string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

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Jun 20, 2021

Kingdom Choices

Kingdom Choices

Passage: Matthew 6:19-24

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Sermon On The Mount

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: wealth, sermon, kingdom, sermon on the mount, christian living, relationship with god, follow jesus, bible study, blessed, possessions, jesus teaching, matthew 6, love of money, treasures in heaven, treasures on earth, store treasures, what does the bible say about money, king of our hearts, eye to the soul

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus instructs us not to store up treasures on earth, but to store them in heaven, where they can’t be destroyed or stolen. What does this passage mean, and how do we store treasures in heaven? Pastor Matt takes us further in the sermon on the mount, where we explore Jesus’ words about what we value and our foundational choices as we live kingdom lives. The things that we adore in our hearts are what we treasure, and its an indication of what we value above our relationship with God. We also see in this bible study that our eye is the window to the soul, and its also the window between the internal and external life. When we choose God over our possessions, then God is our master, not the things we want, because the issue is not what we have, but what and who controls us. If we treasure earthly possessions, then they possess us, and God is not the King of our hearts. This may seem like a slant on wealth, but it isn’t. Being rich is not a sin, it’s letting the love of our earthly treasures take place in our lives over God that is a sin. What treasures are you storing up here on earth that are possessing and controlling you? If you want to take the next step and ask God for forgiveness and to change your heart, then great! We’d love to answer any questions or pray along with you – burnthickroy.com/next

Well, listen, the Bible says that we should honor our mothers and our fathers. And today is Father's Day. And we really do want to honor our fathers. So, here's what I want you to do. And I know they really love this. If you're a father in the house, all right, in the house and whatever house that may be, would you do me a favor and would you just stand for me just for a second, just to allow us to recognize you guys this morning. Amen, amen. No, no, I didn't say sit down, stand up. Don't be doing that, follow directions. I want to pray for you first. All right? Lord, today, we thank you for these men. God today, I thank you for the influence of my father in my life. And God, I thank you for the influence of so many that are just like him in this church. God, give them the desire to know you. Give them the drive to spend time with you. And God, give them the focus to lead their families for you, Lord Jesus, and it's in your name we pray, Amen. Now you can be seated. You know, Father's Day is kind of hard to explain when you really wrap your mind around it. But I heard one little kid this week describe Father's Day like this. He said, Father's Day is kind of like Mother's Day, except for you don't spend as much money. That was how he described it this week. And another little funny thing I saw about Father’s Day this week was you know, the message on Mother's Day is always the blessed lady, right? It's the blessed, the Proverbs 31 lady, the message on Father's Day is always, come on, guys, get your acts together, just get your act together. We really need you. All the time, I have people just in counseling, or in different places in my office and pretty regularly I will have a lady come in, and I'm not going to mention your names. I will have a lady come in and she will go, Matt, I just don't understand him. To which I have two responses that are exactly the same every single time. Number one is this, you never will. You never will, just get that out of your mind. No, he doesn't understand himself. Alright? So, you will never understand him. Amen? But secondly, I always say it goes both ways. That's just always the general comment that we are different people. We're made different. God has designed us differently. He has tasked us differently. He's given us things that we're good at and given us things that other people are good at, or our spouses are good at. But I want to give you something real quick this morning before we jump into the text. I want to give you something this morning as a gift to the ladies. Alright?

I know it's Father's Day. But I need to give a small gift to you. You know, we guys, we have this language sometimes that when we say things, you're always kind of questioning what is it that we're really saying? So, I figured this week, I'm going to let the cat out of the bag. And I'm going to give you a couple sayings that your father alright, for all of us or maybe even your husband has said at some point, and I want to translate it for you this morning and what they really mean. The first one is this anytime your father says it takes too long to explain. Here's what he really means. I don't know what I'm talking about. That's just the way it is. Anytime a guy says, hey honey, take a break from doing that. What he really means is not that he's concerned with you. It's just that he can't hear the ballgame anymore over whatever you're doing. When a guy says, Hey, it's just a guy thing. What he really means is there's no rational thought in what I just did, and don't try to make sense of it. It's what he really means. When a guy says, and this one might get me in trouble. When a guy says, Can I help with dinner? What he really means, alright, I'm going to let it out. So, if you said this, you're in trouble. It's not that he wants to help. He's just wondering why it's not done yet. That's really what he means. Oooo that one sounds bad. When a guy when a guy says, Uh huh, honey, sure. What he really means is nothing. It's just a conditioned response. And he didn't know what you said. It was just it comes out of his mouth. And it's there. And here. Here's two more when a guy says and you're getting ready to go somewhere. Yes, honey, you look fabulous. What he really means is don't try any more outfits, we're already late for dinner. That's what he really means. That one's bad. That one's really bad. And here's the last one. When a guy says, that’s not what I meant. What he really means is that if there's two ways to translate something and one of them is going to get me in trouble. I meant the other one. That's, what he means. Well, this morning, I'm going to speak in the light of a challenge for fathers. But also, it's a challenge for all of us. It really is. And I do need to on behalf of us fathers just say sorry, ladies, half the time, we don't know what we're saying. But I want to speak out of the Sermon on the Mount this morning. We're going to continue in our series.

And we're going to pick up where we left off last week in Matthew chapter 6. And I think out of a lot of things that Jesus says all through the Sermon on the Mount, this one is one of the top couple that we really need to wrap our minds and our lives around. So, when you're thinking of the Sermon on the Mount, one thing I haven't said yet is that I wanted to kind of bring to light is this kind of an ascent up one side of a mountain, and then you kind of get to the summit, and then you kind of begin to come down the other side of the mountain. The first weeks that we spent in the Sermon on the Mount up until last week, we were going up the mountain. Last week, we were in the Lord's Prayer, the message that Jesus gave us on how to pray and how to live out our faith as a flourishing adopted child of God, that was last week. You can kind of think of that as the summit of the Sermon on the Mount. Well, this week's message out of Matthew 6, it is right there beside it. It's that important. It's on the top, it is the next moment that Jesus speaks to us out of Matthew chapter 6 and he's going to give us in this message today. The idea of what and where's our treasure? He's going to challenge us on seeing the rewards of this earth versus eternal, and he's really going to ask us this week, who's our master? So, listen, guys, pay attention. Because we need to hear this message. Let me read the entire text. And then we're just going to pull it apart because that's the only way I know how to do it. Here we go. Matthew chapter 6:19. Here's what it says, this is Jesus talking "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steel, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steel. For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters, either you will hate one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Now there's a whole lot there that we're going to try to unpack. But here's what I know. If you've been in church for any length of time, alright, you have heard this passage, or at least pieces of this passage preached on different occasions with different context. But inside of this, there's such a strong message that Jesus is bringing to us and he's really saying this in a nutshell, he's saying there are going to be some choices that you make on this earth, there's going to be some choices. And you're going to either make them or they're going to be made for you. But you will walk through three choices that Jesus is going to talk about in this passage. And he's going to give us these foundational life choices. But before we get to them, though, we have to think in context. Because like I said earlier, we are in the Sermon on the Mount, there is no paragraph break from where we left off last week, there's no section break, there is no next day there is no new crowd.

Jesus is continuing this idea in the Sermon on the Mount that he has created us to flourish, that he's created us to walk with him and know Him and to be with him and to be blessed on week one by him by this kingdom ethic to live a salt and light to follow the righteousness that Jesus has put in us and to learn to love and to pray and to give and to fast how Jesus has set this up. And then all through that text, we get to this text, and it doesn't break. So, Jesus is continuing this theme of live like this for the kingdom as an adopted believer. And He says to me and you, hey, you need to make three choices in life, or they'll be made for you. And I want to give them to you. Number one, Jesus says this, the first foundational choice in life is this. You got to choose eternal over earthly treasures. You got to choose. Jesus lays it out in the text. He says choose eternal over earthly treasures. Now this is such a strong statement and I love this message because of this. I want you to hear this. There is coming, a reward and a treasure for those that walk in Jesus Christ. Now look, we don't talk about this a whole lot, right? We don't talk about this because we'd rather kind of hold this like little demeaning attitude of this non joyfulness. But listen to me. At the moment you give your life to Jesus Christ, there is a heavenly reward that is yours for eternity. And what Jesus is about to give us here is He's about to tell us that it is okay. Listen, you may have never heard this. It is okay to desire, an eternal reward. It is okay to chase after an eternal reward. It is okay as a discipline person on this earth to know every time I give and every time I speak to the kingdom, and every time I serve and every time, I say no to something culture tries to drag me into, it is an okay motivation to go I am doing this to store up for the next world. That is an OK motivation. I'm not sure I ever heard that growing up. I'm not sure I ever heard anybody look at me and say, hey, Matt, every time you say no to that you were saying yes to eternity. Every time you turn that down, you are building treasure for eternity. You're building a reward for yourself. In fact, Jesus says it later on in Matthew 16. He says this, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man, is going to come in His Father's glory, with his angels and then he will reward each person with what they have done."

The motivation Jesus is talking about is there's treasure, and there's reward that are promised to us. When we give this wholehearted righteousness matter you saying that it is my acts that get me to heaven? That is not what I'm saying. But I'm saying this as a believer in Jesus every single time that we choose righteousness and wholehearted devotion, there is an extra reward that will be given to us and that is a proper motivation. It's proper. We see it in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, where one of them gets one, one of them gets five, when of them gets 10. They bring them all back in and look at which one that invested theirs properly. Look at what Jesus says in verse 23. It says, "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" You're getting this I hope, right? That eternal reward is that right motivation. It's that right motivation. Even this week, I was reminded of this. I did my grandfather's funeral on Monday afternoon. And as I was studying for his funeral, my dad handed me his old Schofield Study Bible. And as I flipped it open on the front page of his Bible laid out every single thing that I said at his funeral this week. It was almost as if and John reminded me of this earlier, he was there. He said, Matt, it was almost as if you said 100 times, he's trying to tell us something. He's trying to tell us something because here was the message, he gave in seven verses and about four quotes that the next world matters. And there is coming for him a day. You see, that's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, our text is telling us, don't look for the treasures of this place. They're not going to last, but the treasures in the next one will. In fact, look how Jesus says it. He says it way better than anyone, right? Because He's God. Look at what He says in verse 19, in our text. Jesus says this, "Do not store up." Now for you English people that's a present imperative verb. For the rest of us that don't know what that means, it just means this; do not keep on making the worldly treasures your priority. Do not keep pressing it and keep pressing it and keep pressing it and just putting things behind you. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth." Now treasures can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For you it may be money, for you it may be followers, for you it may be your work, for you and maybe influence, for you it may be keeping that youthful glow. I don't know what your treasure is, but we all have them. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth," look at what it says, "where moths and vermin destroy."

Now I love this example. It really has not a whole lot to do with us. But it really does. Because in this time, moths were a serious problem for people. Now I'm not talking about, oh, look it ruined my one suit. It happens right? But I'm talking about a serious problem because three symbols of wealth in first century Palestine were all the clothing that you had, all the tapestries that you own, and how much fabric that you had. That was symbols of, that I've arrived, that I've come. And that I have these wealthy items. Think of it as your 401k, or your goal that you have in the safe. I don't know, whatever it is. But what is Jesus saying? He's saying, hey, don't store up things that all of a sudden you can look at one day and go, oh, no, they're ruined. And I didn't even know it. What Jesus is saying here, is that even when you think your investments on this earth are safe, in one moment they can be worthless. In one moment, and they can be disfigured, and they can be ruined. Anybody in here ever lived through a tornado? Exactly what Jesus is saying. Anybody ever lived in Florida and went through a hurricane, and you revisited where you were from, and it was like, well, we have nothing anymore. Anybody ever lived through a fire at your house? That's what Jesus is saying. He's like these external circumstances can take all of what we are treasuring right now but look where he keeps going. He says, and not only is it external circumstances where thieves break in and steel, He says not only natural circumstances, but there's also sinfulness of man that can break in and literally crawl through the wall of your home and steal your treasure. That's what He meant right here, kind of knock away the outside of the house, can break into your house, or the stock market crash or whatever it is. It can be gone. Right now. The point is there's no way to protect your earthly treasure. That's what He's say.

There's no way. You cannot. But look, He gives us an alternative. I love it. Thank you, Jesus for your contrast. But look at verse 20. "But store up," same verb keep storing up, keep storing up, keep deliberately, consistently, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." You're seeing it right? He's given us the motivation. Keep doing it, keep doing it, keep doing it, "where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal." What does it mean? It means this; your eternal treasures, so comforting, are secure. They're secure. Nothing on this earth can touch them. No natural, no sin. Why? Because they are bought with the love of God and the blood of Jesus. They're your rewards. And all of this rolls down into this point. That your eternal treasures, the location of your treasure matters. Why does it matter? Look at this principle. I put it in your notes. The location of our treasure directs the affection of our hearts. This is what Jesus says right? What does that mean Matt? It means this. You will always point your soul level devotion in the direction of what matters most to you. Always. Have you ever noticed that nobody has to beg you to do what you love to do the most? That's what Jesus is saying here. Look at verse 21. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." He's saying that whatever your devotion is, that's where your treasure is going to be. He’s saying chase after eternal things because they're safe and they're secure. And when you store up eternal treasures, where's Jesus saying your hearts going to go? It's always going to follow. When you're storing up treasures on this earth, you want to be died with it in that casket with you. You want to be dead in the grave pulling the U haul with you with your stuff. It's not going to work. It's not. So how do you store up earthly treasures? You devote your life to them? You devote your life to them? How do you store up eternal treasures? He's already given us the answer to that question. In chapter 5 and chapter 6. He said, hey, suffer for the name of Christ, speak for the name of Christ, stand for the name of Christ, give in the name of Christ, pray to Jesus consistently in the name of Christ. All of these in these first two chapters, he's already given it to us, of how to build them. So, here's the question from this point.

Where are you? Are you living? Just think about the last two months of your life. We can't think past that we forget. If you had to put it on the scale. Have you been living for eternal treasure, or have you been pursuing earthly treasure? Which one? You say Matt I don't know. Okay, which one's taking the most your time? Which one's taking the most of your devotion, and which one's taking the most of your heart? That's how you know. Jesus says go for eternal treasure. It's secure. But then number two, he says this. He says not only your treasure, but also choose light over dark vision. Choose light over dark vision. Now this one's a little bit tougher. Alright, because sometimes in Jesus's teaching, it's a little bit unclear. And it's not unclear from Jesus's end, it's just from our end. Either it's something we don't want to hear, or it's something that's left a little bit ambiguous on purpose to make us thing or it's just contextual, or kind of a language barrier for something that we don't use. Alright? Scripture is never unclear. It's always our fault in that. So let me tell you what he's really saying and then I'm going to read it over you. What Jesus is about to do here, is He's about to give us the contrast between light and darkness. Anytime that light is mentioned in the Bible, you can rest on the fact that what's following that is how do we live as holy, as wholesome and as followers of Jesus's light and love. That's what it means anytime it says light. It is a good thing run after that, right. But anytime it mentions darkness, it always carries this connotation of evil, or of isolation or away from God. That's, the way the Bible does it. I love these compare and contrast; we've said it almost every week. The Sermon on the Mount has one of these every single week. So, Jesus is challenging us to have this proper Kingdom vision here. And He's using light and darkness. Look what He does in verse 22. He says, "The eye is the lamp of the body." You can use the word window there if you want to. Alright? "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Here's the principle here. The eye is the window. Alright? I want you to stay with me for a minute. The eye is the window between the internal and the external self. Now this is a little deep, alright, but stay with me. It works two ways. The eye, our eyes, this is what Jesus is saying here. Our eyes are the primary tool that receives information, and it presses into our souls, right? It shapes our souls, it shapes our heart, it receives into the brain and then into the heart. But our eyes are also secondarily the conduit of what comes out of our heart and directs our steps.

I love Jesus's language in this because it's it works both ways. Right? Our eyes receive the info of Christ, the light of Christ, the love of Christ, and it shapes our souls. But also, secondly, when our souls are shaped, when God is our treasure, when he is ours to be held. What does it do? It makes my feet follow my eyes, my eyes. Any of you ever been in athletics? Your eyes, what does your body always do? It follows your eyes. You ever been riding the bicycle with someone else and started looking at them in a conversation and what happens? You run them off the road. Why? Because you're looking at them. You always follow it. What about when you're looking to change lanes, when you're first driving? You ever remember this? When you first drive and you start looking back to change lanes, where does the car always go? It's like into the other lane? Why? Our hearts follow our eyes, our minds follow our eyes. It's what he's saying in this. And He's saying this. Look at verse 22. It says, "The eyes the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your body will be full of light. I love this, why? Because healthy really means single minded. He's saying choose a single mindedness of your eyes. Why? Because double vision never works out. Have you ever had cataract surgery? And if you ever have migraines? Any of you ever been chosen in health class to where the drunk classes? It doesn't work out. It doesn't. Why? Because without single vision, you're always wobbling. And when we're wobbling, we're inviting darkness. This is what he says choose light- or single-minded vision for who God is for everything in your life. But then look at this. Number three. Love this. Choose God over possessions as your Master. Choose God over possessions every time. Can I just beg you to do this? Choose God over stuff. Stuff never works. I know what you're thinking, oh, no, here it comes. Here comes the evil money talk. You got me here on Father's Day. I told you all the church talks about is money. Here you go. No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying. Listen to me real close. Money is not evil. No matter what any pastor has ever told you in another church somewhere. Money is not evil. Listen to me, wealth is not evil. It's not. In fact, First Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money," right? "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." That means that when we devote ourselves solely and wholly to wealth and money, that's evil, right? That's the root of all kinds of problems. But listen, wealth and possessions and money, they are not evil. In fact, a lot of the times they are a gift and a blessing from God. I mean, think about this, most of us in this room are blessed well beyond our level of intelligence. I mean we are it has to be from God. It just has to be. I know mine is, this boy would be nowhere. Trust me. I'm one step above of just not even graduating. Truly. Wealth is not evil. Possessions are not evil. Listen, possessions and money are neutral. The question is the control. That's the question in the text. I heard someone say a long time ago that, "money and possessions make great servants, but they make horrible masters." That's what Jesus is saying here. One Puritan pastor said it like this, "One cannot flirt with money as if it has nothing to do with God. Just as it is impossible to live for the praise of others and the praise of God; so too is it impossible to live greedily focused on money and be dedicated to God." Listen, it's not about money. It's about control. That's what Jesus said. Jesus is telling us; He's not saying don't have money. No, we're blessed people with money we give for money, we reach the nations with money.

We bless the planet with money. I pray for all the rich people in the world to become Christians so that we can serve others with a heart of love. What He's saying is, it can't control us. It can't be the master of our life. Like what Jesus says in verse 24. Like where it lands, I love this. He says, "No one" to which all of us in the room are like, well, that isn’t me. Yes, it is. "No one can serve two masters," what's the implication here? The implication is you are designed to serve something. And did you know that you will always drift toward being mastered by something? So, here's what Jesus is saying. Choose what you're going to be mastered by, because you've been created to serve, you've been created to be ruled, you've been created to be a servant and a tool to something, and left to ourselves, we will always gravitate towards ourselves or our stuff. What does He say? "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and hate the other." Here's the point. The point is you have a limited amount of love, devotion, sacrifice, and service, you have a limited amount of those things, you do not have an eternal amount of love. Alright? You don't. Only God has that. But what he's saying is this, when we point our love, devotion, sacrifice and service in the wrong direction. It's like, it's like a teeter totter. It always robs it from somewhere else. So, Jesus is begging us to point it in the devotion of him being the master, because he has an eternal amount of this, and they can give us more. What we do, I'm saying we is we chase the things of the world to be mastered by the things of the world. And listen, there's only so much of that. There's a wellspring of life in being mastered by Jesus. But there's a finite amount of stuff in the world. Here's the principle that He lands on just for your notes. The issue is not what I have. But what and who controls me? That's the issue. That's what Jesus says. So, the last question He gives us is, are you being controlled by the stuff in your life or the stuff that you want? Or are you being mastered by the King of kings and Lord of lords? You say Matt, I don't know which one is mastering me? Can I tell you how I keep this in check? Or I try to keep in check. Let me say like that. Here's how I keep it in check. When two things in my life that are priorities of mine collide? Do you know how I can tell which one's the master? Which one I give myself to. Does that make sense? I'm not talking about when like that one thing that I could care less about, collides with God, because we're always going to choose God at that point, right, as God being our master. I'm talking about the important things. When two things that are absolute priorities, I'm talking about the top five, when those two things collide, I can always tell who's my master, by which one I chase after. So, listen to me, some of us we got some work to do. Because I hear it all the time. Matt, we just got so much going on. We've just got so many things happening. I'm just sorry. I know we just haven't been, to which I say well, your priorities are colliding I get it. It shows you what your master is and hey, nobody's judging. I'm just saying Jesus is just saying, hey, choose eternal over earthly always, why? Because it's safe. He's saying choose single minded over double vision. Why? Because double vision never ends up well. You always end up in the ditch. And he's telling us, hey, choose God as your Master because He's the only one that can truly give life. And when my priorities collide, it always tells me which one is which. So, here's the walkout today. Three things I know this is not a message like everybody's flocking to the front to give their life to Jesus, I get that right now, right? Maybe, who knows? It's not my decision. But what I do know is this, all of us got stuff right here. We all have master problems. We all have stuff problems. And we all have vision problems. And the Sermon on the Mount is offering us the key to flourishing. Key to flourishing, eternal treasure, pursue it, walk in the light, not in the darkness, serve one master. So, as we walk into these next few minutes of just prayer, and worship. Here's what I'm going to ask you. I'm going to ask you to stay where you're at. In fact, I thought about putting counselors at all the doors because then when you left, they're like, hey, how can I help you with your sin? No. Alright? But here's, how I want to do it. That would be bad.

I just want you to sit in it for a minute. It's purposeful. It's purposeful. And it's to give you a minute to just say, hey, Lord, where am I? Press into me. Press into me. Am I walking in the light? Are You, my Master? Am I seeking after eternal treasure here? And then I want you to do this. Say God here it is. Here it is. Whatever your is, is right? But for some of you, your first step in this game is just to meet Jesus. Because the first treasure that He gives you, is to be His. Is to be His. It's to have your sin washed away and have a relationship with Him. Listen, if you've never given your life to Jesus, here's what I'm going to tell you. I'm going to be right here on the stair. I got other guys that are going to be with me over here. Would you if your heart is there, would you do us the honor today of just letting us lead you to the King. Just walk, during this song, just walk over here. Or if that's not you, you can text the next step app that's fine, somebody will follow up with you. But maybe today you are a believer. You just need to go, hey, God there needs to be some shifts in my drift, because I'm going the wrong way.

Lord, bless these moments. God Show us what’s in our hearts. And God direct us to pursue earthly treasure, to walk in your light and God to truly call you, our Master. It's in Your name we pray Jesus. Amen. Amen.

Let's stand and sing.

Follow Along with the Message

Kingdom Choices

June 20, 2021

Matthew 6:19–24
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin 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 healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, 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 you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
3 Foundational Choices for Kingdom Living

1. Choose eternal over earthly .

Matthew 16:26–27
26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 25:23
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
Matthew 6:19
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”
Matthew 9:20
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

PRINCIPLE: The location of our treasure directs the true of our heart.

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2. Choose light over dark .

Matthew 6:22–23
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

PRINCIPLE: The eye is the between the internal and the external life.

Matthew 6:22
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
Matthew 6:23
But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

3. Choose God over possessions as your .

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

“One cannot flirt with money as if it has nothing to do with God. Just as it is impossible to live for the praise of others and the praise of God; so too is it impossible to live greedily focused on money and be dedicated to God.”
— Unknown

Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

PRINCIPLE: The issue is not what I have, but and controls me.

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