The Disciples Hearts must be Completely for God
Intro: Well morning friends and visitors. My name is Matt Johnson and today we are continuing our study of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This is one of Jesus’ longest, continuous sermons and if you want to know how good is good enough for heaven – Jesus says BUCKLE UP…
Prayer: Well in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus has been explaining that all people fall short of God’s standards for heaven. In different ways Jesus has been helping us to see the HEART OF THE PROBLEM is the problem of our human hearts. You can see Jesus is still speaking of the HEART in verse 21 (Slide 2). THE QUESTION Jesus really wants us to wrestle with is the condition of our hearts? Jesus has explained that maybe you haven’t MURDERED anyone. That’s good. But if you hate people, lash them with your tongue and wish them dead – you’ve still got some really sick stuff going on in your heart. MAYBE you haven’t CHEATED on your spouse or partner. But if you look at lots of porn, lust after every good looking guy or girl you see – you’ve still got some really messed up stuff going on in your heart. Jesus is saying; “Don’t simply look at your outward behaviour. Look at your heart.”
Even if you are a good, “righteous citizen” of say Australia and you obey the law, pay your taxes and work hard – doesn’t mean you are good enough for God. God looks at your heart. And Jesus is saying that we don’t really need A PSYCHOLOGIST, we all need a heart surgeon or maybe even an exorcist. Jesus wants us to see there is some really evil, demonic stuff going on in our hearts. 1) MUSLIMS who want to kill Jews simply because they are Jews are sick. Its pure evil. 2) YOUNG MEN who want to sleep with every attractive girl and have triple digit conquests before they marry are not heroes, they’re sicko’s. 3) WOMEN who abort their babies in the 2nd & 3rd trimester are not educated, liberated feminists. They’re evil. They’ve lost their maternal heart. Jesus says; “Look in your hearts and you’ll see there’s some really evil stuff going on in all people.”
But the sickness is not just out there in the evil world. It’s also in religion. It’s in the church. LAST WEEK – Jesus said, you think those who 1) help the poor, 2) pray really good prayers and 3) fast twice a week (or even for an entire month) are any better? (PAUSE) Jesus’ response was NO! Jesus said most religious people just care about looking good in their particular religious community. They’re not really doing GOOD STUFF because they love God. They’re just doing stuff to be accepted and respected in their particular religious club.
A lot of the time religious people and middle-upper class people are just better actors. They put on a better show at appearing good. But deep down we are all just CHEAP CHIPBOARD. You know what I’m talking about? You sometimes see what looks like a really good piece of solid timber furniture. It looks great on the outside. But really it’s just A SUPER THIN PIECE OF TIMBER VENEER glued over a piece of chipboard made out of sawdust and glue. Leave it in the rain for a minute and the whole thing starts to warp and fall apart. Jesus is saying we are all like veneered chipboard. Look good on the outside. Just chipboard on the inside.
So Jesus wants us to look at our hearts and recognize how much we need him to be our Saviour. Let me show you some of the things the Bible says about our hearts. (Slide 2) Well in this vein…
Point 1: The Disciples Hearts should Align with Heaven, not Earth.
Show: Matt.6:19-21
Explain: Well please notice Jesus says; “Don’t store up treasure on earth. Instead store up treasure in heaven.” That is kind of A COMMAND. That’s what we should do. But it’s not really the main point. Today Jesus gives us three object lessons; 1) where is your TREASURE, 2) where are your EYES and 3) who is your MASTER? Something similar happened last week when we looked at charity, prayer and fasting. Three different object lessons all making the same point. Jesus was asking why you do these things? A) Is it because you really love God or B) is it all just A SHOW to make yourself look good with other religious people? Jesus was saying “Look at what is happening in your hearts?
Now today we have something similar. But Jesus is now focused on the orientation or inclination of our hearts. Does your heart incline towards 1) treasures in heaven or treasures on earth; 2) towards light or darkness; 3) towards God or money? Jesus often teaches things in GROUPS OF THREE to reinforce a larger point.
Now as Jesus teaches he may have ECCLESIASTES in mind. In Ecclesiastes 10:2 – King Solomon writes; (Slide 2; Eccles.10:2). Now you all know what this means, right? It means THE WISE MAN votes right and the fool votes left. (Now of course I’m just mucking around. I know there’s no such thing as left and right in politics anymore. It’s not about economics. It’s all about social engineering). BUT TRULY the reason THE WISE MAN’S HEART inclines to the right is because God’s right hand is His HAND OF BLESSING. In Judaism a father blessed his children with his right hand. So Solomon says the wise man’s HEART inclines towards God’s hand of blessing. Now if Jesus has this passage in mind (which some think he does) he is saying God’s right hand of blessing hovers over the things of heaven, not earth; the things of light not darkness AND God Himself, not money. So we begin with treasures in heaven…
So if you want God’s blessing your heart will INCLINE or LEAN towards the things of heaven, not the things of earth. But what do most people do? How much TIME AND ENERGY do people invest in storing up treasures on earth and how much TIME AND ENERGY do people invest in storing up treasures in heaven? (PAUSE) That’s right most people spend 100% of their time and energy chasing earthly treasures on earth. Most people don’t even know about treasures in heaven.
So we finish school and go to work. We then get some 1) trendy clothes, 2) maybe a car, 3) a tattoo and 4) maybe a few good memories from backpacking overseas. These are all earthly treasures. THEN IF 5)you find someone to marry 6) you pay for a wedding, 7) rent a house, 8) buy some chipboard furniture and 9) start saving a deposit. Again, these are all earthly treasures. Now if you do well – you might 10) buy a house and maybe 11) you even upgrade to a better house. 12) Throw in a few more holidays, 13) a nicer European car, 14) pay the kid’s education and 15) then you desperately start saving for retirement. And welcome to: “This is your life.” SOUND GOOD? Oh, I missed the best part. then you DIE and leave it all for the grandkids to spend on trendy clothes and tattoos. Now I’m not having a going at anyone because this is my life too. It’s the automatic default.
Apply: But if this is ALL you are doing it is pretty dangerous – because you have all your eggs in one basket. So if you get A DIVORCE half your treasured eggs are gone AND if you get CANCER perhaps all your treasured eggs are gone. So like any good FINANCIAL PLANNER will tell you, you need a diversified portfolio. You may need to invest in some things on earth because you need a house, a car etc etc… But you also need to be storing up some treasures in heaven as well – because at some point THE MARKET FOR EARTHLY TREASURES will completely COLLAPSE. As they say; “the man who dies with the most toys – still dies”. THE PROBLEM is most of us don’t have a diversified portfolio because our hearts are fixed on earthly treasures. We tend to store up what we treasure and love the most
If you’re an ESHAY 1 year-old boy and you love NIKES, you start collecting Nikes. If you love beauty and your under 50 you store up beauty products of every shade, smell and colour. If your over 50 (and you love fitness) you store up lycra, lycra and lycra – because everyone plus 50 looks best in lycra. (Yes. I’m being cheeky!) BUT YOU GET THE POINT – we tend to store up what we love and treasure.
So if you are A FOLLOWER OF JESUS what should you LOVE more than Nike’s, beauty products and lycra? (PAUSE) That’s right. God. The reason FOLLOWERS OF JESUS love God more than all these things is that God A) made us and gave us life and B) then saved us through the Lord Jesus Christ. (GOSPEL). The fact is we have all sinned against God. We all have sick hearts that treasure Nike, beauty products and lycra more than we treasure the One who gave us life. Do you know how INSULTING that is to God. AS A RESULT we deserve to die, go to hell and miss out on heavenly treasures. (No heavenly treasures for you). But God loved us all so much that He gave us A SECOND CHANCE. When Jesus died on the cross he took the punishment for all your sins. Jesus loved you so much that he died in your place for your sins so that you could go to heaven. It was like Jesus did the TIME FOR YOUR CRIMES. God then says; “If you believe Jesus died for you and you ask me to forgive you – I will give you a place in heaven – forever.”
Now new Nike’s might put A SMILE on your dial for a day. New Lycra might keep you entertained for a couple of hours in front of the mirror. (Don’t visualize that too much. Doh, I think you did). But when God gives you a place in heaven where there is no sin, suffering or death as a free gift – that puts a smile on your dial forever. NOW HOW MUCH do you LOVE God for SAVING you and GIVING you a place in heaven? (PAUSE) This is where a diversified portfolio begins. It’s only when you LOVE GOD that you start storing up treasures in heaven. When you LOVE GOD, you start trusting God and obeying His commands and this leads to storing up treasures in heaven. So Jesus says; (Slide 6-Mt.6:21)
Point 2: The Disciples Eyes must be Focussed on Light, not Darkness
Show: Matt.6:22-23 (Slide 7)
Explain: Although Jesus now speaks about THE EYES, his focus is still really on the heart. OUR EYES tend to follow whatever our heart loves. If you love BMW’s your eyes will tend to follow every BMW you see. If you love violence, bloodshed and chaos your eyes will want to see every new Marvel Movie. If you love fame and popularity your eyes may tune into Entertainment Tonight to get all the latest goss on Hollywood. Our eyes follow the things we love. But Jesus now ADDS that if THE THINGS our eyes are focussing upon – have a darker, depressing, unhealthy edge to them – then that will make us dark, depressed and unhealthy as people. The LUST OF THE EYES was part of Adam and Eve’s downfall in the Garden of Eden. It made them sick.
So where do we find true light? I MEAN as a Christian where do you find the light of Gods glory? C’mon. Not a rhetorical question. I’m thinking of three things. (PAUSE) 1) That’s right – JESUS. Jesus is the light of the world (Jn.8:12). 2) The second one? That’s right – SCRIPTURE. Gods Word is a lamp for our path and a light for our feet (Ps.119:105). Last one? 3) That’s right – CREATION. The heavens declare the glory of God (Ps.19:1-2; Rom.1:20). So there are THREE PLACES where Now occasionally Jesus may reveal himself in a vision or a dream. But that’s rare. Jesus usually reveals himself through Scripture. So this really brings us back to two places where we really find Gods light. The first is the Bible and this is called Gods SPECIAL REVELATION. The second is creation itself and this is called Gods GENERAL REVELATION. When we spend time in Gods Word and in creation itself – Gods light comes into our life and there is a real blessing. Time in the Bible and time in the great outdoors – we see God is GOOD. We see Gods is POWERFUL. We see God is wonderfully CREATIVE. We see something of God’s MAJESTY. We even see that God is concerned about the BIG PICTURE and the LITTLE DETAILS.
And if we look really carefully we begin to see that God actually cares about human beings like us. We are at the top of the creation pyramid and God has given us all sorts of skills, abilities and talents – because God really does love and care about people like us. Then when we look at Scripture – we again see that God really, really, really cares about human beings. God cares about people so much that he came up with an elaborate plan to save us.
(GOSPEL) Its now becoming PRETTY OBVIOUS to everyone that man’s dumb, selfish and sinful decisions is destroying the world. Its now almost a race to the bottom. Will we destroy ourselves A) with nuclear weapons; B) pollution of air, rivers and seas, C) micro-plastics making us infertile, D) social media turning our brains to mush or E) now artificial intelligence literally replacing us as a species. So when your eyes are fixed on the world there is a lot of darkness pouring into people’s lives. That’s not to mention all the murders, crimes and wars. No wonder young people are now facing a mental health crisis. You focus on the strange blue light from your phone – for 3-4 hours a day – and you are pouring darkness, hopelessness and despair into your inner person.
But when you bask in THE LIGHT of 1) God’s creation and 2) God’s Word – you begin to see that the Creator God loves you AND has power to help you. This lifts your spirit. Jesus’ death on the cross proves God loves you. Jesus resurrection proves God has real power to help you. Put Gods love for you and Gods power to help you together and that is light to remove your deepest fears. We all get scared in the dark. But fear and anxiety flee away when you have God’s light.
Apply: So Jesus says where are your eyes? If our main loves are the things of this world and our eyes are focussed on the things of this world Jesus knows we going to end up with a lot of darkness inside us. But if our main love is God and we focus on the things of God – our lives will be full of light, hope and joy (despite what is going on in the world). We all need more light and positive, less darkness and negative.
So sometimes we need to fast. Last week, I spoke about FASTING and given that were coming up to Easter – I wonder if you could have A SOCIAL MEDIA FAST for two weeks. INSTEAD of basking in the blue light of endless scrolling, (go without all social media and news feeds for two weeks. A digital fast). Then intentionally spend more time in creation and in God’s Word – and I’ll GUARANTEE you will be blessed. But you know that already. You know this thing is controlling your life too much. But most of us won’t do A DIGITAL FAST because generally speaking – we are hearers of Gods Word, not doers of Gods Word. But in love Jesus is telling us the darkness within us is becoming pretty dark. The answer is – (Slide 8 – Heb,12:2-3). Now where do you see Jesus most clearly? That’s right – in creation and in Scripture…
Point 3: The Disciples Hearts must Love God, not Money
Show: Matt.6:24 (Slide 9)
Explain: Well again, the question is WHERE IS YOUR HEART? What do you love more – GOD OR MONEY? If you love God, He will be your master and you will obey what he says. But if you love money, money will become your master and you begin to obey what money says. But money is a very hard task master – because money always says you need more money. So we end up sacrificing our health, our marriages, our children, and even our participation in church in the endless pursuit of more money. So Jesus asks where is heart – God or money?
Now this past week I spoke about this passage with lots of people and many pointed out that where it says MONEY, it could say CAREER OR POWER OR EVEN FAMILY. Anything we love more than God has the potential to turn us away from God. FOR INSTANCE if you love the idea of family more than you love God – then that will become a problem. If God says A) go to church and B) your family is always going to the beach on Sunday mornings – something is going to give. Same with money. If God says A) give to the poor and support Christian ministry, but money says B) hoard, put more in superannuation, you need more toys – something has to give.
You either end up A) resenting God for saying go to church and be generous with your money or B) you end-up resenting your family for going to the beach on Sundays and you resent money always demanding more. So again – Jesus says where is your heart. You really want Gods right hand of blessing hovering over your life – God must come first.
Now like I said – this applies to everything that competes with our love for God. But Jesus does use money as his illustration because GREED is such a problem. There are more warnings about greed in the Bible than any other sin. THE PROBLEM is money is so ubiqutitous and greed so accepted in western society that no one has this problem. Ask any Christian whether they love money or struggle with greed and they will tell you; “Of course, I don’t love money. I just need more of it. I’m trying to be a good steward.” In 25 years of ministry I’ve never, ever had any Christian tell me they struggle with greed and the love of money. Now what does that tell you? Before you say “I don’t love money and how dare you suggest I’m greedy”, please remember the HEART IS DECEPTIVE above all else. What’s more, many, many Christians are not doing what the Bible tells us to do with our money while still claiming they don’t love money and they’re not greedy. REALLY?
Jesus is drawing our attention to another heart problem whether we want to see it or not. There is only one JEHOVAH JIREH our provider and it is not money. So who do you really love for giving you life, saving you from the grave and providing all your genuine needs? Gods hand of blessing hovers over those who put God before money. And Jesus will finish this sermon by saying that the person who hear his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock.
So what do you need to PUT INTO PRACTICE today? What do you need to address in your HEART and confess to God? What are you putting before God?
As I finish I just want to share A STANZA and A CHORUS from an old Christian song as we finish (Slide 10). Interestingly, the more A) you turn your eyes upon Jesus the more B) you fall in love with God and B)the more you fall in love with God – the more A) you find yourself focussing your eyes upon Jesus and that is really the solution to more problems than we realise. What is the first love in your life?
