Matthew 6:19–24

Matthew 6:19 is surely addressed to the disciples of Christ (see Matthew 5:1). And how much we need to pay attention to such instruction. You will notice that our blessed Lord is setting out here the moral characteristics of earth and heaven. There is no such thing as moth, or rust, or thief in heaven. On earth there is.

The warning of the Lord Jesus — first of all directed to His disciples — does not refer to the blessing of God we may desire. It refers to something completely different: the greedy striving after wealth and earthly security. We read about this already in Proverbs 23:4-5: "Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven."

Earthly wealth and earthly treasures are passing and therefore very insecure. This is what the Lord Jesus sets before His disciples here. The moth, a small, insignificant creature, can ruin the most costly materials in a very short time. Rust can destroy the things that seem most durable and most valuable, and thieves can steal it all at once. In the last century, war, flight and inflation taught many people — including children of God — that their apparent earthly securities could vanish like vapour.

Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy! If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, your heart will be there too. Many hold a fond notion that directly contradicts Christ: that the struggle for riches can swallow up a whole life while the heart is not in it but true to Him. What can be more false and deceiving! It is not for lack of solemn warning that a Christian can stray like this. What we are set on and live for from day to day proves our character and our state.

Here our Lord contrasts the heavenly with the earthly, the spiritual with the natural, the things of time with those of eternity. His estimate of these is perfect, and He would have us governed by it. The heart follows what it prizes most, and if that is the things of earth, how great the loss! In this world, where death lies on everything, people set up many artificial arrangements to give security. But what is heavenly and eternal needs no insurance societies — eternal things are the sure things.

As to things here, you have your Master's goods. If you hoard them up here, you surely lose them hereafter, and turn them into accusers. On the other hand, you have gracious permission to transfer them really to your own account, by laying them up where your treasure is — "in heaven."

We believe the Christian is bound to provide for his family, day by day — bound to educate his children and put them in the way of earning an honest living. The New Testament commands all this so plainly that no one can question it. But these sacred duties leave the question of hoarding and speculation untouched. We do not believe in these at all. We believe that hoarding covers the soul with rust, and speculation fills the heart and mind with care and anxiety.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust [not merely can, but do] destroy and where thieves [not merely can, but do] break in and steal." You will notice that our blessed Lord is setting out in this passage the moral characteristics of earth and heaven. There is no such thing as moth, or rust, or thief in heaven. On earth there is.

This is the clothes-moth, whose destructive damage is well known. In the East people kept garments in large quantities, as property and as gifts. Naaman the Syrian, for example, brought "changes of garments" as a present to Elisha, and Gehazi obtained two of them. Moths do not attack the clothing that is worn; they lay their eggs in what is laid up, and there the young find their food. From this the lesson is drawn to lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt or destroy.

But how is it possible to lay up such treasures in heaven? In Matthew 19:21 the Lord Jesus says to the rich young man: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Paul writes something similar to Timothy: "As for the rich in this present age, charge them... to do good, to be rich in good works, to 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 life" (1 Tim. 6:17-19). These passages contain a simple, unmistakable teaching. Take someone who wants to follow the Lord. He does not treat what he owns on earth as "treasure." He uses it according to God's will and for His honour in doing good. In this way he is gaining other and better treasures. He does not become poorer but richer in the eyes of God!

As to things here, you have your Master's goods. If you hoard them up here, you will certainly lose them later, and turn them into accusers. On the other hand, you are graciously permitted to transfer them, really and truly, to your own account. You do it by laying them up where your treasure is — "in heaven."

Let us note carefully that the Lord says, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." He does not say "ought to be," but "will." We cannot escape by telling ourselves that our hearts are not attached to what we are busy piling up. Why then accumulate it? We would say of a man heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish that he was mad. Yet to him the worthless pile is valuable. The proof is that he keeps piling it up. Who would not change worthless paper into good security? This we are privileged to do, while treasure in heaven will keep the heart there, and draw the feet on to where the heart is.

The believer's eyes are to be far above the world's level. His true treasure is not material. It is of eternal value, and nothing can corrupt it or steal it. Today we know that treasure is closely bound up with Christ Himself, raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly places. Is our heart not there too? As we value the things that are eternal, and live and act in view of this, we shall be laying up treasure in heaven.

Here we have the remedy for it all: a word which, if it could be spoken to a Jewish remnant in view of millennial blessing, is so fully and clearly our own as Christians that the natural thing is to take it as if it had no other application. Yet those who are to inherit the earth, in the day all this looks forward to, will have great need to lay up their treasures in heaven, in the care of Him who is coming to give reward to His saints.

Notice what the Lord says: "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." He does not say "ought to be." He says "will." We cannot escape by assuring ourselves that our hearts are not tied to what we are busy piling up. Why, then, pile it up? We would say of a man heaping up sticks and straws and rubbish that he was insane. But to him the worthless heap is valuable — and you can tell that for sure, because he keeps adding to it.

Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy. If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, there also will be your heart. Many cling to a fond idea that directly contradicts Christ: that a man can pour his life into the struggle for riches while his heart is not there at all but true to Him. Nothing could be more false or more misleading. It is not for lack of solemn warning that a Christian can go astray like this. What we are set on and live for from day to day proves our character and our state.

The believer's eyes are to be far above the world's level. His true treasure is not material but of eternal value, and nothing can corrupt it or steal it. Today we know that this treasure is bound up with Christ Himself, raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly places. Is not our heart there too? As we value the things that are eternal, and live and act in view of this, we shall be laying up treasure in heaven.

But how is it possible to lay up such treasures in heaven? In Matthew 19:21 the Lord Jesus says to the rich young man, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Paul writes something similar to Timothy. He is to charge the rich in this world to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share. In this way they store up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19). These passages teach one simple, unmistakable thing. Anyone who wants to follow the Lord, and does not treat his earthly possessions as his "treasure" but uses them as God wills and for His honour in doing good, is gaining other and better treasures. He does not become poorer. He becomes richer in God's eyes.

We should never judge the prayers of others harshly. Still, people sometimes pray that our affections may be set on things above, and this is not possible. It is "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." A husband does not pray that he may love his wife when he already loves her. What we should desire is different. We want the grace and beauty and excellence of Christ to have such power over our souls that our hearts are drawn out to Him, in the place where He is.

It is always true that where our treasure is, our hearts will be also… Then, as a result of that statement, the Lord says, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning." I will say at once that if your treasure is on earth you will not be dressed for action, and your lamp will not be burning. It is impossible. You must have your treasure in heaven if you are to be found waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The eye is the lamp of the body; not the light, but what holds and fixes the light. The light comes from elsewhere: the organ of perception does not create the light, but receives it. For us the light is in the Word alone. It is the Word that judges and makes things plain. But there must be spiritual reception, and for that, a capacity to receive. With the heart set on things above, the eye is single and clear: God is before it, and in His light we see light. Then the whole body becomes full of light: the hands and feet have plenty of it for work and walk.

The question is not about the light, which is perfect, but about "the eye." A person's spiritual condition has a great deal to do with whether the disciples see rightly. How much we take in, how well we discern, our judgment and our practice all depend on the state of our affections.

It means literally "one-foldedness" or "simplex structure." ... So the Scriptural meaning of the word is that there should be no hidden motive and no double-dealing in a Christian's actions. He should be what people call "transparently honest." The Lord Jesus Christ gave the perfect example of this, as He did of everything else. What was true in Him while He was here should now be true in the Christian.

Christ truly the object before one gives singleness of eye; and where He is simply and exclusively the "one thing" before the soul, the whole body is light. Difficulties vanish. The will of God becomes quite clear. I am surprised and ashamed to have had doubts here and uncertainty there.

If we really know the Father in heaven, we shall find our treasure in heaven, and there our heart will be; and we have only to have the single eye to see this, and to see all else clearly. Then too our bodies become full of light: that is, we become luminous ourselves. We shall either be dominated by God or by mammon, for we cannot serve two masters.

The great point in verse 22 is to have the single eye. It is a testing verse. Suppose I am distracted and in uncertainty about anything. Does not this tell me my eye is not single? If I want partly to please myself, and partly to please the Lord, I have not a single eye. But if I have a single eye for a single object, it will make my path easier as I go along.

In a long and active life, God in His love does not always show us His will at once. He does this so that we learn our dependence when we are inclined to do our own will. Still, "if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light." So it is certain that when the whole body is not full of light, the eye is not single. You will say, "A poor consolation that." I reply, "A rich one to those whose only desire is to have the eye single, and to walk with God."

We should not put our hand to a single thing which would not bear the strictest scrutiny... Can she with a good conscience take the discount from the person who supplies her with the things? Should it be called "discount" or "bribe"? "If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light."

The eye is the lamp of the body; not the light, but what holds and fixes the light. The light comes from elsewhere: the eye that sees does not create the light; it receives it. For us the light is in the Word alone. The Word judges and makes things plain. But there must be spiritual reception, and for this a capacity to receive, which the apostle places in the heart and its condition (Eph. 1:18). With the heart set on things above, the eye is single and clear: God is before it, and in His light we see light. Then the whole body becomes full of light: the hands and feet have plenty of it for work and walk.

The Lord Jesus mentions the expression "an evil eye" in other connections also (see Matt. 20:15; Mark 7:22). There the evil eye is the visible proof of an envious, jealous heart. If envy, pride or other evil things fill our heart, then our whole life is, so to speak, clouded with darkness. We rob ourselves of every true joy in the Lord. We also lose our discernment about ourselves and about what is around us.

But if the eye is evil, perverting what light it receives, there will be no light whatever in the body. The light that comes in is cleverly turned into darkness — a darkness that is "how great!" No one may treat God's truth lightly. If someone twists it, it can plunge him into a state worse than plain ignorance.

What a contrast between a man with a single eye and a man who does not act on the light God has given him! The one is a light-bearer for others; the other is a stumbling-block in the way. We know nothing more solemn than God acting in judgment, turning our light into darkness, because we have refused to act on the light He was pleased to give.

The Lord is not dealing here with redemption. He is dealing with the need of a new nature — or else with the moral evil found where a person is not born of God. The "eye" shows what the nature is, inside as well as outside. This is man's condition unless grace renews him. In this all-important respect the Jew, judged by the light in our Lord Jesus, was no better off than the Gentile.

But light rejected becomes darkness, and how great the darkness! Truth given, light flashed out from the Word and not used and acted upon, leads into the grossest darkness. (This is the deplorable state of thousands of believers.)

When Christ Himself is truly the object before a person, the eye is single. Where He alone is the "one thing" before the soul, the whole body is light. Difficulties vanish. The will of God becomes quite clear. I am surprised and ashamed to have had doubts here and uncertainty there.