19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matt. 6:19–24
As we waited for the early service folks to exit the auditorium this morning before we entered to find a place to sit for the later service, we decided to look at some books for sale in the book store near the door. I ended up buying a textbook used in the seminary that meets on our campus. It is an introduction to Biblical hermeneutics. Yes, I know, it’s not very exciting and so much of it is something I already have a firm grip on. However, during the sermon this morning on Matthew 6:19–24 (above), I heard the preacher go to great lengths to put our Lord’s statement there in context and at the same time make it understandable to people living in the early years of the 21st Century. It was then that I reevaluated my purchase and how important proper Biblical hermeneutics is in both attaining and adhering to solid Christian Orthodoxy. I struggled all day on how to address this in this post. As our Lord said in Matthew 6:23, for those who believe they are in the light, but are deceived by false doctrine, “How great is the darkness!”