Matthew 6:1-8
“Why We Do What We Do”
Vs. 1-4 Giving To God
Vs. 5-8 Praying To God
Intro.
We now come to the sixth chapter which marks a change in Jesus’ message to His disciples. You will recall that Jesus started out with the characteristics of those that are His followers, He then shared what affects that would have upon the world. From there He showed the contrast of how the Pharisees & scribes practiced righteousness & how they were practice it. In all of the above what has been at issue is the heart dealing with how we handle the world & it’s temptation. If you will it is Christianity from the perspective of what we don’t do. We don’t murder for we are to stop our hearts at hate. We don’t commit adultery because we stop our hearts at lust & so on. Chapter Six deals with what we do. The first three things concern what we do as our act of worship & the rest deal with our handling of the world & those in the world. A careful reading of this passage will reveal that what our Lord is concerned most with is the motivation by which we do things, be that giving, prayer or fasting.
Vs. 1-4 Giving To God
You will notice that Jesus first gives the warning verse 1, then He gives the example of what not to do, verse 2. Lastly He gives the benefit for the right motivation, verses 3-4.
Vs.1 First notice the way in which Jesus introduces this section, “Take heed” it is one of those words that arrest our attention & serves as a flashing warning sign. The word “charitable deeds” is rendered righteousness else where & it carries the idea of not just money but all outward displays of good works.
Now before we look at the real issue here that being the motivation by which we do our righteous acts let me say the obvious. Jesus naturally assumes something here; He naturally assumes that you will be giving of your time, talent & treasure. He does not say “IF you do a charitable deed…” but “WHEN you do a charitable deed..” There are a great many believers who are storing up for themselves treasure here on earth where it won’t do them any good. You are not hurting Gods kingdom for He will just bless someone else, but you are robbing yourself of rewards in heaven!
Now the heart of the matter, Jesus is telling them not to do their giving acts for the sake of display before people. This might seem to be a contradiction in light of His words to them in 5:13-16 about letting their light so shine before men, but it is clear from the rest of that verse that those that would see the good works would praise God not us.
Next, Jesus says that if you do your good works to be seen by men that when they acknowledge you for it then you have your reward. In other words if what you were seeking was the praise of men then when you received it you have gotten what you wanted in the first place. The prophet Amos had this to say to the people of his day Amos 4:5 “You burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings– boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,”
Vs. 2 Now comes the example of how not to give. The word “hypocrite” is a Greek word that described the actors in the Greek plays. The actors would ware these masks with huge smiles or frowns depending upon the character they were portraying. It was some portraying an emotion that was not true to where their heart was. What was taking place in those days was purely Jewish. The temple courtyard had an area set aside called the chamber of the secret & people would go there to drop off gifts for the poor in a chest called the trumpet. Later on the poor would come & receive the gifts from the chest; all done very discreetly. As the years went on it was decided that it was a hassle to have to go all the way to the temple to give alms to the poor so instead they tied a small brass trumpet to their belts & when they wanted to give to the poor they would blow their trumpets. Of coarse the needy would come out & surround the giver & all the on lookers would see what a generous person that was giving.
Now Jesus says here again that they have their reward, that is a phrase that means “paid in full”. They sought the praise of men that better enjoy it for that is all they are going to get.
Perhaps you feel pretty sure that this does not apply to you. I hope it does not, we at Calvary Chapel have tried to make sure that the way in which we do our offering does not draw attention to the person who gives. I’ve been told by other Pastors here that we could easily see our offering rise if we took a formal offering for it would lay constraint upon those who now don’t give. Our heart is that you will receive a reward from God for your gift that the motive in which a person gives here is for the glory of God not the praise of men. You will not see any services in which someone will stand up & declare that God has given them a vision that there are three people here this morning that are going to give $1000.00 would you please stand up. For the moment someone stood up they were rewarded. Do you want your rewards from God or from men in heaven or earth? So in the back there is the love box & if God has laid upon your heart to give then do so, but if you don’t want to give then don’t your just robbing yourself. Some churches if you look around the room you will see plaques reading; “this pew given by *****” or this brick donated by.” Well they better enjoy that brick for they got their reward. Now again the great majority of people that I know here never struggle with this. Yet as I was thinking of this verse I pushed it a little further to not even thinking about my given at all, not going to the Lord & saying “Now Lord we have been faithful givers here so why am I going through all this?” That shows perhaps a wrong motivation.
Vs. 3-4 So what is the Lord saying concerning not letting the right hand know what the left hand is doing? Don’t keep a record of it no spiritual ledgers of your good deeds. Paul gives us great counsel on giving in 2 Cor. 9:7 “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” God loves the giver who gives “hilariously” If a person can’t give that way then keep it.
Vs. 5-8 Praying To God
Vs. 5 Here again Jesus starts out with the wrong motivation in prayer. It helps to understand a bit of the Jewish culture here. There were three appointed times of public prayer at the synagogue 9 AM, Noon, & 3 PM. Twice a day they would repeat the Shema was made up of three sections of the O.T. once at 9 AM & again at 9 PM. The public prayer were 18 separate prayers which they memorized when they were young children. Like most traditions these prayers began to loose their meaning as they started saying them as fast as they could to get through them. The real religious Pharisees wanting to show themselves as great men of prayer would stop along the street corners & start praying showing how eager they were to pray.
Now I bet not many of us would do this yet I wonder if we have been guilty of the same thing? I listen to the radio every now & again & there is this very good Bible teacher that when he prays always prays in the King James language. I am always wondering why he does that it just seems that he wants to be seen by men. Or perhaps you get up early to pray or you pray a long time, then announce it. “I’m a bit tired today you see, I got up at three this morning & prayed until sunrise as is my habit to do so!” You have your reward then enjoy it.
Vs. 6-8 Three Keys to effective prayer
Jesus now goes on to give us three keys to effective prayer:
1.) Vs. 6 SECRET: This verse carries two ideas in regards to secrecy.
A.) First it should be private. That is not to say that a person ought not to offer any public prayers but that, most of our time of communion ought to be private. The word for “room” here is used for a store room where treasures were kept. It is in this private place where we are less distracted by the outside & less likely to pray in order to be seen by others.
B.) Second it says “your Father”, thus they ought to be personal. Again the idea here is that we come to our Father personally. He is our Father. My son never comes to me & talks to me as if I was some foreign dignitary. Instead he says Dad could you take me over to the school so I can shoot some hoops. I can just imagine how this would sound if it were to try to impress me; “Though oh great & benevolent glorious father. You who knows what I need before I ever ask who is always willing to give what ever I need. I know oh great one that you will even now take me to they school yard that I might exercise my body to better serve you & this house that I’m so thankful to be placed in.” That is not how my son talks to me, he does not try to impress me because he knows me personally. He just speaks what’s on his heart always politely & humbly because he is the perfect child, your not buying this are you?
2.) Vs. 7 Here we the principal of simplicity: The Rabbis had a saying that “Whoever is long in prayer is heard.” Instead they should of read what Solomon said in Ecc. 5:2 “…God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.” The Roman Catholic priests were very impressed with the Buddhist monks they encountered with their prayer wheels so in the middle ages they came up with beads on a string today know as a rosary. Say three Hail Mary’s & five Our Fathers, as if God is hard of hearing, or rewards based upon this kind of effort. Those of Islam do the same thing at certain hours of the day repeating the same prayers over & over. Folks we don’t need to convince God of what is best for us He knows, all we need to do is confess what He already knows to be true & thank Him already for His answer which is always going to be in our best interest which will be for His glory. Most prayer in the Bible are very short so a person does not need to spend hours on their knees every day repeating the same thing over & over. Just sit down before Him open your heart to Him & be concise. Prayer is not to be information time where you are telling God something that He already knows.
3.) Vs. 8 Here we see that when we pray it ought to be in sincerity: What ever we say to the Lord we ought to be sincere for He knows what we need before we ask. Take some time as you inter into prayer & ask the Holy Spirit to show you your own heart then ask Him to show you what you already posses in Christ, most the time we ask God for things that we already posses in Christ.
Matthew 6:9-13
“In This Manner Pray”
Vs. 9 Petition
Vs. 10-12 Intercession
Vs. 13 Worship
Intro.
Little eight year old Danny Dutton of Chula Vista was asked in his 3rd grade homework assignment to explain God here is what he has to say about God & prayer; “God’s second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, as some people, like preachers, pray other times beside bedtime. God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. As He hears everything, not only our prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has a way to turn it off. God sees everything & hears everything & is everywhere. Which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn’t go around wasting His time by going over your parents head & asking for something they said you couldn’t have.”
Last week we left off at prayer & specifically not praying with a wrong motivation. If you will recall I gave you three keys to prayer all starting with the letter “S”:
Three Keys to effective prayer :
1.) Vs. 6 SECRET: This verse carries two ideas in regards to secrecy.
A.) First it should be private. That is not to say that a person ought not to offer any public prayers but that, most of our time of communion ought to be private. The word for “room” here is used for a store room where treasures were kept. It is in this private place where we are less distracted by the outside & less likely to pray in order to be seen by others.
B.) Second it says “your Father”, thus they ought to be personal. Again the idea here is that we come to our Father personally. He is our Father.
2.) Vs. 7 Here we the principal of SIMPLICITY: Solomon said in Ecc. 5:2 “…God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.” We don’t need to convince God of what is best for us He knows, all we need to do is confess what He already knows to be true & thank Him already for His answer which is always going to be in our best interest which will be for His glory. Most prayer in the Bible are very short so a person does not need to spend hours on their knees every day repeating the same thing over & over. Just sit down before Him open your heart to Him & be concise. Prayer is not to be information time where you are telling God something that He already knows.
3.) Vs. 8 Here we see that when we pray it ought to be in SINCERITY: What ever we say to the Lord we ought to be sincere for He knows what we need before we ask. Take some time as you inter into prayer & ask the Holy Spirit to show you your own heart then ask Him to show you what you already posses in Christ, most the time we ask God for things that we already posses in Christ.
All prayer ought to be made up of three things worship, intercession & petition.
& this model prayer is made of these three things as it begins & ends with worship, it intercedes for Gods kingdom, & petitions for our daily needs. More than this we shall find that this model prayer deals with our past, present & future, as well as dealing with our need for provision, forgiveness & guidance. When summing this all up this prayer contains anything & everything we will ever be concerned with all with in 65 words which take only 30 seconds to utter! It is amazing how complicated we make prayer. I have read the classics on prayer: The seven book series by E.M. bounds which consists of some 1,063 pages; as well as the classic Andrew Murry book entitled “Christ in the school of prayer” which consists of 252 pages. Yet here all that we need is contained in 65 words! Now before we begin our examination I would like to give you some observations of the whole of the prayer:
1.) As you will read through this prayer you will notice the absence of all singular pronouns; no “I, me, or my’s”. It is all “us & our’s”! Prayer is by it’s very nature others centered, yet still concerned with our cares just not ours alone!
2.) This is not the only time that this prayer is recorded in the Bible you will find it mentioned again in Luke 11:2-4. What is not clear because of cross referencing is that the prayer in Luke 11 did not happen at the same time as this one in Matt. 6: 9-13. In fact it happens some two years latter. Stop & think about this for a moment; Jesus at the beginning of His ministry takes these disciples up on a small mountain & teaches all about prayer, then two years latter after having observed Jesus in action, watching Him pray seeing that prayer was the source of all that He did here on earth they ask Him “Lord, teach us to pray,..” Now you would think that there would now be some advance coarse of prayer. Jesus did not say; “Well, two years ago I taught you all the basics, now let me give you the real stuff that prayer is made of!” Simply put this is all of the “stuff” on prayer.
3.) Lastly this prayer ought to serve as a reminder to all the benefits that are now ours in Christ:
A.) Vs.9 God’s person
B.) Vs.10 God’s purpose
C.) Vs.11 God’s provision
D.) Vs.12 God’s pardon
E.) Vs.13 God’s protection
D.) Vs.13 God’s pre-eminence
Every thing we need is in Christ! It all starts with our relationship too Him through Jesus & then recognizing what is ours through that relationship.
Vs. 9 Petition
Vs. 9 Here we start out with what many have called the invocation. The prayer starts out with the truth of relationship: More than that all else that will be said depends upon the significance of that relationship. If a person has no relationship with God then they have no right to call on Him.
A.) The word “Father” here is very interesting word in light of the names for God.
1.) Elohim = The strong One.
2.) El Shaddai = The Mighty One.
3.) Yahweh = The covenant name which means “I Am that I Am”.
Yet none of these names does Jesus use here instead He uses the word “Abba” it is a very deep spiritual name so profound theologically that only those who have studied for years can comprehend it. No! It is the word best translated “Daddy or Papa”. Is He no longer the powerful, mighty, God spoken by the words above? Has He now some how changed? No! He has not changed that is still His character His nature. What has changed , is our heart.
Now there are a great many people today who they say they know God, but is He their Daddy? Now my son can walk right up to me & say; “Dad I’m hungry “, & get something to eat. But a stranger can’t just do that. Why? Because I don’t know him, he is not my child. All to many people say since God created them then they are His children & I suppose that in some ways that is true, but that is not the same as having a relationship with the Lord. Again He is not “my Father” He is “our Dad” that is He is the Dad of all who know Him personally. Not just the Dad of Calvary Chapelities.
B.) Next note His location, “in heaven”. Actually the word heaven here is in the plural form & should read in the “heavens” He is far beyond all of what we are conscience of. He is far above yet every where at once. He is reigning in glory. I relate to Him because He is my Dad, yet I reference Him because of Who He is. There is that great line in C.S. Lewis’ book the Lion the Witch & the Wardrobe where the children are asking about Aslaim the Lion. They ask if He is safe & the answer comes back, “No, but He is good” That is what is pictured by these words “in heaven”.
C.) Now that we have established that every thing hinges upon this relationship notice the next thing about “our Dad”. “Hallowed be Your name”. This is not a word that we use today in our language but it means to “make holy” or “let Your name be made Holy”. Names use to always stand for the character of the person, in other words people were named for their character or attributes. We need to remember that or Dad’s essential character is Holy. I think too that when we say these words “hallowed be your name” it reminds us before we start asking God for things that ultimately we represent Him!
Vs. 10-12 Intercession
Vs. 10 Here we move from the person & character of God to His purpose: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” This is the second of six petitions in this prayer. The first three affirm Gods glory :
1.) Vs.9 His holiness
2.) Vs.10 The coming of His kingdom
3.) Vs.10 The obedience to His will
The right kind of prayer ought to always have the greatest amount of passion for Gods glory & agenda. His Name, His kingdom, His will always be our greatest desire.
G. Campbell Morgan says this; “Prayer is not first of all a means by which we get something for ourselves; it is rather a method of helping God to get something for Himself.” Pastor Chuck says; “True prayer begins with us seeking to line up with Gods purposes; never trying to change what He wants to do.”
Vs.11 Now we move to our personal needs, where we again see three petitions for our good. Again notice that there are no personal pronouns, it is not “Give me my bread” it is “Give US OUR bread”.
1.) Vs.11 Bread for our bodies
2.) Vs.12 Forgiveness for our souls
3.) Vs.13a Protection for our hearts & minds
There is nothing wrong with prayer that lifts up our need to God. Notice though Jesus does not say give us our monthly or yearly bread. Now that is how a great many of us pray always fretting about something that has not happened yet. Bread here no doubt refers to our daily provisions. Yet with that said Jesus is the bread of life, (John 4:32-34). He alone meets my deepest hunger. It is great that God would have us be dependent upon Him daily for our provisions!
Vs.12 Here we come to another great need we all have “Forgiveness for our souls.” It would appear by this passage that we only are forgiven based upon our forgiving of others. But the order of this clearly shows that forgiveness of others can only occur as we have been forgiven. Eph. 4:32 tells us “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” That is the picture of forgiveness, we forgive because of what Christ has forgiven in us not the other way.
If you want to know what the difference between Christianity & all other religions is it is found on the basis of how we are forgiven. Only in Christianity is a person forgiven on the works of another. All other religions it is based upon our own works!
Vs.13a Protection for our hearts & minds. Here is the last of our petitions for our personal needs. Temptation here does not mean to be drawn into sin but rather testing. Also of note is the word lead it can be rendered “leave”. So to put this another way it could read “leave us not into testing.” Simply put bring us there but don’t keep us there! Folks we are week creatures full of failure, there is a lot of wisdom in praying Lord don’t leave me in testing! Notice as well that we have an enemy we need to be delivered from, satan.
Vs. 13 Worship
Vs.13b Notice in this ending a threefold ascription of praise:
1.) Kingdom
2.) Power
3.) Glory
“Heavenly Holy Dad, You are holy, & You always do right in all Your works. Holy Dad, I only want to be in Your presence, & for Your presence to be felt here in the world. Conform my life to Your plan, I yield to You. Give me only those things this day which cause growth in my life with You; both spiritual & physical. Holy Dad, I give You all those things that would hinder me from growing closer to You, & I let go of anything others owe me, as this would hinder Your love from operating through me. Holy Dad, keep me from the things that would stumble me, & render me in bondage to the devil. For all I desire is for You to be glorified in my life, & for Your power to work through me for Your glory forever. So be it!
Matthew 6:14-24
“Where Our Heart Is”
Vs. 14-15 Forgiving Men
Vs. 16-18 Fasting For The Father
Vs. 19-24 Treasure Seekers
Intro.
Now we move on in this sermon on the mount, again dealing with the hearts response to life. It is the motivation that will determine where our heart truly is. I heard told a story of a Christian lady who lived next door to an atheist. Everyday, when the lady prayed, the atheist could hear her. He thought to himself, “She sure is crazy, praying all the time like that. Doesn’t she know there isn’t a God?” Many times while she was praying, he would go to her house and harass her, saying, “Lady, why do you pray all the time” Don’t you know there is no God?” But she kept on praying. One day, she ran out of groceries. As usual, she was praying to the Lord explaining her situation and thanking Him for what he was gonna do. AS USUAL, the atheist heard her praying and thought to himself, “I’ll fix her.” He went to the grocery store, bought a whole bunch of groceries, took them to her house, dropped them off on the front porch, rang the doorbell and then hid in the bushes to see what she would do. When she opened the door and saw the groceries, she began to praise the Lord with all her heart! The atheist then jumped out of the bushes and told her, “You ol’ crazy lady, God didn’t buy you those groceries, I BOUGHT THOSE GROCERIES!” Well, she broke out and started running down the street, shouting and praising the Lord. When he finally caught her, he asked what her problem was. She said, “I KNEW THE LORD WOULD PROVIDE ME WITH SOME GROCERIES, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS GONNA MAKE THE DEVIL PAY FOR THEM!” This story makes you wonder about her prayer life!
Vs. 14-15 Forgiving Men
Vs. 14 -15 Jesus will have much more to say on this in chapter 9:2-6, 18:21-35, but here the emphasis is upon the fact that for Gods children forgiveness is not an option. We do not have the luxury of holding on to bitterness towards other people. Now in 5:23-24 the emphasis was upon what we did that someone held against us, here the shoe is on the other foot. The gospel is the message of forgiveness, God is the One who pardons our sins we ought to be like Him. It ought to be impossible for us to go to God to ask for forgiveness if we are unwilling to forgive others. As stated last week Eph. 4:32 puts it right as far as grace is concerned; “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.” It is difficult to see how a person who remains in bitterness towards another could enjoy the assurance of Gods pardon if they were not to pardon so small of a debt owed to them! The more we have been forgiven ourselves the more we ought to be able to forgive.
Vs. 16-18 Fasting For The Father
Vs.16 Again note the words; “When you fast” not “If you fast”. Fasting today in the western church is almost unheard of. And if it is done it is not done for the right reasons. Let us first then give two reasons why people fasted, then what the Pharisees & scribes were doing & lastly the right way.
Fasting, was done for two reasons:
1.) For direction: Both in the O.T. & the N.T. you can see examples of this, when people wanted to know Gods will, or direction they would fast. Doctors tell us that there is something that is biological about this. When there is no food in the stomach there is actually more blood flow going to the brain. You can actually think better, more clearly on a empty stomach than you can on a full stomach. I’m sure we have all found it difficult to listen or watch something on a full stomach, we tend to want to dose off.
2.) For liberation: When someone feels oppressed, bound by the flesh they would set aside the flesh & resubmit their heart to God. Now fasting, is seen primarily dealing with food however their is a scripture dealing with husbands & wives 1 Cor. 7:5
“Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
So how were the Pharisees practicing this? Primarily they were seeing this of just the body not the heart. When you fast you are giving up the lessor (the physical” to gain the greater (the spiritual). They fasted twice a week every Monday & Thursday. You could always tell that they were fasting because of their appearance described by Jesus in verse 16 as they would walk around with sad countenance, drawn in cheeks, uncombed hair. They looked like they were about to die.
Again their motivation was to be seen as spiritual by men & they got their reward.
Vs.17-18 Jesus tells us the right way to fast, it is the opposite of what these folks were doing, no one ought to be able to see that you are fasting. Our motivation is not to appear that we are given up so much physically to get so little from God. It is the other way, we are giving up so light to draw near & gain so much more of Him. The problem with all of this is self interest, the reason so many want to be seen is that they may have some sort of special recognition for being something that they are not!
Vs. 19-24 Treasure Seekers
Now we move on to how we are to handle material things. We know that we are to dwell in the spiritual realm but how are we to handle the temporal things of this life? In this section we shall see what our attitude ought to be towards wealth.
Vs.19-20 First I want you to notice that “laying up” is a for gone conclusion. Jesus does not forbid “laying up” neither does He say that it is wrong to lay up “treasures” that is not the issue. The issue is “where” you are doing so! “Laying up” is put both negatively, that is where you should not be putting your treasure & positively where you should be putting your treasure. If you will what Jesus does hear is give a comparison of values the reason is to reveal our true attitude.
Literally, this reads “Treasure not treasures upon the earth,… but treasure for yourselves treasure in heaven. The word “treasure” means to place something horizontally, to store it for none activity, to hoard it, collect it. The idea is to lay things aside, piece upon piece so that you can possess them. The story is told of the words of an old miser to a young boy telling the boy that coins were made flat so that they may rest where they are, to which the boy replied yes they were made round as well that they may roll away. What again is interesting is that Jesus does not say that it is wrong to have a passion for possessions, it is the abuse of it that is wrong. Treasures on earth, treasures in heaven, which are you laying up? Either way you will be trying to amass your fortune.
Vs. 19 Look at the practical reasons Jesus uses to tell us why it is not good to lay aside here on earth. Poor person who is trying to make their fortune here on earth where there is such a problem with storage.
A.) Moth: Wealth in those days consisted of expensive cloth & fabric. Think of this for a moment you have saved & treasured fine fabric & moths come in & eat it. Now some of us have houses & we have a great deal of money tied up in our homes, temporal things made of wood & concrete. Now if your great treasure is your home & say for instance it floods or you have termites & that is your treasure. Well it is not very secure is it! If your treasure is in things that will just make bugs wealthy then you clearly have a problem.
B.) Rust: This is that which attacks metal slowly eating away at that treasure. Tell all you have left is a pile of dust. Today a great many people have their treasure in their cars, oh foolish people. This is the weekend of the hot rod show at the fairgrounds & you can go see these folks & their treasures here on earth. Something so easily destroyed by the elements.
C.) Thieves: Here again if your treasure is in something of the earth than it can be taken from you.
Vs. 20 The common problem here is in the storage container earth, it is not a safe place to guard your treasure. Contrast that with heaven no problem. Notice that Jesus does not say anything about the good that you will have in so placing your treasure in heaven, all He does is say that the storage container is contaminant free. That is to say that if you place your treasure in heaven it is secure you don’t need to worry about it’s security.
Vs. 21 It is interesting to me that Jesus does not say “Where your heart is their your treasure will be also.” How can you be more heavenly harted? By placing your treasure there. The point is that you can only have your treasure & your heart in one place they can not be in two different places they will be in either this world or in heaven. If your treasure is here on this earth than so is your heart! And the opposite is also true!
No matter who you are we all will have a passion for possessing, Jesus says so right here; you are going to be laying up treasures that is the way we are made. Here we see that there is a direct correlation between what we treasure & our heart condition. What we treasure will have it’s effect upon our hearts. So everything depends upon where our treasure is because that is where our heart is going to be & everything depends upon where our heart is for as a person thinks in their heart so they are.
Vs. 22-23 The eye is the channel by which we receive illumination. Your eye gaze will be either for the things of the Lord or for self interest. Heavenly things will fill it with light, worldly things will fill it with darkness. What Jesus is saying is that we ought to have a right view of the things that we treasure. The self centered eye that is dark is only consumed with gathering things for here & now. There are many to day suffering from astigmatism & they need to have their lenses changed so that they can have the right conception of the things of this world.
So are earthly riches wrong? No they are not wrong of themselves, but if you live for things they you a astigmatism your world view is all blurry. Prov. 28: 22 says; “A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.”
Vs.24 Lastly after telling us that our treasure will effect our heart & cause us not to be able to see, here He tells us it will enslave us as well. We have a choice of two masters.
You can only serve one of them. The question is relay a matter of worship, who are you worshipping God or mammon. I heard recently that only 10% of the U.S. economy is on actual dollars. 90% of all transactions are backed by nothing. Economics is a risky religion. Are your possessing possession or are they possessing you? Again their is no piety in poverty neither is their any righteousness in riches. it’s a matter of the heart. It is far better to use the money God has blessed you with to be a blessing & lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven!
Matthew 6:25-34
“Take Thought Not To Worry”
Vs. 25-30 Worry Won’t Work
Vs. 31-33 Worry & Worldliness
Vs. 34 Worry Is Not Worthwhile
Intro.
Jesus has just finished speaking to us about where our treasure is, He has told us that by the way He has made us we will be gathering things the question is where we will be gathering them too. The problem with gathering them here on earth is the container in which they are kept is corruptible. Now we move on to see how we handle things here on earth will effect us.
In light of this & the fact that it is mothers day I heard a story about a Mom & her little daughter as they went to the grocery store. A man was observing them as they shopped. As they went down the aisle where the cookies are kept the little girl began to whine & fuss wanting the mother to purchase the cookies. The mother just very commonly said, “Now Monica, we just have half of the aisles to go; don’t be upset. It won’t be long!” Soon they came to the aisle where the candy was kept, & the little girl began to shout for candy. And again the mother said she could not have any, to which the little girl began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Monica, don’t cry we only have two more aisles to go, & then we will be at the check out.” When they got to the check out there was all the gum & the little girl began to ask for the gum throwing a terrible tantrum upon the fact that her mother was not going to purchase any gum. Again the mother patiently said, “Monica, we’ll be through this check out stand in a few minutes & then you can go home & have a nice nap.” The man observing all this was so impressed at the mothers ability to Handel the little girl that he followed her out to the parking lot & stopped her to compliment her. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Monica”, He said. To which the mother replied, “I’m Monica ….. my little girl’s name is Tammy.” Jesus says, “Therefore I say to you do not worry about your life.”
Vs. 25-30 Worry Won’t Work
You will notice that this section deals with “WORRY”. In fact the word worry or worrying appears 6 times in 4 verses. This section of the chapter divides nicely upon the words “do not worry” as Jesus gives us three specific reasons not to be anxious, verses 25, 31, 34.
What is “worry”? Literally the root of the word means to strangle. I think this is very true as all of know when we are worried about some thing we can not eat or drink & often feel as if we are all tied up in knots. It is amazing of minor a thing can be that will cause us to be all uptight. Jesus here has great hope for us worry warts. He proclaims for us freedom from worry & it is based upon our ability to realize that He loves us & is involved in every aspect of our lives. Now this section of scripture ought to really minister to some of you who worry. I of coarse don’t struggle with this problem, Yeh, right! I have worried more in the last six months than in the previous six months! So if I apply this section I could be set free from anxiety.
There are things that are necessary in this life food, drink, clothing, which we will have a part in taking care of yet God is here saying that He does not want us to be anxious over these things. It gives us arguments why not to be worrying about such things.
Vs.25 First notice the word “Therefore” everything He is now going to say comes from what He has just stated prior. He just declared to us that our hearts & treasure ought to be in heaven not upon the earth based upon this worry about such things even essential things ought not to happen in our hearts. In other words if we are anxious over things then it is an indication that our treasure & our heart is here on the earth.
Jesus lists three essentials in our earthly life:
1.) Eating: Without food you will die, it may take some time but you will die.
2.) Drinking: Without drinking something you will die it will take a lesser amount of time, then food.
3.) Clothing: Without clothing you will die as well.
Thus all of these things are necessities of life; they were also measure in that culture as well as our own of wealth. The more money a person had the more they could go out & but the best food & more of it. The more money a person had the better drink they could buy. The more money the better the clothing & so on. So it appears the anxiety over these things is not in having them as it is in having enough to satisfy your desire for them. Follow me so far?
Thus Jesus’ statement about the purpose of life; “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” What’s the purpose of life? Why we were created that we would have fellowship with God. In as much that these things enable us to fellowship with Him then great. But when they begin to consume our thoughts then we are not able to enjoy our fellowship with Him.
Vs.26 This is the first of two examples dealing with the fact that worrying over these things is unnecessary because of our relationship with our Loving Father. Simply put worry does not need to happen based upon two reasons:
1.) Our Father loves us, He values us. We are His children. That is from His perspective that is looking at the problem of worry from heavenward. Reminding ourselves of this fact.
2.) Worry does not work. It does not change anything, we can fuss all we want worry ourselves to death & it produces nothing.
Vs. 26 Here we see the illustration of the birds of the air. They do not sow that is they are not out there planting seeds in the ground. Neither do they afterwards go out & harvest the crop & store it. We do all of what the birds can not do yet, they are still taken care of by the Father.
Now some look at this verse & say well then we all ought to just sit around doing nothing because that is what birds do. That is silly I have not seen one bird in all my life just sit in a tree & wait for a worm or bug to climb up the tree & into their mouths. No! Birds work they just don’t worry about the outcome. Even if we work, notice who it is that feeds us, Our Father! If God takes care of the needs of those who can not care for themselves who are of less value than us His children how much more will He not care for His children who can care for themselves?
Vs. 27 Based upon that what profit does worrying about this add? Some think that this may refer to adding years to ones life. Worrying does not work weather it is dealing with years to a persons life or 18 inches to their height.
Now when your a kid everything hinges if your a boy upon how tall you are, but there is nothing you can do about that. I personally love to see the little guys out there play ball against all those big guys. I remember watching my son play ball a few years ago. He was a bit intimidated to go into the paint & shoot the ball over the big guys. I would not say he was worried about it but he did feel as though they were going to swat him if he shoot the ball. Well he has matured he does not worry about his height he just goes right on in there & shoots the ball.
Vs. 28-30 Now Jesus tackles another area here that of what a person wares. All clothing in those days were made, not just sowed together but even the thread was spun. These flower are beautiful yet they do nothing on their own. They simply grow on what God provides. Yet, looking at their color & texture next to that of even King Solomon who even in all of his wealth was not as beautiful as the flowers of the field. If God takes care of flowers which he has not blessed with reason to work & toil for their preservation how much more will he clothe those who he gives Himself contumely for?
Now notice the last part of this. “will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” The reason people worry is here said to be a lack of trust. Worry & faith are mutually exclusive.
Vs. 31-33 Worry & Worldliness
Vs. 31-33 Here we see that worry is associated with those who don’t know the Lord. The none believer worries about the things of life but our Father knows what we need before we ask. We are not to have a passion for the things of the world, we are to have a passion for the things of God, verse 32. There is a thing that ought to concern all believers that is the things of God. we Ought to have a passion for that which He has a passion for. To stay up all night worrying about what to ware tomorrow is foolish, but to stay up all night burdened for the sole of a friend is a good thing. No life is right if it has no passion, but that it’s passion is the kingdom of God.
The word seek in verse 32 means to “crave” the Father knows what we need we don’t need to crave the things of the world. Now the word in verse 33 rendered “seek” means to “worship”. The test we need to ask ourselves is; “What am I seeking?” If your life is devoted to your own well being then you will be anxious for your god is mammon & your worry will haunt you. However if you are seeking the Lord & His kingdom then you will be enjoy heavenly treasure & earthly rest. This is a decision we made when we first became Christians but it is one that we reinforce daily by the actions of our daily life. There is a saying that goes like this, “Do your best & commit the rest”.
The story is told of a girl who saw some cheap fake pearls at the store, (read story)
Vs. 34 Worry Is Not Worthwhile
Vs. 34 The word “trouble” is also rendered “adversity”. It is amazing that most of what I worry about is very much in the future. Anxiety is always caring about the future. To worry about events that we do not even know what will happen is foolish. It is foolish to worry in light of what we have already seen. Someone has well said; “Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday.” Jesus is saying that tomorrow will take care of it’s self. Worry takes life out of us it produces nothing & shows a lack of trust in our heavenly father.