The Exposition of Matthew 6:19-33
(Sermon on the Mount)
Questions to be answered in this study
- If it is not the length of the prayer that gains God’s attention, what is it that does?
- In what way is gaining wealth different in God’s eyes that in the world’s view?
- How large is heaven?
- How will the world and our bodies be different in the heavenly age?
- What is the judgment seat of Christ, and what is its purpose?
- What is our purpose for being on earth?
- Why do some believers always seem to be living in the darkness of troubles when Jesus is the light of our lives?
- The Bible promises us that God will fill our needs as He does the birds of the air. What is the necessary condition?
- Jesus reveals the first thing we as believers are to seek above all else; what is it?
- What is the second thing believers are to seek above all else?
Introduction
Today we are coming near the end of the sermon on the mount, just one more chapter left. In all, Jesus has given five examples of how we should live. These were given to expose the false and hypocritical way the Pharisees lived, which was to show their righteousness before men.
The first example Jesus gave was on how to give. The Pharisees gave to be seen of others; true believers are to give in secret. The second example Jesus gave was on prayer. He used the example of the model prayer to show the structure of prayers: Honor God first, lift our needs to God, which includes all life needs as well as protection from the evil one, and then our needs toward others, to forgive them and to be concerned about them. It is not the length of the prayer; it is the motive and attitude that gains God’s attention.
Our desire should be to obtain God’s approval in all we do and not just gain attention and riches for ourselves. Paul warns about making our main objective in life seeking our desires: 1 Timothy 6:9-10, “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
Today’s example is on wealth. It may surprise some that the way we gain wealth is as spiritual as giving, prayer, forgiveness, or fasting. The way we accumulate wealth is mentioned more frequently in the New Testament than any other topic, so it is very significant to God. Understand, however, God’s definition of wealth differs from the world. We are to seek treasure in heaven, not on earth. Let’s look at what Jesus has to say about accumulating wealth:
Matthew 6:19-23, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23But 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!” 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.”
Jesus, as he has done before, is showing the difference in how the Pharisees gained wealth and God’s way. The Pharisee’s only objective was to store up treasures on earth to live in luxury. It does not mean that we do not have adequate financial reserves in this life. It means that it is not to be our primary objective. Our main goal is to store up treasure in heaven. We are not to love the things of the world. The reason is apparent; they don’t last. Go down to the junkyard and see for yourself how the cars look now that we thought were so beautiful a few years ago. All the things we count as treasures on earth will all go away someday by rust or moth or other means. At the same time, our treasures in heaven last eternal.
We don’t die and leave our heavenly treasures behind for others to enjoy or squander. We keep them and enjoy them forever and ever. Understand the concept of heaven where our treasures are stored: The Bible teaches us that heaven is New Jerusalem that will someday, in the future, come to earth where today’s earthly Jerusalem is. Revelation describes it as a city whose streets are pure gold; It is filled with mansions. Heaven is enormous, 1,500 miles wide and long and high, a cube. 2 Corinthians 5:8 teaches we will go there when we die, which will be for a short time because eventually, we will return to earth with Jesus when He sets up His world kingdom. Here, we will rule and reign with Him 1,000 years before the heavenly ages begin.
The earth as we know it now will be destroyed and made new, a place fit for the saints of God, where there never again will be violence, wars, and destruction. After our resurrection, or when we meet the Lord in the sky, we will have a new glorified body designed to live on the new earth. This new physical body will never suffer the pain, illness, and death it suffered in our world today. Our world in that day will be like the garden of Eden that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the beginning. Heaven will be a real place, a real-life that is unimaginable to us now, a place where we can awake in the morning, work, play, and enjoy all the good things that God created us to enjoy before sin entered and brought the downfall of the human race.
Paul says there will be a time when Jesus, at the judgment seat of Christ, will award our allotment in heaven: 2 Corinthians 5:8-10, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the LORD. 9Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
What is the purpose of the judgments? There are three judgments: When Jesus returns, there will be a judgment dividing “sheep from the goats,” Matthew 25:31-46. Then there is the great white throne judgment, which is based on sins. Since those appearing here never trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, the sentence for them is hell and eternal separation from God.
The judgment seat of Christ is not to consider our sins. Our sins were paid for once and for all when Jesus died in our stead on the cross; this is a time when Jesus will determine what deeds we have done that matter in the sight of God, those deeds which determine the rewards we shall receive.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, why am I here on earth? Is it only to seek those things that are earthly, which will vanish away, or am I truly living my life to please the Heavenly Father, doing those things that bring honor to His name and storing up treasures in heaven?
Today, many are deceived by prosperity preachers who say, send your money to me, so God will make you rich. Who gets rich here? Some of the prosperity preachers own several million-dollar homes, drive the most expensive cars and fly around in multimillion-dollar airplanes, while some of those who support them live in poverty, barely able to make ends meet. Where their treasure is, is where their heart is; they have their rewards.
Our attachment, according to Paul, should not be this world but heaven. Our main objective, while we are here, is to please God. We are not citizens of this world. In Hebrews 13:14-16, we read, “For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
We live in a confused and misinformed world, and our need is to be wise and see through all the false information floating around. Jesus said later in Matthew 10:16 – “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
In verse 22 of Matthew 6, Jesus uses a metaphor to make this critical point: He said, “The eye is the lamp of the body, so if the eye is clear, then the body is full of light.” I sit out sometimes early in the morning when the dew is still on, and sometimes it looks like a field of diamonds. In some places, it sets up an array of sparkles. The droplets of dew have no light in themselves. Their light comes from the sun. Likewise, the light in our lives comes from the Son, the Son of God. The world lives in darkness, but Jesus lights up our lives.
If the world is in darkness, and Jesus lights up our lives, we may ask the question: Why is it that so many Christians seem to always be in darkness? If our eyes are constantly on the Lord, we will have light, but when we turn away, there is darkness. Where we see and how we see determines what our focus on life is. When our focus is on the things of the Lord, our life is filled with light. On the other hand, when we focus on the world, our lives are filled with darkness.
Every decision we make and our every action determines where we are in relationship to God. Either we are filled with light or with darkness. When our focus is on the world, we pursue things that matter little and are passing away. We become filled with lust, distractions, and a wasted life. Jesus said, when this happens, the darkness is great, and there is a loss of blessings, joy, and peace. It is essential to have adequate finances, but our primary purpose in life invites darkness.
Our focus needs to be on our eternal reward; this is how Paul expresses it: 1 Timothy 6:17-19,”Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Paul did not say the rich needed to give away their money or that it was wrong to be rich. He noted that riches were not a place to place one’s hope, but that hope is in God. Our wealth is to never interfere with our efforts to store up riches in heaven. They can help us to do so by the way we use them.
In the final analysis, it amounts to where we place our purpose in life; is it on the things of God, or is it on the things of the world? The real question is, where have you placed your hope and your future? In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, these two are like two masters, and you can only serve one, not both. So, we must choose: Is it God or the world?
Some try to choose both by constantly spending most of their time amassing all they can of the world’s material things and yet say they are serving the Lord. If you feel a conviction, that might indicate you need to examine the way you are living. If you don’t have time for your family or your church, that is an indication your life is focused in the wrong direction. Some are so loaded down with debt from owning a home they can’t afford or driving a car out of their range that they feel they have to work all the time. That becomes the problem when we become enslaved to the things of the world and living above our means.
Jesus understood the traps Satan sets to enslave us and cause us to be disobedient to God’s purpose for our lives, and He assures us in the remaining part of this chapter that He wants to and help us:
Matthew 6:25-34, “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? 26Behold 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? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31Therefore 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. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34Take 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.”
All those things we spend all our waking hours pursuing, much of what is unneeded, is indeed a waste of time, as is the time we spend in worry and anxiety wondering if we will be able to make it. God knows all the time our needs and is willing to meet them just as he does the birds of the air or the lilies of the field, which are worth much less to Him. However, there is a condition; we are to turn our attention to His plan for our lives. We are first to seek the kingdom of heaven, then all these things, all our needs, will be given unto us. He wants us not to make the mistake of thinking life is all about food, clothing, and the world’s material things. In Luke 12:15, we read, “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.” The following is a good quote: “The worry and anxiety over the things we think we need in life, is the greatest hindrance to obeying God and seeking His will.”
Isn’t it time that we determine what we believe about God? Yes, we think we know the answer to that question, but why do we still live as it depends on us rather than trusting God. In v.32 of Matthew 6, Jesus says the unbelieving Gentiles live with the anxiety and worry of wondering what they will eat or what they will drink, etc. They have reason to because they have no relationship with the Lord. Do you ever wonder why so many Christians live in anxiety, worrying about their future when God has promised to care for their needs? How much of our heavenly reward will be missed because we spend our time on things that will burn in the end. Jesus says to live in the present and not to be concerned of tomorrow: Matthew 6:34, “Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
One of the most significant verses in Scripture is verse 33. Let’s finish by looking at what Jesus says in this great verse: Matthew 6:33: “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and these other things will be added to you.” Of all the things Jesus has commanded us to do as believers, this is the greatest and our highest priority in life. First, “Seek ye His kingdom and His righteousness.” All the things Jesus has been talking about, giving, prayer, forgiveness, fasting, and wealth, are involved in seeking His kingdom and increasing His kingdom through evangelism.
Second, living according to His righteousness, living a godly life is what glorifies God. Submit to God’s sanctification to make you more of what He wants you to be; this results in God adding to our life our needs. We may never be rich, may not even have a great retirement saved up, but we can rest assured that God is at our back taking care of us. If in vain we spend our life seeking the treasures of this world and fail to serve our Lord, we will lose both our worldly prizes and our heavenly rewards.