Sermon for Sunday, April 27th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Ecc 5:10-20 ESV] 10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. 18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil–this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
New Testament Reading:
[1Jo 2:15-17 ESV] 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life–is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Gospel Reading:
[Luk 18:18-30 ESV] 18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Sermon Text:
[Mat 6:19-24 ESV] 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 eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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! 24 “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.
Introduction
How much money does it take to be rich?
I think you’ll find that almost everyone considers “rich” to be somewhere ABOVE them.
A millionaire says “I’m not rich, I have only enough to live comfortably.” Granted a million dollars isn’t as much as it used to be. But in the eyes of a regular joe, a million dollars is still a lot.
The rich (whoever they are) tend to look up to others saying “THEY are rich.”
Its a bit like the question of being a drunk. The man who drinks a six-pack of beer everyday says “I’m not drunk, you should see my uncle.” And the uncle probably can point you to someone else who is a “real drunk”, not him.
What is it to be rich? Since there is a natural sinful tendency of insatiableness, maybe we shouldn’t strive for that category. Maybe there is something better than wealth. Indeed there is. And it is far better.
A few weeks ago I gave a sermon on the subject of the rewards we are promised for our good deeds. The crowns of righteousness.
Now, this morning, we have “a better treasure.”
Better than the things of the world.
And better even than any reward we may receive.
We have a better treasure.
I. A Better Treasure (v. 19-21)
We first have to fully recognize and understand the fleeting nature of this world.
Nothing is permanent. There is only, at times, an “illusion of permanence.”
Most of our possession break or wear down over time, and we say “they don’t ‘em like they used to.” But the old stuff is “dead and gone” as well.
There are others things that seem a little more permanent – buildings and land. And conservative investors like such things; wealthy folk often own a lot of land. But even “permanent” things run their course. A natural disaster may destroy your land as it did with the hurricane and floods last year down south. There are places that are unrecognizable. And I wonder how hard the work must be for the surveyor. All the metal pipes marking corners of properties are all gone; washed down stream. Or, the market crashes and we lose our land and houses for financial reasons. Or, the years of wind and rain take their toll. Nothing is permanent.
Jesus emphasizes this in speaking about the fleeting nature of earthly riches. He lists three ways (this is not exhaustive), but three ways in which wealth might be “here today, gone tomorrow.”
We have (1) moths, (2) rust, and (3) thieves.
The first two of these – moth and rust — are natural phenomenon, but affecting different substances. Clothing, which was of great value in the ancient world, could get destroyed by moths.
Metal, which was perhaps of even greater value, can be destroyed by rust.
And probably for every substance you can find its natural enemy.
Clothing is destroyed by moths. (or by a clothes dryer that is set on too high a temperature)
Metal is destroyed by rust or by corrosion.
Wood is destroyed termites.
Food goes bad on its own.
Technology quickly becomes obsolete.
Then there are thieves. We had a hiker recently tell me that his backpack was stolen back in Roanoke, VA. And for long-distance hikers, your backpack is where ALL of your stuff is contained. So it is like everything everything stolen. Out of the blue. One day it is gone.
So a Proverb says:
[Pro 23:4-5 ESV] 4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
And you might think “that never happens to me.” I don’t have problems with moths, rust, or thieves. Maybe so. But, as Jesus is saying, you’ll most definitely not get to keep your earthly possession when you die.
You are and your possessions are inevitably going to part.
And when we think of all of this corruption in the world and its consequent fleeting nature, we must realize that WE are included. Our very bodies only can last so long. Not likely more than 120 years, and usually much less than that.
So we search for a better treasure. We must not focus on fleeting things. Its all dust in the wind.
And Jesus tells us that there is something much greater than possessions and money. Something that cannot be taken away. A better treasure. A heavenly treasure.
What is this heavenly treasure? It is not the rewards we spoke of a few weeks ago, so much as IT IS CHRIST HIMSELF. OUR HEAVENLY TREASURE IS THE LORD. For that reasons I have titled this sermon, “The Lord is our Treasure.”
Now, I want to prove this. The better treasure, the heavenly treasure, is the Lord himself.
This point is proven in comparing verses 19-20 with verse 24.
First Jesus says:
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
Then he says:
24 “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.
Since “money” is the earthly treasure, then GOD IS THE HEAVENLY TREASURE.
And this fits so well with our catechism: The chief end of man is to glorify God and ENJOY Him forever.
We are to TREASURE God forever, finding our greatest joy in none other.
Indeed we thank the Lord the things He has given us.
But they are not OURS. We are not to be attached to them.
All that you own — your possessions and even your house — are gifts from God that you are borrowing for the time you are alive on this earth, and you are called to steward them – to use them wisely for the glorify of God.
But while these are gifts from God, our true treasure is God himself.
And this makes sense. God does not change. He does not rust, he cannot be eaten up by moths, he cannot be stolen away from us. He holds his sheep in his hand and does not let go. So not only is God greater than all other things, he is ETERNALLY greater.
It might sound strange that we can “have God” as we have a treasure.
But we know that God’s grace in Christ is a gift.
[Eph 2:8-9 ESV] 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
[Rom 6:23 ESV] 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And “we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
We don’t own him, but we yet treasure him in an eternal relationship as Savior and Saved.
So we have a better treasure.
Then we are to have a singular focus on this treasure.
II. A Singular Focus (v. 22-23)
That is how I understand verses 22 and 23.
They say:
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 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!
In short, the eye is to have a singular focus. Not to be focused on the various things of the world, but to look to Christ. Not be focused on darkness, but on the light.
A clear eye is a clear heart; a heart focused on God.
The person consumed with a focus on money and possession is walking in a deep darkness. And it is foolish to focus on these things. God will provide. That is the subject of the next text in Matthew.
Ultimately it is not food that sustains us, but God who gives us food.
It is not a house that shelters us, but God who gives us that house.
All things are traced back to God. So He is our single treasure.
Our focus is to be on the Lord and none other.
III. A Chosen Master. v. 24
Hence, we read,
24 “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.
Consider the truth found in Ecclesiastes 5:10
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity
As John MacArthur writes, “The leading religionists of Jesus’ day were preoccupied with things. They were materialistic, greedy, avaricious, covetous, grasping, and manipulative.” – J MacArthur
In short, the Pharisees were ‘lovers of money’ (Luke 16:14).
We are to choose otherwise. You cannot serve God and Money. Serve God.
The King James Version says “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
That is a more accurate translation, but most people don’t know what “mammon is.” Mammon is a Syriac word that signifies gain. So it is not just about money, but gain in general. Which is more akin to wealth and power.
We instead are to choose God.
It is not that wealth is itself evil, but certainly an attachment to wealth is sin.
John the Baptist was poor.
Job was rich.
Each were focused on God.
You can be wealthy or poor and still be a faithful believer.
But if wealth distracts you from God, then you are better off selling all you have and giving it to the poor.
Whatever it is that distract of from God ought to be removed.
We are to serve only Him. And to recognize that the Lord is our greatest treasure.
We saw before that there are rewards in heaven.
But knowing and seeing the Lord far surpasses those extra rewards.
We come into the world with nothing, we will depart with nothing.
But He who created us welcomes us into his arms.
That is the master we need.
So we’ve learned these three points:
1) We have a better treasure in Jesus Christ.
2) We are to have a singular focus on the Lord above all else.
3) We are to chose to serve only one master, God.
There are then plenty of applications that arise:
Application 1: Recognize the treasure you have.
Recognize the treasure you have.
How often are we looking for the next big thing, and not dwelling secure and satisfied in what we already have! And even more with the Lord. What else could we possibly need?
The better treasure is not something we earn. We are not called to do more good deeds that we may earn more, but we ALREADY have the greatest treasure. We already know Jesus Christ who has died for our sins and risen again to eternal life and promises the same for us.
So let us treasure the Lord. Let us look with awe to Him. That us thank Him with gratitude praying without ceasing.
Paul says in Colossians 3:
[Col 3:1-3 ESV] 1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
God is not just something you add to your life — like everything else — to try to make life slightly better.
He is above all else; the final end goal and great joy. A treasure you — if you believe that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead — a treasure you already have.
Application 2: Don’t be distracted by anything else.
Isn’t it absurd to think that people worship money?
But they do!
They worship it. Focusing on it. Not just money as in cash, but money as in worldly power. Isn’t that what money really is – just a measure of power – you can pay others to do things for you with money.
But we treasure Christ. There’s no room for the love of money. So don’t be distracted by money or anything else.
Look always to the Lord.
Conclusion:
Consider the psalmist who said:
Psalm 16:8 – “I have set the Lord continually before me.”