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The second negative is
Don't use the vain repetitions (Mat 6:7),
As they were doing in those days
thinking that you'll be heard for your much speaking (Mat 6:7).
It isn't the length of prayer nor is it the time or the amount of time spent in prayer that makes prayer valid. Those prayers that are recorded in the Bible are all, have been very short. So many times we think that prayer doesn't really become effective until we've been on our knees for an hour; not so. There's no sense in just filling up the time with meaningless little stereotype phrases when I'm talking to God. When you come in to God sit down, declare your business to God, declare your heart; open it to him, lay it out before him and be brief, be concise.
Because the Lord knows what you have need of, before you ever ask him (Mat 6:8).
Prayer's not information time where I'm now gonna inform you God of everything that's gone wrong in my life today. God knows everything that's gone wrong. I don't have to rehearse it for him nor do I have to go over a long list of my needs. God knows what I have need of before I ever ask him. And so don't use vain repetitions just to fill up time. The heathen think that they're gonna be heard for their much speaking, but it isn't the much speaking.
Now Jesus then gave to us a model prayer. It is tragic that many people have taken this model prayer and use it in vain repetition. And so they say this model prayer over and over again and they are encouraged many times to do so, as far as their penance is concerned, you know, so many hail Mary's and so many Our Father's, which are nothing but vain repetition. The very thing that Jesus spoke against: thinking that you'll be heard for your much speaking. No, you won't.
And just to repeat the Lord's prayer out of memory really has no value. There's tremendous value if you'll take it very slowly, phrase by phrase and really think upon it and meditate upon it. But basically, he's giving to us a model prayer. And as he gives to us the model prayer - first of all, prayer always is dependent upon relationship, and thus it is significant that the prayer opens expressing relationship,
Our Father (Mat 6:9)
And if he is not your Father then you have no right to call on Him.
The blind man said to the Pharisees when they were challenging him on how he was healed. He said "Well this man came and he laid his hands on me and I can see". Well what did he do? "Well, I told ya." And they said, "Well, as far as the man... " they said, "Give this glory to God. As far as this man we don't know anything about him"(John 9:15, 24). I said ain't that a marvelous thing? Here's someone you don't know anything about and he's opening the eyes of the blind. He's doing the work of the Messiah. And they got angry at the man. The man says, hey, we know that God doesn't hear, you know, the prayers of sinners. He must be doing something right if God's answering his prayers.
Now, notice that that isn't necessarily Biblical truth. This is the statement of a blind man to the Pharisees because in reality God does hear the prayer of sinners. One prayer at least, "God be merciful to me a sinner". Thank God he hears that prayer. And yet, David said "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord does not hear me when I pray". That's divine truth. "God's hand is not short that he cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear but your sin has separated between you and your God" that's divine truth. Sin separates a man from God. However, there is relationship involved in prayer. And that relationship is a child coming to the Father. And I'm a child of God through my faith in Jesus Christ. And so I can say, "Father". Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name (Mat 6:9).
The word "hallowed" could also be translated reverend. You know the Jews had a very high respect for the name of God. In fact, they had such a high respect for the name of God that they came to the place where they felt that their lips were unworthy to utter the name of God. Ultimately they came to the place where they thought that their minds were unworthy to even think of the name of God, to think it in their minds. So as the scribes, in copying the scriptures, would come to the name of God instead of writing the vowels they only wrote the consonance: YHVH. Try and pronounce that. Without the vowels you don't know how it is pronounced. And so to the present date we do not know how to pronounce the name of God.
But before the scribes would even write the YHVH in their manuscript, they would go in, take a bath, put on fresh clothes, take a new pen, dip it in fresh ink and then write those consonants YHVH. And imagine in a passage where you have the name of the Lord listed five or six times. Yet it became a little tradition among them that when they were copying they would always go and take this ritual bath and put on fresh clothes and then write those consonance YHVH. Now, whether or not the name was pronounced Jehovah or Yahweh, we're really not sure. Most scholars think that it was Yahweh. But the pronunciation of God's name has been lost as the result of this tradition among the Jews. But, oh, how highly did they esteem his name.
In the psalms it's the psalmist declared, "Holy and reverend is thy name"(Psalms 111:9). Here, basically, the same thing is being said in the Lord's prayer. Hallowed or reverend it be thy name. Now, where in the world men ever got the tradition of tacking reverend on the name of a man, I do not know. But I really do not consider myself as reverend Chuck Smith. I don't think there's anything reverend about the name Chuck. But it's unfortunate, you know, they start out and they say reverend Chuck Smith, and then you know they're trying to puff you up a little more and they say, "The reverend Chuck Smith". And then they try to puff you up a little more and they say, "The most reverend Chuck Smith" you know and "the most right reverend Chuck Smith". And you know they start adding all these titles to man. Oh how tragic, how sad. I really don't care for a title.
The name of the Lord is reverend; it's hallowed, but surely not the name of any man. Now a lot of people take the title in ignorance and I don't accept that. A lot of people in writing to me write "Dear reverend Smith" or "reverend Smith" or whatever and I just laugh and I know that they don't know me because I don't consider myself reverend at all. I do reverence God and I reverence his name but there's nothing reverend about my name. And so I don't make a big deal over it but I mean it's just something that you know, it's one of those things that people started and they carry on. It's the exalting of man and I don't believe in the exalting of man. I believe, you know, that no flesh should glory in his sight. Let's exalt the Lord. Hold his name reverend and hallowed but let's not be exalting man. For he that exalts himself, the Lord will abase.
So, recognition is next. First of all, relationship; "Our Father". Recognition. "Which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name". Holy and reverend is thy name. I'm talking now to God who has created the universe. He said to Jeremiah, "Behold I am the Lord. Is there anything too hard for me?"(Jeremiah 32:27) I need to remember that when I pray because so often when I pray, I carry my own limitations in. This thing is too tough for me, it's too much for me; I can't handle it. And I'm prone many times to carry that sense of defeat or overwhelmed by the problem into my prayer life with God as though it's overwhelmed me. Surely it's gonna overwhelm God. And so recognition of the one that I'm talking to is so important in prayer. We are told in Hebrews, "For he that cometh unto God must believe that he is"(Hebrews 11:6). That he is what? That he is the eternal God who sees as Jesus said, who knows as Jesus said, who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all I ask of God.
Now, "Hallowed it be thy name" is actually a petition. It's praying that God's name be reverenced and held in high esteem or hallowed by men.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Mat 6:10).
Two more petitions, but the first three petitions all relate to God. They do not relate to me. In prayer, my primary thrust in prayer should be that desire to get God's will accomplished. It is wrong to think of prayer as an agency by which I can get my wishes fulfilled. God never intended prayer to be a means by which my wishes can be granted. God intended prayer as a means whereby I might work in cooperation with him in getting his will done on this rebellious planet earth. And true prayer begins with God. The purpose and the plan of God and prayer is never intended as changing the purposes of God.
I believe that every right thing that I have ever prayed for and received, God had already purposed and planned to give it to me before I ever prayed. You say then why pray? Because God has made me a free moral agent. God has given me the capacity of choice and God honors my choice and will not violate my free will. God will only do for me what I am willing for Him to do for me and what I allow Him to do for me. Therefore, prayer is opening the door to God to do the things for me that he was planning and wanting to do all the while but would not do against my will.
Jesus said to his disciples in John the fifteenth chapter "Now you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should be my disciples and that you should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he may [not shall] he may give it to you." (John 15:16) God wants to give it to you, God wants to do for you but He will not cross or violate your free will which he gave to you. But prayer opens the door then for God to do for you what he's been wanting to do the whole time but will not violate or cross your will to do it.
So prayer begins with God, the purposes of God. And the real thrust of prayer is not my will be done --and this is the fallacy of these teachers today who have become so popular on television and in the full gospel circle. And that's the tragedy of the full gospel circles is the lack of theological depth. The people are so shallow they are chasing after every new wind of doctrine. It's like cunning of men who are going around with some new concept and everybody begins to traipse after them. And now it's the old, you know, thing that prayer is you know, your grabbing the scepter and ruling the world. You demand that God do it, you know, and you insist and you press and you pray and you believe and God's gotta do whatever you ask him to do. Not so.
God is no little genie that has to fulfill your wishes. He is the sovereign Lord of the universe and in control of the universe. And let me say that I thank God for all of my unanswered prayers. I would've had this world in a big mess had God answered all my prayers because I was praying about things about which I really did not fully understand because I could only see partially. And I was sure that I had full knowledge but only had partial knowledge. And I was praying according to my partial knowledge and when I got full knowledge I said, "Whoa, thank God he didn't answer that one. Boy what a mess I'd have been in" you know. Let God be sovereign, let God be God. Honor him as God and realize that the real thrust of prayer is not to fulfill my wishes but is to get his will done; "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."
Yes I do have needs and yes it is proper and right that I petition God for my own needs. And so, we have these petitions that deal with our own needs.
Give us this day our daily bread (Mat 6:11).
Those provisions that are so essential for life and the maintenance of life.
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Mat 6:12).
And forgiveness is such an important thing. Notice, the first one deals with the present. It's my present needs, give us this day. The second one deals with the past, the forgiveness. That's one of the things that I've done wrong up to this moment. Forgive us our debts, that deals with past; and then Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Mat 6:13):
That's in the future. God, take over the reigns and guide my life through the future. So in these petitions they deal with the past, the present the future. They deal with my provisions, with my forgiveness, with my guidance and with my deliverance, these personal petitions. And those are the basic issues that I need to come to God for concerning my own personal life; the provisions, the forgiveness and the guidance and deliverance.
But then prayer goes back to God.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen (Mat 6:13).
Now, prayer actually takes three forms. Prayer is worship. Prayer is just that awareness and awe of the greatness and the glory of God. And this is an important part of prayer, just that worshiping the Lord for what he is. Not asking him for anything but just that worshiping God as I am aware and conscience of his greatness and of his glory and his power. It's that sense that you feel when you look up into a desert sky. Oh God is so great. Oh he's so vast. And just that awareness and consciousness and awe of that greatness of God. It's that sense that you get when you look at a beautiful flower and oh, He's so beautiful in his creative designs. It's that awe you get when you see a child born. Oh, he's so wise in his design of the life forms. Worship. But prayer is also a petition. In a narrow sense, the asking of God for my own needs. But in its third form, prayer is intercession. Where I am seeking then and petitioning God for the needs of the lost world around me.
And all three of these are brought forth in this model prayer for Jesus, "My kingdom come, My will be done on earth as it is in heaven" intercession for the kingdom. "Give us this day our daily bread" a petition for my own need. "Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever" that awe, the wonder and the glory and the greatness of God; the worship. Notice prayer begins with worship, ends with worship. Now we usually give petition first and then we move into intercession, but in the model prayer we have intercession first and then it moves into petition. I don't think the order is important but I think that all three forms should be followed when we pray. I think that we should spend time worshiping God. I think that we should spend time in intercessory prayer, and I think that we should spend time in the petitioning of God for our own individual needs.
Now it is interesting that in these various petitions that we make, that the petitions for forgiveness is predicated upon our forgiveness. "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" (Mat 6:12). And immediately there comes the question, is this then works? And does my forgiving another depend upon or does God forgiving me depend upon my forgiving another? And if so, then is forgiveness dependent upon works? And so you have a knotty theological problem. What does Jesus say?
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Mat 6:14-15).
Now, do you want me to change that? You want me to be responsible for changing the words of Jesus? You say, "But I don't understand". Wait a minute, he didn't call you to understand, he just called you to believe. And so I believe that it's very vital that we understand the importance of forgiveness and that we are to forgive not as a matter of mathematics as Peter thought. "Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother the same offense? Seven times?" and I'm sure that Peter thought he was growing in grace when he suggested seven times, that he can actually conceive of forgiving a guy the same thing for seven times. And Jesus said, "No Peter. Seventy times seven"(Mat 18:21-22). Four hundred and ninety, aye, aye, aye Lord.
Now, forgiveness is not a matter of mathematics. Jesus figured he'd lose count before he got to four hundred and ninety and realize that forgiveness is just a matter of the spirit of the child of God. Having been forgiven so much, it is incumbent upon me to forgive. And Jesus gave an interesting illustration one time in which he uses, as he so often did, the ludicrous to illustrate his point.
There was a certain man who owed his master sixteen million dollars. And the master called him in and said, "Well you're time is up on this loan, pay me what you owe me" and this fella said, "Oh, I just don't have it to pay. I can't do it right now. Give me a little more time". The master said, "Oh forget it, just cancel the debt" and he crossed out his sixteen million-dollar debt. This servant went out and got a fellow servant that owed him twenty-five bucks and he took him by the throat and said, "All right, you pay me what you owe me". The guy said, "Oh my wife's been sick and I've had to pay the doctor bills. I don't have the money right now but just give me a little time and I'll pay ya". "Oh no, you've had all the time you're gonna get". And he calls you know, the sheriff and he gets thrown in the debtors prison.
Now the Lord of that servant heard what he did and he called him in and he said, "Um, how much did you owe me?" and he said, "sixteen million dollars". He said, "Did I not forgive your debt?" "Yup." "How is it then that I hear that you've had a fellow servant thrown into the debtors prison for a twenty-five dollar debt?" And he called the sheriff and he said, "Throw him in until he's paid the uttermost farthing" every last half penny. (Mat 18:23-34)
And then again Jesus emphasized the fact that you have been forgiven so much by God, who are you to hold a debt against your brother? So having been forgiven we forget, and if we forgive then we are forgiven. If we don't forgive, Jesus said, we are not forgiven. I have no intention of modifying the statement of Jesus Christ. I just intend to follow it and to be forgiving and to forgive. God help me, that's against my nature. My own nature wants to get even. My own nature wants everything that's coming. My own nature just doesn't want to forgive.
Someone has taken a key and scratched a whole side of my car and I don't want to forgive that person, whoever they are. Someone took, stole two suits out of my car and they were dirty. I didn't even take them to the cleaners yet. And what they can do with a suit my size, I don't know but anyhow they ripped them off. I had them in the car ready to take them to the cleaners and I don't know who did it. Yet, you see, my own nature just doesn't want to forgive it. I'd like to get a hold of that person that scratched that side with a key. And yet thank God he's put in my heart that spirit of, oh well, it's all gonna burn, you know.
And there is a certain price that you've got to pay for people knowing you. And the more people know you, the more people hate you. You know percentage wise, there's a percentage of people are gonna hate you. And so the more exposure you have to people, the more enemies you're gonna create. And so I suppose someone saw the license "Calvary" and realized my car and said, "Awe you know, we'll fix him". Poor person, you know, that they would have that kind of hatred and bitterness that they would do malicious kinds of damage like that but, I've got to forgive. I can't, I can't let that bother me. I can't just let that, you know, boil inside because you know what it'll do? If I am just thinking of this and musing on this and just getting angrier on this and "boy uh oh" you know and this.
I have certain little glands that start producing chemicals that'll start eating me up inside, start destroying me inwardly. It's important, Jesus knew that it was important that we forgive, that we not be bitter, that we not hold these feelings of bitterness or animosity or anger within because Jesus knew the chemical system inside. And he knows the chemicals, the destructive chemicals that are created by my glands when I have these thoughts of bitterness or anger or revenge or whatever.
And so it's for your own good that you forgive that you're not holding in your mind some evil intent against someone who did you wrong way back when. It's tragic that many people have just destroyed themselves physically over unforgiving spirits, over bitterness that they have held. So forgive.
Now the third righteous action was that of fasting. And again, a right way and a wrong way. Don't be as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head, wash your face; that you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly (Mat 6:16-18).
So again, don't draw attention to yourself or don't be doing it in such a way that you are receiving from man that awe and wonder because you are so spiritual because you fast. It used to be in the earlier days of my ministry that I fasted quite often. Obviously I don't fast much anymore.
But in those early days of the ministry, many times I'd be fasting and I'd go on my pastoral calls and some sweet lady would offer me a piece of homemade cake, you know. And I was fasting you know, for the last couple of days and what are ya gonna do? Well, thank you but I'm fasting. No, I'd just break the fast and eat the cake. Because I figure, hey, if you go ahead and just say, oh no I can't eat that I'm fasting, then you have your reward anyhow. And I wasn't really looking for the reward of man. I was wanting, you know, to receive the reward from God. And so offered something to eat, if I could get out of it I would, but you know, when they bake a cake you can't really get out of it. They want their reward, oh this cake is delicious, you know.
Now Jesus moves into a different realm in this sermon as he talks to us concerning our treasures. And basically negatively,
Don't lay up for yourself treasures upon earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal (Mat 6:19):
A few years ago there was a great, um, move by many people to buy gold and silver. And they created, through their buying, a demand, an artificial price. Because of inflation, they began to purchase the gold and silver as a hedge against inflation. And all of these men who are writing these McKeeber letters and all were encouraging the people to buy the gold and silver as a hedge against inflation. And they were glad to take the worthless dollars that these people had and to sell them gold and silver in exchange for their worthless dollars, or their dollars that would soon be worthless. And they were so magnanimous.
I was always a little suspicious of why they would take my worthless dollars and give me gold instead. If gold was going to be so valuable and the dollars weren't going to be any good, why would they then be so nice to me as to take my worthless dollars for their good gold? Yet they were, however, I didn't buy any. Because in James it said, "Go to now ye rich, weep and howl" talking about the last days "for the misery that has come upon you. Because you've laid up your gold and silver for the last days" (James 5:1,3). But now your gold and silver is corrupted; it's not worth anything.
Boy, if O'Hunt had only read that. How he wept and howled when the silver market broke and he lost billions of dollars on the future that he had purchased in silver. If he had only read James instead of McKeeber, he could have spared himself a lot of misery. And now silver's five dollars an ounce again and gold is down around three hundred dollars. And so you watch all of your value dissipating. Gold that was eight hundred dollars an ounce, now three hundred dollars an ounce. Oh, oh, how I feel sorry for those who bought gold at eight hundred bucks an ounce. Hang on to it, gold will come back. No.
The Lord says hey, don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. The value of gold is apt to depreciate, silver is apt to depreciate; moth and rust can corrupt it, thieves can break through and steal.
But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal (Mat 6:20):
Now, he has a reason behind this. Why should you be laying up treasures in heaven instead of here upon the earth? The whole reason is this,
Wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mat 6:21).
And if you've laid up your treasures upon earth then your heart is going to be in the material things of this world. If you laid up your treasures in heaven then your heart's gonna be in the things in heaven, the spiritual things. Now one is temporal, the other is eternal. And if you lay up your treasures on earth they, at best are temporal; you lay up your treasures in heaven, they are eternal.
Jesus gave a very interesting parable that is very difficult for people to understand and, um, we'll be getting to it when we get to Luke. It's about the fellow who was going to get fired from his job. And so he was the accountant for his boss and so he called the creditors in and he said, "How much do you owe my boss? A hundred barrels of oil. Here, let me change your ticket" and he wrote fifty barrels. "How much do you owe my boss?" you know "Ten measures of flour." "Here, let me change it." He made it five measures of flour. And he brought all of the debtors in and he halved their debts because he knew that in two weeks he's gonna be out of a job.
So, when he was out of a job he would be able to go around and say, "Hey, you remember that bill where I cut it in half? You know, I'm sort of needing a little bit". And these people would be obligated to him because of what he had done. Now Jesus said, "The lord of that servant commended the servant, not for his dishonesty but for his wisdom saying that "the children of this generation are wiser than the children of light"(Luke 16:1-8).
You see he was using his present position to establish his future. Jesus is telling you pretty much the same thing. Use the present to establish the future. Take opportunities of the present because you cannot add anything to your spiritual account once you die. I mean, the treasures that you lay up in heaven, that which you are doing now, once you die then you can't say "Oh Lord but I want to leave it all to you." Everything I have belongs to the Lord, but he lets me use it, you know. And I use it all and he doesn't get anything left.
No, the Lord says, "lay up" take advantage now. "Lay up for your treasures in, yourself treasures in heaven." And the reason is, "where your treasure is there your heart will be also".
The light of the body is the eye: if your eye is single [single purposed], the whole body is full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Now if the light is in you and is dark [oh man,] then how great is your darkness! And no man can serve two masters: either he'll hate the one, and love the other; else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (Mat 6:22-24).
So this all has to do with laying up treasures. If mammon is your, where your heart is, if that is the thing that has mastered your life, if you are mastered by your possessions, you cannot then be a servant of God also. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot be mastered by two masters. You begin to neglect the one along the line; you'll hold the one and hate the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Man have tried to do it but you can't do it.
Now, the Lord then talks to us about worrying.
Don't worry, take no thought (Mat 6:25)
The idea is take no anxious thought or don't be worried.
about your life, what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink; or don't worry about your body, what you are going to put on. For your life is more than meat, and your body is more than clothes (Mat 6:25)
First of all,
Behold the fowls of the air: because they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? (Mat 6:26) So he is telling us, "Don't worry. Look at the birds. They don't sow, they don't reap nor do they gather in the barns". Now the Lord isn't actually advocating then that we're not to plant and we're not to harvest, we're not to work, that is not at all what he is saying. Nor are we to be totally passive as far as the needs; our needs being fulfilled or supplied. You don't see a little bird standing on top of a telephone pole with its mouth open waiting for the worm to fly in. He is active. He does go down and he pecks on the ground and he finds the worm and he eats it. He isn't totally passive and the Lord isn't teaching us a total passivity here. You know, you can just cruise, lay back, do nothing, God will take care of you. That's not scriptural.
Paul said if you don't work you shouldn't eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). And the Lord has given us the strength and the ability to work and like my little granddaughter says, "God gave me a bwrain and he wants me to use it". And God's given us the capacity and he wants us to use them. But don't worry, don't be fretting. Don't say, "Oh, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna pay? What are we gonna do?" you know. And don't be worried about these things because your Father knows that you have need of these things and your Father sees that the birds are taken care of .
Now, if your Father sees that the birds are taken care of he'll surely see that you're taken care of because he's your Father. And you're more important to him than birds. And so if your Father makes sure the birds are fed, you can be sure your Father will see that you are fed. So don't worry about that.
Now, which of you by worrying can add one cubit [which is about eighteen inches] to his height? (Mat 6:27)
Oh, I'm so worried about being a shorty. Oh, you know, I wish I were tall, oh. And which of you by just worrying about it and sitting there wishing can add eighteen inches to your height? Can't do it. Worry doesn't you know, worry -- the Lord's just saying hey, worry really doesn't have any value. Just there's no value in worry. Why worry?
And why do you take thought [or why are you worried] about your clothes? (Mat 6:28) Oh, is my wife here?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin (Mat 6:28):
Now you get the idea of the spindle and the ladies, of course, had to make their own thread. They made their own cloth. Jesus said, "Look at the lilies of the field, they don't toil, they don't sit at the spindle".
Yet, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these (Mat 6:29).
I mean, Solomon with all of his wealth and all of his glory wasn't dressed as beautifully as that lily out there in the field.
Now, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which exists today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe ye, O ye of little faith? (Mat 6:30)
Now, you see Jesus is now bringing in the contrast of worrying to faith. If you really have faith you will not worry. If you worry it is an indication that you're lacking faith. Faith and worry are mutually exclusive. "O ye of little faith".
God clothes that beautiful grass of the field which today exists and tomorrow will be cast in the oven, burned. How much more will he take care of and see that you are clothed? And incidentally, I made a joke about my wife but I thank God those are the things that Kay has come to a place with Christ a long time ago. And I thank God for her and for the spiritual example that she is to me and to the ladies in the church, as one who is not overly concerned at all with dress or with anything else. We live very simple lives and I thank God that He has given me such a partner who sees as I see, the simple life that the Lord would have us to live in Christ Jesus. And I, I kid her. I use her just to get a laugh but that's probably not right, but God forgive me. I'm sorry. Otherwise she'll say to me "Hmm, you say that I do this, then I'm gonna go ahead and do it," you know.
Therefore take no anxious thought [or don't be worried], saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, What shall we wear? (For after all of these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things (Mat 6:31-32).
Your Father knows you need these things. Don't worry about them, your Father knows you need them. And thus, that is not to be our primary concern. We're not to be seeking those things as the paramount issues in life. But what are we to be seeking?
But seek ye first (Mat 6:33)
Now the Gentiles seek those things. Oh, the fashion of this world. The word "Gentiles" is also translated "heathen"; the heathen are all seeking. I mean, look at the eateries today, the gourmets, all of the emphasis of the magazines upon food, upon clothes. It's amazing the interest that the heathen world has in these things.
But you, seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness (Mat 6:33);
Priority, oh how important. Put first things first and God will take care of the rest. If you will seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness;
all these other things will be added (Mat 6:33)
God will take care of those. You don't have to worry about those. All you have to do is seek God first and foremost in your life. The kingdom of God, his righteousness, and God will take care of everything else.
Now, if you look at our lives and if you look at the time that we spend and are concerned in purchasing the clothes, in purchasing the food, in getting the money to purchase clothes and the food and these things; you'll find that so much of our time is absorbed because we are exposed constantly to the pressures of Madison Avenue to be conscience of the style, the width of our lapel, or the width of our ties or whatever, because you know, this is what's in style, this is what is vogue. And so we get rid of clothes before they are really worn out because they're no longer in style.
And we have become the victims of this whole commercial system. And we've become lazy in our food preparation and so we pay a dollar and twenty-five cents to get a loaf of bread when if you want to do just a little bit of work you can by raw wheat for six and a half cents a pound and you can grind it and you can make a healthy loaf of bread for nineteen cents. But oh, you know, that takes a little extra effort.
But don't worry about these things basically, and that's what the Lord's saying. Don't let this be the paramount issue. Don't let these things be the primary things of your life. Let the primary thing be the kingdom of God and his righteousness and God'll take care of all these other things. You don't have to worry about them. The Lord knows that you need these things. Again, remember Jesus said, "When you pray don't think that you have to pray a long time" God knows what you need before you ever ask him and the Lord knows that you need these things. Therefore don't worry about tomorrow (Mat 6:34):
And isn't that interesting that most of our worry is about tomorrow. Our worry is always more about tomorrow than it is about today. I'm in today and here I am and I ate and you know I've got clothes and I, I don't worry so much about today but what am I gonna do tomorrow? What am I gonna do when that bill comes due next week? And it's usually about the future that our worry is generated.
But the Lord said,
Don't worry about tomorrow: for tomorrow will take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Mat 6:34).
I'm reminded of the exhortation from James in his epistle when he said, "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves"(James 1:22).
Now as we finish the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says much the same thing as he likens those who hear his words and do them. They're liken to a wise man who when he built his house, first of all, dug deep and laid his foundation on the rock. Contrasted with the foolish man who hears the words but doesn't do them. And he's like the man who just builds his house upon the sand. And so may the Lord help us as we look at this great manifesto that was laid out for us by Jesus Christ, that we won't be just hearers of the word say, oh my isn't that marvelous? Oh yes, that's so true. Oh yes, I really shouldn't be worried about these things. Oh yes, I should lay up treasures in heaven. Oh yes, you know, and I agree to it and I say, oh yes, yes, yes. But I don't do it. I'm foolish. I'm building on the sand. I'm building a superstructure that's gonna collapse in the storm. It's important that I be a doer of the Word and not hearer only. So may God help each of us as we go out this week that, rather than admiring the Sermon on the Mount that we might, in reality, live the Sermon on the Mount. That these principles might become realities in our own lives and that we might abide by these words of Jesus Christ. That we might indeed be the children of the Father and thus the recipients of all of those blessings and joys and goodness that the Father bestows upon his children.
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