’ teaching here. We were made to have a master” (Sermon, 140). Jesus then makes clear the dilemma we face. No one can serve equally well two masters because “either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.” To one master you will show love and devotion. To the other master you will demonstrate hate and spite. Luke 14:26 provides a helpful insight where Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.”

Divided allegiance and loyalty is not possible in the kingdom of God, especially when it comes to your master. “Only one can come out on top” (Carson, Sermon, 81). Only one can be your Lord! Charles Spurgeon is spot on when he says,

God and the world will never agree, and however much we may attempt it, we shall never be able to serve both. . . . You can live for this world, or you can live for the next; but to live equally for both is impossible. (Exposition, 38)

We cannot submit to two kings. We cannot obey two commanders in chief. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot worship two Gods.

We Can Only Satisfy One Master

Jesus now specifies the number one challenge to total and absolute surrender to his lordship: money (KJV, mammon). “Originally the word meant ‘something in which one puts their confidence’” (Carson, Sermon, 81). The principle, once again, is simple: “You cannot serve both God and money.” One will win mastery over the other and over your life. Divided loyalty is not an option. You cannot be devoted to two masters at the same time.

The issue is really not what you have. The issue is who or what controls you, for whom or what you live. If you live for God, you cannot live for money. If you live for money, you cannot live for God. Jesus understood that we have a limited amount of devotion, love, and service to give. This requires making hard but necessary choices. The more we love money, the less we will love God. As our obsession for money increases, our passion for God decreases. If you sell your soul to money, then you will forfeit your soul. Having money as a god will only take you down. Only having God as your God alone can take you up.

Conclusion

I do not know whether the apostle Paul was meditating on Matthew 6:19-24 when he penned 1 Timothy 6:17-19. I do know it provides a fitting commentary and conclusion to our study of this text. He writes,

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.

If you desire true life, do not settle for being rich on earth. Choose instead to be rich toward God, who gives eternal reward.

Reflect and Discuss

1. How does treasure in heaven compare to treasure on earth? What does each look like, and how are they different?
2. Why is it often easier to desire earthly treasures over heavenly treasures?
3. According to this chapter, how do you store up treasure in heaven? Are you pursuing any of these?
4. Does what you treasure show that you prefer God over this world?
5. This chapter teaches that you are to be single in your devotion. How does Christ’s single devotion to his people empower his people to be single in their devotion to him?
6. What does it mean to be devoted to God? Is this devotion an inward, personal response, or is it an outward action? Why?
7. Why does Jesus contrast God with money as opposed to something else? What about money makes it particularly capable of being a master over people?
8. Why is money not able to provide satisfaction, security, and stability? In what ways is God alone able to provide satisfaction, security, and stability?
9. How do you lessen your desire for money and earthly treasure and increase your desire for God and heavenly treasure?
10. How is Jesus’s previous discussion about prayer and fasting connected to Jesus’s teaching about treasures and money? How do prayer and fasting (or the lack thereof) affect what you treasure?