Matthew 7:1-5

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1 Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye;" and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ~ Matthew 7:1-5

Today, we transition into Matthew 7 which is the continuation of the Sermon on the Mount wherein the Lord Jesus was comparing His teachings with the teachings of the religious leaders of Israel. In this sermon the Lord Jesus gave us an overview of what the culture or kingdom of God looks like in our everyday lives. 

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Judge not, that you be not judged."

The word translated "judge" means "to condemn." It does not mean that we cannot distinguish between good and evil or between right and wrong. It means to steer clear of condemning others. Condemnation never does what we want it to do. If someone were to condemn us, we do well not to retaliate. Condemnation rarely leads to a change of heart. Usually, it backfires. Almost always, it generates return fire. People hate to feel condemned, and in order  to not feel it, they condemn in return. The Lord Jesus said these words so that "you may not be judged." 

In v.2-4 of today's passage we read, "2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?"

Here, we are given further explanation to what the Lord Jesus just said. When we judge in a certain manner, that same judgment can be expected to be returned to us. Those who go around pointing fingers at others from some supposed position of moral authority that really doesn’t exist except in their own minds, can expect scrutiny. 

Then the Lord Jesus reconfirmed this with another statement saying, "and in what measure you measure, it will be remeasured to you." 

The word "measure" means to determine something acceptable or unacceptable. This confirms the Lord Jesus did not mean to not judge, He meant do not be arbitrarily judgmental because people will be judgmental of you. We will be judged by the same rule which we apply to others. The arbitrary nature of said judgement is really the problem. Then the Lord Jesus underscored the fact that if a person is out judging others without examining himself, he has a major fault in his life, yet, he rebukes someone else for a lesser sin. That man, according to the Lord Jesus, is a total hypocrite. The person the Lord Jesus spoke of here is annoyed at the teeny perceived imperfection in someone else’s life. It is as if it is too much of an annoyance to allow it to continue without being highlighted and removed. While standing there noting that he can take care of the little chip in another’s eye, he is unwilling to acknowledge the two by four sticking out of his own eye. This is the height of hypocrisy because the Lord Jesus was actually referring to a moral defect in the other person, using the speck and the beam as metaphors for spiritual truths.

In v.5 of today's passage we read, "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

The speck and the plank are essentially the same substance.  One is the other, one is much smaller, the other is much bigger.  The reason someone can see little splinters in another's eye is because they have the same problem. They have a huge two by four in their eye. We are good typically at spotting sins in other people because we're familiar with them in our own lives and we become unfortunately very judgemental over the sin that lurks in us. Those who arbitrarily judge others are identified here as hypocrites because they isolate a moral defect in someone while having their own, much greater, moral defect. They identify some supposed fault in those they oppose but they are filled with fifty times more moral corruption than the insignificant point they have called out in their opponents. They make a mountain out of a molehill while sitting on their own heights of hypocrisy. These are those who see flaws in others in order to feel better about themselves. They think, if we can identify other’s flaws, we can avoid facing our own. 

The Lord Jesus' remedy to all of this is, "first remove the plank from your own eye." When we confess our sin to God and admit it before Him, we actually help in the process of restoring other people who have similar situations. In Psalm 51, David wrote that beautiful song about how sorry he was that he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah murdered. At that same time David also wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation, then I will teach transgressors Your way, then others will be converted to You." Once we confess our sin and humble ourselves before the Lord, we will be compassionately positioned to help a brother in need. And those who are not compassionate give evident that they know not God's compassion for them.

The Lord Jesus never says we should not point out the speck. Rather that we should deal with our problems so that we can help others deal with their’s. As followers of the Lord Jesus, we have the responsibility to confront erring brothers and sisters, but we must do this in love and without judgement. After all, we are all sinners in need of a savior. The religious leaders of Israel were known for pointing their fingers at others, but that helps no one. What we should do is come alongside each other in love. It’s not judging to help someone see the sin in their life. It’s judging when we condemn them for that sin rather than helping them through it. There’s a big difference between the two. 

Matthew 6:31-34

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31 Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ~ Matthew 6:31-34

Today, we conclude our study of Matthew 6 where the Lord Jesus has used birds, lilies, and grass to illustrate the fact that God is the One who ultimately meets our needs and the more we are convinced of this the more we will choose to believe in and trust in Him. Matthew 6 is one part of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7, and it is sanctification teaching not justification teaching. There is only one ticket that justifies us in the eyes of God and gets us into heaven and that is the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross on the behalf of all who would believe in Him. As mentioned before, sanctification is the process involved whereby God inculcates His kingdom into our souls.

In v.31-32 of today's passage we read, "31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

Rather than focusing on our earthly, temporary needs, the Lord Jesus admonishes us to get into the habit of trusting Him to meet our needs as He has promised. Just as God has placed us on this earth, He has also provided for us all things needed to sustain. We are a part of this ongoing cycle that is designed to aid us in learning to trust Him who is all-knowing to provide for us and to not worry about what lies ahead. This is the second time in this chapter that the Lord Jesus commands us to not worry. When we seek first the kingdom of wealth, we will worry over every dollar. When we seek first the kingdom of God, God will make sure that we find it. 

The word translated "Gentiles" in v.32 means ethnic peoples. It is a word associated with the people of the non-Jewish nations of the earth. This word is derived from the word that means culture. The Lord Jesus noted the nations who do not know the Lord as God and as a result they don’t possess sufficient knowledge to understand that He is there tending to them and taking care of them. Yet, they "seek" the things of the world and they do not seek God. As they cannot trust in God beyond this world, their trust must be placed in what is derived from this world. 

The believer in the Lord Jesus is different. We should seek the all-knowing One, the One who knows all things that we need even before we know of it. As we learn to trust the Lord, we will walk in His ways and we will learn to be defined by Him through His Word. Walking with the Lord translates into us obeying the Lord. The more we experience God's faithfulness, the more our faith in Him will grow. The more our faith in Him grows, the more we will trust His culture as He is inculcating it into us daily. To the degree that we are humble and willing enough to allow Him to define us will reveal the degree that we will know His kingdom come.

In v.33 of today's passage we read, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

The Lord Jesus encourages us to "seek." He didn’t encourage us to find here. It is our nature to stop seeking once we have found. The emphasis here is to not stop seeking. The Lord said, if we seek Him and His ways, we will find what we need to find when we need to find it in order to continue seeking. So, the Lord Jesus implores us to follow our quest of seeking Him and His ways and then our needs will be met by Him. But, when our needs are met we must not resort to not seeking Him. This all emphasizes the relational nature of Christianity and God's emphasis will always be upon that. We must be resigned to value our relationship with Him more than any other relationship, even the meeting of our basic daily needs.

Most often when we pray to God we pray for our will to be done. This is foolish. The word "kingdom" means the reign of God in our lives. To the degree that we obey Him will be the degree that His kingdom has come to us. But, it is not only just seeking the Father, involved also is seeking His righteousness. In other words when we seek Him and He shows up in our lives His righteousness will be put on full display and we will live out of His definition of things. This means we will pray regularly to Him because He has told us to converse with Him daily. Seeking God’s righteousness is to seek that His will is done at all times in our lives before Him. The Lord Jesus taught us to have His priorities. Put God first, and God will still give us these things. We will not be without them, but the possessions will be in the right place in our life.

In v.34 of today's passage we read, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

This is the third time in this chapter that we are admonished not to worry. The Lord Jesus instructs us to not let what is ahead in time, and completely out of our grasp, define us. It is inconsistent with our faith in the Lord to reach into the next day and start agonizing over what may transpire. The only thing that this type of reaction will do is to rile up any chance of mental calmness on a day that has nothing to do with the next. Understanding this, the Lord Jesus next said, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." That is to say, like any other day that comes to pass, there are to be expected complications, difficulties, sadnesses, moments of confusion and loss. Bad things will happen to us in each day. Each day can be expected to have enough evil to fill it that inserting the problems of a day ahead will only lead to a day overflowing with anxiety and worry. 

The best approach to life is to allow the future to unfold as it will without the added stress of worrying about how it will do so. We make plans, but the events that follow must be left to the overarching providence of God. We must live with the future planned to whatever degree is necessary, but to do so knowing that the Lord may have other plans. And, no matter what, He is in control. Our future in His presence is assured because of the work the Lord Jesus accomplished on our behalf. We just have to get through this unknown earthly walk as best as we can in the process, learning to trust Him with each step as we go.

Matthew 6:28-30

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28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ~ Matthew 6:28-30

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 6. In this study we will discover the teaching of the Lord Jesus regarding the kingdom of God. In context, the Lord has contrasted His teaching with that of the religious leaders of Israel. In their teaching, emphasis was placed upon man's ability to get life right by applying the teachings of the Law of Moses. Through the Lord Jesus' teaching we discover a different approach. His approach starts with our hearts and the condition of our being. Once analyzed, we discover our lives are a mess, even though we have attempted to straighten them out many times. The answer the Lord Jesus offers us is the exchanged life. Literally, if we let Him, He will live His life to us and through us. Through this way we will discover the out-workings of the words of the Apostle Paul, "For me to live is Christ."

In v.28-29 of today's passage we read, "28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

In the previous verse, the Lord Jesus spoke about our inability  to navigate our lives for ourselves. In today's passage He followed this conclusion up with how we go about meeting our daily needs for clothing. Until the recent emergence of the industrial age, clothing took a lot more effort to make. Thus, it was expensive, even being considered as a part of one’s wealth. Because of this, people would get anxious when something interfered with their possessing or retaining their clothing. The underlining item being highlighted here by the Lord Jesus is the whole idea of who do we trust. This is so very important because who we trust most defines us most.

It was at this point that the Lord Jesus directed the attention of His hearers to the "lilies of the field" which "neither toil nor spin." The word "consider" is very key for us to understand. It signifies more than learning, but grasping something conclusively by considering it carefully. The idea behind the word "consider" is to plumb the depths of what is important. Consider means to penetrate to the truth of something and to comprehend it fully. But, there is even a deeper point here to be grasped.

The Lord Jesus urged us to stop and look at the lilies in a way that brings forth an understanding of the majestic nature of God’s handiwork through creation. Lilies are detailed and are thus truly majestic. They are one-of-a-kind type of flowers based upon their intricate shape and detail. Lilies don't grow themselves for they are a product of rain, water, soil, and the sun. Lilies do not have to work to produce their clothing. Since God cares so much for short-lived springtime flowers, how much more does He care for the part of His creation that He made in His image?

Likening the lilies to the glory of Solomon who had the best of everything, the Lord Jesus pointed us to the most vulnerable of flowers clearly to teach us God looks out for all of His creation. And, when we align ourselves with His truth by obeying Him, we will recognize, realize and access His blessing in our lives. When the Lord Jesus told His disciples that the lilies of the field neither toil nor spin, He did so to reinforce that He is the One who always clothes them, just as He does us. The key is that we exercise the type of faith that marks our creator as our God.

In v.30 of today's passage we read, "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

Here, the Lord Jesus went from lilies to grass, underscoring the short-lived nature of both. The oven here is the style of pot that is heated from the inside and then bread would be slapped onto the outside to be baked. The flat bread adhered to the side of the oven until removed by the baker when it was turned and heated on the other side. The point the Lord Jesus was making  was this: Mankind is more important than the lilies and the grass, and so we can be assured that God will tend to our needs in a way that is commensurate with who we are in light of who He is.  

The words "little faith" is one word in the Greek. It means when we worry about our needs being met, we reveal that we  are of little faith in the God of the Bible. While we are found constantly worried about what might be, we should be found trusting that God orders daily the necessary things in our lives to accomplish what is needed. He even provides those necessary things through the unwanted moments of life. And, if we are being defined by Him, we will recognize the blessing even in the curses. 

Underscored in all of this is the fact that mankind has importance in the eyes of God. Mankind, although tainted by sin, is the highest point of God’s creation, and we should conduct our lives in a manner that demonstrates that we believe it to be so. Not in arrogance or boasting, but in humility that God has given us such God-like wisdom and ability to believe in Him. And as we do, may we remember to thank and praise Him for allowing us the honor of bearing His image. In addition, we should praise Him for the ability to abide in His presence for all eternity because of what He has done to reconcile us to Himself through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word "faith" appears in the Bible some 247 times. It means "persuasion," "trust," "confidence," "assurance," and "belief." The word "faith" is a noun. Many inaccurately think of it as a verb. The word "believe" is a verb. It’s an action word. Believing is something we do, and faith is something we have or we could say something we are. This is what the Lord Jesus was getting to that day on the side of that mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee. Faith is choosing deliberate confidence in the character of God especially when we do not understand Him or His ways.

Matthew 6:25-27

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25 Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ~ Matthew 6:25-27

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 6 where the Lord Jesus is teaching us about the importance of being defined by the culture of God. His teaching on the side of that mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee is all about the coming of God's kingdom and how it impacts our everyday lives. Having addressed the issue of the heart, the Lord Jesus highlighted that what we trust is what ultimately defines us. In today's passage we will learn of three reasons why we should never worry: our Father, our faith and our future. 

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?"

In the previous verse, the Lord Jesus spoke of the unrealistic nature of serving two masters. When we trust in anything other than the Lord, our anxiety meter will be heightened. The substantiveness of the object that we worship is what defines us at the end of the day. We will only be at peace in our soul to the extent that we trust in our heavenly Father. By definition, God is the supreme being and there is no one above Him. Of course, believing in the God of the Bible does not dispel the darkness in our lives completely, but we can choose to not be defined by the lesser.

Being defined by God translates itself in how much God defines us through His Word. God's definition of us will be shown through our obedience to His Word. This, of course, will not mean that will be perfect in our obedience, but it does mean that we will be connected to the greatest resource to deal with life's issues. When we trust in temporal things, we will naturally worry due to the nature of those temporal earthly treasures. It doesn’t matter how rich we become, if we are trusting in our earthly wealth, we will struggle with worry and anxiety. For a millionaire to decrease in wealth by a dollar is more painful than for a poor person who has nothing to lose.

During the ancient biblical world, clothing was an important indicator of social status, occupation, and identity. One's clothes signified his wealth, authority, and/or religious devotion. It is the same today, nothing really has changed. Most often, the quest for wearing the best clothing is the quest for notoriety, popularity, and fame. In churches, many priests, bishops and preachers are robed in special robes. These and other garments supposedly set them off as pious men of God filled with something special before God and man. With the ending of the Mosaic Law, there is nothing prescribed in Scripture to physically set a pastor, priest, or preacher off from the rest of the congregation. And yet, in order to set these people apart, they are given these garments. Unfortunately, as we have seen throughout history, such garments often adorn people whose hearts are far from God. Very often they are money grabbers, perverts, predators, and highly arrogant in their demeanor. The garments of these are often-like lipstick on pigs. They adorn people whose hearts are self-centered and filled with pride and self-righteousness. 

In v.26 of today's passage we read, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

By carefully observing His creation, we learn a lot about the God of creation. Like the birds who go out each day and look for food, we should look to God to meet our needs for when we do this, we will be defined by God. The birds expect their Creator to provide for them and nourish them, and He does faithfully. Though God meticulously cares for the birds of His creation, He has more care for humans than He does for birds. In fact, God has endowed man with the ability to increase knowledge, figure out difficulties, plan ahead, and seek out better ways to discover His provision. Due to this, there is no reason for us to worry.

Here in today's passage, the Lord Jesus did not depart from the thought of storing up treasure in heaven. He was building upon that idea with His continued words. If we can see that God tends to His creation through how He has set things up, and if we acknowledge that God has placed a special stamp of His creative efforts upon man, then we should have faith that God intends good for us. The treasures of heaven are to be attained from this understanding. Our growing faith in God due to His past faithfulness should spur us onward in our heart's ability to see Him. In the end, everything that we possess, whether physical or spiritual, is ultimately derived from God, who created all things. 

In v.27 of today's passage we read, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"

When we trust the Lord like the birds of the air, we will be able to rise above the anxiety that tends to shackle us. Worrying or fretting over every issue of life which is beyond our control is inconsistent with the one who is growing in his trust of the Lord. When we are given over to worry, we will find it most difficult to live the life the Lord Jesus died to give us. When we worry about all the what-ifs of life, it will reveal a lack of trust in our heavenly Father. We cannot worry ourselves into longer life. But, when we grow in our faith in the faithfulness of God and we gain a growing understanding of His care for us, we will not fret over our future.

Matthew 6:24

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No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. ~ Matthew 6:24

Today, we return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount wherein the Lord Jesus Christ taught the culture of God to a group overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In our last study, the Lord Jesus noted that when our eye is bad, our whole body will be filled with darkness. That is to say that if God is not defining us by inculcating His truth into our souls, we will remain trapped in the darkness that was introduced to mankind in the Garden of Eden. In context, the Lord Jesus was explaining the matter of storing up our treasures in heaven by advancing the kingdom of God on this earth. 

Many of our Bibles include a footnote next to the word "mammon" found at the end of today's verse. That footnote gives, in most occasions, the meaning of the word as being "money." Moreover, throughout the centuries, mammon has been described as wealth. It was taken by medieval writers as the name of the devil of covetousness. In biblical culture mammon has been long described by words such as lust, gluttony, greed, and dishonest worldly gain. Ultimately, mammon was described as an idol of materialism, which some trusted as a foundation for their worldview and philosophy on life. In fact, it is safe to say today that most today trust in their wealth more than anything else.

The danger with this is that which we trust in the most defines us most. With wealth at the helm of our hearts we find ourselves loving things and hating people. The Lord Jesus warned that we cannot serve two masters, He specified "wealth" as a master in opposition to God. A slave, therefore,  will adhere to one master and reject the other. It would cause a real conflict within, one that would come with insurmountable problems. Such is the case with storing up wealth for ourselves while on this earth. Money is immoral, what we do with it makes it moral or immoral.

The Lord Jesus further explained how impossible it is to serve two masters, we will love one and hate the other. The Lord Jesus Himself embraced doing His Father’s will, while despising the shame that was levied upon Him by sinful and short-sighted men. When we place our trust in wealth, our allegiance will be in our wealth. As such, when we live for wealth, we will not have much of a heart for God. Likewise, when we live for God, the riches of this life will be understood for what they truly are, gifts from God.

There is nothing wrong with having wealth. In fact, when one possesses wealth, it should be considered a blessing from God. However, the opposite is not to be considered true. When someone is not wealthy, it does not mean that God doesn’t favor them. This attitude is a trap from the evil one. Just because someone receives a blessing, it doesn’t mean God loves him more than the person who has not been blessed of God in the same way. No matter how little or much we are blessed in this life, we should give honor, thanks, and glory to God for what we do have. Faith in the God of the Bible is the key and our faith in Him will be demonstrated by our obedience to Him.

According to Exodus 34:14, the Lord God is a "jealous God." This means He guards what is rightfully His. He is righteously jealous for our affections because we are at our best when we are giving our hearts to Him. God is not jealous for His own sake because He needs nothing. He is jealous for us because without Him we are in real trouble. When we serve another master such as wealth, we rob ourselves of all we were created to be, and we rob God of His rightful adoration.

The word "serve" in today's verse comes from the noun meaning bondservant or slave. Slavery in the Roman world was different from American slavery. The primary differences being that slavery wasn’t based on skin color and wasn’t a permanent condition. Typically, people became bondservants due to debt and they could work themselves out from under that debt. When the Bible mentions slavery in the New Testament, it is usually used in the sense that we all are slaves to something. And, God knows that what we love the most will be our master. When the Lord Jesus taught on servanthood, He spoke about having rendered actual ownership of ourselves to the one we serve. 

We cannot serve two masters because, as the Lord Jesus pointed out, we end up hating one and loving the other. It’s only natural. Opposing masters demand different things and lead down different paths. While the ways of the Lord lead us in one direction, this world and our flesh are headed in the other. A choice must be made. When we follow Christ, we must die to everything else. If we attempt to serve two masters, we will have divided loyalties, and, when the difficulties of discipleship clash with the lure of fleshly pleasure, the magnetic pull of wealth and worldly success will draw us away from the Lord. The call to godliness goes against our sinful nature. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we remain devoted to the Lord as our one true Master.

The fact the Lord Jesus spoke of possessions possessing us is rather interesting. In reference to our possessions, we think we own and control them, but actually they own and control us. This is one way to understand sin. A careful reading of the Bible reveals that slavery and bondage is a common metaphor for sin. Often we think we can manage our sin, control our behavior and desires, and only indulge when we choose to, but that’s a fiction we tell ourselves. I think that’s part of the reason the Lord Jesus treated this subject so seriously because we’re so prone to deluding ourselves. The Lord Jesus came to free us from this kind of bondage which is not the equivalent of a few bad habits.

Matthew 6:22-23

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22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ~ Matthew 6:22-23

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 6 where the Lord Jesus provided for us teaching on the key to our personal relationship with God which is an engaged heart. Previously, the Lord Jesus made it clear that greed is the greatest culprit to our spirituality. There is something at the root of the sin of loving money that is the root of all sin. That root is pride which is the desire to be autonomous of God. It is our pride that convinces us that we can run our own lives for ourselves. Greed and pride go hand in hand. And, when we embrace this illusion, we will perish with it. 

In v.22 of today's passage we read, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light."

On the surface, this is a confusing verse, but it’s only confusing because we’re not first century Jews. The Lord Jesus enlisted a very well known cultural idiom that was understood by his listeners. The idiom was a bad eye which was a Jewish expression describing someone who was bitter and envious, someone who looked on someone else’s blessing and thought to themselves, "That should be mine." By using this common idiom, the Lord Jesus obviously drew attention to the tenth of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not covet."

To covet is to have an unlawful desire for something that is not rightfully yours. Covetousness is not limited to money, as this passage spells out. We might covet our neighbor’s status, fame, good looks, or home. The first nine of the Ten Commandments deal with our actions, but the tenth commandment deals with our attitude. The tenth commandment is the root cause of all the others. Without covetousness, we would not do all of the other things prohibited by God. 

At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus used a lamp as an illustration. A lamp is something that provides illumination. The lamp is not the light itself, it is used to discover things that are lost in the darkness. The lamp is also used to provide illumination to the one who has the light. The lamp also provides any amount of light, even to a sliver that illuminates the darkest context. The eye is what sees things and provides information to the mind, where it is processed. The mind and body react to what has been seen and understood. In the Bible, light is a metaphor for God's definition of all things. It is contrasted throughout the Bible to darkness, which includes the faulty definitions given to us by the evil one. When we are being defined by God we will have God's light to varying degrees. If we focus on earthly treasures to define us most, we will lack the ability to see what is of most importance and worthy of our heart's allegiance.

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

While an eye that sees clearly will yield a body full of light, an eye lacking light will be given over to evil. A bad eye renders an understanding that will lack according to God's definitions of things. Without a God-defined life one’s vision will be impaired. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to bring us His light in order that we may understand God and that His ways are better. The more we reject the truth as defined by God, the more darkened our understanding will be. Those who look with clarity of vision will see what is revealed in God’s light and will thus be defined accordingly. 

Throughout the Bible, the Lord Jesus is revealed as the light. His cross and resurrection validate both He and His work. This is what draws us to Him. Having been drawn to Him, we all have the decision to believe in Him and be defined by Him. When we obey the Lord Jesus, we will convert our perishable treasures into imperishable treasures by using them in concert with His purposes in this world. When we are found being generous with our money, we will not be its slave. This explains how leaving an inheritance to our grandchildren doesn’t contradict that which is most dear to the heart of God. And, no one has become poor by giving. In fact, the happiest people in this world are those who outgive their getting.

Matthew 6:19-21

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19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Matthew 6:19-21

Today, we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount. In this teaching, the Lord Jesus Christ rearranged the thinking of His hearers regarding their understanding of the Law of Moses. As we know, the Law of Moses was sanctification teaching, meaning it was teaching designed to get the culture of God into the souls of people. But, through the years it had been distorted by the religious teachers of Israel. These supposed spiritual leaders dropped the ball when they were not careful to include their hearts in the equation. Instead, they put themselves up as the arbiters of truth, essentially taking God's role from Him. This resulted in religion which always shackles us and carries us away from God.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal."

In our last study, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus on the topic of fasting. He finished that thought with the idea of being rewarded by the Father in heaven. In today's passage, He built upon that concept drawing our attention to "treasure." The rewards of which He previously spoke are where our true treasures are to be found. But, what we amass here on earth is temporary and will not pass into eternity. It is only when we invest in the eternal does this change. Being wealthy is not sinful. The Bible never says, "Money is the root of all evil." No, it says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Greed is the culprit.

Now, in that day, wealth was often measured by one’s ability to accumulate and store goods, such as grain and precious metals. The concept of storing treasures was not only a practical concern but also a reflection of one’s status and security. Treasure could also refer to spiritual wealth, such as wisdom and righteousness, which are more enduring than material wealth. Here, the Lord Jesus informed us to not keep to ourselves the blessings that God has chosen to give us. God rarely blesses us with only us in mind. He knows that if our lives are all about receiving, we will become so fearful of losing what we have that we will become unloving. But, if we recognize that it is better to give than to receive, we will know the type of life that He died for us to have while here on earth. The life the Lord offers us with Him at the helm of our decision making is a life free from worry and anxiety.

When we live our lives under God's grace rather than the Law of Moses, we will recognize that God has given us all things with the ultimate goal that His kingdom might advance in this world. When we hoard things we will be preoccupied upon concentrating on our kingdom. This is what causes us anxiety and the solution is to loosen our grip on those blessings that God has given us and be free to be a blessing to others. As with a tube of toothpaste the tighter we squeeze the less we will have. Investing in eternity will render much greater blessings than those of the temporal space and time of this fleeting world. We must live accordingly. Living to be a blessing redirects our hearts from seeking the blessing for ourselves to being more selfless. The stress of learning to be defined by the Lord is far less restricting than that of the flesh for the flesh is never satisfied.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."

The only way to accomplish that which will endure into eternity is through faith in the God of the Bible. When we trust Him, we will believe that what He has said is true. Thus we will be defined by Him when we obey Him. And, we will not be perfect at this, even though God calls us to perfection. Think about it, would He be God if He called us to less than perfection? Nothing earthly can be taken to heaven. Faith is a vulnerable disposition, and faith alone in the God of the Bible is the only thing that bridges the gap between the earthly and the heavenly. Here, the Lord Jesus restated the same words as the previous verse but changed them for emphasis. When the two verses are set side by side, the contrast is clear. When we live by faith and we invest in eternity, the Lord assures us that it will matter into eternity. 

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

We all have our loyalties, the things that are most valuable to us. As a result, we all live for something or somebody. To the degree to which we love something or someone will be the degree that they will define us. We know something or someone is defining us when we take inventory and discover what or who we obey. When the Lord Jesus was asked to summarize the greatest command, He quoted the Old Testament when He said, "Love God with all our heart, soul and strength." Down deep in our hearts a tug of war is raging. The tugs are created by the temptations that cry out for our hearts allegiance. The realm we invest in most defines us most.

There is nothing wrong with possessing wealth or protecting that wealth for the future. In fact, in Proverbs 13:22 we read, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous." We cannot save up for our children’s children if we do not possess wealth to some degree. The real issue is: Are we masters over our wealth, or is our wealth master over us? We must be wise concerning earning and saving, but also let our heart be directed to the Lord above all else. This is what reveals where our hearts are regarding the possessions we have in this world. Money can be a wonderful servant or it can be a terrible master!

Matthew 6:16-18

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16 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. ~ Matthew 6:16-18

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 6 where the Lord Jesus contrasted His teaching with that of the religious leaders of Israel. Although God gave the people of Israel His culture through the Law of Moses while they were in the wilderness, due to their sinfulness they distorted it over time. In the previous verse, the Lord Jesus highlighted the importance of forgiving others. Next, He turned His hearers attention to another issue, fasting.

In v.16 of today’s passage we read, "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."

Several months before these events the Lord Jesus was led into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. The word "fast" signifies abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. In particular, according to the Law of Moses, the people were to fast by denying themselves food on the Day of Atonement. The goal of the fast was to make the people more sensitive to God and their need for Him. Later, there were several national days set aside as fasts based on events that took place in Israel’s history. In time, the fasts became a part of their religious ritual system. The problem arose when the people went through the religious motions without having their hearts involved in the process.

The Lord Jesus continued with, "do not be like the hypocrites." Here, He combined two words, "sullen" and "face." The Lord Jesus equated sullen-faced with hypocrisy because when one fasts no one else was to know about it, at least no other human. The religious do religious things like fasting as a show thinking they garner favor with God and man. This may work with man but it never works with God because He knows us better than we know ourselves. Disingenuousness is never a good disposition to give safe haven in our souls for God knows when our hearts are sincere or not. Sincerity goes hand in hand with the truth, upon such is trust formed.

The religious mark themselves as such when they get what they want which is attention from men. With this as their motive there was no point in actually fasting at all. Not only do such people lose out on any rewards for their fasting before God, they also are not intelligent enough to know that they are also losing out on a day of nice meals for no reason other than presenting a show before others. Thus, their actions demonstrated that they didn’t believe that the Lord actually was capable of knowing the intent of their hearts. The Scripture tells us "without faith, it is impossible to please God." Because of their lack of faith, their only reward came from showy appearances before others. What a sad and inauthentic existence.

In v.17-18 of today’s passage we read, "17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

That day while the Lord Jesus spoke on the side of the mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee, it must be emphasized that He spoke to Jews, to people who lived under the Law of Moses. These folks had come to base their rightness before God on their ability to measure up to the law. Through the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus taught the Law of Moses. As He did, He showed how the religious leaders had veered from it. The Jewish religious leaders had re-interpreted the Law of Moses, thinking they could actually keep it. But here the Lord Jesus taught that the law was and is impossible to keeper our average human. In fact, the Apostle Paul revealed in Galatians 3 that the Law of Moses held us captive and it aided in ushering us into the saving arms of the Lord Jesus. That is if we turn to Him. Those who believe they are fulfilling the Law need no Savior. Whoever attempts to achieve righteousness by keeping the Law, they will be sadly disappointed because it is simply impossible to do for fallen man. And if we try, the result of failing will be beyond payment.

The word "anoint" used in v.17 of today's passage provides a picture that the Lord Jesus' audience understood immediately. The practice of anointing with oil illustrated comfort, the imparting of strength and healing. All of this was synonymous with blessedness from God and joy. That is to say that in God’s culture fasting should outwardly display a sense of blessedness and joy because God grants the sincere soul His joy and His blessing. The point of fasting was and is for denying oneself food in order to be more attentive to God. And, to have others know that we are fasting defeats the purpose of fasting. When we make it known to others that we are fasting, it becomes a self-centered "look at me" type of thing. When done God's way, the natural joy given by Him would then hide the fact that one is fasting, even though life may be brutal at the moment. This is important because God knows the intent of our heart. And so, when we fast, we should keep it between us and Him.

The goal of fasting therefore is intimacy with God. This intimacy enables us to be more sensitive to Him and His ways. This intimacy enables us to recognize the false from the real. In the context of real pain we can know the real joy of God. This is the life the authentic follower of God is being led into and once we have experienced it we keep going back for more. This is the eternal life the Lord Jesus came to deliver to us. And, this life isn't something we will know when we die. No, this life begins once we believe in the Son as our Savior. As a result of learning to tap into this life through our growing intimacy with God, we will begin to understand life as it is and how it should be live. Eternal life is a person and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Through our daily interactions with Him through His Word and prayer, we will enjoy a personal relationship with Him and out of that relationship life will increasingly make sense.

Matthew 6:14-15

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14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ~ Matthew 6:14-15

Today, we continue our study of Matthew 6 which is found in the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's passage comes on the heels of the model prayer known as the Lord's Prayer which contrasts with the meaningless, repetitious, long-winded prayers of the religious. In context, the Lord Jesus was confronting religion which is man's best attempt to earn God's favor. And, of course, man could never be good enough to garner God's forgiveness. In this sermon that the Lord Jesus delivered on that mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee, He highlighted the fact that man cannot measure up to the teachings of the Law of Moses. This is why He came to die on the cross. God's forgiveness had to be based upon and passed onto sinful man through the message that came through the cross. Only through the Lord Jesus could God render our salvation because only He is perfect.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

The words "For if" points us to the previous words of the Lord Jesus. In the previous verse the He said, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." The word translated "debts" is the word which is also translated "transgressions." We must remember the context the Lord Jesus was speaking into here which was that of an Israelite living under the Law of Moses. The Lord Jesus was preaching law to those who lived under law. As declared through Moses, debts were to be forgiven according to the law. When a debt was not forgiven, it was a violation of the law. As such, if someone were to not forgive a debt in the seventh year as required by Deuteronomy 15:1-6, they could expect that their sacrifice for sin would not be accepted by God. This was stated this way in order to impress on the Jews the utter importance of forgiving others. 

In order for a debt to be forgiven, the one owing has to ask the one owed for forgiveness. It cannot be that the debtor is forgiven without the request for forgiveness. When a transgression against another exists, there must be a process that must be followed when someone asks to be forgiven for what he has done. This was one point the Lord Jesus was making here. Withholding forgiveness and holding onto bitterness would render bad things in the soul of the one who was choosing not to forgive. This is why if someone refused to forgive a debt, it would be handled like not forgiving a debt. Someone who would presume to come before God with a sacrificial offering for forgiveness would be treated in the same manner. No forgiveness would result. That was God's teaching to Israel under the Law of Moses.

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

When the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sin, it changed this teaching. In the moment that we believe the gospel, we are forgiven, at that time, for all of our sins, past, present, and future. We must remember that forgiveness is never required unless asked for. There is no biblical example where forgiveness is required without repentance. Repentance means "to change one’s mind." In essence, once we have offended another, when we ask for forgiveness we show that we have changed our mind.

In Ephesians 4:32 we read, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." 

After we received Christ as our Savior we were instructed to make it a habit to forgive. It is very difficult to be defined by God's forgiveness when we are holding onto pasts hurts and subsequent grudges. Our forgiveness in Christ was given to us only after we ask for it. The heart must be engaged and this is why God requires of us our request for forgiveness. While God's forgiveness is solely based on our faith in the finished work on the cross, the result should be that we forgive others as God has freely forgiven us. It only makes logical sense that forgiven people forgive people. 

Choosing not to forgive another is a form of bondage. It is a denier of grace. If we are unable to release forgiveness to others, we will have trouble experiencing the forgiveness that God has given to us. In fact, it may be a sign that we truly do not understand what He has done for us through His Son's sacrifice on the cross. When we hold onto bitterness, we will be miserable. The flow of grace will be constricted by the bitter root of unbelief. We do well to let go of sin and take hold of God's grace. This is when the grace of God takes hold of us. We must choose to be better, not to be bitter. When we choose grace, we will know freedom from our bondage to the enemy.

Matthew 6:12-13

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12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. ~ Matthew 6:12-13

Today, we complete our study of the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, we are invited to admit that we are unable to save ourselves. Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said, "He that is never on his knees on earth, shall never stand upon his feet in heaven." Just as we are unable to provide bread for ourselves, so too we are unable provide salvation for ourselves. In the

face of our sin, we are helpless. This prayer is a model for all of our prayers including the yearning for God and His glory to the coming of His will to our lives. 

Learning how to pray must first begin with learning to pray. Oswald Chambers once said, "We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties." In this pattern for prayer, the Lord Jesus underscored the fact that left on our own, fallen man is helpless. This is why He came to this earth to teach us that we can enter into a personal relationship with God even though our sin had separated us from Him. The crying out of our hearts to God is a must if we are to realize His kingdom come, His will be done.

In v.12 of today's passage we read, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

The Lord's Prayer is a prayer comprised of six requests. The first three are vertical, expressing our desire for the kingdom and will of God to come. The second set of three requests in this prayer are horizontal addressing the basic human needs that we all have on a given day. After requesting that our daily need for food be provided, the Lord Jesus taught us to pray for those things that bring peace to our souls including forgiveness and the wisdom to resist temptation.

The word translated "debts" is found only here and in Romans 4:4, where the Apostle Paul notes that the wages of those who work are like a debt that is owed. Here, the idea is that a sin against God brings about a debt that must be satisfied. Truth demands such a satisfaction to render wrongdoing dead. This is so because nothing impure or defiled can enter into God's presence. Our understanding of this is essential if we are to see our need for the Savior. The Old Testament had as its center piece the sacrificial system. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a means of God's grace extended to sinful man by which a relationship between God and man could be restored. Ultimately, the sacrificial system was inadequate, and no mere human could repay the debt that sin had created between God and man. Thus the sacrificial system found in the Old Testament points us to none other than the Lord Jesus.

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for believers. Only followers of the Lord Jesus can truly pray, “Our Father.” It is those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus who are called children of God. So this is a prayer for believers. We are the ones who are told to pray, "forgive us our trespasses." If we have already been forgiven, why must we ask for forgiveness again? It is not because we sinned again since the last time we prayed. It is not that we have created for ourselves another debt that must be paid back. The Lord Jesus has paid our debt in full. When we placed our faith in Him, He forgives all of our sins—past, present, and future. 

Rather, when we come to God in prayer, confessing our sins to Him and asking for forgiveness over and over again, we adopt a practice, the practice of confession that places us in a situation where we are reminded anew of our need for God. We are forced to depend on Him. By regularly confessing our sins to God, we are reminding ourselves that we cannot save ourselves so that we might constantly live in the grace of the One who died for us.

The prayer for forgiveness, however, does not stop with God’s forgiveness toward us. It also extends to our forgiveness towards others. Look again at Matthew 6:12 which reads, "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." God’s forgiveness of our sins is linked to our forgiveness of those who have sinned against us. 

According to this verse, it appears that God’s forgiveness is conditional on our forgiveness. If we forgive others, God will forgive us. But if we don’t forgive others, then God won’t forgive us either? That’s what it appears to say. But when we read the rest of Scripture, it becomes abundantly clear that God’s forgiveness is conditional only upon our faith in Him. If we place our faith in Him as our Lord and Savior, then we will be forgiven. God will not withhold his forgiveness because he knows we haven’t forgiven someone else. Rather, the Lord Jesus was saying that a heart that forgives is evidence of a heart that has been forgiven. If we have truly been forgiven by God, then that forgiveness should naturally flow out of us to those around us. When we pray, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us," we should ask ourselves, "Do I forgive others the way that I want God to forgive me?"

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."

The word "temptation" here has two main meanings. The first is the negative connotation of being tempted. The other refers to being tested, as in a trial. At times the two thoughts can overlap. A temptation arises that tests the caliber of the one being tested. The prayer is to be kept from being led into such a situation. The Lord Jesus was instructing the people to pray to avoid the process that may lead to temptation. There is a difference between being led along life’s path while having to face temptation and actively being tempted. 

"The evil one" is none other than the slithery serpent from the Garden of Eden. This is a prayer to not face such temptations, something that we can pray to not face. God has the authority over such things and is fully capable of responding to such a prayer favorably. This doesn’t mean the response will be favorable. The Lord may allow a specific ordeal into our lives for His own good purposes. The ultimate goal of all such things is the glory of God. When such a prayer is favorably responded to, the Lord should be magnified for having delivered the response. In all things, the glory of God should be the paramount consideration in the lives of His people.

Matthew 6:9-11

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9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. ~ Matthew 6:9-11

Today, we continue our study of the sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. Today, we will begin our study of the Lord's Prayer which is really the Disciples Prayer, but suffice it to say, the Lord Jesus was instructing His disciples on how we should pray. This is a prayer the Lord Jesus taught us to pray. It is not a prayer that He himself recited. It is a prayer comprised of an address to God (Our Father in heaven), followed by a series of petitions or requests. The first three requests are vertical; the second three requests are horizontal.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."

Earlier, the Lord Jesus said that the Father knows what we need before we ask Him. In saying this, the Lord Jesus led us to focus first on Our Father, not upon our needs. The idea of God as the Father is one that takes on several connotations in Scripture. He is the Father of creation and, thus, humanity, all of humanity. The Lord Jesus taught this prayer again on a different occasion. In fact, once they noticed Him praying, one of the disciples approached Him and said, "Lord, teach us to pray." The disciple didn't say, "Lord, teach us a prayer." He said "Lord, teach us to pray." In response, the Lord Jesus gave us a prayer not to memorize or recite. This prayer is a template not meant for us to repeat it word for word, otherwise our hearts are likely tore removed from the process. 

This prayer begins with "Our Father in heaven." He is "our" Father with whom a filial bond exists because of our faith placed in the work of His Son on the cross. The pronoun "our" is a word that indicates possession. It informs us to whom or what something or someone belongs. Due to this bond, which rightly calls out for a son to humble himself before his Father, the Lord Jesus instructs us, "hallowed be Your name." The word "hallow" means to sanctify or to make holy. It involves the act of setting something or someone apart for a sacred purpose. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the process by which believers are made complete through the work of the Holy Spirit, aligning us with God’s will and character. It also refers to the consecration of objects or places for divine use. In this case, it is a hallowing of the name of the Father, treating it with absolute holiness as well as expecting it to be treated in this manner by others. 

In v.10 of today's passage we read, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

This verse includes two separate requests: "Your kingdom come," and "Your will be done." While these requests may have slightly different nuances, they are actually getting at the same thing. The kingdom of God points us to the One in
charge. The kingdom of God is the area in which God is King. You're probably thinking, that sounds like heaven and you would be right. In heaven everything is exactly the way that God wants it to be. Heaven is full of love, joy, peace, righteousness, justice, and truth. Our problem is that we skip the first part and immediately go to the second part. But, that is out of balance. The best way to pray is to begin with God and His rule and then work our way toward our needs. When we begin with worship of God, we gain His perspective.

I've discovered when I approach God with the right perspective, I realize He sees what I don't see. He knows what I don't know.  I find that when I pray with that perspective, I am granted more faith and a broader perspective. As a result, I tend to pray with more faith. Faith is the heart's ability to see God. When I preoccupy myself with Him, I begin to see my problems and my needs from a different vantage point. I find from this transcendent perspective that my problems are not obstacles but opportunities, opportunities for my Father to reveal Himself to me more fully as He deals with my issues.

When we pray, "Your kingdom come, Your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven," we are asking that
heaven would come to earth. We are asking that earth
would begin to look like heaven. We are asking that just
as everything in heaven is exactly the way God wants it
to be, so too everything on earth would be just the way
God wants it to be. 

In Matthew 4:17, the Lord Jesus said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In that statement, the Lord Jesus announced that He came to earth to bring heaven. When He came, He only brought the kingdom in part. He only brought the rule of God to earth in part. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, he brought with Him love, joy, peace, righteousness, justice, and truth. He did this by granting to the repentant ones His Spirit so that His blessings might be known by them.

In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Give us this day our daily bread."

The change from "yours" to "us" clearly reveals that since we are children of God through believing in the Lord Jesus, God promises to take care of our needs. Whatever we need in life, God promises to care it for us. He doesn't promise to take care of our greeds, He promises to meet our daily needs like our need for food.  

In James 1:17 we read, "Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 

Knowing such verses hasn't yet graduated any of us to total trust of God. We all struggle to varying degrees at trusting Him, but, when we have experienced enough of His faithfulness we will know a certain measure of trust in Him. A necessary evil in the whole process is the fact that we must go through trials. There is no growth of our faith in Him without the unwanted moments that force us to turn to and to depend upon Him. As He shows Himself faithful to us, we will grow in our trust of Him. 

The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good. The enemy has riveted this lie so very deeply into our souls that we find it most difficult to trust God. This is why we yet struggle trusting Him, even though we have developed somewhat of a pattern of trusting Him in the past. This is why prayer or the habit of conversing with God is so very important. In time, we recognize that prayer focuses us upon God as the only One who provides for our needs. 

God tells us to set our affections on things above which means that our hearts must be engaged with Him and directed by Him. Under His direction we will recognize His track record of faithfulness over time. Of course, the trials are a must in order for Him to develop a track record of faithfulness with us. We must be patient and endure the trials rather than running from the trials. When we run from the trials, we will find that we have been running from Him. This is why He implores us to seek His Kingdom first, and let Him take care of the rest.

Matthew 6:8

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Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. ~ Matthew 6:8

Today, we return to our study of Matthew 6 which is the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. As we have noted many times before, the Sermon on the Mount is largely sanctification teaching. Sanctification is the process whereby God inculcates His culture into our soul, resulting in the changing of our soul. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will and our emotions. Sanctification happens in us when we chose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. This is known as justification which is a one time event. Once we were welcomed into God's family through believing in the Lord Jesus, we began to learn the value of turning away from the self life which we were given by the slithery serpent in the Garden of Eden. Justification gets us into heaven and sanctification gets heaven into us.

In our last study the Lord Jesus began teaching on the essential nature of prayer. Prayer is to us as believers in Christ the most important activity for our spiritual growth. Without prayer, which is talking with God, the born again believer can appear to not even have been born again. This is why we read in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, "1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly (carnal). For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?" Carnal Christians are those who have yet come to see the intelligence behind obeying God, thus they obey themselves and their lustful desires that are yet within them.

In today's verse we read, "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." 

These words are a logical outflow of a personal relationship with God. The Lord Jesus provided for all a contrast between those who have no personal relationship with God and those who do. Those who do not have a personal relationship with God are religious. They are those who think that through their good behavior, they are earning God's favor. At the end of their lives, their hope for heaven will be dependent upon their performance whether it was good enough or not. This is why they were noted as having drawn attention to themselves while they prayed, repeating certain words over and over. All of this was an attempt on their behalf to impress men and God. Of course, for those who depend on their good behavior to be made right before God, they will be sorely disappointed because no fallen human can be good enough for God to pronounce them just or righteous in His eyes. This is exactly why the Lord Jesus had to die on our behalf.

The combination of the words "Father" and "knows" are key to this verse. Throughout the Gospels, the Lord Jesus made more than 150 references to God as "Father." The Lord Jesus invites everyone into this most intimate of relationships, teaching us to address God as "Our Father." God as our Father is not just a metaphor; it is who He is to us. It signifies that we are in relationship with Him. We belong to Him and He to us. It’s a privilege given to us in our adoption as His children by God. In John 1:12 we read, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." 

This means the goal of redemption was our sonship. We don’t see people in the Old Testament referring to God as Father because man’s sin made it impossible to be God’s children. But everything changed with the incarnation of Christ. It’s through the work of Christ on our behalf that we are welcomed into the family of God. The only way we ever have the right to call God "Father," is because He has adopted us through His Son. The biblical message of sonship is rooted and grounded in this concept of adoption, that only Christ is the natural son of God. And only if we are in Christ do we become sons of God.

The word "knows" in today's verse was written in the perfect tense meaning God knows everything before we even mention anything to Him. Since this is the case then why do we need to ask of Him anything? God knew that we needed to be saved, but He didn’t just save us because the need existed. Rather, He first requires us to believe and receive His salvation through faith in His Son. This faith, with its object as the God of the Bible, is essential for a personal relationship with God to begin. If God gave us everything that we needed simply because the need existed, we would take Him for granted and our hearts would not be engaged. It is through the exercising of our will through our faith in the Lord Jesus that we grow in intimacy with God. This is why the children of Israel turned away from God and they became presumptuous, arrogant, and dismissive of a personal relationship with God. Their hearts weren't engaged.

The last two words of today's verse "ask Him" are most instructive. God expects us to make our prayers known to Him without any religious notions or performance to then wait upon His response in His own good timing. We often struggle to understand prayer. We have been known to "claim healing in the name of Jesus." It is true that we are physical beings with physical needs, but God may have a purpose for our lack. To claim healing for something when it is not God’s will is then an implicit attempt to thwart God’s will. We, also, have been known to ask of God for wealth that is not spiritual but carnal. Granted, He meets our needs as He has promised, but He has never promised to make us wealthy. This is to say that if a believer in Christ is wealthy, God has made him wealthy for a reason, but we should not be bent on asking God to make us wealthy.

In the moment, we may not understand the reason for our financial trials, physical afflictions, loss through death, or other such things that profoundly and negatively impact our lives, but we should never question God’s goodness through these trials. The bent moments in our lives are designed to produce questions or prayers. We want conclusion more than process, but it is in the process that we get to know God in the most profound ways. The universe, after all, does not revolve around us. We must trust that His plan is perfect and that what He does is perfectly in accord with His perfect plan for our individual lives.

Martin Luther once said, "Prayer is much more God instructing us than ever is it God being instructed by us." Prayer is saying oh God, I come to you with the needs of my heart. Prayer is giving God the opportunity to manifest His power, His love and  His concern in and through our yielded lives. God will always do or allow things that we will not welcome, but it is through these most difficult of moments that we get to know Him best. Through our trials, if we learn their purpose which is to commune with Him, we will begin to see His hand and we will begin to see His wisdom in causing and/or allowing such things into our lives. It has been 56 years since my mother died when I was five years old, and I am still discovering His wisdom in and through it. And, the ultimate goal in it all is that I might be granted a greater intimacy with Him, an intimacy that I can describe for others in helping them along in their journey with God.

When we pray with a sincere and humble heart, God, according to Matthew 6:6 will reward us. The reward is intimacy with Him through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. The religious leaders of Israel prayed prayers that never got beyond their own minds because they didn’t go to the Father through the Son. Prayer is not about using the exactly right words or saying something

in precisely the right way or talking for long enough so
that God will hear us and do what we want. No, prayer is the sharing of our souls with God who is poised to address the gapping needs found therein. If we view prayer the way the religious leaders of Israel did, then we will have completely missed the heart of prayer. But, if we view it as a means to intimacy with God, then we will find ourselves arriving upon something that is substantive and that lasts forever.