Old Llantrisant Hill
Introduction
- Hypocrisy is very off putting for a non-religious believer – examples
- Hollow professions often become visible
- A greater danger is the veneer of religiosity (to cover over their life)
- Example of the Scribes and the Pharisees
- Jesus hated hypocrisy
- The Sermon on the Mount – teaching the disciples in particular
- Blessings
- Challenging words
- A warning against hypocrisy …
- … in giving (to the poor), praying, fasting
- Alms giving, praying and fasting – found in all religions
- Live your life before God
- Moving from the religious/pious life to the human tendenancy to accumulate wealth (secular life)
- Words in v19-24
- Not moral instructions but about the heart/your motives
- Who is your Master – the Lord or the world?
- People can be wealthy – Example of Abraham, Solomon, Joseph of Arimathea
- It is the love of money that is wrong
- What do the ‘eyes of your soul’ fix upon?
- Do you have covetous eyes or covenant eyes?
- Overview
- Where is your treasure? (v19-21)
- What is going on inside? (v22-23)
- You cannot have it both ways (v24)
Where is your treasure? (v19-21)
- You may think these words do not apply to Christians – that Jesus addressed the disciples and the crowds
- Jesus is addressing Christians – Example of the Lord’s Prayer
- We have been given all things to enjoy and God gifts us good things
- We are not to be like monks
- Jesus gives us kind help rather than prohibitions
- Consider the ‘wealth’ of the early Christians
- Possessions do not last for ever
- Think about the end of your lives – you can take nothing with you
- Thieves are around
- Live for God rather than transient things
- The human heart is often dissatisfied – if you have Christ you have everything
- Money
- Example ofJohn Wesley – ‘make, save, give all you can’, Quote from Matthew Henry
- 2 Cor 12:14 – parents should save for their children
- Children should help parents in their older age
- It is not wrong to have savings but we should give our first fruits to God
- Quote from Spurgeon
- The apostle Paul was concerned for the poor
- Quote from Jim Elliot
- Lay up treasures in heaven
- What you do for God will not be forgotten – examples
- Tests:
- Voting for a political party – concerned primarily with finances?
- When the pursestrings get tight – do you first cut down on tithing?
- What matters most to you if life?
- The world or God
- What you focus upon will show where your heart really is
What is going on inside? (v22-23)
- Not the physical eyes but the eye of the soul – our inner life and motives
- A good eye – full of light (examples)
- A bad eye – full of darkness (examples)
- If there is darkness – it is great!
- Hypocrisy/Veneer/Wordliness
- Examine your heart
You cannot have it both ways (v24)
- Jesus is being black and white
- You cannot have ‘your cake and eat it’, ‘one foot in the church and the world’, ‘one foot with God and unbelievers’
- You cannot serve two masters
- Inevitably there will be conflict
- Paul considered himself crucified to the world
- Mammon – not just money, wealth, worldliness, the lusts of the eyes
Closing Remarks
- Recap of three main points
- Make your choice – choose God
- Lay up treasures in heaven