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The Eighteenth Sunday After Trinity
Sermon on the Mount, 13th Sermon
September 29, 2002
NKJ Matthew 6:16 " Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with
a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to
be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 "But you, when
you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 "so that you do not appear to
men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 19 " Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves
break in and steal; 20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 " The lamp of the
body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of
light. 23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 "
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon.
TEXT: 16 " Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad
countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be
fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 "But you, when you
fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 "so that you do not appear to men
to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father
who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Jesus continues His teaching of the correct application of the Old Testament
with this short dissertation on fasting
The only place that God required a fast was for the Day of Atonement
NKJ Leviticus 23:26 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 27 "Also the tenth day
of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy
convocation for you [a cerimonial gathering of all the Israelites]; you shall
afflict your souls [fast and show sorrow and remorse], and offer an offering
made by fire to the LORD. 28 "And you shall do no work on that same day, for it
is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. 29
"For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off
from his people. 30 "And any person who does any work on that same day, that
person I will destroy from among his people. 31 "You shall do no manner of work;
it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
32 "It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your
souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you
shall celebrate your sabbath."
The Pharisees and the scribes extended the idea of fasting to include
anniversaries of calamities and every Monday and Thursday
Thursday
because that was the day Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the Law from God
And Monday
because that is the day of the week that Moses came back down again
As with the precious practices Jesus discussed in this great sermon—the
Pharisees and scribes were not making a sincere effort to fast
They would
paint burnt ashes on their faces to make them appear to be fasting
They appeared to be fasting to impress men—and Jesus is telling them that the
applause of men was their full reward for this mock fasting
Fasting usually accompanied solemn prayers—and thus far Jesus told the Pharisees
and scribes listening to these words that they were praying improperly—and that
their fasting was a mockery before God
Their
fasting—like their prayers—was to be private—between them and God
TEXT: 19 " Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 "but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.
Don’t try and collect your treasures on earth—everything on earth
rots—corrodes—oxidizes—or is eaten by the smallest of God’s creatures
If you are collecting treasures on earth—you are deceiving yourself—there’s no
way to protect these treasures—nor is there any way to take them with us when we
leave this earth
The threat of thieves and deterioration is constant—even the greatest of the
Egyptian kings who went to the greatest of extremes find that thieves have
stopped at nothing to steal their treasures from their very tombs
Grave robbers and thieves often risk death to steal another man’s treasure—there
is no rest for the man who has his treasure on earth
Jesus’ message to His disciples is wise advice—stop collecting treasure on this
earth and start collecting treasure in heaven
Where your
treasure is—there is your heart also
If you
collect your treasure on earth—your heart is also anchored to this earth
But our citizenship is in heaven—therefore doesn’t it make sense to have our
treasure in heaven
NKJ Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our
lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Paul—the Philippians Paul was writing to—and all Christians must anchor their
hearts to the place of eternity--heaven
TEXT: 22 " The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your
whole body will be full of light. 23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body
will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!
If your eye is seeking only earthly treasure—it is because that is what your
heart seeks—treasure on this earth
In this case—your eye sees physical light—but it deceives the body—even though
there is physical light—the body—the heart—is in spiritual darkness
When the heart is set on heavenly treasures—whether the eye sees light or
not—the body is full of light—and that light continues all the way to heaven
TEXT: 24 " No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and mammon.
Now Jesus brings His lesson to a comparison of all men to being slaves—but to
whom are we slaves
From the
standpoint of a slave—their loyalty and work belong to only one master
If a slave tried to serve more than one master—surely each master would want his
full value from the slave
And the slave
would be mentally torn into pieces trying to serve both masters satisfactorily
Hence Jesus says—he will hate one and love the other—the slave will make a
choice—it is human nature
The slave will struggle—make his choice—and make one of the two masters his true
master
Finally—Jesus names the two masters-- God and mammon
Mammon being valuable possessions here on earth—things that are over and above
what we need to exist and function
Our needs are promised by God—mammon is accumulated and desired by the worldly
side of man’s nature
But we have one more dilemma to resolve—what about the many examples in
Scripture of men of great faith who also had great wealth—let’s look at a few of
those examples
First Father Abraham—a very wealthy man
NKJ Genesis 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
Next King Solomon—a man who had everything under the sun
NKJ Ecclesiastes 2:8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special
treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the
delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
Next let’s look at an excellent example that makes the point beautifully—a
capsulization of the story of Joseph accumulating wealth during the 7 fat years
so that Egypt could survive the 7 years of famine
NKJ Genesis 47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the
land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and
Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 So when the money failed in
the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph
and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money
has failed." 16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you
bread for your livestock, if the money is gone." 17 So they brought their
livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the
flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with
bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year had
ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my
lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is
nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 "Why
should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for
bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we
may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate." 20 Then Joseph bought
all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his
field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's. 21
And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the
borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not
buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their
rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands. 23
Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day
for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 "And it
shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh.
Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for
those of your households and as food for your little ones." 25 So they said,
"You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we
will be Pharaoh's servants." 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt
to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the
priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
The distinction we have to make is that Jesus is talking about
believers—Christians
Moses’ inspired words point out that God gave us mines of gold and
silver—horses—etc.—and Moses concedes that collecting wealth in moderation is
acceptable before God
NKJ Deuteronomy 17:16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause
the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you,
'You shall not return that way again.' 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for
himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold
for himself.
So God is not opposed to wealth—but to wealth in place of faith in Him—as we see
from the example of Joseph—the gathering of wealth and riches sometimes serves a
purpose in God’s plan
Carrying our search to the New Testament—even Jesus and the 12 had a money
box—from which they bought whatever they needed
NKJ John 12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a
thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
But when Jesus sent out the disciples to preach—they carried nothing more than
the clothes on their backs
NKJ Luke 22:35 And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag,
knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?" So they said, "Nothing."
Let’s not spend our precious time on this earth accumulating stuff—focus your
eyes on the treasures of heaven—let your heart be lighted with the burning
brightness of the truth of the Word
That’s the message Jesus gave on the mountain top that day—he who has ears let
him hear
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!!