Pastor Terry Cheek Th.D.

www.theinspiringword.org

For September 2016 our study of the Sermon on the Mount will expound to some degree Jesus teaching on material possessions. Will you turn in your Bible to Matthew 6:19-24!

Have you given any consideration about how thing oriented we can become? Aren’t we strongly inclined to be wrapped up in acquiring, enjoying, and protecting material possessions? The Pharisees of Jesus day were wrapped up in this very mentality. Now I’m not suggesting we are a culture of the Pharisees, but we should take a close look at who they were with a conviction to not fall into that trap. We read from Luke 16:14 that “the Pharisees...were lovers of money” and this was not incidental to the many other sins Jesus rebuked them of. We have already studied they did not have a right view of themselves (Matt. 5:3-12), of their relation to the world (5:13-16), of the Word of God (5:17-20), of morality (5:21-48), and of religious duties (6:1-18), it was unavoidable for them to not have a proper view of material things.

From verses 19-21 we must note Jesus is not suggesting poverty as a means to spirituality. From all of Jesus teachings, He only once told a person to “sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matt. 19:21). In that situation, the individual’s wealth was his idol, and that created a barrier between him and the lordship of Jesus Christ. It also provided a test of that man’s commitment to turn over control of his life to Christ. His response proved that he was not committed to Jesus. The problem was not wealth itself, but the man’s unwillingness to part with it as an idol.

The key to Jesus’ warning from this passage is the word yourselves. When we accumulate possessions simply for our own sake—whether to gather or to spend selfishly and extravagantly—those possessions become idols. One lesson we can learn from this passage is that our treasures upon earth are reflected in eternity. When our possessions are wisely, lovingly, willingly, and generously used for kingdom growth they can translate to heavenly possessions. However, when they are used with a selfish heart they become a spiritual hindrance and are subject to loss through moth, rust, and thieves. Nothing we own is completely safe from destruction or theft. Even if we successfully keep our possessions safe during our entire lives, we are certainly separated from them at death. At that point what happens to them? But when our time, energy, and possessions are used to serve others and to further the Lord’s work, they build up heavenly resources that are completely free from destruction or theft. I hope we have settled our first priority must be a pure heart. If the heart is right, everything else in life will fall into its proper place. The person who is right with the Lord will be generous and happy in his giving to the Lord’s work. Likewise, a person who is covetous, self-indulgent, and stingy has good reason to question his relationship with the Lord.

From verses 22-23 we are taught our heart is the eye of the soul, through which every spiritual experience shines. It is through the heart that God’s truth, love, peace, and all spiritual blessing come to us. When our heart, our spiritual eyes, are clear, then our whole body will be illuminated. The eye that is bad is the heart that is selfish, indulgent and self-centered. The person who is materialistic and greedy is spiritually blind. Because he or she has no way of recognizing true light, he thinks he has light when he does not. What is thought to be light is therefore really darkness, and because of self-deception it is a great darkness! The application is simple and sobering: the way we look at and use our money is a sure measurement of our spiritual condition.