Matthew 6:19-34 ESV

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-21

The treasure laid up on earth. It is most unimportant, in meditating on the succeeding portions of this wonderful discourse of our Lord, to insist on tracing some imagined connection between them. If on the surface it be plain, or if by careful examination it becomes plain, let us love to notice it, and to learn its continual contribution to the instructiveness and beauty of the teaching. Otherwise there is no incumbent necessity or advantage in stringing such pearls as these, at any rate.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-21

Hoarding. The all-absorbing desire of humanity is happiness. A depraved heart naturally seeks this in the world. Money, which "answereth all things," is the exponent of the world's good. Hence the feverish desire to accumulate money. Wealth comes to be loved and laid up because it is loved. This hoarding is sin. I. MAKING PROPER PROVISION FOR THE FUTURE IS NOT HERE CONDEMNED . 1. God commends this prudence in his system of nature. 2 . He commends it in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

(1) The principle of regarding God alone in our religious actions is also to be maintained in the relation that we hold to wealth in the broadest sense. Matthew 6:19-21 : seek true wealth, because earthly wealth, though gathered, may be rendered useless by earth's chances. Matthew 6:22 , Matthew 6:23 : further, because it is the single eye that receives the light. Matthew 6:24 : in fact divided service is impossible. Matthew 6:25-34 : place God first, and he will provide. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

The fourth part of the sermon: self-consecration. I. THE WHOLE MAN MUST BE GIVEN TO GOD . 1 . The heart. God asks for it. "Give me thy heart," he says to each of us. The heart will be where the treasure is. Where is our treasure, our chief good, the object of our strongest desires? If it is on earth, it will fail us at the last. "I must leave all this! I must leave all this!" was the sad cry of the great French statesman, Cardinal Mazarin, when, stricken already by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

Sermon on the mount: 5. Thought for the morrow. There has been set before us a righteousness, perfect in its outward expression and in its root, and if now we ask—How are we to attain this? we are told—By loving it. That is the only way. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Your likings are the eyes of your inner man; if they are rightly placed your whole life will be right. Just as a man has an organ to guide him in the physical world, so he has an organ for his guiding... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:20

But lay up ( Matthew 6:19 , note). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:20

The treasures of character. "Treasures in heaven." "Here moral excellence is put in contrast with material treasure. Men are to seek nobility of character, riches of feeling, strength of manhood, and not perishable wealth." Character is called "treasure in heaven," because it alone goes with us into the unseen world. It belongs to us; it cannot be parted from us. It is not something that we have; it is that which we are , wherever we are. I. THE INSECURITY OF ALL TREASURE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:21

For where . A further reason for laying up treasures in heaven: wherever they are they have a positive effect on the soul. Your treasure ; thy (Revised Version). The singular was altered by the copyists so as to correspond with the plural found in the earlier part of the utterance and in the undisputed text of Luke. But our Lord loves to speak to each soul individually. Your heart ( Matthew 5:8 , note). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:22

The inspiration of a noble aim. "The light of the body is the eye." Different versions give "lantern," or "candle," or "lamp." Then the idea is, that the aim and purpose a man has in life will be like a light shining on all his life and work and relations. If the aim be a high and noble one, it will brighten and ennoble all his doings. If it be a low and ignoble one, it will discolour and degrade all his doings. Or, to take another view: a man's aim in life will be like the eye, through... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:22-23

The light of the body is the eye, etc. Parallel passage: Luke 11:34-36 , where it immediately follows the illustration of putting a lamp under the bushel ( Matthew 5:15 ). The excessive difficulty of Luke's verse 36 points to Luke having preserved on the whole the more original form of the saying; but it seems quite impossible to say which is its more original position. It suits the context quite as well in Matthew as in Luke, while the mere verbal similarity of λύχνος may have... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-21

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-21

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:19-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:21

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:22

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 6:22-23

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