OWR
2026-09-06 Sunday Both

      • Matthew 10:37–39NKJV

      • Matthew 6:33NKJV

      • Matthew 22:37–40NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 7:16–18NKJV

      • Matthew 6:1NKJV

      • Matthew 6:5NKJV

      • Matthew 6:16NKJV

      • Matthew 9:14NKJV

      • Matthew 23:23–24NKJV

      • Romans 10:2–3NKJV

      • Romans 12:3NKJV

      • Romans 12:16NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 2:24NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 3:12–13NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 5:18NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 9:7–9NKJV

      • James 4:14NKJV

      • Ecclesiastes 11:9–10NKJV

      • Matthew 5:14–16NKJV

  • Introduction

    Matt 5:17-48 Greater Righteousness defined
    Matt 6:1-18 Greater Internal Righteousness more than praise
    Matt 6:19-7:12 Greater righteousness than the world
    In relation to our possessions
    In relation to other people
    Matthew 6:19-24 function as a bridge, asking us what reward we’re looking for
    Praise of men or of God?
    Moving on to earthly treasure, or treasures in heaven
    A question of where our heart is. Do we love God or our luxury?
    Matthew 6:19–21 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.

    Treasures

    Jesus lays out two alternative investments:
    Earthly treasures
    Heavenly treasures

    Earthly Treasures

    These are the things we like to store up
    Money is an obvious candidate
    Toys and hobbies (fancy PC, books, guns, collectibles)
    In the ancient world wealth wasn’t in a bank so you had to find some way to store it, hidden away, and kept safe
    They get eaten up
    Moths are even a modern problem - eating holes in our clothes
    Rust is ‘the eater’
    Rust comes from Jerome’s Latin translation
    Connected this with James 5:1-3 where gold and silver corrode (the real Greek word for rust)
    They get stolen
    Thieves would literally break into houses
    We fear for our electronics and other expensive things
    Having your food stores stolen could be a death sentence
    So should we just go to subsistence living, hunting and gathering?
    There is wisdom in storing things up (Prov 6:6-11)
    What are we seeking when we store things up?
    Security and stability
    A better life
    A way to enjoy all of the work I’ve done
    It’s a matter of priorities
    Are we going to trust in things to give us security
    Or are we going to use our things to provide for eternal life?

    Treasure in Heaven

    There’s a common idea in Ancient Judaism that you could invest in the age to come.
    Tobit 4:8–9 LXX
    8 According to the abundance you have, give alms from them in proportion to the abundance. If you possess a little, do not be afraid to give alms in proportion to the little, 9 for a good treasure you store up for yourself against a day of necessity.
    You will need that money eventually
    Did you use it to prop yourself up or serve others?
    When using it for service it pays much better dividends.
    Matthew 19:21 ESV
    21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
    Parable of the Generous Vineyard Owner
    Matthew 20:13–15 ESV
    13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’
    God’s kingdom is characterized by generosity. God’s reward doesn’t correspond to our effort but to God’s love.

    Where is Your Heart?

    So the teaching is not so much about never being prepared or having a retirement account, but a matter of our devotion.
    Matthew 6:21 ESV
    21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
    Our treasures are reflections of where our trust is. And our hearts will either perish with earthly treasure or remain forever with God.

    Keeping an Undivided Eye

    Matthew 6:22–23 ESV
    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!
    The eye is the lamp. It has the potential to provide light for the rest of the body
    Another way of saying that the things you look at will have a drastic effect on your life
    Doomscrolling is an example
    The healthy eye is singular, undivided
    It’s not distracted by the peripheral
    In context we could assume it’s an eye with undivided attention on God
    The Evil Eye
    A metaphor for greed
    Deuteronomy 15:7-10 LXX | 7th Year Release is near. Don’t look at your brother with an evil eye and withhold your money from him
    Deuteronomy 15:7–10 LXX
    7 “But if there is among you need of your brothers in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you, you shall not harden your heart nor clench your hand from your brother who is in want. 8 Opening, you shall open your hands to him; you shall loan a loan to him, as much as he is in need, according to his need. 9 Be mindful of yourself, lest a hidden word is in your heart, a transgression of the law, saying, ‘The seventh year is near, the year of remission,’ and your eye is wicked to your brother who is in need, and you will not give to him, and he will himself cry against you to the Lord, and it will be in you a great sin. 10 Giving, you shall give to him; you shall lend a loan to him, as much as he is in need, just as he is in need; and it shall not grieve your heart when you give to him, for on account of this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all works and in all that you put your hand on.
    Stop window shopping
    Go through the mall and just look at the things displayed in the windows without buying it
    That look will fill you with darkness - an absence of God
    You won’t be serving him or laying up treasures in heaven

    Two Masters

    Matthew 6:24 ESV
    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.
    Cannot serve God and money?
    Matthew is writing in Greek, but using an Aramaic word (Babylonian, which heavily influenced Hebrew).
    μαμωνᾶς - which does mean money
    So why is Matthew purposefully going out of his way to use a word in a different language?
    We use ‘Amen’ - a word that says “I trust in this prayer”
    Hebrew | אָמַן
    Which turns into mammon - something that is trustworthy
    Matthew might also be personifying money as something demonic
    Money itself is just an object - like an idol is just an object
    Nevertheless, Paul warns that demons stand behind those objects
    1 Corinthians 10:20–21 ESV
    20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
    There could very well be something very sinister behind your anxiety about money. It’s a master that will command you to love and value it over God himself.

    A Kingdom Oriented View of the Future

    Matthew 6:25–34 ESV
    25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
    If you don’t prioritize finding food and taking care of your clothes - you’ll die naked.
    If someone steals our food we can go to the grocery store
    If their food is stolen they have to grow some more
    Our clothes go out of fashion in a year
    Their clothes were indicators of wealth
    Don’t be anxious
    Jesus understands that there’s no switch to flip
    It’s what we do with that anxiety
    Abandon God for more promising providers?
    Focus on doing his will above all?
    But Jesus is not saying, be like the birds and just see what you can find. He’s saying there is more to life - that there are bigger things in life to worry about than the biggest things!
    Matthew 5:33 ESV
    33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
    I am going to pursue God’s way of life no matter the expense in social standing, comfort, security, or even in life itself.

    Application

    Find something really valuable,
    This weeks paycheck
    An important item
    Something that will be missed when it’s gone
    And give it to someone else. Lay up treasure in heaven and help somebody out who needs your things.

      • Matthew 6:19–21ESV

      • Tobit 4:8–9ESV

      • Matthew 19:21ESV

      • Matthew 6:21ESV

      • Matthew 6:22–23ESV

      • Deuteronomy 15:7–10ESV

      • Matthew 6:24ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:20–21ESV

      • Matthew 6:25–34ESV

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