Who is Your Master?
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Matthew 6:19–24 ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 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! “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.”
Notice Jesus did not say don’t lay up treasures…the issue is not the laying up of treasures…the issue is what you treasure because every treasure is tied to a place.
We tend to store up where we plan on staying!!!
We tend to store up where we plan on staying!!!
Jesus is saying don’t store up in a way that says you plan on staying here. This world is not your home. You have a heavenly home, an eternal destination and Jesus is telling you to store up your treasures there.
JD Greear says you can’t take it with you but you can send it ahead of you.
JD Greear says you can’t take it with you but you can send it ahead of you.
Your master will determine where your treasure is?
Review Proverbs 23:1-5
Review Proverbs 23:1-5
23
When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what[a] is before you,
2
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3
Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
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.
1 Timothy 6:17–19 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
1 Timothy 6:17–19 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
Matthew 6:21 - 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21 - 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We tend to read this passage focused on the location of your treasure, but Jesus is focused on the location of your heart.
Story of rich young ruler - Jesus didn’t say sell all your possessions and give me the money, he said sell your possessions, give it to the poor, and come follow Me. Jesus didn’t want his money, He wanted his heart.
Jesus knows that every heart will have a master and He knows that when He is in the seat of Master of your heart, your heart is safe, it’s secure, it’s fulfilled, it’s satisfied, it’s restored, it’s rescued, it’s redeemed.
But every other heart master will leave you broken, empty, hurting, and lost.
We ask the wrong questions in regards to our treasure…
We ask the wrong questions in regards to our treasure…
Last week we had an elder meeting after service and Tyler said something jumped out at him while we were going through the passage…It was a foregoing conclusion to Jesus that a believer was going to do these things. When you give, when you fast, when you pray…again, we’re asking should I questions when we need to be making when I declarations. We’re asking the wrong questions.
Had someone say to me you can’t hide money. I said yeah, but you can hide broke 🤣.
And that’s what a lot of people do…we mask broke with name brand stuff.
I get it. I like nice things. Y’all may not know this about me but I’m a tad bit boogie. I have a coach wallet…
We often ask the wrong questions when it comes to money and possessions
Often starts with
should I give 10%…tithing…should I tithe?
should I give 10%…tithing…should I tithe?
That’s the wrong question. there’s probably some hurt for some of you on this topic because you’ve been taught about this stuff from a place of fear instead of a place of faith. I want to help you with that today.
Talk about me being generous…when I quit tithing…God challenged me! I stopped tithing…I started being generous. I can’t take it with me but like Pastor JD says, I can send some of it ahead. And I’m not saying this to say look at me…this was totally a God thing in my life because I was serving money and possessions - and it was demonstrated in my attitude towards tithing.
Just like the rich young ruler, Jesus doesn’t want your money, He wants your heart…and He knows that when He has your heart, you’ll put your money into the things He wants you to.
I’ve been told that we don’t talk about money a lot here. Do we need it? YES! Ministry costs money…there are people who work really hard to make sure that you and your kids are being guided to life in Christ and Scripture says that a workman is worth their hire…we should take care of the people who do the work of ministry - and I’m not saying this for me, I have a great job with great benefits and make decent money, and I like it…but it does pull me away from shepherding you all to the fullest…same for PB and Danielle, and Caleb who we’ve paid more like an intern than an employee over the years but he’s been faithful in pouring into your students and they are growing in their faith and getting baptized and following Jesus and God is using him and God says he’s worthy of his hire that we should take care of him and all of that costs.
BUT - It doesn’t do you or me or SCC any good for me to guilt you into giving. You should give because God gave you far more than you should ever repay, and you should give because God is building you up through this house, and you should give because you believe in what God is doing in and through SCC, and you should give because there are people out there who have never heard the name of Jesus and they are perishing every day, on their way to hell, and we’ve been commissioned to reach them but to do that effectively as a church, it costs…
And it costs to be here, in this theater, but this is a place unbelievers will walk into because it doesn’t look like a church and it smells like popcorn and they come in with their guard down because the chairs recline, and they are welcomed and loved by you all - then they witness the people of God worshipping God in an unconventional environment and they are hit with the word of God which is transformative - and Jesus, through His Holy Spirit convicts them and draws them to Himself and they can receive His free gift of salvation - but it costs to be here.
So should you give to the church? Absolutely - but not because you were guilted into it, but because God who gave His all for you through His Son, has asked you to do it!
A second question that is somewhat tied to the first one is this:
Should I pay my bills first or tithe first…
Should I pay my bills first or tithe first…
Yes - 1st, I don’t like the word tithe for the reasons I mentioned a moment ago…I prefer giving or being generous…all throughout Scripture we find a principle of First Fruits…In layman’s terms, it means to give God the best of what you, not your left overs…that principle should reign in every area of our lives…time, talent, treasure.
What I would say to you is that if your bills have created a situation where you cannot give God your First Fruits, then you need to seriously assess how you are living beyond your means and what you can do to get to a place where you can give God your First Fruits and not the left overs.
There is an element of faith to this as well…and I know that is hard for some of you. I get it…When I lived with my grandparents, we were poor…like we don’t have a working bathroom you have to potty in a bucket and 3 of y’all have to sleep on a twin mattress on the living room floor taking turns on mouse patrol poor….and I know what it’s like to have more month than money. I have a mom who was a single parent who worked hard to make ends meet, but I also watched her for years be faithful in her giving and generosity and I’ve seen how she has constantly been blessed and promoted and God gave her the ability to work hard and excel at her work in such a way that she’s able to have excess.
I’m not a prosperity preacher and I believe it is horribly wrong for us to give just to get. That flies in the face of all that the Gospel proclaims. We give because Jesus gave…because God so loved the world that He gave.
But I have also seen God be faithful and reward those who who diligently seek Him in every area of their lives.
Our question should not be should I pay my bills or give.
Our question should be God how do I get to a place where I can give you my first fruits.
Our question should be God how do I get to a place where I can give you my first fruits.
Holy Spirit convict me and show me the areas where I am giving to other things what really belongs to you!
Should I save for retirement?
Should I save for retirement?
Yes! Please do. But there is a priority to things and this goes back to the principle of first fruits for me.
The thought of Retirement should not keep you from giving God your first fruits today and being generous today and helping those that God wants you to help today…if it does, you are storing up earthly treasures because you are trusting in that more than trusting in God to sustain you.
This is all about priority. For many of us, the way God has chosen to sustain us tomorrow is through the job He gave us today! So yes, save for retirement.
I don’t plan on retiring from pastoring…My youth Pastor, Pastor Kevin used to say he wanted to go out preaching the Gospel…I realize it would traumatic for most of you if I just dropped dead right here…but that would be an awesome way to go for me…
I’d be in heaven talking bout…Peter…Paul…guess what. I was in the middle of point two and bam! Next thing I know I’m hugging Jesus, singing with the angels, and dancing with David.
Saving for retirement does not go against what Jesus is teaching us here in Matthew 6:19-20 - if we have things in the proper priority..
How do I know if my heart is in the right place on this?
Didn’t understand why these two verses seemed to break up one though, but they don’t break it up…Jesus put them there for a reason
Matthew 6:22–23 ““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 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!”
We need to look inside and be honest about what we see. The big issue for most of us is that we don’t want to be honest with ourselves about where we are and why we do the things we do…back to last week’s message on our practices and the motives behind them.
How do we respond to a message like this:
Matthew 6:24 ““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.”
In this words of Joshua - Joshua 24:15 “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””
