Fasting

The Sermon on the Mount  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Matthew 6:16–24 ESV
16 “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. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 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. 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. 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! 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.
Asking good questions -
Who are the hypocrites?
Who is Jesus speaking to?
Why does Jesus move from fasting to treasures?
How would the original audience understood what Jesus was saying?
What does Jesus imply about fasting?
What does the word serve mean?
Why should we wash our face?
Why is Jesus telling people this?
Main Idea - Fasting like money is a gauge on how healthy our hearts are.
Transformational Intent - Treasure Jesus
Bottom Line - What you love you will serve.
Big Question -
Biblical Theology - Money

Introduction

Brand Game

Tension

Big Question - How do you serve money?

Truth

Verse 16-18 - Fasting

Who remembers talking about fasting last year?
What was the point?

Verse 19-21

Moth and rust?
Why does Jesus move from fasting to treasures?
Treasure & fasting are linked.
What is Jesus warning against?
What does this mean “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”?
Money is a gauge on our hearts.

Verse 22 -24

Does it seem weird that Jesus jumps from money to eye sight back to money?
Do you know why He does this?
Money darkens our ability to see our own sinfulness
It is easy for us to fall into greed w/o us knowing it.
Luke 12:15 ESV
15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
You don’t have to guard against murder. Its hard to fall into murder w/o knowing it.
But greed is easier. Its slow.
We live in a world where there aren’t two products. Rich and poor.
keenly aware of which products you can buy and which ones are just above you.
What this does is makes us greedy. How?
as you get more and more money you slip slowly into a life style of greed.
Go from old navy to HM to AE to Calvin Kline to Gucci

Bottom Line - What you love you will serve.

Serving God is deeply rooted in loving Him.
How can you serve money?
You serve money by treasuring it so much that you shape your whole life to benefit form what money can do for you.
What you do is turn it into an idol.
What is an idol?
Idolatry is something makes you more happy than Jesus does.
At that point it isn’t a voluntary serving. You are a slave to it. Thats literally the translation for serve in verse 24.
Greed now owns you. And it isn’t a gentle master.

Landing

Money can make you happy, buy you power. In fact it is probably the most valuable thing on earth.
Money can get you what you want until it cant.
Until you see your sins as a debt you cannot pay, Until you see your sin hanging from the cross, untill you see the treasure of Jesus’ blood that washed you clean, you will alway serve money.
John piper says this
Therefore, all of life is service to God, This is, all of life is shaped by our passion to maximize our experience of the supreme worth of God in Jesus. All the world worships something. From the most religious to the most secular, all people value something high enough to build their lives around it - even if unconsciously. Jesus demands that every person in the world build his life around the infinite worth of God in Jesus.
Jesus was born poor ...
Christ became poor for us to make us rich in Him.
not with riches of money
but the infinite riches of His grace.
Questions
What are some things that you treasure?
What do fasting and money have in common?
What does the word serve mean?
Read Matthew 13:44. What are you not willing to sell for the treasure?
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