Chapter 6. Matthew 6. Title of the lesson is, How We Are to Live Each Day. And the one giving us this sermon
is the Lord of heaven and earth. This is His message to His disciples,
to His people, those who believe on Him. Now, the things that
our Lord gives us in these verses are contrary to the spirit of
this world. Totally contrary. I read it to
you earlier. It's contrary to the thinking of this world. The
spirit of this world says, get all you can, Plus a little more. Spurgeon says, says it's the
world, the spirit of this world is get all you can and can all
you get. Can all you get. Yeah, sit on
the can. Now this would be all right if
we were to continue to live here forever. If this was it and we were gonna
live here forever, or if we were just gonna die like animals, We were evolutionists. Yeah,
he'd drink and be married, for tomorrow would die. But that's
not the way it is. That's just not, that's not the
way it is. There is a life after this life. God is God, and every human being
that's ever been on this earth will come before him. Everyone. Life after this life is eternal. It is forever. It is forever. And those who are in Christ by
faith are instructed by the Lord how to walk, how we are to walk
through this life, and how we are to trust our Heavenly Father
day by day to provide for us. We looked at the prayer and said,
give us our bread, give us our daily bread. That's what we pray
for, daily bread. Not monthly bread or yearly bread,
daily bread. And what he's telling us, we
trust our father every day for all our needs. And that's what
he's telling us here. This is God, the God of heaven
and earth speaking. And he says here, lay not up
for yourselves. You know, there's a country song.
I can't remember who sang it now. I said, let's talk about
me. I heard that at the shop one day. Let's talk about me.
I want to just talk about me and mine. It's not about me. It's not about me. God did not. It took me a while to learn that
God didn't create all this for me. He didn't create any of it
for me. All things were created by Him
and for Him. It's all for Him, Christ. It's
all for Christ. And we are instructed here by
our Lord how to walk and how to trust our Father for our daily
needs. Lay not up for yourself treasures,
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves break through and steal. Don't give yourselves to laying
up, he says here, for yourselves. We are not our own. We've been
bought with a price. This is why he's telling his
people, his children, his disciples, we've been bought with a price.
You're not your own. And he's speaking here of riches. You know, riches can be fine
if they're used in the right manner. He's not condemning riches
of it, he's condemning our love of it. That's what he's condemning. It's an enemy to the soul. Paul
said, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.
In Luke 12, 15, it says, take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses. That's not, my life doesn't consist
in what I own. Not the believer, not the believer. Christ is our life, isn't it?
Christ is our life. Not material possessions, they
are not my life. Jesus Christ is my life. I know a man, and every time
I've had a conversation with him, he seems to always judge
the character of a man by his billfold. This man's very successful,
he's made a lot, I mean, this is all, I hear this all the time.
And it's just so sad that that is how you judge a man's character
is by his billfold. That's a sad judge of, if that's
the case, the mafia would be the greatest people on earth.
If you're going to judge it that way. It's written over in Luke chapter
eight, that was fell among thorns. Talking about his word. It fell
among thorns. Are they which when they have
heard they go forth, they've heard the word preached, they
go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures
of this life and bring no fruit to perfection. But lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven. Now he's speaking this to his
children. This is not spoken to the world. The world's not
gonna pay attention to this. You're not gonna pay any attention to
it. This is to his children. This is to those who believe
God. Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through nor steal. They can't break through
and steal. What we have in Christ can't
be lost. That's what he's telling us.
What a believer has in Christ, I have righteousness, I have
wisdom, sanctification, redemption. I have forgiveness. I have pardon.
I have mercy, grace. These things can't be lost. These
are heavenly treasures. These are heavenly treasures.
And they're all in Christ. And Christ is my treasure. He is my treasure. And I have
all this in Christ. But now everything else, everything
else can be lost. Thieves break through. That's
not just talking about somebody's gonna break in your house. A
sickness may break in. You may be laying up for years,
and I've seen this. I've seen this. I've seen men
who've laid up great wealth. I've seen it. They've laid up
a lot of wealth. And a sickness come along. A thief of sickness
come along. And they've had to spend most
of it. There's one particular person in my mind, they've had
to spend most of it just trying to stay alive. Just trying to
get to the next day. There's a lot of thieves that
come along and steal our treasures on this earth. But nothing, nothing
can steal my treasure in heaven. Nothing can steal and take away
what I have in the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing. Nothing the
scripture says in Romans can separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus, nothing. Let your heart, what
he's telling us here, let your heart, your affections go always
toward heaven, where Christ is. Not a place, but a person, you
know that. He's our treasure, he's our treasure. Let your desires and your efforts
go after heavenly things, heavenly minded. Listen to Colossians
chapter three, verses one and two. If ye then be risen with
Christ, if God has saved you, he's given you life in Christ,
seek those things which are above. Set your heart, your mind on
things above. That's what he said. Set your
affection on things above, not on things of this earth. What
you have today on this earth can be easily gone by tomorrow.
The Great Depression proved that. People who were wealthy all of
a sudden, bam, became poor. But nothing can take away what
I have in Christ, nothing. Wisdom itself teaches us to seek
such sure possessions, doesn't it? Doesn't wisdom teach you
to seek such things? For where your treasure is, there will your heart be on.
Where's your treasure? Where is your treasure? I can
tell you where your heart is if I find out where your treasure
is. If that's where your real treasure, now your real treasure
is exactly what you'll go after. That's what your mind will be
on. That's what your heart will be after. And that's what you'll
give your time to. That's exactly what you'll give
your time to. Here is the motive for keeping
our desires above the things of this world. It's because where
your treasure is, your heart is. Where your treasure is, your
heart is. Our hearts will go in the direction of that which
we count most precious. If you count the gospel most
precious, you're gonna be here. I don't have to make a phone
call, say, hey, where you been? If this is your treasure, you're
gonna be here. If Christ is your treasure, you're gonna be with
a gospel priest. I have no doubt about that. But if your treasure's
somewhere else, you're gonna be somewhere else. You may show
up once in a while, but that's where your treasure will be.
I know where your treasure is, your heart is. I know it is. Our hearts will go in the direction
of that which we count most precious. We will conduct our lives, we
will live our lives around that which we esteem, our treasures. That's what we'll conduct our
lives around, whether it be our jobs, our family, or whatever
it is. I know it will be. If our treasures
are of this earth, then we'll live after the world and not
after Christ. And we'll seek those things of
this life, not the things of Christ. But if Christ is our
treasure, if the Lord Jesus Christ, if He's my treasure, that which
I highly esteem above everything else, then my heart's gonna go
after Him. And it'll go after Him when I'm
at work. I can go to work and I can do a good job, as unto
the Lord. When you go to work, you work as unto the Lord. That's
having your heart set up on Him. And that's what I'll esteem the
most, is what my treasure is. And my affections will be holy
and God-honoring affections, and they'll not bring me to shame.
Then he gives us an illustration here. He says the light of the
body is the eye. That's how the light enters the
body, the mind. You know, you see light through
my eyes. If I were blind, I wouldn't be able to see light. If the
light of the body is the eye, therefore if an eye be single,
that is, he's talking here about your motive, your purpose, your
love, then your whole body shall be full of light. If our eye is good, our walk
will be good. Our walk will be straight. If
my eye is good, if the light that's in me is good, then my
walk will be good. My walk will be right, it'll
be straight. I won't stagger and stumble all the time. If the eye of the soul is fixed
on Jesus Christ, then we shall walk in a way that's pleasing
to God. We will. We'll walk by faith in Him, believe
in His promises, not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,
not taken up with anxieties, I'm afraid this is going to happen,
afraid that's going to happen. Well, if it's going to happen,
it's going to happen. Get over it. God's in control of all of
it, right? Are not all things of God? It tells us in 2 Corinthians
5, all things are of God. Everything that comes our way
is God sent. And being anxious and worrisome
is not going to change a thing. It won't change one degree. But he's teaching us here to
just trust him through the sunshine and the rain. Trust him. We shall
walk with singleness of purpose. If our eye, if the light of the
body, if it's single, if it's whole, if it's healthy, that's
what I saw, if it's healthy, if it's spiritually healthy,
then we'll walk with singleness of purpose as for God's glory. The believer will walk in the
light that God gives him, and by his Spirit, by his Word, he'll
be given more light, and he'll walk in that light. And your
single purpose will be to glorify God. Lord, if you will. Lord, if you will, whatever it
is. Whatever situation comes along, Lord, if you will. But
if thine eye be evil, It is your motive and your purpose.
Your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the
light that's in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? If
my understanding is flawed, if my understanding of the gospel
is wrong, how great is that darkness? Because it leads me to a false
refuge. It leads me to a false hope. I don't want a false hope
and a false refuge. I don't want to be among that
number where the Lord says, where they said to the Lord, we preached
in your name and that's what I'm doing. We've cast out devils
in your name. We've done many mighty works
in your name. You know, we've given, we've helped, we've built, we've
done this. And he says, depart from me. I never knew you. Some preacher told them to repeat
a prayer or come to the front, and they did it, and they got
all fixed up, and now they're in trouble because they missed
Christ. They missed Him. They missed
Him. And their understanding of the
gospel was darkness. It was not the gospel at all.
As I told you this morning, Paul said they will come preaching
another Jesus and another gospel, which is not another, which is not another, but they
call it the gospel and they attach his name to it, but they couldn't
call it the gospel. And how many people have fallen for that?
And they have a false refuge and a false hope. And they're
going to hear the Lord say, depart from me. I never knew you. If my eye is bad, my walk will
be bad, for I can't see where I'm going. It'll be bad. If the light to understanding
in me is darkness, what a mistake my whole course of life has been. If the light in you does not
lead you to see your darkness and see Jesus Christ as all in
all, then how great is that darkness? If the light in you does not
lead you to see Christ as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
everything you need to stand in God's presence, how great
is that darkness? It's called here in this verse,
evil. It's called evil. And no man, now he says here
in verse 24, no man can serve two masters. Can't do it. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one and despise the
other. You can't serve God and man, you can't serve God and
the world, you can't serve God and money. That's what the translation
of that is. Money in itself is not evil. You know, I can pull a dollar
bill out of my pocket. There's no evil. It's made out
of paper. It says it's the love of it.
It's what your heart goes after. It's what your heart is attached.
And here, listen, people have murdered for the love of money. Sold their bodies for the love
of money. It wasn't the money that was
evil. It was what was in here. It was what's in the heart. You
know, Abraham was rich. Solomon was rich. David was rich.
They used it. They used it for the Lord. They
used it to take care. They helped and it was used for
good purpose. But the love of money for itself,
it says, is the root of all evil. No one can serve two masters.
He'll hate the one and love the other. And here's what the Lord
forbids. He forbids division of aim. Division, it's like chasing two
rabbits. You're not gonna catch either one. If you chase two
rabbits at the same time, you're not gonna catch either one. And that's why he says division
of aim. What's the aim of your life? What are you aiming at?
Every last person in here is aiming at something or someone. No man can give his whole heart
to God and the world, and the Lord will not settle for half
a heart. Scripture says he that loves the world is an enemy of
God. He's an enemy of God. A believer
cannot, and he's talked to believers here, he cannot serve this world
and serve God too. Sooner or later, their interests
are gonna come into conflict. Sooner or later, the interest
of serving this world and serving God, you're gonna have to make
a decision, a decision gonna have to be made. Which is the most important?
Which is the most important? Which one has my heart? Which
one has my heart? It says, the Lord said this,
now I'm not, this is not my, this is His sermon. I'm just
a messenger boy here. You cannot. So don't even try. Don't even try. It's like this
thing of trying to do different tasks at the same time. You can't
do it. You cannot do two tasks at the
same time and do them both properly. You can't do it. One of them's
gonna suffer. Multitasking, I was trying to, multitasking, you
can't do that. You can't multitask. You can
do something, then you just fail the rest of them. That's the
way it is. You cannot serve God and mammon
because you'll love one and hate the other, he'll cling to the
one, you'll lose the other. There's no fence stragglers here. No
fence stragglers. It's either all of me or none
of me is what it is. Then he says here in verse 25, therefore
I say unto you, Because of what he just said, take no thought
for your life. That doesn't mean you become
thoughtless or careless. It doesn't mean that. It means
you don't have this anxious, worrisome attitude. You don't have it. Take no thought
for your life. what you're gonna eat, what you're
gonna drink, and yet for your body, what you're gonna put on.
Don't let that... Is not life more than this? Listen, did God
create Adam? And all of us have come from
Adam. Adam created in the image of God. Did he create us just
for food and raiment and what we're gonna eat, drink, and wear?
Is that our purpose on this earth? Is that our purpose? Our purpose
is to worship God. Our purpose is to give unto God
the glory due unto His name. If God gives you a heart to do
that, you're glad to do it. You're glad to do it. You want
to do it. You want to do it. Is not life more than paying
bills? Is not life more than paying
a house payment, a car payment, Groceries? I mean, why are we
better than animals if it's not better than that? I mean, we
might as well just be animals if we're no better than that.
We were created in the image of God Almighty to imagine that
to go through life and never give him the honor and the glory
due unto his name, but to spend our lives with our heads, with
our nose to the grindstone, So we can live in a little better
house, drive a better car, and have a better retirement, then
what? Then you die. It's like a guy that lives over
by my mother and father, the day he retired, he went home,
died of a heart attack. Never enjoyed a minute of it. Is not life, boy, I tell you
what, you stick that on your refrigerator. Just stick that
on your refrigerator. Is not life more than meat and
the body than raiment? If life ever becomes more than
that to you in Christ, you'll finally enjoy this life. You'll
finally enjoy it. Because then you'll be able to
enjoy everything you have as you ought to enjoy it. He's given
us, Scripture says, all things to enjoy. But because of sin,
we mess it up. We mess it up. If we serve Christ and His glory,
then we must cease from serving self. Cease from anxiety and
care. And that's what gives us our
anxiety. You know, this is what's sad.
We live in the richest nation on earth. Right? We're the biggest pill-popping
nation on earth. If I forget what the statistic
was, I heard it here the other day. There's more anxiety medicine
given out now than ever before. We give out more medicine in
that area in this country than all countries combined. And we're
the richest. You know, I tell you what we're
so anxious about, we can't get what our neighbors got. We can't drive
what our neighbor drives. We can't build what our neighbor
builds. And it's just driving us mad. But I tell you what,
when you find real joy and contentment in Jesus Christ, you can just
let the world just go on by. Just let it go on by. You can
enjoy driving that old blue. You can. That truck's, what,
40 years old? That truck's 40 years old, and
I see Doug driving it. You can enjoy driving a 40-year-old
truck when Christ is your hope Life, you find your contentment
right there. We are not to take anxious thought.
That's worry and anxiety over earthly things. I tell you what,
we should give much more care to hearing the gospel. Give much
more care to my the condition of my soul before God, my relationship
with Christ. I should give such care and attention
to my relationship with Christ. Henry was telling this in a message
once, preaching from this scripture, that he was at a place preaching. He was staying with this man
that was very wealthy. He said he was a very wealthy man. Had
a lot of stock. And he said every morning, first
thing he did was go out and get the paper and pour over those
stocks. Just pour over those stocks.
He said in four days, he never asked me one question about the
message. He said if he had just gave that much attention to his
relationship with Christ as he did his stock, what a different
life. What a different life. Our bodily wants are not to consume
our minds. Our life is far more important
than food and clothing. It is. And God who's given us
life will feed us and clothe us on our way home. He will. Now our Lord gives us an illustration
of his providential care of all his creation. He says, Behold
the fowls of the air. They sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not much better than they? Are you not much better
than a sparrow? Of course you are. Christ died
for you. Christ died to put away your
sins. But he says here, take notice of the birds. The next
time you go out, when we leave here, take notice of the bird,
how it flies so freely in the air. And it lives on what God
has provided. And it's in no debt whatsoever. It's not trying to pay a bill
tomorrow. It lives on what God has provided. Behold, he's saying, take notice
of this. I'm teaching you something. The birds of the air, They don't
sow in order to eat tomorrow, but I tell you what they do.
They live on the provision that God has made. Oh, if we could just learn that.
I'm talking to myself today. I'm talking to myself. To live
on what God provides. You would think we could trust
Him, wouldn't you? Oh, if we could just trust Him
to take care of these things. God who has made us, God who
has given us his son will keep us. He'll keep us. He'll keep
us. You have the spirit of God in
you. You have a divine nature born of God. Are you not much
better than these pharaohs? Absolutely. Absolutely. And he's speaking here to believers
because he says you're a heavenly father. You're a heavenly father. Now which of you, now it says
this, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to
a stature? Tell me, by anxious thought and
worry, who can change the circumstance you're in? Who can change, which
of you by taking thought can add one day to your life or one
measure to your height? Huh? Just think it and make it
happen. If we could, I'd be taller. Really, I'd be taller. If we
could do that, just a thought. I'd make myself at least tall
enough so I didn't have to hem my pants. I mean, at least get
that far. But who can do that? Which of
you, by anxious, worrisome thought, can change your circumstances?
You can, but I know one who can. I know one who can. I know where
there's a throne of grace at, that he can change our whole
circumstance like that. If we want to change. If we want
to change. And if it needs to be. If you can change God, listen,
if you can change God, then you can change what happens to you. If you can change God, then you
can change, but you can't change God. I am the Lord, I change
not. That's what he said. And why
I take you anxious thought, that's what he's talking about, for
clothes. Did anybody get up this morning worried about what you're
gonna wear? No, you're worried about which one you're gonna
wear. That's what you're concerned about. Which one should I wear
today? I wore it last week. Especially the ladies. They don't
want to be caught dead in the same outfit twice. All right,
ladies, I'm sorry. So why take thoughtful arrangement? Consider the lilies of the field.
Next time you go out and see the lily of the field, look how
beautiful it is. Look how beautiful. You know how they grow? You know
how a lily grows? Toward heaven. It grows toward heaven, straight
up. It's almost like that lily is just praising God all the
way up. Don't give anxious thought about
what you're going to wear. Look at the lilies of the field.
Now listen, he says of the field, not where the gardener has been,
but the field where no gardener has touched it. No hand has touched
it but God's hand. Look how beautiful it is. Look
how beautiful. And note how they grow. They
grow, as I said, toward heaven, and they grow by, listen, they
grow by the provision that God has supplied. That's how they
grow. And yet I say to you that Solomon,
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now I have
to say this, you have to have different eyes to see this, because
the world sees Solomon, and they never look at that lily. And
they can't get past Solomon. They can't get past the riches.
They can't get past the money and the glory. And they never
see that lily over there in the field. That's just like, what
is Christ called? The lily of the valley. But because
of the riches of this world, the world never looks at him.
And they don't see no beauty in him. The scripture says in
Isaiah 53, there's no beauty in him that we should desire
him. But you see beauty in him. You see it. You who believe the
gospel, you see it. You see it. I'm gonna wind this
down. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, to which the day is tomorrow cast into
the oven, shall he not clothe you? Will God not provide for his own?
What kind of father would he be? What kind of father is it
that doesn't provide for his own? He says here, oh, here's the
problem, little faith. Little faith, you know, little
faith saves, but little faith is not commended. It's not commended. Little faith believes little
of God. Therefore, take no thought, what
shall we eat, what are we gonna drink, or wherewithal will be
closed, seeing that God's gonna take care of our needs, Don't
fret. Child of God, don't fret. Don't
go to bed worrying, fretting over this life. A believer gives proof of his
faith by contentment with what God has given. He says, all these things the
Gentiles, the pagans seek after. Don't be like the pagans. You have, your God is real. Your
God is God. Your God is God. This all belongs
to Him. You know that? You know, my father
owns all this. My father owns every bit of this.
And he wisely gives me what I can handle. He knows our need. He knows it
before we ask. He'll take care of us. It's not
consistent with faith to trust God for salvation of my soul
and then fret over all these daily matters. Now that's not
consistent. To trust God for the salvation
of my soul from His wrath and then not trust Him to put food
on my table or take care of my daily needs, whatever they may
be. Whatever. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Here's the whole thing. Here
it is, right here. Seek God first. And all these
things are just add-ons. All these others are just add-ons.
He'll add to us what we need. Yeah, but He won't give me what
I want. Well, you got a problem. If I
feel like that, I got a problem. He gives us what we need. He'll
take care of His own. Seek His kingdom and His righteousness.
I'm planning on bringing a message just on that verse 33 next week. I'm not going to say much about
it. But verse 33 sums up all that he's saying. If you miss
Him, no matter what else you have, it's not going to matter.
It's all in vain. So take therefore no anxious
thought for tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things
of itself, sufficient unto the days of evil thereof." It's got
its own trouble. You know, today has its own trouble.
Now why would I want to be worried about tomorrow? It may not come.
I mean, I'm bringing tomorrow's trouble here that I may not even
see tomorrow. And I don't know what tomorrow's
troubles are. God may clear everything up before the night's over with.
He might even by taking me out of here, which would be a good
deal for a child of God. I don't need to worry about tomorrow,
I just need today. Always living in the present.
Always living in the present. Every child of God is taught to live day by day, trusting
the Lord. We're not being foolish with
our money or with anything like that. It's not being foolish
with it. But it's not putting our trust in those things. It's
our trust in Christ. As one man said to me once, he
said, and I told you this, he said, if I didn't have a large
bank account, he said, I don't know what I'd do. Well, for a believer, I know
what you do. You trust the Lord. You trust the Lord whether you
have a large one or a small one or none or none. All right.