September 5, 2010
Evening Service

Matt. 6:19-34.

 

Review:

1.       This morning we received from the Lord His instructions on how we should perform our good deeds, how that we should pray, and how we should conduct a fast.

2.      This evening as we finish chapter six, He will teach us concerning wealth.

3.      The Lord will instruct us on the idea of wealth, and how a heavenly minded person should act toward it.

Wealth:

Mat 6:19-34  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  (20)  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  (21)  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

• If there was a thou shalt not for wealth, it would be thou shalt not hoard riches.  There is nothing wrong with having wealth, it is how we use it that is meaningful to God.
• Treasures, or wealth, among the ancients, consisted in clothes or changes of raiment, as well as in gold, silver, gems, wine, lands, and oil. It meant an abundance of “anything” that was held to be conducive to the ornament or comfort of life.  I think we could say that it hasn’t changed that much.
• A good lesson for us is given in the parable of the rich man;  this is found in a parallel passage to this teaching in Luke;  Luk 12:15-21  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.  (16)  And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:  (17)  And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  (18)  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  (19)  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  (20)  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  (21)  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

• Being rich toward God would be sharing, and helping the poor.

(22)  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  (23)  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 that darkness! 

• The idea here is to keep your eyes on the prize, and the Master.  Keep your eyes on the promises of heaven.  Keep your eyes on spiritual matters, and don’t let them wonder on the things of the world. 
• Listen to John:  1Jo 2:15-17  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (16)  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  (17)  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
• Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”  So keep your eyes on Jesus.

 

(24)  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

• We might call it riding the fence.  We don’t want to ride the fence.  You will more than likely fall off on the wrong side.  You can’t serve God, and the world.

(25)  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 

• Jesus is not teaching us to be slothful.  To set back, and wait for someone else to provide for us.  He is saying don’t worry about things that you have no control over. 
• If you have good work habits, and are using them, and using your income in a Godly manner, it will be sufficient for you.  We are actually taught to work six days a week, and rest one.  If we do this we will prosper.  Then we must watch how we use our wealth.
• Is not the life more than eating, and the body more than just wearing fancy clothes?
• We are created to worship God.  We are not complete until we have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior.

(26)  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

• Don’t worry, just keep on doing the things that you know pleases God, and He will provide.

(27)  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

• The ultimate admonition to not worry.   What good does the worrying do?  Do you think it will change things?  Trust in the Lord, for there is nothing He can’t do.  He has told us time, and again that He will be there for us, so believe Him, and trust Him.

(28)  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  (29)  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  (30)  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

• O ye of little faith. 

(31)  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (32)  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

• And He will provide.

(33)  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

• And here is where a lot of people fail.  It’s like James says;  Jam 4:1-4  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?  (2)  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.  (3)  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.  (4)  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
• They fail because they try to get ahead of God, and make gain in a worldly manner.

(34)  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE.