A Divided Heart

Temple Baptist Church - 8-19-2018

Matthew 6:19-24

Introduction:

A.  Though there have always been spiritual distractions, we live in a day when these distractions have been multiplied. 

1.  Knowledge has increased.  When I was young, people knew very little about what was going on in the next county, much less the world but were much happier.  Today, all day news channels, proclaiming the evil of this present world, fill our hearts with care. 

Philippians 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  (Careful – care full.  To worry.)

2.  Technology has increased.  When I was young, we drove and traveled less.  We had party lines for phone service but were much happier.  Today, everyone has an automobile and plenty of gasoline.  They drive all day with cell phones in their hands.  The more that we know, the more our minds become cluttered and priorities tend to change.  We run “to and fro” in our daily lives with so many “voices” clamoring for our attention.  The older that I get, the more single minded I get, and I do not mean that to be a positive thing.

Daniel 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, andknowledge shall be increased.

3.  Possessions have increased.  When I was young, we had very little.  Raised in a little coal mining town in Western Kentucky, we had old houses to live in, old cars to drive, few toys to play with (but great imaginations), no money to eat out with, few places to eat out in if we did have money but were much happier.

Revelation 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

4.  Churches were full, and jails were empty.  No one knew what a Psychiatrist was.  We were so much happier.  I often say that our children will never know the America that we grew up in.  We loved God, America, and Apple Pie.

5.  “Happy Days” and “Leave It To Beaver” along with “The Andy Griffin Show” portrayed the times in which we lived.  Times were simple, and people were happy.  Today, our hearts are too often divided.

B.  As our heart is the seat of our affections, we need to prioritize our desires.

Colossians 3:1-2  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  (2)  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

C.  What is the result of having a Divided Heart?

a.  The Divided-Hearted Christian is Unstable – constantly in a state of change.  James 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

b.  The Divided-Hearted Christian is not Useable.  2 Corinthians 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

D.  The word “mammon” is found 4x in your Bible and is always used in the sense of being a “god” in a person’s life.  Our text says to lay up treasure in heaven that are enduring instead of treasures upon earth that are temporal.

E.  What is the result of having a Single Heart?

1.  The Single Hearted Christian is Stable – not subject to change -Acts 2:46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

2.  The Single Hearted Christian is Useable – 1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

F.  How to be a Single Hearted Christian.

                                   

1.  We Need To Long Right - Matthew 6:19-20  (Heavenly vs. Earthly Treasures)

            a.  The Double Hearted Christian’s Labor is in Vain.

1)  Earthly Riches Don’t Last – 1 Corinthians 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

2)  Earthly Riches Bring Misery – James 5:1-3  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

b.  The Double Hearted Christian’s Labor is Temporal – Proverbs 23:5  Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

c.  The Single Hearted Christian’s Labor is Eternal – John 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

d.  The Single Hearted Christian’s Labor is Rewarded – Hebrews6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Revelation 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

  

2.  We Need To Looks Right - Matthew 6:22-23

a.  The Double Hearted Christian Looks to the World – Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that he may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1)  They Pattern themselves after Worldly Things – Ephesians2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

2)  They Place their trust in Worldly Things – Psalm  Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. 

3)  They Love Worldly Things – 1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

b.  The Single Hearted Christian Looks unto Jesus - Hebrews 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1)  The Single Hearted Christian Looks to Jesus in Supply – Philippians 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ

                        Jesus.

2)  The Single Hearted Christian Looks to Jesus in Service – Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 

3)  The Single Hearted Christian Looks to Jesus for his Satisfaction – Isaiah 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

3.  We Need To Love Right – Matthew 24:24

            a.  The Double Hearted Christian Loves Mammon.

                        1)  They Hate God and Love the World – Comparatively speaking.

                        2.  They Despise God and Hold to the World – to think little or nothing of.

            b.  The Single Hearted Christian Loves God. 

1)  They Love God and Hate the World – They keep His commandments, love the brethren.

2)  Holds to God and Despises the World – They esteem God highly and the World little.

           

Conclusion:  The solution to double heartedness – James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.