Again, if you'd like to use a pew Bible, that is on page 811. I'll stand for this reading. Verse 19, the Lord Jesus Christ says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money. As far as the reading of God's word, you can be seated. Well, we come to a new section in the Sermon on the Mount, new being distinguished from this previous section that we've really broken down into three parts that had to deal with the practice of true righteousness and new. being distinct from Jesus's interpretation and application of the law of God as we read in chapter five. But though it is new, a new material and a new section with new instruction, it's not altogether removed from the previous context. It does tie into what Jesus has been saying so far in Matthew chapter six, and it really logically flows from that, from all he's been saying to this point. Jesus has, like a new Moses, ascended the mountain and has made known to us the true meaning of the law of God. He has disclosed to his disciples in chapter 5 that deeper sense of the law that went beyond an externalism, but he showed us what true righteousness looks like in the application of the commandments of God, what was truly intended, that righteousness as we considered and used Verse 20 of chapter 5 is sort of a guiding text for us. We saw that the righteousness that the disciples are to have in order to enter the kingdom of heaven is to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. It's one that is deep, it's one that, and I'm repeating material here from previous weeks, but one that proceeds from and reaches to the heart of man, it's deeper, internal. And it seeks a true reward that is not what the hypocrites seek. That's what we've been seeing recently is the reward that we are to seek in contrast to the hypocrites. Whereas they sought an earthly reward, which was for them the applause of men, we seek approval from God himself. And that is where we are to seek our true reward. That's what Christ has been telling us. But just as these things are summed up here in these last couple of sections in chapter six. As we see moving forward here, it is a summary of what he's been teaching us about where we are to seek our reward. And as he's been speaking as a Moses, as it were, a new Moses, now it shifts a bit. And it's like he's speaking to us as a new Solomon because he is providing for us not just the law as he has been, but now wisdom, the way of wisdom. And he sets up for us really two ways of life, two ways of living, two paths, much like the book of Proverbs does. when it contrasts wisdom and folly. He shows us the utter folly, this is how it connects to what we've been seeing, the utter folly of seeking our reward on earth, in earth alone, and the wisdom of finding our reward in heaven. And here what we're going to find in our Lord's teaching is this main idea that our affections indicate our values and allegiances. Our affections indicate our values and our allegiances. And as he does, as he shows us this in the way of wisdom, he's going to set up for us a number of contrasts and he'll reveal to us that we're going to either choose one or the other. And those contrasts are what we're going to use to First of all, in verses 19 to 21, we find two treasures. In verses 22 and 23, we find two visions. And in verse 24, we find two masters. Two treasures, two visions and two masters in these things is we're going to choose one or the other. They show us that our affections indicate our values and allegiances. So let's look, first of all, at the two treasures. We find this in the beginning of verse 20, or excuse me, verse 19 through 21. And here Jesus gives us two commandments. One is a negative command and one is a positive command. Let's look at the negative first. He says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. As he gives us this negative command, he provides for us two reasons why it is folly to lay up our treasures on the earth. The first reason is because it is natural. He says, moth and rust destroy. Treasures, of course, on earth are temporal. They are subject to being eaten by bugs and to corrosion. Moth and rust destroy them. They're liable to corruption and decay. If you've ever built anything outside, say with some untreated lumber, you know it's not going to be too long before you're going to have to replace it. And so we might have a beautiful edifice, you might have a new car, you might have an expensive piece of clothing, but you have to take care of these things because if you don't, you have to give them the proper care in order to prolong their life and their usefulness and you know eventually These things, the car is going to rust, the clothes are going to wear out and begin to get holes in them, the building is going to decay. So these are natural reasons. That is true for life in a world that's under God's curse. They're liable to natural occurrences but there's not only that, there's a second reason. So don't lay up for yourselves treasure on earth where moth and rust destroy, but also where thieves break in and steal. These first things, moth and rust, that is an example of something that is an indirect result of sin. It's a part of living in a fallen world. These things occur naturally, but there's also a direct result of sin here. There are social and economic liabilities. Someone may unlawfully seize what belongs to you. They might directly take your plunder, your possessions. They might break into your house and take something that is not theirs, but is yours. And so, of course, that's why we lock our doors, we set our alarms. And so Jesus says, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth because they are subject to this twofold liability, an indirect result of sin and a direct result of sin. So that's the negative command, but then there's the positive command as he contrasts it. Now, again, the way of wisdom, right? He's giving you one thing and then contrasting it with another, the way of folly and the way of wisdom. The way of folly is to lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. But the way of wisdom is found in verse 20. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. And here he gives us a reason for this as well. Where neither moth nor rust destroys, where thieves do not break in and steal. That is the only place, heaven is the only place where you can find lasting treasure, where things are not liable to corrosion, to corruption, or to theft. It's only heavenly treasure that lasts. Now as we think about this in the context, verse 19 is exactly what the hypocrites had been doing. And verse 20 is what Jesus has been exhorting us to do. The hypocrites had been seeking a reward, laying up a treasure on the earth. But his disciples, as he's telling them, they were to seek a reward that is in heaven. They were to seek a reward that is lasting. And so the hypocrites were seeking a reward in the earth. And of course, it was by way of, they wanted the approval, they wanted the applause of men. And as we've seen, the reward that they sought and the reward that they procured, they had it. Jesus said they have the reward, but it was fleeting. It did not last. There was nothing more to be expected. Jesus, as he said, if you practice your righteousness in order to be seen by others, then you will have that reward. But that's the only reward. You will have no reward from your heavenly father. Of course, Jesus is not telling us that earthly things are unimportant. As we've talked about it with these other matters, both in chapter 5 and chapter 6, we qualify this a bit as we compare it with the rest of Scripture. He's not telling us to go around without taking care of ourselves and having proper food and clothing and shelter and all those things that we need. Jesus will go on in the next section to speak of our needs, right? He'll tell us not to be anxious. for what we'll put on, what we'll eat, what we'll drink. He'll encourage his disciples to look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and says, your heavenly father feeds them. He takes, he clothes the grass of the field. Is your life not of much more value than them? He knows your needs. He is your provider. He's already told us as well that we have liberty to pray. Give us this day our daily bread. And so, of course, it's not a matter of that. It's not that earthly things are unimportant, but it's the principle. It's as Randy Alcorn once called it, it's the treasure principle. That's the question. Where is your treasure? That's what he's wanting to press home here. Where are you storing up your treasure? We've seen the evidence that Jesus wants his disciples to seek a reward. That's what we saw in the last three examples of practicing our righteousness, that you're to seek a reward, not on earth, but in heaven. It's not that we're not to have a treasure. Jesus wants us, he wants his disciples in this sense to be treasure hunters, to seek after a reward. It's just a question of where is that reward? Do you want the reward that is temporal, that is fleeting, that is earthly? Or do you want the reward that is lasting, everlasting, that is heavenly? And so where is the location of your treasure? Jesus tells us in verse 21 where it will be, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What do you truly value? That's an indication of where your treasure lies, it's where your heart is. It seems that he's pressing this idea of the heavenly reward home a bit further, whereas it was for the hypocrites. They were seeking the approval of men. That might not be your desire at all. You might not care anything about what men think. You may not care to be thought well of in the opinions of men, but you probably want to be well off, right? Don't we all? So where is your treasure? Jesus says it's where your affections are. And the two go together. The location of your treasure is an indication of the location of your heart. And that is where you're going to seek your reward. It's either going to be for that which is earthly, temporal, and fleeting, or heavenly and everlasting. So that's the first set of contrasts, two treasures. But then he moves in verses 22 to 23 to talk about another set of contrasts. We've seen two treasures, now we see two visions. He says here, verse 22, the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. The eye here is really a parallel idea in these verses to the heart that we've just seen. In verse 21, just as the heart is the center of our affections, so also for the physical body, the eye, that's the gate through which we see the world, the lamp of the body, as he says. I told Elder Ainsworth, Dr. Ainsworth, in this case, as he is a professional, I said, I feel like you should, before the service, you should preach this part of the sermon to tell us about the relationship between eye health and whole body health. If you have questions about that, then I'll leave those for Dr. Ainsworth and his expertise from a professional point of view. But as far as it goes, even from a layperson's perspective, we can understand this to a degree, can't we? We know how important it is to have proper vision. We know how Proper vision or improper vision affects our lives. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyesight is healthy, if you can see clearly, then your hands know where to reach, your feet know where to go. We know the importance of depth perception and peripheral vision for things like driving a car. We know how necessary all of this is. So it's helpful. It's good if we can see clearly. And Jesus is showing us here just as he's shown us where the direction of our heart leads us to where our treasure is or vice versa. He's now showing us where the direction of our gaze leads us. So if your eye is light, then if your eye is healthy, your body is full of light. But if your eye is bad, your body is full of darkness. This is a question of where we're looking and of our ability to see clearly. Your eyes and your heart in these verses are are are tied together. We might say this way, the eyes of your heart are an indication of where your treasure is, where your true desire is, where your what your reward is that you're seeking. Your eyes and your heart are going to be directed towards the same thing. And so if your eye, as used here, described of course as bodily, the window to the body, but in the context of what Jesus is talking about with our desires and our rewards and heavenly versus earthly certainly being a metaphor for the window into the soul here. If it's healthy, then your entire person is going to be full of light. If your direction, if your gaze is heavenly, in other words, if your eyes are set on things above, as Paul says in Colossians, then your entire person is going to be healthy, full of light. But the contrary is true, that if your eye is darkened. If its gaze is on the earthly reward and that alone, then so also your entire person is going to be dark. Recently in Isaiah and even this morning, we've been seeing that God's deliverance of his people is described in terms of him providing illumination. He is the one who gives sight to the blind. He's the one who guides them on the path, even though they can't see it, even though they don't know, as we saw this morning in Isaiah 42. It's God who gives And so without that illumination of the Holy Spirit, without the illumination of the Scriptures giving to us the light of the truth of God's Word, revealing who He is, revealing who we are. If we don't have that, then we lie in darkness. We're blinded by unbelief. We're like someone who is groping about. in a dark room. We're going about it, you know, the best way we can, the best way the natural man can, but he can only, he can't see clearly. And if we can't see right, if we don't have proper light, then it puts us in danger. I was telling someone recently, I think we were talking about maybe it was last week after the service, but in the dark, I lose all sense of direction. Now, I know that I go around in the dark in the woods more than the average person, but when it's dark, I can get turned around really easily. And I like to think, generally speaking, I have a good sense of direction, at least in the daylight, and that's just because I can see farther. I can see tree lines and landscapes and I can know my surroundings better, but when the lights are turned off, Whatever flashlight I have, whatever is illuminating my path, it's just not enough. There's a little bit of light there, but not enough for me to see clearly. We need light to see. And spiritually seeking, we need the light of God's word. But apart from this light, apart from the light of truth, we're helplessly lost in the darkness. But there is a connection here between these two contrasts, the two treasures and the two visions. Because the one who sets his affections on earthly things is being compared here to the one whose eye is bad, who's groping about in the darkness. The one who sets his affections on heavenly things is the one who is compared to having a healthy eye, who has light, who can see clearly. And so the question again is, where is your heart, but also where is your gaze? Is it on the reward that is here? Or is it on the reward that is to come? And so our our vision is clouded more and more if our hearts are yearning for this world and and its fleeting treasures, temporal things. And if this is true, then The path, as Jesus says here, if the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? The path only gets darker and darker because it's a path that leads to destruction. And of course, we think about this in terms of believers and unbelievers, but it is important for us to hear this, even as those who profess the true religion in Jesus Christ. We are reminded in the In the parable of the soils and only one of those soils bore fruit. And so we we can have the the devil can come along and pluck the word, the seed of the word away before it takes root, or the root can can be on the shallow, stony ground and not not truly take root or the plant begins to grow and it's choked out, Jesus says, by thorns. But he says, as he interprets the parable, he says, these are the cares of this world. And so it's important for us to to remember, even for those who profess Christ, that if our gaze is more and more on the things of the earth, that we are going down a path of darkness and that is the path that leads to destruction. So it's important for us. Where is your treasure? Where is your heart? Where is your gaze? We've seen two treasures. We've seen two visions. Now, as we come to verse 24, we see the contrast of two masters. No man, no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to despise the other. You cannot serve God and money or God and mammon, as the older translations say. Now, as we read these these things, as we think about earthly rewards, as we think about heavenly rewards, we might think, why can't we just have our cake and eat it, too? You know. Why can't we have the best of both worlds? Why can't we have all that this world has to offer and have heaven, heavenly treasure as well? Well, again, there's a bit of a qualification here that we that we need to speak to a bit because we know, once again, that earthly needs are a thing. We know that money or mammon, material possessions, we know that these are legitimate concerns. We've already spoken to that to some degree. Not only do we have needs, but those needs require some form of currency in order to obtain them. And so we do have concerns about money. legitimate material needs as material creatures. God has made us this way. He's made us dependent upon these things. And as Jesus says, he knows that you have a need for these things even before you ask them. And so material concerns are not unimportant. Years ago, as we were preparing to set out and begin a church plant, my pastor was attempting to raise some money for the church plant. And so he sent out a letter to some congregations in our Presbytery and he said, he quoted Jesus first, you cannot serve God and money. He followed it up with these words, but it often takes money to serve God. And that is true. That's why we give. That's why we give tithes and offerings. That's why we send not only prayers up to the Lord for our missionaries, but we also send financial support because we recognize that these are legitimate needs for the ministries of the church to continue. Of course, the old line is true that money can't buy happiness, but it's also true that without money, you can't buy anything. And so we know we have a legitimate need. The question, of course, is where is your treasure, as we've been saying. The Bible has a lot to say about money, has a lot to say about how we use our wealth. And as we're speaking of Jesus as the wise teacher here, as we're reminded in these contrasts of, say, the book of Proverbs, we also know the book of Proverbs tells us about wealth and tells us about saving and investing and hard work. And we find that hard work and prudent saving and wise investing ordinarily leads to financial blessing and financial well-being. But we also know that in the wisdom literature we find not only that these things are generally true, but we also find What we've been seeing here, moth and rust destroy or thieves break in and steal. You read the wisdom literature and you read the book of Proverbs and you say in these principles of sowing and reaping, if I live my life in this way, then I'm going to be well off. I'm going to be wealthy. Things are going to go well for me. And generally speaking, that is true. But then you go on in the wisdom literature and you read the book of Job. And what do you find? A righteous man who, yes, he was wealthy, but all of a sudden it's gone. And so, yes, we have a responsibility to make use of God's gifts. We need to do so in wisdom. We need to understand there is a principle in the created order of sowing and reaping hard work and saving and investing. All of these things really do pay off. Laziness and and refusing to work leads to severe consequences. But again, if that is where our treasure is only in the earth and they are subject to corruption, to decay, we're going to lose them in the end. So, again, the point is, of course, not that it's wrong to possess earthly wealth. The problem is that you're not to let earthly wealth possess you. That's what Jesus is saying here. No one can serve two masters. It's not a question of what you have. It's a question of what has you. What is your master? What has a mastery over you? Because, as Jesus says, you can only serve one. That's why you can't have your cake and eat it, too, so to speak. That's why you can't set your affections, your gaze and your allegiance upon the things of this world and do the same with Jesus Christ, because no man can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other. He will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Is it the earthly reward? Is it the heavenly reward? What is it that we're we're seeking? You can serve God and you can have earthly wealth, but you can't serve the wealth and have God. Slave's allegiance here. As Jesus said, can only be to one master. The heart can't be truly divided, Bob Dylan said, you got to serve somebody. And Jesus says it's only going to be one. So what is it? Our affections indicate our values and allegiances. So we might ask the question, then, how do we know where our affections are, where our gaze is, where our allegiance lies? This does require some self-examination. We need to ask ourselves some questions, like what is it that truly grips us? Because as Jesus said, you can only have one master. How do you know what your master is? What has a hold of you? That's one way of getting at it. Are these things that we desire, are the things that we love, are the things that we're passionate about, do they have a way of leading us away from the Lord? Is it an inordinate desire, an unlawful use, perhaps, of God's good gifts? Or do these things have a way of leading us with thanksgiving to the Lord? That we use these things for his service and do so with thanksgiving. We ask ourselves questions like, what do we value above all other things? We ask ourselves, we can ask ourselves questions like where, where are our, where's our thought life? Was it mainly tied up with the things that that really do it for us, you know, that stir our affections? Is it ultimately on the things of the earth or the things of the Lord? Sinclair Ferguson used to like to ask this question as a diagnostic. He would say, what do you think about when you've got nothing much to think about? Where do you gravitate towards? What is what is your default setting, in other words? Do you prefer heavenly good or earthly good? Do you see Christ? As the one who is teaching these things. His wisdom and all that he's sharing, do you see him and his words and and all that he's accomplished, do you see him and having him as ultimate? And do you see him as such an invaluable treasure that so far surpasses everything that this world has to offer that if need be, you would you would be willing to part with everything in order to have him. Our affections indicate our values and allegiances. This is the path of true wisdom. The Lord Jesus has set it out for us in this series of contrasts, and he's done so because this is good for us. Again, he wants us to have the true and lasting reward. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1, I'll close with this. For me to live is Christ, you know the verse, and to die is gain. So think about this, if you put anything else there other than Christ, for me to live is fill in the blank, whatever it is. Then you can't say the rest of that verse. You can't say to die is gain. If for you to live is anything but Christ, then to die is a loss. It's only if Christ is there, it's only if he is a reward that you're seeking that dying is truly gain. This is how we know if Christ is our reward, that we have a true portion in the heavenly reward, the treasure that he's calling us to seek. Let's pray.