Sermons on Matthew 6:19
The various sermons below converge on a few portable convictions that will serve any preacher: treasure is treated as the chief diagnostic of the heart, money functions theologically as a rival lord, and the pastoral goal is to re‑orient affections into practices (generosity, discipleship, mission) that endure. Each speaker moves beyond a simple “don’t hoard” morality to show how treasure calibrates worship and identity, but they add different textures — one leans on a close linguistic and cultural reading (the “eye/envy” image and a semantic nuance about darkness) to diagnose internal spiritual states; another reads Matthew as the implicit foundation for Paul’s pastoral logic (making riches a test of character and gospel fidelity); a third translates the verse into congregational stewardship strategy and public legacy giving; and a fourth brings a systematic‑affectional lens, defining the heart as ultimate trust and locating preaching’s task in reordering loves.
Their contrasts are striking and sermonally useful: some treatments are primarily diagnostic and pastoral, using vivid, domestic analogies to expose idols of security and control; others reroute the text into pastoral‑ethical formation, treating “rich” as a relative category and pressing long obedience in character; one makes the verse an organizational rationale for institutional fundraising and public naming; and the theological reading emphasizes formation of affections as the central pastoral task. These diverge in hermeneutic method (close lexical/cultural note vs. intertextual Paulinism vs. ecclesial stewardship strategy vs. contri‑ bution to doctrine of the heart), in primary audience (individual conscience vs. church body vs. leaders), and in tone (diagnostic warning vs. commissioning to stewardship vs. theological reorientation), so as you plan your sermon you can decide whether to diagnose idolatries, shape character, mobilize the congregation, or cultivateaffections —
Matthew 6:19 Interpretation:
Choosing Eternal Treasures Over Earthly Possessions(Living Word Church Corpus Christi) reads Matthew 6:19–21 as a practical, pastoral diagnosis and treatment: the preacher highlights a linguistic note (arguing the original language reads “your body will be dark” rather than “darkness,” using that nuance to emphasize internal spiritual state), insists the “eye” imagery in vv.22–23 in Jesus’ day equates to an envious eye (so vv.19–24 are diagnosing misplaced desire), and then layers several distinctive analogies — money as a tyrant/master that will “spend you,” earthly currency as inflation-prone versus “Heaven’s economy,” and everyday images (U?Haul to the cemetery, a boat as a hole in the water) — to interpret Matthew 6:19 as not merely a warning about loss but a diagnosis about love and worship: treasure calibrates the heart and will either enslave or free a person; the sermon uses the Greek/semantic aside and the “eye/envy” cultural note to shape a pastoral, practical reading rather than a merely moralistic one.
Faithful with Wealth, Gospel, and Grace Until Jesus Returns(Redwood Chapel) treats Matthew 6:19–21 as Paul’s implicit interlocutor in 1 Timothy 6 and as a hinge sentence: the preacher uniquely stresses that Jesus’ “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” is the thesis Paul elaborates on — he reframes “rich” as relative (arguing most hearers are “rich” by basic standards) and reads Matthew’s warning into Paul’s pastoral charge to fix character rather than possessions, so Matthew 6:19 functions here as the underpinning ethic for Paul’s pastoral counsel (don’t hoard, invest in righteousness) rather than a narrow anti?wealth tract.
Expansion Update • Ps Craig & Nadia Clark(LIFE Melbourne) interprets Matthew 6:19–21 primarily as an ecclesial and missional imperative: the verse is used not as abstract doctrine but as the theological rationale for church expansion and stewardship — giving to the church is framed as “storing up treasure in heaven,” a strategic, eternal investment that justifies sacrificial, organized, public fundraising and testimonies; the speaker treats the verse as permission and motivation to enlist parishioners in generational legacy giving and as the spiritual logic behind naming contributors publicly and connecting giving to evangelistic fruit.
Matthew 6:19 Theological Themes:
Choosing Eternal Treasures Over Earthly Possessions(Living Word Church Corpus Christi) emphasizes the theme of money as a rival lord — not merely a temptation but a tyrant that will “spend you” — and develops a theological-economic contrast (earthly currency subject to inflation, decay and theft vs. a heavenly “currency” that never depreciates) as a fresh facet: earthly treasure is theological idolatry because it promises control/security without God, and the remedy is re?allocating worship (treasure) into relationships, discipleship, and generosity that endure.
Faithful with Wealth, Gospel, and Grace Until Jesus Returns(Redwood Chapel) advances a distinctive pastoral theme: riches should be read as a stewardship test for character and gospel faithfulness; the sermon reframes the Matthew text into four pastoral imperatives (be faithful with wealth, faithful with the gospel, avoid distractions, be faithful until Christ returns) so that treasure is yoked to identity formation — where treasure shapes character and church leaders must guard the deposit (the gospel) against commodification.
Expansion Update • Ps Craig & Nadia Clark(LIFE Melbourne) pushes a congregational theological theme that storing up treasure in heaven is corporate and strategic: giving to the institutional church (expansion projects, naming and legacy) is cast as directly accomplishing Jesus’ call on treasure — theological justification for organized, large?scale stewardship and generosity as means of evangelistic fruit and “living for eternity.”
Preaching to the Heart — Tim Keller(The Gospel Coalition) reframes Matthew 6:19–21 within a systematic-affectional theology: Keller treats “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” as a definition of the biblical “heart” (what you most trust and love), and thus the verse becomes central to a theology of affections — conversion and Christian growth are not primarily cognitive assent but re?ordering of the heart’s ultimate trusts, so Matthew’s treasure language grounds a Christ?centered, affective piety that preaching must address.
Matthew 6:19 Historical and Contextual Insights:
Choosing Eternal Treasures Over Earthly Possessions(Living Word Church Corpus Christi) supplies concrete first?century context for the imagery in Matthew 6:19–24, noting that in Jesus’ day a “bad eye” signified envy and that the “eye as lamp” saying would be understood culturally as warning against covetous, resentful gazing; the sermon uses that cultural-linguistic insight to show Jesus’ audience would hear vv.19–24 as an ethical diagnosis about envy and appropriation rather than merely financial prudence.
Preaching to the Heart — Tim Keller(The Gospel Coalition) situates the Matthean treasure/heart language in broader historical-philosophical context, contrasting ancient Greek/Roman disjunctions between reason and feeling with the biblical conception of the heart; Keller traces how Augustine’s Confessions and Jonathan Edwards’ pastoral theology redirected attention to affections — he uses that historical theological lineage to explain why Matthew’s “treasure/heart” move would mean, within first?century thought and later Christian tradition, a reorientation of what constitutes the true self.
Matthew 6:19 Cross-References in the Bible:
Choosing Eternal Treasures Over Earthly Possessions(Living Word Church Corpus Christi) connects Matthew 6:19–24 with Matthew 20 (the vineyard workers parable to explain a “bad eye” as resenting God’s generosity), Ecclesiastes 3:11 (God “wired our hearts for eternity,” used to argue nothing temporal satisfies), 1 Timothy 6:10 (“love of money is root of all evil” used to explain the serpent’s lie and money’s promise of autonomy), and Proverbs 13:22 (leaving an inheritance — used to argue pass on both money and faith), showing the sermon threads Matthew’s teaching into wisdom literature and Pauline ethics to support the conviction that treasure reveals worship.
Faithful with Wealth, Gospel, and Grace Until Jesus Returns(Redwood Chapel) groups Matthew 6:19–21 explicitly with 1 Timothy 6 (the entire sermon frames Paul’s closing counsel as a development of Jesus’ warning), cites 1 Timothy 6:17–19 (charge to the rich to set hope on God, be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share) and cross?links those Pauline imperatives back to Matthew’s thesis (“where your treasure is…”), using the Matthean line as the ethical ground for Paul’s pastoral prescriptions and to argue that character, not possessions, is the pastoral priority.
Expansion Update • Ps Craig & Nadia Clark(LIFE Melbourne) cites Matthew 6:19–21 directly (displaying the verses) and implicitly contrasts that with other New Testament themes of stewardship and witness (testimonies, John 3:16–18 appears in the service later in testimony context); the sermon uses Matthew’s treasure/heart couplet to justify contemporary practices of church fundraising and evangelistic outreach as scriptural investments that yield eternal fruit.
Preaching to the Heart — Tim Keller(The Gospel Coalition) invokes Matthew 6:21 alongside Proverbs 3:5 ("Trust in the Lord with all your heart") to explicate the biblical semantics of “heart” (what one trusts most), and then repeatedly cross?references Augustine’s Confessions and Jonathan Edwards’ pastoral writings as part of the biblical-theological conversation about heart and affections to show Matthew’s line is foundational for understanding how belief and love interact in Christian life.
Matthew 6:19 Christian References outside the Bible:
Preaching to the Heart — Tim Keller(The Gospel Coalition) explicitly draws on Augustine and Jonathan Edwards while developing the theological meaning of Matthew 6:19–21: Keller cites Augustine’s Confessions as exemplary for “sifting emotions” (rather than suppressing or merely expressing them) and uses Edwards’ emphases (especially Edwards’ insistence that doctrines must be made sensibly real to the affections and his technique of vivid images — e.g., spider?web/falling?rock imagery from Sinners in the Hands) to argue that Matthew’s “treasure/heart” requires preaching that relocates trust in the imagination and senses; Keller also references contemporary and historical preaching scholars (Alec Mateer, Sinclair Ferguson, Sam Logan, Josh Moody & Robin Weeks) in framing methods for preaching to the affections, using their pedagogical counsel to shape how Matthew 6:19 can be made affectively real in sermon practice.
Matthew 6:19 Illustrations from Secular Sources:
Choosing Eternal Treasures Over Earthly Possessions(Living Word Church Corpus Christi) uses numerous secular and contemporary examples to illustrate Matthew 6:19: specific modern images include inflation and hyperinflation (the Zimbabwe 2008 anecdote about a loaf of bread costing millions of dollars) to make the “depreciating value” point vivid; technology obsolescence (phones becoming glitchy), identity theft/bank hacking (a parishioner’s debit card being drained) to show earthly insecurity; the ubiquitous U?Haul-to-the-cemetery quip and the “boat is a hole in the water you throw money into” family proverb to make the practical futility tangible — each secular story is described to show how earthly treasures deteriorate, are stolen, or fail to satisfy compared to heavenly “investments.”
Expansion Update • Ps Craig & Nadia Clark(LIFE Melbourne) frames Matthew 6:19–21 with contemporary cultural practices and metrics: the sermon points to Instagram as a means by which newcomers found the church (the woman who came after seeing a Christmas box drive on Instagram), uses the statistic “915 people” who made commitments as an empirical example of eternal fruit, and foregrounds marketing?style practices (publicly displaying first names on screens, organized multi?month pledge plans) as secular fundraising mechanics reinterpreted theologically — the verse is used to convert ordinary social/media engagement and stewardship mechanics into arguments for “storing treasure in heaven” via institutional giving.
Preaching to the Heart — Tim Keller(The Gospel Coalition) routinely employs secular or neutral-world analogies to make Matthew 6:19’s significance palpable: Keller uses Jonathan Edwards’ spider?web/falling?rock image (a naturalistic sensory analogy) to show the impotence of human righteousness, invokes Tolkien/fairy?story motifs (escape from time, victory over evil, longing for wonder) to capture the “wondrous” eschatological dimensions of treasure in heaven, and uses everyday secular sensory experiences (seeing a friend’s car wreck with stitches, the visceral shock that turned a non?seatbelt wearer into a habitual buckler) to illustrate how abstract doctrinal truths must be attached to sensory memory to affect the heart — these secular and literary images are marshaled to translate Matthew’s abstract charge into deeply felt convictions.