Matthew 6:16-24

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, guys, this is my first time ever actually teaching in front of a crowd of people, so if I'm a little nervous, give me grace, please. But we're going through Matthew 6, 16, 24, so if you don't mind opening your Bibles, that would be awesome. Okay, Let's read verses 16, 18. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your father, who is in secret. And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you. So a few years ago in high school or, like, freshman year of college, I was at a New Year's Eve party with a couple friends just like a mile or two away from here, right? And I knew everybody kind of well, but it was sort of, like, awkward. I knew them enough to just make it weird, not, like, actually be friends with them. And so I started talking to a couple of my close friends that I knew that were there, and I was like, hey, I've been talking to this girl for a little bit. I think I want to ask her on a date. I think I'm gonna do it on, like, New Year's Eve. Like, I think I'm gonna do it, like, when the clock strikes midnight, Like, I'm gonna call her up and do this now. That's kind of one way to do it. It's not, like, the nicest way. I'm sure some of the girls can be like, yeah, that would be kind of weird. Well, it was. And what was even weirder is that instead of, you know, making it a private conversation with me and her, I decided to loop the whole party into this conversation. I said, guys, guys, guys, come here. I'm going to call this girl and ask her up on a date. On the first. The first thing I do in 2021, I was, like, so, so excited to do it. I have a pretty dope video on my phone if you want to see it. But. But no, I mean. And it was crazy. Everybody was like, I asked her. I was like, first thing I want to do in 2021 is this. And ask you on a date. She said, yes. The whole room went crazy. And then we went on, like, two dates, and nothing happened. So, like, absolutely nothing. But the point of that story is, like, really, most people will tell you that those kind of conversations are much Better one on one, personal, private, and meaningful, right? Not done in front of, like a big crowd of people. So they all think you're cool, right? Or they all think you're the best or most righteous, right? And that's kind of what verses 16 through 18 are talking about here. When we fast, as you notice, it's not a if you fast, it's a when you fast. I'm sure that's the first thing that comes to your mind is like, all right, well, we're supposed to fast. Crap. All right, Raise your hand if you fasted before. Okay, you are missing the point of this text. You're not supposed to tell anybody, so don't raise your hand. That was a trick. But most of you either did well or you haven't fasted before, which is totally okay. But I think the Bible is like telling us when you fast, right? So the question isn't if, it's when. And so in the future, I would expect you all to have a desire to have at least an expectation to do this. I know that for most of us, like, when that happens is a huge, huge test of your dependence upon God, your faith. Like, can I actually do this? And it's even harder when nobody knows. You wake up in the morning, you're like, oh, like, the cereal sounds so good. And nobody knows that you're fasting. It's like, I could have this cereal. Nobody would know if I just ate this cereal bar, this cereal or whatever it is you eat for breakfast. It's like the temptation is so real and to come out of that in a situation where you're like, okay, I have successfully done this. And not just by my own strength, right? By the strength given to you by God. That is the whole point of fasting is when you are. When you are weak, like he is strong, right? In your insufficiencies, he is sufficient. Can I have Owen read 2nd Corinthians 12:9? Might take you a second, but that's okay. We don't really. We got time. And don't be afraid to stand up, too. Make it a big deal. This is the word of God, Second Corinthians 12:9. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Great, thank you. So if weakness is the goal, right? Like, if in our weakness, Christ's power is made perfect, then why would we be afraid of being weak? Like, what? Who is telling you that? Weakness. Weakness is like that, right? No, that's like 2 Corinthians 12, 9 tells us the opposite. Like, my power is made perfect in weakness. How does that work? I don't really know exactly how his power can be made perfect in our weakness, but I think it's pretty insane actually to say that. So. So if weakness is the goal, then dependence is like, that is a plus. That's helping us when we become dependent upon God. Right? So this is a question, so I would like you all to give me some answers. What things can create dependence upon God in your life? What situations or lack of situations can help make dependence upon God easier? Yes. Huh? When you're broke. That is a fantastic example. Who's broke? Yes. Yeah, yeah, same here. Me too. I'm pretty broken. Is it really, really easy to trust God with the little money that you have, or is it a lot harder? It's pretty hard when you're looking at, like, hey, I got, like, hundred bucks in the bank account and I really want McDonald's. Like, that's kind of hard. And really believing that, like, God will get you through. Like, that's. That. That is the point. So how many people are single in here? They don't have a significant other? Great. I don't. My significant other's right there. So it's awkward. But singleness is a very, very good opportunity to see Christ as, like, much, much more than. I mean, Paul talks about how, like, he is thankful that he is single. He can provide more opportunities to serve and to love God and to be filled with the love of God. So I think singleness is definitely a way that we are made dependent upon God. If we depend upon our spouse more or our significant other for love appreciation. Words of affirmation, like, they're going to go away, they're going to sin, they're going to fail you, and eventually, like, your source of those things is gone and who is there? Right? So I'm going to need. Actually, I'll just read this because it's pretty good. Isaiah 40, 29, 31. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might, he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. I really think that that is such an encouraging passage for just those of us who are weary, who are faint. I know none of you guys really are working nine to five jobs or even, like, you know, seven to six jobs, whatever those things look like you probably are working a little bit. And some days going from school to work or whatever, that looks like those are really long days, really hard days. And those disciplines that you've developed become much harder to stick to when those things come. I just think it's really, really important to see that when you are weak, it's not time to, you know, toughen up and just shoulder your way through that. Like it's time to become weak and recognize that you are so finite and he is so infinite and he will give you the strength to do it, to pursue righteousness. So on the flip side of creating dependence upon God, how do we like hinder a dependence upon God? What things create independence in ourselves, right? Looking to ourselves for our any needs, But the opposite, right? Yeah, like that's, yeah, that's the low hanging fruit. But it's good because like it's so for real, right? I mean when you have a lot of money, you're not, you're not like God, pray for my next meal to come. I don't know where it's going to come from, but like none of you guys have never really probably known that kind of like I don't know the next time I'm gonna get to eat. But I mean, I would recommend reading some good missionary biographies if you can. 1 Hudson Taylor's spiritual Secret. It's a fantastic, easy, great read. But in that book, Hudson Taylor is all the time. I mean he came from money and all the time he is giving away his money to test his faith. Now I don't recommend just doing that, like just giving money randomly away and just praying that God's going to bring money again like he did. And wow. I mean, what faith. But I wouldn't recommend doing it. It was pretty cool though. I mean when you, when you really see how God provided, what else can create an independence upon self? Malachi, what do you think? [00:13:12] Speaker B: I think just like easy times, just having an easy time in life. We can think that life is going so well right now, I don't even need God that can just separate us from it. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Just times of prosperity. Yeah. What about looks? What about like just if you were blessed with great looks, I'd like. No, I mean really, like when people are vain and conceited, they think they're unstoppable, the world is their oyster and whatever they set their mind to, they're going to do. They're going to complete like pridefully, like this is something I fall into a lot. Just Like a confidence that whatever I want to do, I can do it. Like, I'll figure it out. You know, I've done a lot of random stuff in my life that has no context here, but just random stuff that somehow it just worked out in my favor that I should not put my faith in, that I should not be like, oh, well, all this stuff worked out in the past for me, so it's. It's gonna keep working out. That's not the kind of faith, the dependence upon self that we should have. Right? The motivators. I don't know. Has anybody ever listened to a motivational speech before? Like, actually. Yeah. Yes. Now don't be ashamed. I literally did it yesterday. Okay. This is like, yeah. Okay. So, like, yesterday I was at the gym doing back squat, and I was like, really didn't want to go for another set, but I was like, I'm here, I'm gonna do this. And I turned on one of those gym motivation speeches. Oh, yeah, it's cringy. It's real cringy. And it kind of brought me back to high school a little bit. Like coaches and stuff. That was fun, but in a very real way. What they were saying to me was, hey, you can do this. Dig deep, work hard. Like, you're eventually gonna get there if you keep fighting. Like, don't give up. Work harder than the next guy, work harder than that guy. Like, and all of it's just so, like, self centered, so self sufficient. Right. That it can help you for a short time. Right. It can help you get through that set of squats or whatever you're doing. But I think ultimately, like, the way that the world has turned to, like, what they've turned to in order to encourage people who are not Christ followers, who do not have the hope that we have, it's just an ever looking deeper inside yourself and then encouraging yourself that, hey, you can do this. When ultimately, like, you have a deep seated belief that you can't, that you are insufficient. The only people who are overcoming that slowly are people who have, for some reason, God has blessed them to succeed for many, many years. And finally they have confidence that whatever they can do, they'll succeed at. But it's just not true. You know, that's not. That is not the success that we want. So I want to touch back on the material wealth that you talked about. Right? That is definitely a huge temptation to look to the material wealth that you have and find comfort in that. Most people find comfort in seeing a safe net of like, 10 grand. Or 15 or 20 grand. And. And that's, like, what gives them peace. That, well, if I lose my job or if this happens, like, we'll figure it out. That's just not how Christ has called us to find comfort. He's called us to find comfort in the provider, the one who has already provided his Son for us, trusting in his promises that, like, he will bring it to completion. I know that's kind of a side tangent, but as we go into the next couple verses here in 1923, we're going to, like, kind of talk more about treasures in heaven. So I'm going to read that. 19. 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? So treasures in heaven versus treasures in Earth, that's kind of what we're gonna deal with. First, one question. Treasures on Earth. Just pop out a couple treasures on earth that you feel like you can store. One. Yeah. Treasures on Earth. $10 million. Yes. [00:18:49] Speaker B: Probably. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Like food. Food? Well, no. Kind of. Kind of. Yeah. I mean, a lot of gluttony is definitely a thing. So. Lacy. Collections of items. Yeah. Athletic or academic achievements. Ooh, that's good. Yeah. Anything else? Anything personal somebody wants to just shout out there? Yeah. Lincoln. Oh, yeah. Huh? Health. Oh, yeah. One more. Fame, health, fame, athletic achievement, food. All fantastic. How do you know when you are storing up treasures in heaven? Like, how am I supposed to know that? Is there any, like, way to figure this out? You start looking to them more than God. That's a really, really good answer. Do you Want to read first Timothy 6, 9, 10? Yeah. Sweet. Okay, cool. That was my plan. But if you didn't want to, I could just read it. You want me to read it? Okay, so first Timothy 6, 9, 10. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. So she said it pretty clearly. I mean, when you Start looking at those things more than you're looking to God. There is not an easy way to test that always. Like, sometimes it looks like actually thinking about giving those things up. Right. I kind of have a lot of shoes. Does anybody have a lot of shoes? Like, I feel like mostly girls are gonna, some guys, but I'm kind of unique in that way. I feel like I would have a hard time giving up, like some of my shoes now. Is it like story of treasure in heaven? And they're all, they're not, none of them are really nice shoes. Like, I didn't pay that much for any of them, but I would have a hard time giving them up or like clothes like I. Everybody every once in a while goes through and just starts like, ah, yeah, I haven't worn that in a while. Haven't worn that in a while. But then there's a few things that you're like, oh, I haven't worn that in a while. But I really like that one. Like, I love that shirt or those pants. There's a lot of things that are like this, right? Academic achievement is or not academic. You said athletic. That's a big one. I think for many of you that might be playing sports in high school, like, you're going to go from that to college, where you might not be, or you might go from, you know, big fish, small pond to small fish, big pond, and all of a sudden you realize that your wealth that you had in this area is much less and your confidence in that is much less. I know that that's definitely a temptation for many, many people to put their confidence in that athletic achievement. It does feel kind of like a straight up question of like, well, when am I. When am I really storing treasures in heaven? Right. I think the question itself, if you ask it, you are, you're really showing a little bit of your heart. When you are like, hey, like, am I really doing this? Am I really storing up treasures in heaven? Like, there, there should be a little bit of like, tightening of the chest. When you, when you start thinking about the different things that you treasure on this earth. Like, there's a lot, there's going to be a lot of things that you are very treasuring in your heart that would be really, really hard to give up. But you won't know those, you won't know it until you actually give thought to, well, what would I do if I didn't have this? Would life really be that much harder? Is this distracting me from God? I know that in college for some Reason everybody goes to coffee shops in college. It's the only reason I learned how to like coffee. But everybody does their Bible studies at coffee shops. They're like, we're gonna go to the coffee shop. I'm gonna have my music, I'm gonna have my book, my notes, all my pens and stuff. And it's like their tradition or something, how to read the Bible. And I won't lie, I've done that before. Like, it's kind of nice. Like, you get all warm and you feel good and like, you feel connected. Like, you set aside this time perfectly for Christ. But then I wonder, like, would it be that easy to get into the Word and pray to God with literally nothing but maybe your phone, Bible? And you don't necessarily have a private time. You don't have coffee next to you. You don't have these things, these luxuries that make it easy for you to feel content. Right when you are discontent is when it will be very hard to find content in Christ. I think the next little bit in First Corinthians, later in there also talks about rich. Could I have somebody read first Timothy 6, 17, 19? Does anybody want to read that for me? I would absolutely love it. Malachi. Amazing. What a guy. 6, 17, 19. [00:25:20] Speaker B: 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 and 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 loving. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Thank you. Yeah. So it's clearly not a sin to be rich. Clearly not a sin. That's. That's kind of what First Timothy, what Paul is telling them is like, for the rich in this age, like, show them how to live with their money, show them how to give, how to not be so hopeful in the riches that you have. It's not easy, right? For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Like, that's a real threat. So if you have desires to be rich, just realize that, like, there is going to be quite a bit of temptation that comes with those riches, and you will probably have a harder time trusting God with those riches than you would if you didn't. It's not discouraging you to be rich, but it is like a fair warning. The next little bit that I read was 22 through 23, speaking about the eye of the body. So the eye of the body sometimes is used and synonymous with the heart, the core of the body. So the ways that where your eyes are fixed, like there also will be your hope, there will be your treasures. So if you let your eyes spend too long looking at the wealth, the pleasures, the fleeting desires of this world, like your heart is going to be changed by those, it's going to desire those more. I think keeping your eyes fixed on God is the only way to flip that. Right? If you are in the light, if the light is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Like that is, that is a very, like, I feel like there is so much power behind that. You're like, how great is the darkness in you? If in that is, if in the light is darkness. Right. It feels like there's a lot on that last statement there. But because we're kind of running out of time, I'm going to run to 24 Matthew 6:24. So 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. So he's not talking about like serving, he's talking about slavery. Right? You cannot be a slave to two people because eventually they will require two vastly different things of you and you will not be able to do both. Maybe for a time, I mean, for a time you might be able to live this double minded life, this life of sin over here and Christ over here and keep them separate enough that there's only a little bit of trouble in your heart. But eventually, like you will, you will hear God calling you to turn from that and there will be, there will be fight, there will be a war inside you of, well, which one am I gonna, which one am I gonna fall to serve to? And you have to make that decision, right? It is not. He doesn't say that you should not or that you must not, but that you cannot, you cannot serve both. I would say that those who feel like they are kind of doing it right now, like I would just say, okay, well watch out. Because the longer you spend in this lukewarm kind of middle ground of serving God and serving man, the harder it will be to get out of it later when you realize, oh my gosh, God is the way and the truth, like there is, I cannot do this anymore. It will result in pain. But he will, he will make much of that. I mean, when you turn to him and decide that he is, he is worthy of Giving up, giving up that servitude to man in the flesh, like he will make it worthwhile. Those who are in the flesh are hostile to God. That's like Romans 8, 6, 5 or something like that. That's real. Same thing. You can't do both. I know that that's like kind of a hard thing to say because I mean, how many of us have given into the desires of the flesh? Like even this week? Like, there's a lot of, there's a lot of times that you give in a temptation and search for some other comfort. And it is kind of a war, a battle that you'll be fighting for the rest of your life. But if you're in Christ, it's not a war that has no end, it's a war that has already been won for you if you're in Christ. That this internal battle of which one am I going to serve? Like, you have the freedom to choose that you have the directive to deny the flesh. And you responding to that call and pursuing righteousness is like, praise God for that. Because if Christ wasn't in you, that would not be there. You would not have that desire. So if you are in Christ, you cannot serve two masters. So if you are serving two masters, start looking at Christ and going, okay, what, what has to go? A few points of application. So fasting. Fasting is expected of us. Dependency is expected of us. I think directly like food. Yes. Fasting from food is clear. I know probably many of you have seen people fast from other things than just food. Be looking around for things that you might be dependent upon that just thoughts of, could I do without this? I think that's a very valid answer, a very valid question to ask yourself around at a lot of things. And also as you're looking for things that are you being dependent upon, start testing your heart to see how it reacts to those things. Right. Your heart will know when you are terrified to let something go. Yeah. What things might you need to give up even for a time or for the rest of the time? Christ does not just encourage exclusiveness, he demands it. Right. Not just for his glory, but also for our benefit. For when we are double minded and trying to serve two masters, our mind and body, they feel that wrongness, they feel the disturbed. And our spirit is definitely troubled. Praise God that we have a Savior that helps us in those times of temptation. When the flesh is demanding and wanting of us, we have a Savior who is there to help us in our times of temptation. Right. Because he himself suffered when tempted so he's able to help those. Do not hesitate to turn to him when the world entices you. When the other master calls and is like, hey, like, we've been doing this forever. You've been here, you've been working for me. It's been going well. Like, know that there's gonna. Like, he's gonna call, but Christ will answer when you call, and he will never turn you away. So praise God for that. Right? Okay. Do I pray? Austin? I'm going to pray. All right, guys. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for Sundays and weekends that we can come together, gather and hear your word. Lord, I pray for what we just heard, that if anything was helpful, Lord, that it would stick. If anything was not of you, Lord, you would let it pass. God, I pray for the rest of the day that we'd be finding rest, Rest in a Sunday. Find time to worship you this morning and listen to what your word has to say. I pray that we would be ready for the week ahead. We praise you. In your name we pray. Amen.