Matthew Henry Commentary Matthew 6:19-24

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." — Matthew 6:19-24 (ASV)

Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and firmer hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. The soul will have something that it regards as the best thing, in which it finds pleasure and confidence above all other things. Christ counsels us to make the joys and glories of the other world our best things—those things not seen which are eternal—and to place our happiness in them.

There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to be diligent in making our claim to eternal life secure through Jesus Christ, and to regard all things in this world as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it. It is a happiness that is above and beyond the uncertainties and changes of time, an inheritance incorruptible. The worldly person is wrong in his first principle; therefore, all his reasonings and actions that follow from it must be wrong.

This applies equally to false religion; what is considered light is actually thick darkness. This is a dreadful, yet common, situation; we should therefore carefully examine our guiding principles by the Word of God, with earnest prayer for the teaching of His Spirit. A person may do some service for two masters, but can be devoted to the service of no more than one. God requires the whole heart and will not share it with the world.

When two masters oppose each other, no one can serve both. The one who holds to the world and loves it must despise God; the one who loves God must give up the friendship of the world.