Matthew 6:22–24
22“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, 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 that is 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 one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Focused Thinking:
What is the context leading up to these verses?
What issue is he dealing with leading up to these verses?
Matt 6:1
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
Practice righteousness to please God, not man.
What examples does He give?
Giving, Praying and Fasting
The transition from verse 21 to 22 isn’t immediately obvious.
Jesus has given three examples of secret disciplines to illustrate His point of not practicing righteousness before men, but before God.
Now, He gives an illustration to illustrate His point.
“The eye is the lamp of the body;”
What do you see?
The eye is a gateway.
The eye lets light in or it lets darkness in.
The eye also lets light out or it lets darkness out.
What do others see in your eyes?
“So then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”
Tragically, how many people can say today that their eyes are clear?
Lust of the eyes, Lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life.
- Our eyes are clear when we look at women inappropriately.
- Our eyes are clear when we covet.
- Our eyes are clear when we commit idolatry.
- If my eyes are clear then I’m looking at God.
Clear eyes love God.
Clear eyes love people.
Clear eyes make disciples.
23“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
If our eyes are focused on the lust of the eyes then our eyes are bad.
If our eyes are focused on the lust of the flesh then our eyes are bad.
If our eyes are focused on the boastful pride of life then our eyes are bad.
“If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.”
Tragically, we see this constantly in our country and culture today.
- The less people look at God, the more they look at darkness.
- The less people look at Scripture, the more they look at darkness.
- The less people look at loving people, the more they look at darkness.
- The less people look at making disciples, the more they look at darkness.
The more we love self first instead of God first, the more we increase darkness.
- Our only defense against the darkness is to increase the light.
- The darkness has no defense against 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 one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Notice the absolutes in this verse. There is no room for compromise.
“No one can serve two masters;”
We try time and time again, but we cannot do it.
We consistently try to fit God into our love of money.
“for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”
Most of the time this doesn’t look extreme externally, but it true internally.
The heart is deceitful and no one wants to admit that they love money because the love of money is simply the love of self.
We must believe what God says about money.
What do you feel when you read this verse?
- Are you tempted to rationalize it?
- Are you tempted to adjust it?
- Are you tempted to justify your relationship with money?
- Are you tempted to justify your use of money?
Do you honestly evaluate yourself in light of this verse?
Personal Application:
I must always raise the standard to keep my eyes clear.
The standard is constantly being lowered by the world.
I must intentionally focus my eyes on loving God, loving people, and making disciples.
- Make God Priority
- Make Discipleship Priority
- Make Mission Priority
I must constantly evaluate my relationship with money.
The standard is constantly reversed by the world.
The world tells us to love money instead of God.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, help me to maintain the highest of standards in regarding my eyes and my relationship with money. I pray that You will give me the ability to focus eyes on loving God, loving people, and making disciples. Give me the discipline to stay focused. Give me the ability to keep it simple and not be more complicated. Father, I want my life, my family’s life, and our church to be great at those three things.
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