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They turn in your Bibles to Matthew, 
chapter six, as we continue our study in the gospel of Matthew 
as a whole. And specifically, we find ourselves 
in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember, the Lord Jesus has 
condemned a sort of a religious practice or religious practices 
which have man as their target, man as the audience, man as the 
one who gives reward. He deals with almsgiving and 
prayer and with fasting in chapter 6 verses 1 to 18. Here he shifts 
directions and highlights our day to day activities, our day 
to day life, how we need to be focused, how we need to be loyal 
to the kingdom, how we need to be single minded with reference 
to those pursuit of those things which are above. And then this 
helps serve, helps us to steady our hearts, to steady our souls, 
verses 25 to the end of the chapter, so that we're not anxious, so 
that we're not living in a constant state of fretfulness or worry, 
but rather we are dependent upon the Lord God most high. Last 
week, we looked at the pursuit of heavenly treasure, verses 
19 to 21. This morning, we'll take up the 
two eyes and the two masters of verses 22 to 24. But I'll just pick up reading 
in verse 19 and read to the end of the chapter so we can see 
the context. 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 destroy, and where thieves 
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there 
your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. 
If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full 
of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be 
full of darkness. If therefore the light that is 
in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. No one can 
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love 
the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise 
the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore, I say to you, do not 
worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, 
nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more 
than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of 
the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather in the barn. 
Yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value 
than they? Which of you, by worrying, can 
add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil 
nor spin. And yet I say to you that even 
Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. 
Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is 
and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, Will he not much more clothe 
you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, 
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the 
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows 
that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added 
to you. Therefore, do not worry about 
tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about 
its own things sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we pray again for the spirit to guide us, to lead us and instruct 
us. We thank you that he has not 
left us or that you have not left us as orphans in this world. 
You have sent another just like the Lord Jesus so that we may 
have him to guide us. We just pray now that you would 
bless our study together. We would learn the lessons you 
have for us in this passage, that we would be focused on those 
things which are most important. God, even at the bare reading 
of the scripture, we are mindful of how far short we fall. Help us to never forget the Lord 
Jesus. Help us never to forget what 
he has accomplished on behalf of his people. We just thank 
you that he was delivered up because of our offenses and he 
was raised up because of our justification. We pray in his 
most blessed name. Amen. As I said last week, verses 
19 to 24 are three metaphors that the Lord Jesus uses to illustrate 
or highlight one important theme, and that one important theme 
is loyalty to the kingdom of God and undivided, unashamed 
allegiance to God the Lord alone. Specifically, he uses these two 
treasures in verses 19 to 21. He says that we are not to lay 
up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy or where thieves 
break in and steal, but rather we are to lay up for ourselves 
treasures in heaven, that place of security, that place of lastingness, 
that place of eternal bliss and glory. The believer is never 
to be tied to the things of this world. The believer is to have 
a biblical theology and understanding of possessions. God owns all 
things. God gives us some things to use. We are to use them for His glory. 
We are to use them for the good of others. But we are not to 
make the possessions the possessor of our soul or of our attention 
or of our allegiance. So we always need to be careful. 
Especially in a prosperous age, especially in a prosperous country, 
we need to guard our hearts. We also saw that as a potential 
danger to Israel in Deuteronomy 6. Beware, God says, when you 
go into cities which you didn't build, when you go into houses 
that you didn't fill, when you enjoy the fruit of vineyards 
and olive trees that you didn't plant, and when you draw water 
out of wells that you didn't dig. He says, beware, lest after 
you have eaten and are full, you forget God. The tendency, 
the temptation is a real one. So Jesus addresses that with 
his disciples. The other two metaphors deals 
with the eye and with master. So we'll look at first the necessity 
of singled eye devotion to the kingdom. And then thirdly, the 
undivided submission to one master. So we've got the pursuit of heavenly 
treasure, the necessity of single eyed devotion, and thirdly, the 
undivided submission to one master. Let's take up this statement 
concerning the eye. Notice that Christ says in verse 
22, the lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is 
good, your whole body will be full of light. It's a bit of 
a tricky, difficult passage to try and wrestle with. Commentators 
aren't unanimously agreed on just what it is the Lord is highlighting. 
I will spare you all of the various interpretations and just bring 
what I think Jesus is focusing on here. He's talking about focus. He's talking about loyalty. Just 
as the lamp illuminates the room and throws the objects into a 
sharp sight, so the lamp of the body is the eye. He's dealing 
with motive. He's dealing with the heart. 
He's dealing with the direction. He says that what we value is 
where our hearts will be, according to verse 21. He says that who 
we adore as master will be the one whom we serve. And I think 
sandwiched in between this is what our eye focuses on, what 
our eye looks upon, what our eye values and prizes affects 
the motivation. It affects the direction, if 
you will, of the life itself. I just want to quote John Gil. He says, the eye is that in the 
body as a candle is in the house. By the light of it, the several 
members of the body perform their office, and what is said of the 
eye of the body is transferred to the eye of the mind. Knox 
Chamberlain says in Hebrew thought, the eye represents the direction 
in which one is looking and therefore stands for the aims and the interests 
of life. If your eye is good, If your 
eye is doing what it's supposed to do, then the direction, the 
aims, the motivation of the body will be right. If you're blind, 
you may fall into a pit. That's a bad thing. But if your 
eye is thinking properly, if your eye is working appropriately, 
the eye then sets the course for the body to follow. Spurgeon 
says, the motive is the eye of the soul. And if it be clear, 
the whole character will be right. But if it be polluted, our whole 
being will become defiled. I think sandwiched between this 
pursuit of heavenly treasure and the service of the master, 
who is God himself, what we find is a word spoken in terms of 
motivation, the aims, the purposes of your life. If the eye is good, 
you're going the right direction. If the eye is bad, if it's darkened, 
if it's polluted, if it's foul, you will not go the right direction. I think he plays on the metaphor 
prior and the metaphor after, but the focus seems to be this 
idea is that the believer is to pursue heavenly treasure and 
thus exhibit loyalty to the kingdom. He is also to maintain a singled 
eye devotion to the kingdom of God. There must be proper focus. There must be proper motive. There must be proper attention 
given. to the kingdom of God. You don't 
fill your eyes with good things and with bad things and expect 
to have things go well for you. I think the idea is captured 
in the Apostle Paul's words in Philippians chapter 3, verses 
12 to 14. He says, not that I have already 
attained or am already perfected, but I press on. This is the Christian life, isn't 
it? You press on. You're not what you're going 
to be. That's a given. You've got sin. You've got remaining 
corruption. You've got struggles. There are 
trials. There is a real world, a real 
devil and real flesh in triune opposition to the glorious God 
of heaven and earth. What are you going to do? You're 
going to give up. You're going to say, forget about it. It's 
too hard. It's too difficult. I don't like 
this. I don't want this. What's the 
alternative? You have been called out of the 
city of destruction. You are heading to the new Jerusalem. Of course, you press on. You don't say, well, you know, 
this is more than I bargained for. I'm going back to the city 
of destruction. We need to adopt the mindset, 
the mentality and the orientation of a single eyed determination 
with reference to the kingdom of God that the apostle Paul 
exemplifies for us here in Philippians 3, 12 to 14. If you haven't realized 
it yet, there will be trials in your Christian life. If you 
haven't realized it yet, there will be difficulties in your 
Christian life. There will be tribulation of 
such a sort that you may only ever be able to cry out to God, 
and through your groans, through your longings after Him, the 
Spirit presents a good prayer unto God. It's tough. It's difficult. It's hard. The Master said, in this world 
you will have tribulation. Paul said, all who desire to 
live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Paul said 
that we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. The 
scripture says concerning Jesus that he learned obedience how? 
Through suffering, Hebrews 5. If Jesus learned obedience through 
suffering, certainly his subjects will know something of suffering 
as well. In other words, to be conformed 
to the image and the glory of Christ, which is God's grand 
design and predestination, according to Romans chapter 8, whom he 
foreknew, these he also predestined, to be conformed to the image 
of his Son. In order to conform us to that 
image, oftentimes the Lord uses affliction. The Lord uses trial. The Lord uses difficulty. The 
Lord uses frustration. The Lord uses these things so 
that instead of running home, whining like babies or making 
excuses and pretending that we're the victim, we ought to adopt 
the mindset of Paul, who says not that I have already attained 
or I'm already perfected, but I press on, he says. that I may 
lay hold on that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself 
to have apprehended, but one thing I do. Single-eyed determination. Single-eyed focus. This brother's 
eye was good. It was full of light. It imparted 
that light to the body, such that when he focused upon something, 
the body followed. He goes on to say, I do not count 
myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do forgetting those 
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which 
are ahead. I press toward the goal for the 
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Quite frankly, 
some of us need to forget what's behind. Are you the victim of your circumstances? Are you continually licking your 
wounds because of how bad somebody in the past treated you? Are 
you continually miserable because you had a bad lot in life? Forget about it. Reach forward. Reach toward the goal of the 
upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The imagery that is depicted 
here is the runner. restraining every fiber of his 
being for the goal. He doesn't just sort of bounce 
to the finish line. He doesn't sort of look behind 
him and wander around and look at the birds and think, you know, 
it would be nice to fall into the finish line first. He's determined. He's focused. He can taste victory. He sees it as a real prize and 
thus it affects him to the point where he runs and he strains 
and he presses and he sweats so that he may lay hold of that 
for which Jesus Christ laid hold of him. He's not minimizing sovereign 
grace. He's not minimizing the place 
of justification by faith alone. He is saying, rather, that a 
justified by faith alone sinner is going to press on. He's not 
going to be the whiner. He's not going to be the grumbler. 
He's not going to be the victim. He's not going to be the excuse 
maker. He's going to have a single-eyed determination upon the kingdom 
and upon its fruit and benefit. That's what Jesus says. Notice 
the contrast that Jesus sets forth. But if your eye is bad, 
your whole body will be full of darkness. There is the potential 
for self-deception here. I was thinking about this text, 
trying to look at it in a more concrete way. Mr. Blind Man in Bunyan's Pilgrim's 
Progress. What does blind man say? I see 
clearly now. Isn't that the testimony of the 
blind man? I see clearly now. I remember 
when I first got glasses as a little kid. I was with my father somewhere, 
and we had to see this sign that was down. It was actually a horse 
racing track. I like to be more noble and pious 
and say, my dad took me to a place of worship, and I needed to see 
the pastor. It was horse racing, Santa Anita. 
I couldn't read the digits on the sign. I thought that was 
normal. My dad said, you can't read those 
numbers. I said, no. I just assumed that 
no one could read them. I thought that that's how far 
eyesight went. Went and got checked, got fixed, and could see things 
clearly. Right? What happens sometimes, those 
who wear glasses, or those who wear contact lenses, you might 
miss a year for an exam, and then you go into the exam room 
and he says, is it better in number one, or is it better in 
number two? You say, two is great, it's clear. Well, you've been 
living in one. You've just assumed this is clear 
science. You've just assumed this is good vision. So you just 
assume that service to God means not only God, but my man. You 
just assume that pursuing heavenly treasure means also earthly treasure 
as well. Isn't just this the way it is? 
I mean, after all, aren't Canadians prosperous? Isn't this what we 
are supposed to do? Worship God and mammoth? Isn't 
this the norm? You see, we can fall into deception, 
self-deception. If the eye is not good and the 
body is full of darkness, than the man is living in, or living 
a lie, or rather engaging in hypocrisy. Just as the believer 
can be sidetracked with the treasures of this earth, so can he lose 
the focus necessary upon the kingdom of God. You might think 
it's single-eyed devotion. You might think you're doing 
what Paul says in Philippians chapter 3. You might think that 
the only thing that matters is God and His glory and His kingdom 
and His treasures. Again, let's just throw some 
tribulation into the mix. Let's throw some challenges into 
the fray. Let's throw some hardship in 
there. What's the temptation? Oh, God, why is this happening 
to me? Oh, God, don't you know it's 
me? Oh, God, don't you understand it's me? Not the anthem, not 
the resolution, not the statement of the psalmist who said it was 
good for me that I was afflicted. We can abandon God. And then 
blame him for abandoning us. It's really crazy. Ryle says 
it this way. Singleness of purpose is one 
great secret of spiritual prosperity. We cannot serve Christ and the 
world at the same time. It is vain to attempt it. The 
thing cannot be done. The Ark and Dagon will never 
stand together. God must be king over our hearts. 
His law, his will, his precepts must receive our first attention. Then and not till then, everything 
in our inward man will fall into its right place. Unless our hearts 
are so ordered, everything will be in confusion. Thy body shall 
be full of darkness. So we need to be focused. You 
have single eyed attention and loyalty to the kingdom of God, 
most high. And notice the implication that 
Jesus draws out in verse twenty four B. If therefore, I'm sorry, 
verse twenty three B. If therefore, the light that 
is in you is darkness. How great is that darkness? Is 
she a divided attention to God? It's darkness. A mingling of an ultimate commitment 
is darkness. The introduction of other things 
in our service to God or our attention to the kingdom of God 
is not saying, well, you know, you've got more lightness than 
darkness and the lightness will overtake the darkness. No, it's 
just the opposite stuff. And it's not just worldly possessions, 
not just the stuff in your garage or on your shelves. It's the 
stuff that's in your heart. It's the pride. It's the arrogance. 
the love of those things which are not godly. It is attention 
to and energy given to those things which ultimately don't 
matter. Jesus says if that is the case, if you have a divided 
loyalty, it's not that you're doing quite well or you're better 
than everybody else. I've got a 60-40 ratio. All those 
other poor slobs in the church only have a 50-50 or they have 
a 40-60 the other way. I'm certainly better off than 
they are. You don't serve Christ in the parlor and the devil in 
the basement. You don't bring the girlfriend 
to the marriage altar when you say I do to your wife. You are 
not to engage in this sort of complicity or this sort of diversity 
or this sort of division. Rather, you are to give yourself 
wholly and fully to God. Carson says either God is served 
with a single eyed devotion or he is not served at all. You 
ever met people and perhaps you've said it yourself, I know I'm 
not living the way I'm supposed to be, but I'll fix it in the 
years to come. I know I'm not where I'm supposed 
to be, but I'll get right with Jesus when I see him coming from 
the clouds of heaven. I know that right now, if I died, 
God would have some serious axes to grind with me. But you know, 
I'll clean things up. I'll fix things up. I'll get 
better. Carson says, attempts at divided 
loyalty betray not partial commitment to discipleship, but deep seated 
commitment to idolatry. You see, the issue isn't I'm 
partially committed to God, but rather it is an issue of deep 
seated idolatry in rebellion against God. You see, Jesus is 
going for us on a daily basis into what really matters in our 
lives. We might ask the question, what 
do you focus on? Where's your eye go? Does it 
go heavenward? Now don't make the foolish mistake 
that says, you know, those who are only heavenly minded are 
no good on earth. When you're heavenly minded, 
you'll be the best on earth. It's Paul's point in Colossians 
3, seek the things which are above, where Christ is. What follows after that admonition 
to put our minds where Jesus is? Husbands, love your wives 
and do not be embittered against them. Wives, be submissive to 
your own husbands. Fathers, do not exasperate your 
children. Do not provoke them to wrath. 
Children, obey your parents, honor your father and your mother. 
You see, a heavenly mindedness, a perspective that is singly 
focused upon God the Lord, that which values primarily the kingdom 
of heaven, fits a man, a woman, a boy or a girl for life on earth. It's an amazing thing. You see, 
the concrete application of Colossians 3, 1 to 4, about the person who 
is seeking the things above, who is putting his mind at the 
right hand of God where Christ is, the concrete application 
is not, well, therefore he'll go to Bible college, therefore 
he'll go to seminary, therefore he'll join the Augustinian monks, 
therefore he'll go live on an island by himself and just have 
holy thoughts. Know the implication of a man, 
a woman, a boy or girl who seeks those things which are above, 
who has a single-eyed focus upon the kingdom of God. The manifestation 
is godliness and the calling with which God called you. Plumb 
to the glory of God. Do electrical work to the glory 
of God. Parent your children to the glory 
of God. Honor your parents to the glory 
of God. You see, the concrete application 
is not a withdrawal from society, but a fitness for life in society. Those who are focused upon the 
kingdom, everything makes sense. Those who are sidetracked, those 
who allow other things to take their attention, to take their 
orientation, to take their focus away from Jesus and his kingdom, 
those are the ones whose bodies are full of darkness. It's bad, 
it's disgusting, it's wretched, it's horrible, it's unholy, it's 
ungodly. You see, Christ is bidding his 
people with this analogy or with this metaphor to be motivated 
upon, to be focused upon, to be oriented about the kingdom 
of God most high. Now, he doesn't suggest it here, 
but I think the rest of the Bible would help us with a remedy to 
employ. What happens if we've come to 
the point where The body is full of darkness. The body has much 
more darkness than we would appreciate. In other words, let's say right 
now you are convicted. Let's say right now the spirit 
of God is working in your heart. I don't know this. God is sovereign. 
He's omniscient. He's the one that's omnipotent. 
He does as he pleases in the preaching of the word. But just 
suppose for a moment you realize your focus hasn't been right. 
You've looked through number one and number two, and two looks 
a whole lot clearer. You've been living in one. As 
the Bible suggests, there are some steps, some helps, some 
encouragements, some exhortations to get refocused. You see, physically, 
you just go to the doctor and get some glasses. You get a surgery. 
You get contacts. Spiritually, there are some things 
that we can hopefully imbibe. The first is that we need to 
properly understand the seriousness of the offense. John Owen, in 
Volume 6 in his book Temptation and Sin, makes this statement 
somewhere. You need to load your conscience 
with the seriousness of sin. You need to load your conscience 
with the seriousness of sin. Don't just reckon right now, 
I'm not as worldly as that guy. I'm not as worldly as this girl. 
I'm not as worldly as my wife. I'm not as worldly as my husband. 
Embrace your worldliness. Remember, I quoted Lloyd-Jones 
last week. We tend to label worldliness 
as meaning certain particular things only and always the things 
of which we are not guilty. We can see everybody else's worldliness. Amazing the sort of sight we 
have when it comes to others. We can fix everybody else in 
the kingdom of God. We know their issue. It's almost 
as if they're wearing a sign right under their neck, I'm this 
or I'm that. We can with pinpoint accuracy 
see their malady and give the prescription. We need to embrace 
it for ourselves. If you can honestly say, I only 
ever pursue heavenly treasure. I only ever see what I ought 
to. I only ever focus on the kingdom 
of God. My service is only to the master 
of God. If you can honestly say that, 
praise the Lord. May I ask that you pray for the 
rest of us. Have prayer meetings together. 
Those of you who do these things all the time, pray for the rest 
of us, please. It's easy to get sidetracked. 
You wouldn't think someone giving alms is worldly, would you? You wouldn't think someone who's 
praying is worldly. You certainly wouldn't think 
somebody who's fasting is worldly. But in those three examples, 
in chapter 6, verses 1 to 18, how else do we explain a man 
who gives money to the poor so that men will see him and praise 
him? How else do we explain a man 
who stands on the street corner and prays so that people will 
say, what a great prayer? How else do we describe a man 
who deprives himself of food, not for the glory of God, not 
for the good of others, as Isaiah 58 mandates, but he does it so 
that people will say, what a holy sort. He's actually fasting. 
He takes Jesus seriously. He's a really godly guy. He's 
a bulwark in the church. How do we describe such a man 
except that he's worldly? His orientation is set on earth. His desire is for earthly things. 
He wants the praise, the accolades and the esteem of men. Not God. That's the essence of 
worldliness. We need to understand the seriousness 
of it. Secondly, we ought to realign 
our priorities. We ought to bring things into 
a proper focus. What really matters in this world? 
What really matters in this world? Again, you know me, I'm not saying 
go sell your house and live as a monk. That's not the point. If you take that out of here, 
let's talk. I believe you ought to work hard. 
I believe six days you shall labor and do all your work. You 
should labor in such a way that you excel and stand before kings. 
I think the Christian ought to be the best employee in a company. 
I think the Christian ought to be the best manager in a business. I think the Christian should 
be honest, I think he should be exact, I think he should be 
precise, I think he should be diligent, and I think that he 
should glorify God in doing so. If that's the case in this modern 
situation, more than likely you will prosper. I mean, it's getting 
to be a chore anymore for a guy to show up at work on time. And 
the bar has been drastically lowered. Show up and you're the 
best employee we've got. So just imagine the Christian 
who does what he's supposed to do. He's going to own the company 
before, you know, too long. Like Joseph. What happened when 
he went to prison? Comes out of prison, he becomes 
second in charge under Pharaoh. It's amazing. Why? The Joseph 
narrative is very specific and conspicuous. Before we go to 
Potiphar's house, before we go to jail, what we have on both 
ends of this narrative is that Yahweh is with Joseph. Who's the hero in the story? 
Not Joseph. It's God. You see, you serve 
God properly, brethren, and good things will come your way. It's 
how we manage those things. It's how we deal with those things. 
It's how we possess those things so that they don't possess us. 
We need to realign our priorities. In the final analysis, what matters? 
God and his kingdom. God and his kingdom. Maybe you 
should do that every day. What really matters today? What's 
really important today? What's the ultimate purpose for 
my being? The chief end of being. If you 
don't know Westminster Shorter Catechism, number one, get it 
in your mind and heart. What is the chief end of man? 
Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 
Realign your focus, realign your priorities. The only time you 
ever seek God is when you have to, or the only time you seek 
God is when men are watching, or the only time you seek God 
is on the Lord's day. Thirdly, we need to pray to God 
for the power of the Holy Spirit. How does Paul say, the one thing 
I do? How do men persevere? How do 
men go forward? How do men live lives of 60 to 
70 years of faithfulness to God most high? When an old saint 
dies, he breathes his last, and he enters into Immanuel's land. 
Do we congratulate the man? Do we say he was a great specimen 
of a human being? Or do we celebrate sovereign 
grace? Do we celebrate the preserving 
power of God Most High? Do we rejoice in the Spirit? 
Do we rejoice in the triune God of whom Paul says, I am confident 
of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will 
complete it unto the day of Christ. When an old saint falls into 
heaven, God is glorified. So when a young saint needs to 
persevere to heaven, what are the resources that are available 
to us? I'm always a little bit hesitant to give these sorts 
of principles because I don't want people to take, OK, five 
things. If I do this, it's a formula. I do these things and then I'll 
be singly determined to follow the kingdom of God. It's not 
a checklist. It's not a paste these rules 
on your front door. You're ultimately going to be 
accepted with God because of the shed blood of Jesus. We need 
to keep that in mind. This kind of discipleship that 
Jesus envisages here is not the condition for salvation, but 
is the consequence of God's having saved us. There's only one who 
actually ever pursued heavenly treasure. There's only one who 
ever had single-eyed determination upon the kingdom. And there's 
only one who fully and completely only ever served one master, 
and it's Jesus Christ. You need to learn that about 
conditions and consequences. The consequence of justification 
by faith alone is a life of radical discipleship. The condition of 
our acceptance with God is the doing, the dying, and the rising 
of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Big difference. Got to get that 
down. Realign your priorities. Pray 
to God for the power of the Holy Spirit. What does Paul say in 
Romans 8.13? If by the Spirit. You put to death the deeds of 
the flesh, then what? Then you shall live. It is to 
be spirit wrought. It is to be independence upon 
the spirit. It is to be an understanding 
that the spirit of God is a real person who indwells his people 
and who guides, who directs, who fights against the flesh 
that is in them. Galatians 5, 17. Fourthly, study the scriptures 
in order to think God's thoughts after him. I hope you don't study 
the scriptures because you have to. You study the scriptures 
because mommy's happy when you do. You study the scriptures 
because your husband or your wife says you ought to. You study 
the scriptures because you go to a Baptist church and they're 
always telling you about studying the scriptures. All right, get 
off my back. I studied the scriptures. See, prior to our regeneration, 
prior to our conversion, we spent every fiber of our being thinking 
our thoughts after ourselves. That's a bad thing. This is why 
Paul says that we need to not be conformed to this world, but 
we need to be transformed by what? By the renewing of our 
minds. That's the thrust, that's the 
issue. We need to think God's thoughts 
after God. We need to keep proper perspectives, 
proper focus. We need to be looking in terms 
of eternity. We need to have some sort of 
an orientation that values, prizes, and delights in God more than 
in the things God gives in this lower world. And then fifth, 
use the means God has ordained for life in his kingdom. Not 
just the means of grace that we use in the church and we use 
as individuals, Bible reading and prayer and fasting and corporate 
worship and singing and praising. Use the means in terms of your 
workplace. God's blessed you. He's gifted 
you. He's given you a skill. He's given you ability. Do what 
you do to the glory of God. Think in terms of the preacher 
and Ecclesiastes. Whatever your hand finds to do, 
do it with your might. This is good. This is happy, 
this is beneficial, this is a blessing, this is a single-eyed devotion 
to the kingdom of God. Boy, I'm in that crux place. 
I don't want to tack on this third aspect. I don't want to just say, oh, 
and by the way, you should only serve God as your master. Let's pray. Now, maybe some of you might 
want me to do that, but I don't want to do that. I don't want 
to tack on verse 24. because in a way it summarizes 
and puts together all these metaphors. Let's just close by considering 
this focus, this determination, this idea of allegiance to God 
Most High. As I said, it's easy for us, 
if we are physically challenged in terms of eyesight, to fall 
into a place where we're not seeing as clearly as we ought. That can happen in Christianity, 
too. That can happen to God's people. There's a man by the 
name of Asaph who penned several psalms. In fact, why don't we 
just turn there, just so we can see how slowly but surely this 
darkness overtook him. I'm not picking on him. He tells us as much in Psalm 
73. Truly, God is good to Israel. 
It's the first statement. Acknowledgement of God. Acknowledgement 
of his character. Acknowledgement of his attribute 
of goodness. This is the operating assumption. This is the presupposition. This 
is an axiom. This is a given. It's by this 
axiom that several theorems are deduced or several proofs are 
deduced. But he tells us not only something 
about God, he tells us something about himself. Again, think about 
this idea of a single life determination upon the kingdom of God. Truly, 
God is good to Israel to such as are pure in heart. But as 
for me, he says, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had 
nearly slipped. You ever been to a prayer meeting 
where someone did this? I've always. wondered, I've always 
wanted, I've always hoped for, that we could have a prayer meeting 
where this kind of honesty could go forth. Where we could actually see Galatians 
6.1 fleshed out, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law 
of Christ. I've always hoped and I've always 
wanted it to be the case that if somebody broke down in a prayer 
meeting or in a corporate meeting of the church or asked for prayer 
or asked for something specific of a spiritual nature, we'd rally 
around that person. We would love them. We would 
encourage them. We would pray for them. And we wouldn't go 
broadcast it throughout the lower mainland. Oh, man, you should 
have heard this guy in our prayer meeting. Boy, do you think you 
got issues? The church needs to be a place 
of safety. If an Asaph comes in and says, I know God is good 
to Israel. I know he's good to those who are pure of heart. 
I want to tell you something about me, though. My foot nearly 
stumbled. Almost slipped. What's he saying? He's saying I got to a point 
in my Christian life. I got to a point in my pilgrimage 
where that axiom became debatable. I started to entertain doubts 
about the goodness of God. I started to call into question 
this fundamental presupposition. I started to waver. My eyes started 
to get dark, my focus was out of whack. I wasn't seeing things 
clearly. I've got to tell you, brethren, 
this is an honest man. Has it ever happened in your 
Christian life? Has it ever been a struggle in 
your Christian life? Has it ever risen up in your 
Christian life to say things like, well, if God is sovereign, 
why does he call upon us to pray? God knows the end from the beginning. Why does he put such obstacles 
in our way? If God is our friend, if God 
is our love, if God is our joy, if God is our delight, Why, at 
times, does it seem like he's so far away from us? Again, if 
you've not had any of these thoughts, praise God. The Lord has comforted 
you. The Lord has strengthened you. 
If you read the history of the Church of Jesus Christ, you'll 
find this sort of recurring theme in some of God's people, this 
melancholy, this downcastness, this dark season of the soul, 
this perplexity. This trial, this agitation, I 
guess, that sets itself in. He says, As for me, my feet had 
almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. Why? Verse three, 
For I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of 
the wicked. What was he doing? He took that 
eye which was to be focused upon the kingdom of God, which was 
to be in pursuit of heavenly treasure. He took that eye and 
he began to think apart from God. He started to survey the 
landscape and he saw that men, wicked men, ungodly men, unholy 
and unrighteous men, had stuff. They were prospering. They were 
blessed. They were happy. Their mortgages 
were paid. Their cars had full tanks of 
gas. They could deal with a buck thirty-nine 
a liter. Their businesses prospered. Their children seemed nice. Their 
wives made them dinner. Their husbands cut the grass. As far as the physical eye was 
concerned, judging things in terms of temporal circumstances, 
these men had it all. That's what he says. I was envious 
of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Verse 
four, for reason there are no pains in their death. But their 
strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other 
men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore, pride serves 
as their necklace. Violence covers them like a garment. 
Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could 
wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak 
loftily. They shut their mouth against 
the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore, 
his people return here. And waters of the full cup are 
drained by them. And they say, how does God know? 
And is their knowledge in the most high? People, these are 
the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches. 
Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in 
innocence. You hear what this man is saying? 
I've sided with the godly for not. I've gone to church. Read my 
Bible, prayed for nothing. You see the earthly plane he's 
operating on, isn't he? He's thinking in formulaic terms. 
I serve God 15 units a day, He's supposed to bless me with 15 
units. I work hard, He prospers me. 
I show up and do the right things, He blesses me. This is ungodly 
thought. unholy thought. This is the thought 
that probably paralyzes some of the professing people of God. 
Yes, there's trials in your life. Yes, there's difficulties in 
your life. Yes, there's hardships in your life. Yes, there's pains 
in your life. Yes, there's discouragements 
in your life. That is never an evidence that 
God has withdrawn himself. I know a man who had an Asaphian 
moment recently. And a good counselor told this 
man, don't try to interpret providence, stick to exegesis, stick to the 
scripture and realize that whatever my God ordains is right. Asaph 
is trying to interpret reality around him. Based on Providence, 
based on the appearance of things, based on what appears to be the 
case, I suspect that ASAP's problem is not confined to Psalm 73. 
I suspect that ASAP's problem finds a place in all of our hearts. 
When the bad times come, when the difficulties face us, when 
the discouragements arise, we want to whine, grumble, complain, 
and wonder, where is God in these circumstances? Don't do that. A single line. He says in verse 
15, if I had said I will speak thus, behold, I would have been 
untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how 
to understand this, it was too painful for me. Is that the flourishing, the 
prosperity, the wicked, the pain and the suffering of the righteous, 
the fact that Asaph would actually give that to such things? When I saw these things, it perplexed 
me. It puzzled me. It caused pain 
in my heart. What sorted him out? Corporate worship. Never minimized 
the place of the public means of grace until I went into the 
sanctuary. You see, up to this point, he 
had been interpreting reality on a horizontal plane. He had 
been interpreting reality as the physical eye sees. He had 
interpreted reality in terms of a formulaic approach to the 
world. We put in 15, God gives us 15. We do these things here, God 
gives us these things here. It wasn't until he went into 
the sanctuary, when he got a Godward perspective on life, when he 
got a vertical perspective, when he put the Scriptures as the 
determining guide in his interpretative process. Until I went into the 
sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. Surely you set them 
in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. You may see a neighbor that prospers. You may see a neighbor with nice 
children. You may see a neighbor with a 
nice lawn and with lawn gnomes to decorate it. You may see a 
neighbor whose wife puts in the most tasty and delicious meals. But what is there apart from 
Jesus Christ? What's better? Better having 
Jesus. Better having God, better being 
single-eyed focus upon the kingdom of God. Oh, how they are brought 
to desolation as in a moment. They are utterly consumed with 
terrors as a dream when one awakes. So, Lord, when you awake, you 
shall despise their image. He says, thus, my heart was grieved 
and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant. 
You ever come through a season and then look at yourself and 
say, how could you have doubted God? How could you have doubted 
that axiom? How could you have debated the 
goodness of Jehovah? How did it ever rise up into 
you? He's severe with himself. He says, My heart was grieved. 
I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish. I was so ignorant. I was like a beast before you, 
God. You see, when we suspend biblical 
judgment, when we don't think God's thoughts after him, when 
we're fit and tied to this world and our final orientation is 
to what appears by the physical eye, then it is as if we are 
beasts before our God. And then notice this blessed 
statement of hope. Nevertheless, I am continually 
with you. You hold me by my right hand. 
You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory. I don't care about those things. 
I don't care about that stuff. I don't care about earthly treasure. 
I don't care if the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. I don't 
care, because in the final analysis, this is what my hope and prayer 
is. You will receive me to glory. He will certainly sing the bride 
eyes, not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face, not on 
the crown he gifted, but on his bridegroom's face. That's what 
we will gaze upon. And then notice what he has learned. 
He says in verse 25, Whom have I in heaven but you? And there 
is none upon earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart 
fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Beautiful. That's single-eyed 
devotion. That's what we want. That's what's important. That's 
what matters. That's what ultimately stands 
the test of time. and eternity. It's not what we 
amass on this earth. It's not the earthly treasures 
we build up. Again, if God prospers you, hold it with a loose grip. 
Don't hold it with a death grip. Don't orient your life upon your 
storage shed. Don't be about those things which 
are fleeting and passing, which moth and rust can kill and thieves 
will ultimately steal. Don't focus on that garbage Focus 
on the glory of God. God is the strength of my heart 
and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far 
from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those 
who desert you for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw 
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord 
God that I may declare all your words. He's communicating this 
to us. So that instead of getting focused 
on the muck of this world, we'll focus on Christ. We'll focus 
on the kingdom. We'll focus on the Savior. We'll 
focus on that for which God has saved us. That's my hope and 
prayer for each and every one of us, that we will take seriously 
this admonition. If therefore your eye is good, 
your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is bad, 
your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the 
light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? And 
I got to tell you, There is a sense where Christians struggle. Christians 
have remaining sin. Christian life, oftentimes, unfortunately, 
we get astray, or we go astray. When we sing 400, prone to wander, 
prone to leave the God I love, that's a reality. You'll all 
admit that. I have no doubt in my mind and 
heart. I know that you'll all say with Paul, or Romans 7 and 
Galatians 5, yeah, that's the reality, and it's true of me. 
I just read a Luther recently, he said, in the lives of the 
saints, he always liked to focus more on their vices than their 
virtues. That's where he took comfort. 
Not their vices in terms of their sin, they went out and rebelled 
against God. But he didn't look at a character like Jacob and 
say, what a model, what an example, what a good guy I need to follow. 
No, he looked at a guy like Jacob and said, God had mercy on him. We found that in our studies 
in Hebrews chapter 11. Do you know Samson is going to sit at 
the marriage supper of the Lamb? Samson. It would be nice to meet Samson 
in heaven, isn't it? I'm not talking about the remaining 
corruption that believers need to deal with. Some of you have 
darkness, because that is your orientation as a whole. Some 
of you have eyes that are so deformed, so deranged, spiritually 
speaking, so messed up and so bad, there's no light in you. 
There's only one hope. It's not repentance and saying, 
God, be gracious to me, help me to be single-eyed focus upon 
the kingdom. The hope for those who have this 
reigning in their life is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's 
it. You flee to the Savior. You flee 
to Christ. You flee to the one who is teaching 
here. You flee to the one who says 
these things, because it's only him who can save you from the 
darkness of your heart, from the darkness of your eye, from 
this delight in earthly treasure, and from this service to mammoth, 
this slavery to mammoth. The only one who can break the 
power of reigning sin is Jesus Christ, the Lord. Scripture says 
you believe in him and you will be saved. That is my encouragement 
and my exhortation from the scriptures today. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and we thank you for these admonitions 
and these exhortations and these warnings. And God, as we consider 
our own lives before you, we must confess a lack of focus 
at times. We confess a lack of a singled-eyed 
devotion to the kingdom and a loyalty. We know that in every sin there 
is a belittling of God. In every sin there is defection 
from you. In every sin, Lord God, it shows 
that we are not single and focused upon your kingdom. So forgive 
us, cleanse us, wash us afresh in the blood of the Lamb and 
cause us to go from this place with the mindset of the Apostle 
Paul. Give us the grace, Lord God in heaven, to press on, not 
to give up, not to play the victim or not to reflect upon or look 
to the past or anything other than going forward in the fear 
of God and in the comfort of the spirit. And for those, God, 
who do not know you, we pray that you'd reach down in sovereign 
grace, open their eyes to the truth of the gospel and give 
them the graces of faith and repentance that they may believe 
and that they may know the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't attribute 
this work, this power to man. We come to a sovereign God with 
whom all things are possible. So reach down and save in your 
mercy and in your grace. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen.