The Battle Beneath

Matthew Sermon Series

#12

The Battle Beneath

Matthew 6 is not simply about religious behavior. It is about the heart beneath the behavior.

Jesus has already addressed giving, praying, and forgiving. Now He moves into fasting, money, priorities, anxiety, and trust. At first glance, these may seem like separate subjects. But Jesus is dealing with one central issue:

Who has your heart?

Because the heart always has a master.
The heart always has a treasure.
The heart always has a direction.
And the heart always reveals what it truly trusts.

David Guzik references that in this section Jesus connects spiritual devotion, earthly possessions, and anxiety because our treasure and our trust are deeply connected. Jesus is not merely correcting behavior; He is confronting what rules the heart.

I. Fasting that pleases the Father

Matthew 6:16–18

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites…” — Matthew 6:16

• Jesus begins with fasting. Notice He does not say, “If you fast.” He says, “When you fast.”

Fasting was assumed as part of spiritual life. But Jesus confronts the way fasting had been corrupted. Some were using spiritual discipline as public theater. They wanted people to notice their sacrifice more than they wanted God to shape their soul.

• The issue was not fasting. The issue was performing.

Jesus says the hypocrites “disfigure their faces” so others will know they are fasting. They turn spiritual hunger into religious applause.

• Fasting is meant to humble the soul before God. It is a physical reminder that we need God more than food, approval, comfort, or control.

1. To humble themselves before God
   Fasting was a way of expressing dependence on God, repentance, and humility. It often accompanied prayer and seeking God’s guidance.
2. To mourn or express grief
   People sometimes fasted during times of sorrow, national crisis, or personal loss.
3. To seek God’s help or direction
   In the Old Testament, fasting often accompanied earnest prayer when people were facing important decisions or difficult circumstances.
4. As an act of worship and devotion
   Fasting helped people focus on God by temporarily setting aside physical needs.

But when fasting becomes a way to impress people, the reward changes. Jesus says, “Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” In other words, if the applause of people is what you wanted, then applause is all you get.

“Jesus assumes fasting as a legitimate spiritual discipline, but rejects the outward show of it.” – David Guzik

Guzik also warns against confusing fasting with “fasting from sin,” because sin is not something to temporarily abstain from; it is something to repent of.

That is what Jesus is confronting. Spiritual disciplines are not wrong. But they become dangerous when they are hijacked by pride.

Ask yourself:

• Do I want God’s approval more than people’s recognition?
• Do I practice spiritual disciplines privately, or only when others can see?
• Is my worship aimed at intimacy with God or reputation before people?

The Father who sees in secret rewards what is done for Him, not what is performed for others.

Jesus moves from private devotion to public priorities. He goes from fasting to finances, from worship to wealth, because both reveal the same thing: what has our heart.

II. Treasure That Shapes the Heart

Matthew 6:19–21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” — Matthew 6:19–20

Our paper money in America has “In God We Trust” stamped on the bills. Have you ever gave more thought to how that came about?

1. Rev. Mark R. Watkinson, a Baptist minister from Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase in November 1861 urging that God be recognized on U.S. coins. His letter is generally considered the spark that started the process.
2. Salmon P. Chase, Abraham Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary, is usually credited with making it happen. After receiving Watkinson’s letter and similar appeals, Chase instructed the U.S. Mint to develop a motto acknowledging God and ultimately approved the wording “In God We Trust.” He then pushed for its inclusion on coin designs that were authorized by Congress.

In 1864 it first appeared on the two cent coin during the Civil War.

Was this an attempt to maintain a FOCUS on what we are to trust in and how easily that money can take away that FOCUS?

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This is not a condemnation of having possessions. It is a warning against being possessed by possessions.

Many Christians try to balance Jesus’ words with practical stewardship, but the tension remains:

• How much saving is wise?
• When does saving become hoarding?
• When does providing for your family become trusting money more than God?

Those questions are uncomfortable because Jesus doesn’t give a precise percentage.

• This is counter cultural teaching.
• Many operate in their finances over a “scarcity mindset”
• “scarcity mindset,” it’s a psychological and behavioral concept describing a way of thinking where a person focuses primarily on what they lack—such as money, time, opportunities, relationships, or resources. This focus on shortages can make people feel that there is “never enough” and can lead to short-term, defensive decision-making.
• Earthly treasure is temporary. Jesus mentions moth, rust, and thieves. In His world, wealth was often stored in garments, metals, and guarded places. But clothing could be eaten by moths. Metals could corrode. Thieves could break in and steal.

Jesus is saying: everything earthly is vulnerable.

The phrase “lay up” means to store, accumulate, or treasure. Jesus is warning against making earthly accumulation the goal of life.

• He is not saying, “Do not work.”
• He is not saying, “Do not save.”
• He is not saying, “Do not provide.”

He is saying, “Do not build your identity, security, and hope on what cannot last.”

Then Jesus gives the principle:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21

We often say, “My heart determines where my treasure goes.”
Jesus says, “Your treasure also pulls your heart.”

• What you invest in, you begin to care about.
• What you prioritize, you begin to love.
• What you store up, you begin to serve.

“Jesus is showing us we cannot store up treasure on earth and in heaven at the same time as competing life goals. Our treasure and our heart cannot ultimately live in two places.” – David Guzik

“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in’: aim at Earth and you will get neither.” – C. S Lewis

“A man can spend his whole life climbing the ladder, only to discover at the end that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.” – Chad Gamble

That is what Jesus is warning us about. Success in the wrong kingdom is still failure.

Here is a heart test:

• What do I think about most?
• What do I fear losing most?
• What do I spend most freely on?
• What do I sacrifice for most?
• What would devastate me if it were taken away?

Those answers reveal treasure. And treasure reveals the heart.

• Your heart follows your treasure, so place your treasure where you want your heart to go.

Jesus then moves from the location of our treasure to the condition of our vision.

III. Vision That Determines Direction

Matthew 6:22–23

“The lamp of the body is the eye.” — Matthew 6:22

• This can sound confusing at first, but Jesus is using the eye as a picture of spiritual perception.

If your eye is good, your whole body is full of light.
If your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness.

How you see determines how you live.

• A “good” eye is a clear, generous, undivided eye. It sees life through the lens of God’s kingdom.
• A “bad” eye is clouded by greed, envy, fear, and divided desire. It sees life through the lens of self-preservation and earthly accumulation.

Jesus is saying that distorted vision creates distorted living.

• If I see money as my security, I will live anxious.
• If I see people as my audience, I will live performative.
• If I see possessions as my treasure, I will live enslaved.

But if I see God as Father, Provider, and King, I can live free.

Pray this simple prayer:

“Lord, heal the way I see.”

Help me see money correctly.
Help me see people correctly.
Help me see success correctly.
Help me see eternity correctly.
Help me see You correctly.

A divided eye creates a divided life.

IV. One Heart, One Master

Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters…” — Matthew 6:24

Jesus does not say, “It is difficult to serve two masters.”
He says, “No one can.”

This is not a scheduling problem. It is a slavery problem.

A slave in the ancient world did not have two full masters. Total allegiance could not be divided. Jesus says you will either hate one and love the other or be loyal to one and despise the other.

Then He names the rival:

“You cannot serve God and mammon.” — Matthew 6:24

Mammon refers to wealth, possessions, or material resources. Money itself is not evil. But money becomes deadly when it becomes master.

“Mammon” was used in Jewish texts in reference to material wealth, and Jesus personifies it here as a rival master. The point is not that resources are evil, but that they must not rule us. – David Guzik

Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible god.

• When money serves God, it becomes a tool for worship, generosity, mission, provision, and compassion.
• But when money becomes master, it demands fear, hoarding, comparison, compromise, and anxiety.

Money makes promises it cannot keep.

It says, “I will make you secure.”
But one market crash can shake it.

It says, “I will make you significant.”
But someone will always have more.

It says, “I will make you satisfied.”
But the more you feed greed, the hungrier it gets.

Here are three diagnostic questions:

1. Do I obey God with my money?
2. Do I trust God when money is tight?
3. Do I use money for eternal purposes?

You do not truly know whether God is your master until obedience costs you something.