Who do you Trust, God or Money?
Text: Matthew 6:19–24
“In 1908, Congress made it mandatory that the phrase “In God We Trust” be printed on
all coins…In 1956 … 84th Congress passed a joint resolution "declaring IN GOD WE
TRUST the national motto of the United States." The law was signed by
President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, and the motto was progressively added to
paper money over a period from 1957 to 1966.”1
Our national motto raises the question that today’s sermon also raises. Who
do you trust—God or money? In his sovereignty, God has put this phrase on our
currency to constantly remind us to look at the money in our wallet and ask this
question. “Who do I trust, God or money?”
The Context of today’s passage is the Gospel according to Matthew and its
theme—the Kingdom of God.
More specifically, we are studying the Sermon on the Mount. It describes life
in God’s Kingdom. The sermon has four sections. We are in section three.
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Matt 5:1-16 The beatitudes: The quality of life in God’s Kingdom.
5:17-34 The OT: The true intention of the Law.
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Chapter 6: Daily life in God’s Kingdom.
All of chapter six, daily life in God’s kingdom, criticizes an earthly
perspective. From where do you seek praise—earth or heaven? Where is your
wealth located—earth or heaven?
The first half of chapter six discussed the motive behind religious duties—
prayer, almsgiving, fasting, etc. Are we seeking the praise of earth or the praise
of heaven?
Today’s text starts the second half of chapter six. It discusses our
relationship with things in the secular world—money, food, clothing, ambition,
etc.
Why does Jesus pick on money? Answer: For most Christians, money or
material things are the greatest temptation to idolatry. In addition, most Christians
that have an idolatrous relationship with money are unaware of it. So, today’s text
provides us with three diagnostic questions to help us analyze our condition.
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From the Wikipedia article “In God We Trust”
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Two treasures: What do you Worship
Two Visions: How do you see?
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Two Masters: Who do you serve?
I. You cannot serve both God and money.
A. 19-21 TWO TREASURES: WHAT DO YOU WORSHIP?
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.
Where is your Treasure? Wherever it is, that is where your heart will be also.
We worship from the heart, and our heart follows our treasure.
The emphasis here is not on material things. It is on an idolatrous heartattachment to material things. We have an idolatrous relationship with material
things when we trust them to provide what only God gives. This means that the
heart, not money, is the problem.
Let’s start with what Jesus doesn’t forbid:
1st He does not forbid the private ownership of property. 8th commandment is
“You shall not steal.”
2nd He does not forbid savings for a rainy day. Just the opposite. The Bible
commands us to be prudent. The Bible also frowns on debt. We cannot be
prudent, and we cannot avoid debt, without savings.
3rd Christ does not forbid enjoying material wealth. Rather, God encourages
it. “And behold God saw everything that he had made and it was very good”
(Gen. 1:31).
So, what does Christ forbid? He forbids the worship of money, looking to it to
give what only God can give. How do we know when we have passed beyond
the God-glorifying enjoyment of wealth? How do we know when wealth has
become idolatrous, that we are worshipping it? How would we know that things
have becomes our Treasure, and that God has moved to the back seat? Here
are some tests.
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1st Our real god is whatever we look to for ultimate security and
protection.
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2nd Our real god is whatever we look to for ultimate satisfaction or
fulfillment. God has wired us to seek our happiness. We will seek it
relentlessly. Conversion changes my convictions about the real
source of happiness. I increasingly believe that God as my happiness.
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3rd Our real god is whatever we look to for identity, status, or meaning.
(Move from Volvos to Hondas).
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4th Our real god is whatever is on the throne of our life, whatever our
life revolves around.
Jesus captures all of this with two analogies—treasure and durability. When
wealth becomes a “treasure” we worship it. When wealth becomes a “treasure”
we look to it for permanence. We will assign deity, i.e. we will trust, whatever we
really think will transcend, remain, or be permanent. If we look to God and
eternity to provide security, fulfillment, and identity then our treasure will be in
heaven. If we are looking to earthly wealth to provide these things then we will
worship money, investments, real-estate, and earthly toys. Earthly treasures are
temporary and non-fulfilling. But, spiritual treasures are eternal and deeply
fulfilling.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal,
Job had heavenly treasures in mind when he said, “Naked I came from the
womb: Naked I shall return.”
I summary, the question is about two treasures. What does Jesus mean by
“treasure?” He doesn’t mean money or material things. They are morally neutral.
He means a wrong relationship to material things. When that wrong relationship
exists earthly wealth becomes a “treasure,” and we will worship it.
It has nothing to do with whether we are rich or poor.
Whatever our treasure is, it will capture and enslave our hearts. There is only
one way that this can change, and it is illumination. That is Jesus’ second set of
questions.
B. 22-23 TWO VISIONS: HOW DO YOU SEE?
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy [i.e. single, generous],
your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad [double-minded, stingy],
your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is
the darkness!
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The emphasis here is on illumination. The question is, how do you see?
The “eye” that Jesus speaks of is the “eye” of the heart. Vs 22 “The eye of
the heart is the lamp of the body.” This “eye” represents the desires, i.e. the
desires of the heart.
The eye of our heart is either satisfied or restless with discontent. The Bible
uses the eye of the heart as a metaphor for desire frequently.
(Proverbs 27:20) "20 Never satisfied are the eyes of man."
(1 John 2:16) "16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, and the desires of
the eyes, and the pride of life—are not from the Father but is from the world."
(Ecclesiastes 1:8) "8 The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with
hearing."
In addition, the eye of the heart longs with either single mindedness or
double mindedness. That is the idea behind the word “healthy” in verse 22. “So, if
your eye is healthy [single, generous], your whole body will be full of light, 23 but
if your eye is bad [double-minded, stingy], your whole body will be full of
darkness.”
(Proverbs 4:25–27) "25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight
before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not
swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."
So, what does your heart really desire? Does your heart desire singlemindedly, or does your heart desire double-mindedly?
Again, Jesus uses the English word “healthy” and “bad” to describe the eye
of the heart. What your eye really longs for will determine its ultimate health or
sickness. Does your heart desire God and eternal things above all else? Is it
single-minded?
Is the eye of your heart restless for God, but content with everything else?
Then, your heart is “healthy,” and your “whole body will be full of light.”
On the other hand, does the eye of your heart really desire, above all else,
material things? Is it content with God, but restless for material things? You have
as much of God as you want. You don’t read the Bible. You don’t pray. You are
bored with church. What you really crave is that promotion, that new house, that
new car, or a couple hundred thousand in the bank. If that is the case your heart
is bathed in darkness, even while you are convinced it is bathed in light.
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Remember, pride is blindness, and the first thing to which it is blind is its own
sin. This person is deceived. Their heart is bathed darkness even while they think
It is bathed in light.
That is why unbelievers call “modernism” the “Enlightenment.” Whereas they
call the Medieval period, i.e. “Christendom,” “the Dark Ages.”
This is the deception Jesus referred to in Vs 23, when he said, “If then the
light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness?”
Again, the eye of your heart will desire whatever or whomever you are really
convinced is going to provide you with ultimate happiness, meaning, fulfillment,
and identity.
So, here is the big question. Is your heart, filled with moral and spiritual light
or moral and spiritual darkness? What are you content with, God or money?
Is the “eye” of your heart healthy or is the eye of your heart “bad?”
The solution to a “bad” eye begins at New Birth. New Birth involves a cornea
transplant at the center of your heart. The “bad” eye is removed and a “healthy”
eye is inserted. Illumination comes to us through this new eye. Illumination
makes God increasingly desirable. It makes us restless for more experience with
God. It convinces us that this world’s riches are meager by comparison. Paul
knows that illumination in the heart’s new eye is our great need. So he prays—
(Ephesians 1:18) "18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know
what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious
inheritance in the saints,"
The eye of Christ’s heart was single and generous. It was healthy.
(Revelation 1:14) "14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His
eyes were like a flame of fire,"
(Revelation 19:12) "12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many
diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself."
The eyes of Christ’s heart are blazing fires. There is no impurity, no mixture
in his gaze. His focus is single. His desires are pure. His desires for his Father
are intense, hot, and all consuming.
Again, how the heart sees determines the light within us. The light within
determines the light that we radiate. 2 Cor 3:18 describes this with other
language. “Beholding the glory of the lord we are transformed into his image from
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one degree of glory to another.” We become like the object of our worship, i.e.
that which the eye of our heart beholds, either Christ or a false god. In this case
the false god is worldly wealth.
C. 24 TWO MASTERS: WHO DO YOU SERVE?
Who do you serve, God or money?
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."
The emphasis here is on slavery. You will serve the master you choose.
Each of us will be the slave of either money or God. Your master will control you
and dominate you. We cannot serve two masters.
You know that you are serving money, that it has morphed into a god, when
you disobey God to serve your lust for money? (Credit card debt, failing to tithe,
spouse working unnecessarily, etc.).
All who serve money will actually despise God. What does “despising God”
look like?
It means this. It means that I take money’s promises very seriously, but I
don’t take God’s promises seriously. It means that I look real religious on the
outside. I go to church and homegroup, but inwardly I despise God. I actually
look down on his word. It doesn’t grip me. It has little weight with me. It doesn’t
cause me to tremble. I don’t really believe the Bible. God sees this attitude as
the sin of “despising” him.
God is a wonderful master. Those who serve him are happy. God is a kind
and gracious master. He brings contentment, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, identity,
and security. The irony is that those who make God their master are really able
to enjoy “things.”
By contrast, money (material things) is a cruel task-master. The fruits of
serving money are anxiety. (Next week).
The fruits of serving money are the inability to rest and enjoy the wealth God
gives. (Harlan Douglas).
(Ecclesiastes 5:10) "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who
loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity."
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He is not able to rest content. When the person mastered by things is asked
how much is enough, he responds, “Just a little more.”
The fruit of serving money is jealousy and envy.
The fruit of serving money is exhaustion.
The fruit of serving money will be a disordered family. Husband working 70
hours a week, or both spouses working full time when they don’t need to.
The person who serves money is always insecure. He is always thinking
about money, how to get more. He is always boasting in his wealth. It is his
identity?
The person who serves money will be stingy. They will resent tithing, giving,
helping the oppressed, giving to missions, etc.
BILLBOARD
II. Application
Today’s text gives us three solemn warnings. 1 st A warning against idolatry.
Verse 21 “For wherever your Treasure (god) is there will your heart be also.”
2nd “A warning against deception. 23b “If then the light in you is darkness,
how great is the darkness!”
3rd A warning against double-mindedness. 24b “You cannot serve God and
money."
1. Asceticism or Materialism?
We must always walk the tightrope between Asceticism on one hand and
Materialism on the other. Money is not evil. Money is neutral. It is the heart that
has the capacity for evil.
Only the truly contented person is able to enjoy worldly wealth.
The enjoyment of wealth and material blessings is a gift from God.
God wants us to have a robust doctrine of Creation coupled with a generous
love for the church and the disadvantaged.
2. Who do you obey?
Do you compromise God’s will for money?
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3. Prudent of Covetous?
Are you prudent or covetous? They look the same from the outside. But the
heart disposition is completely different.
4. Illumination or Materialism?
How do we get a healthy eye? How do we make Christ, not money, our
treasure? How do we move from serving the Master, money, to serving the
Master, Christ?
We need illumination. To the degree that we see Christ with the eye of our
hearts, money loses its grip on us.
Illumination kills materialism. There is no other cure. Self discipline alone will
repress materialism, but without illumination the bad eye will just pop back up.
Illumination makes Christ a Treasure that riches cannot compete with.
The person lacking illumination is like a slum dweller in Haiti. They have no
concept of how people live in Miami, just a couple hundred miles away.
The person who serves material things is like a person content with a week’s
vacation at the Motel Six in Othello when he could get two weeks in at the Hyatt
Regency in Maui instead.
The Bible constantly tells us that Christ is the great Treasure/Master by
comparison to which all else is trivial.
(Luke 16:11–13) "If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will
entrust to you the true riches?”"
(Romans 2:4) "4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and
patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?"
Rom 11:33 “The riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Ephesians 2:7 “Riches of his grace.”
Eph 3:16 “the riches of his glory.”
Ephesians 3:8) "8 To me… this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ,"
Col 1:27 “The riches of the glory of this mystery—Christ in you the hope of glory.”
(Colossians 2:2-3) “Riches…of the knowledge of God’s mystery which is Christ in
whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
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How does one acquire these riches?
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Practice the spiritual disciplines.
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Focus on the Gospel.
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