Please turn to Matthew 6. We will begin with verse 1.
Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father Who is in heaven.
When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father Who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father Who is in secret, and thy Father Who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.
After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Verse 19:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal:
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.
The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?
Verse 33:
But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Our heavenly Father, we do thank Thee. We believe that Thou art with us, and Thou alone canst satisfy our hearts. We bow ourselves before Thee and look to Thee to speak to us.
We pray that Thou wilt open our hearts to Thee and open Thy Word to us, that Thy Word may fall into good ground and bear fruit patiently, a hundredfold, unto Thy glory.
Lord, we confess that we are far from what Thou wouldst have us to be. We want to tell Thee that we are willing. Bring us to the place where Thou art. May Thy will be done in us, and we will give Thee all the glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for gathering us together this morning. We have been sharing together on the so-called Sermon on the Mount.
We know that the Sermon on the Mount was spoken by our Lord to His own disciples—to those who have not only believed in Him, but have also answered His call and given themselves to the Lord, allowing the Lord to teach them, transform them, and conform them to His own image.
The Sermon on the Mount is not giving us a new law for us to keep. The Sermon on the Mount is of grace. Our Lord has first given His life to us, and then He begins to tell us what that life is.
The Sermon on the Mount actually is a description of the life of our Lord Jesus. He is the heavenly Man Who has come upon this earth, and He lives a heavenly life upon the earth.
He comes to set up His kingdom upon this earth. He is drawing a people unto Himself and transforming them as He is. These will be His kingdom; these will be the people of the kingdom of the heavens. They are the sons of the kingdom of the heavens.
So we praise and thank the Lord that He is not trying to impose upon us a heavy burden, as if He were setting up a very high standard and then saying, “Try to arrive at it.”
Instead, you will find that He gives us His own life, and He is telling us how glorious and powerful that life is. If we only allow His life to live out through us, this will be the way that we shall live.
So it is a matter of grace. It is a matter of life. It is a matter of the growth of life. That is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.
The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes, and there we find that the emphasis is on our being rather than on our doing.
Because the Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” You see that the Sermon on the Mount begins with the emphasis on being and not on doing.
The Lord Himself is the personification of the Beatitudes, because this is the way that He was when He was upon this earth. He is the One Who is poor in spirit.
He was equal with God, and yet that was not something at which He grasped. He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant, and being found in fashion as a man, He was obedient to the Father even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
That is the meaning of being poor in spirit.
Now, brothers and sisters, naturally we find that we are all rich in our soul. We think that we have a lot in us. We think that we can do a great deal. We are proud of ourselves. Humility is something beyond us.
It takes the life of the Lord Jesus within us, because His life is a humble life. It is a life that empties itself.
Because His life is within us, He is calling us to be like Him. By the working of the Holy Spirit and the working of the cross in our lives, we are gradually being emptied of ourselves.
As we are being emptied, we are being filled with the life of the Lord Jesus. It is then that we are truly blessed. That is to say, we are really happy in the Lord.
So the Beatitudes are a description of the life of our Lord Jesus. The Lord is telling His disciples, “This is what I want you to be. This is the way that you will live upon this earth, and you shall inherit your heavenly inheritance.”
We also find that the Lord Jesus tells us that unless our righteousness surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
What is the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? It is a righteousness according to law. It is a righteousness according to the letter of the law.
The scribes and Pharisees tried to keep every letter of the law, and yet in doing that, they violated the very spirit of the law. Their righteousness was something man-made, an outward appearance only.
There was no reality within them. They might have been outwardly right, and yet it was legalistic. It gave them great pride, so they boasted of their own righteousness.
They were hypocritical and superficial, and yet they were critical of other people. Their righteousness made them very proud.
In the sight of God, the Bible says that our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags. They cannot cover our nakedness and are wholly rejected by God.
So, as disciples of the Lord Jesus, our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. What is this surpassing righteousness?
It is something that comes out from within. It is a matter of life. By the grace of God, this life begins to express itself. It is of the Spirit and of life. It is above the letter; it is beyond what the letter demands. It goes to the very heart. It is the overflow of the life within.
Our Lord used five different illustrations, and through them He shows us what is the righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. These are the things that we have covered during the last two days.
This morning, we will continue in Matthew 6. As you read this chapter, you will find that it can be very clearly divided into two parts.
Matthew 6:1-18 deals with the matter of doing all things in secret. In other words, it tells us of a hidden life as sons of the kingdom of the heavens.
We have a hidden life. We have a life that is not seen by the world, and yet that life is the very source of what the world can see.
The second part, from Matthew 6:19-34, shows us that kingdom life is a life of faith.
Now, brothers and sisters, we who are the sons of the kingdom of the heavens have a hidden life. It is heaven living upon the earth. There is a heavenly part that is not seen, as it were; it is to be seen by God alone.
Oftentimes, we Christians tend to live purely an outward life. It is as if there is not that inward, hidden life within us. It is as if we are just living before men instead of living before God.
But as God’s people, we need to remember that we have a hidden life. You remember Psalm 91:1:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
In other words, we need to live in the secret place of the Most High. If we live in the secret place of the Most High, then we will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
This is the secret of our strength in this world. There is one thing that we really need to seek: we need to seek to live in the secret place of God.
Daily, we should have that abiding communion with the Father Who is in heaven. The more we develop the secret life with the Lord, the more powerfully we are able to live on this earth.
It gives us the strength by which we can live according to the will of God.
We remember that when our Lord Jesus came into this world, for thirty years He lived a hidden life. We do not know much about those thirty years, but we know that during those thirty hidden years, what communion He had with His Father, and how much He developed His life before God.
With those thirty hidden years, when He came forth into public ministry, you find there was such power and such strength.
So, brothers and sisters, we who are the sons of the kingdom of the heavens need to develop a hidden life with God. We need to seek His face and live a life that is face to face with God.
With that kind of hidden life, we are given power to live upon this earth.
In Matthew 6, our Lord Jesus begins with an exhortation:
Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men, to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father Who is in heaven.
In Matthew 5, the Lord says that our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Here He is still talking about righteousness, but with this righteousness He deals with the motive.
The motive of our being right must be for God and not for men. Then He uses three illustrations: giving alms, prayer, and fasting.
Giving alms concerns our relationship with the world. Prayer concerns our relationship with God Himself. Fasting concerns our relationship with ourselves. In other words, we see the three dimensions of life.
We who live on this earth are related to men, related to God, and related to ourselves. How are we to live in these relationships?
The Lord begins with giving alms. Giving alms is considered righteousness because our God is the great Giver.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. When God gave His Son to us, He gave everything to us. He Who has given His own Son to us, will He not give us all things?
Our God is a great Giver. As God’s people, God wants us to have that spirit of giving.
Naturally, we are all receivers. We want to receive, receive, receive; and we are very stingy in giving. Why? Because we are so self-centered.
But as God’s own people, He wants us to have that spirit of giving. Now, what is the motive behind our giving?
As a matter of fact, all that we can give is what He has given to us. He wants us to give in such a way that we do it in secret, not to be seen by men.
If we are helping people or giving to people, we find that the world wants people to know about it. They proclaim it. They let everybody know about it: “Oh, what a generous giver that person is!” They want some kind of memorial for themselves.
The Lord says that if you give in such a way, you have already received your reward, and your reward is earthly. You will not receive reward in heaven.
So when God’s people give, we need to do it in secret. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Is it possible for you to give with your right hand and for your left hand not to know it? Of course, literally it is impossible. But it is possible in this sense: do not dwell upon what you give.
Do not be so conscious of what good you have done, because you do it for the Lord. You do it unto the Lord, and you do it by the grace of God. There is nothing in which you can boast, and you do not expect to be known by men.
You do it in secret, and your heavenly Father, Who sees in secret, sees it. Then He will reward you.
So, brothers and sisters, our righteousness is not for men to see. We are not expecting people to praise us. Our righteousness is for God to see. Our Father, Who is in heaven, will reward us.
Then our Lord Jesus speaks of prayer. Prayer is also considered righteousness.
If all that we pray for is asking the Lord to give us this and give us that, do you think there is any righteousness in it? If our prayer is like this, we are praying like the nations, the Gentiles.
We who are the children of God have a heavenly Father Who loves us and cares for us. He knows what we need. Before we ask, He already knows what we need, and He is ready to give because He loves us so much.
So how should we pray? The Pharisees and scribes loved to pray in the synagogues. In private they did not pray, but they liked to pray in public only.
When they walked on the street and came to a corner, where they could be seen by more people, they began to pray long prayers. The Lord said, “They have their reward.” Their prayer does not reach heaven.
You remember how the Lord told us a parable. Two men entered into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee. He went to the front, lifted up his eyes, and said, “God, I thank Thee, because I fast twice a week. I give one tenth of my income. I am not like that publican.”
That was the way he prayed. Then the publican entered into the temple and stayed at the back. He dared not lift up his eyes. He beat his breast and said, “O God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”
The Lord Jesus said that when they went home, the publican was more righteous. The Pharisee was merely reporting.
Brothers and sisters, how easy it is for us to be like that. Oftentimes our prayers are like reporting to God how good we are, instead of being grateful to God, as though God needs to be grateful to us.
The Pharisees prayed long prayers, and yet in their hidden life, terrible things were done.
Thank God, we have a Father Who loves us and cares for us. Before we even ask, He knows what we need.
Enter into your inner chamber, shut the door, and pray to your Father Who is in heaven. Your Father, Who is in secret, hears you.
Our prayer is for God to hear. Our prayer is to express our dependence upon Him. We pray to show that without Him we can do nothing. Our prayer is communion with our heavenly Father, and our prayer is that His will may be done.
Here again, our Lord Jesus teaches us how to pray. This is what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Actually, it is the prayer that the Lord teaches His church to pray.
Our Lord Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father Who art in heaven.” Prayer is based on relationship.
As we pray, we are children of God, praying to our Father Who is in heaven. There is a relationship, and therefore there is confidence. There is prayer with faith. It is not merely babbling; we are praying with faith within us because we know our Father.
Even if we pray wrongly, He will answer rightly.
When we pray, we should not just pray for ourselves. Prayer is our righteousness; we are doing something right before God.
Our Lord Jesus says that when we pray, first of all we pray, “Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
In our prayer, we should not be self-centered. We should pray for God’s name, for His kingdom, and for His will.
His name is honored in heaven, but His name is not hallowed upon the earth. We should have this burden. We should take the interest of God as our interest and pray that His name will be honored all over the earth.
Of course, we pray truthfully. We want His name to be honored in our own life, that we will not bring shame to our God, and that the name of God may be honored in us.
When people look at us and come in contact with us, may they see God in our lives. Then they will glorify God.
“Thy kingdom come” means that we allow the kingship of Christ to be upon us. We put ourselves under His rule and allow His will to be done in us on earth as it is in heaven.
Now, this should be the way we pray. Is this the way that we pray? Or is our prayer just for ourselves, for our family, or for the church? How large is our scope of prayer? What is the priority in our prayer?
If we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things shall be added unto us. After we have prayed for God’s interest, then we can pray for our needs.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” This shows that we depend upon Him for our daily bread—not for bread for tomorrow, but for our daily bread.
Once I read a book on the sermons of Zinzendorf. When he preached on the Lord’s Prayer, he said that this daily bread is our spiritual bread. It is not merely natural bread, but supernatural bread that nourishes us. Surely we need it.
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive others.” This is food for our soul. For our physical body we need bread; for the welfare of our soul, we need forgiveness.
So we ask the Lord to forgive our debts, to forgive our sins, but on condition that we forgive others.
Dear brothers and sisters, we find among God’s people today that many have an unforgiving spirit. When our brothers and sisters sin against us, or become debtors to us by doing something against us, we will not forgive.
Because we have an unforgiving spirit, remember that God will also not forgive us.
Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, when we repented and asked the Lord to forgive our sins, we found that He forgave everything. His blood cleanses us from all our sins.
But remember, there is a difference after you have become a child of God. If you want God to forgive your sins and your debts, there is a condition: God wants you to forgive others.
If you do not forgive others their debts or sins, God will not forgive your debt. This is something that we need to remember.
From our hearts, we have to learn to forgive. We who have been forgiven so much—how can we hold on to what our brothers and sisters have done against us?
You remember the story of Peter. One day he came to the Lord and said, “Lord, if my brother sins against me seven times, and I forgive him, do You think that is enough?”
The Lord said, “I do not say seven times; I say seventy times seven.” This is something that we need to learn.
If we forgive others, our soul will be healthy.
“Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.” This is for our spirit: that we will not enter into temptation, but rather be delivered from the evil one.
This is the prayer that teaches us to pray.
Now, brothers and sisters, to pray in secret does not mean that we should not pray in public. Corporate prayer is very important.
We need to have our private prayer in secret, but we also need to pray in public.
Praying in public does not mean that we come out of our closet. We are tempted in public prayer because we are very conscious of the people around us.
Because we are conscious of their presence, unconsciously we may try to pray in such a way that sounds more beautiful and impresses other people.
If we do that, we are like the scribes and Pharisees. Our righteousness does not surpass their righteousness.
So even in public prayer, may the Lord deliver us from being conscious of people. In our spirit, we are as if we are in the closet, communing with our heavenly Father.
Our Lord Jesus also tells us about our relationship to ourselves, and that is fasting. What is fasting?
In Scripture, we are told that fasting is to afflict our soul. In other words, we may have such a burden, or we may be facing such a crisis, that we deny ourselves to the extent of giving up even legitimate food so that we may concentrate on praying before the Lord.
So fasting is afflicting our soul. It is between us and the Lord. It is not for people to see.
The Pharisees, when they fasted, purposely put on a sad appearance, telling people that they were fasting. Then people would praise them and say, “How pious they are.”
The Lord says, “Do not do that.” When you fast, wash your face and comb your hair, because you are fasting before the Lord. The Lord, Who is in secret, sees it and will answer your prayer.
Here you find that this section is on the hidden life. We need to have a hidden life before the Lord. We live for God, our motive is pure, and our heart is in heaven.
Then the Lord continues with the second part, the matter of the life of faith. Kingdom life is a life of faith.
Oftentimes we think that only a very few chosen people live a life of faith. But, brothers and sisters, this is a misunderstanding.
According to the Word of God, every believer, every disciple of the Lord, every son of the kingdom, lives a life of faith.
God has already called us out of this world. He has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
So far as the world is concerned, we who live in this world are strangers and sojourners. We are just passing through. We are aliens, so far as the world is concerned.
Like Abraham, he sojourned in the land of promise and lived in tents. He realized that he did not belong to this world.
He was just passing through. He was looking for that city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.
This is a life of faith. Every believer lives a life of faith. We are heavenly people passing through this world.
For such people, the only way to live is to live a life of faith.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us correct our concept. It is not that only a chosen few live a life of faith—those who have no business or occupation and simply look to God to supply all their needs.
We may think, “We have our own occupation. We supply our own needs. We do not need to live a life of faith.” Brothers and sisters, this is wrong. Every believer, every one of us here, lives a life of faith.
Why? Because we are heavenly people.
To live a life of faith begins with this: do not lay up treasures for yourselves upon the earth. What is treasure?
In the original language, “treasures” is plural. There are many treasures. Sometimes we think treasure is money, and we interpret this verse as saying, “Do not lay up money for yourself upon this earth, because there are moths, rust, and thieves.”
But treasure is more than money. Treasure includes everything that you love, everything that you depend on, everything that you trust in, everything that means life to you.
It can be money. It can be possessions. It can be people. Maybe your grandson is your treasure. He is your life.
Brothers and sisters, if we lay up treasures for ourselves upon this earth, then our heart is where our treasure is. We are bound by our treasure.
Because of this, instead of our heart being in heaven, our heart is on earth. The emphasis is not merely on the treasure; the emphasis is on the heart.
Dear brothers and sisters, God wants our heart. In Proverbs we find, “My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.”
Why is it that we do not delight in God’s ways? It is because our heart is somewhere else. If our heart is given to the Lord, then our eyes will delight in His ways.
What the Lord really wants is our heart. Where your heart is, there will your treasure be.
It is for this reason that God commands us to lay up our treasures in heaven. That is to say, we offer to God what we consider as treasures.
Just like Abraham: he offered his only son, Isaac, to God. He was willing to offer him to God. Because he did that, he was not tied down by anything on this earth.
When we hear this word, do we find it very difficult? “If I give up all my money, how can I live?”
Do not worry. This is not what the Lord is after. The Lord is trying to deliver you from anything that ties you down.
The Lord wants you to give yourself totally to Him. Your heart is in heaven.
You remember the rich young man. He came to the Lord with such sincerity and asked, “What can I do to inherit eternal life?”
The Lord looked at him and loved him. He said, “Keep the commandments.”
The young man said, “I have kept them from my youth.” He kept the letter of the law, and yet he violated its spirit, because he was very rich. His riches had captured his heart.
The Lord wanted to deliver him. So the Lord said, “Give to the poor, and follow Me.” By himself, he could not do it.
But there was another rich man, an older man, probably even richer. When the grace of God came upon him, without being asked, he said, “I give half. Whatever I have done wrong, I will pay back fourfold.”
So, brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. Give your all to the Lord. Lay it up in heaven. You are a steward. Do whatever the Lord wants.
For instance, you remember the story of C. T. Studd. He was one of the seven missionaries from Cambridge who came to China.
He was a millionaire, but he was led by the Lord to give up everything he had. He came to China, later to India, and finally to Africa. God greatly used him.
There was another person I knew of, a lady. When I met her, she was a billionaire, but she never forgot. She said, “All mine is the Lord’s. I am only a steward.”
Dear brothers and sisters, that is what we are. Whatever the Lord has given to us, it is up to Him to decide how it should be used. But thank God, His grace is always sufficient.
Now, by the way, I may put in a few practical words. Does this mean that I have to give everything to the Lord and not provide for my family?
Certainly, we should provide for our family. Does it mean that you cannot put aside something for your retirement? Of course not.
The Lord does not want you to depend upon people’s charity. Neither does this mean that you do not need to work anymore. Certainly not. If you do not work, you do not eat. That is what Scripture teaches.
But, dear brothers and sisters, remember: it is the heart. May we be single-eyed and not double-minded.
Our problem is that we are double-minded. We love God, and we love mammon.
Mammon is wealth. It may be represented by money, or it may be represented by other things. We try to serve two masters, but it is impossible.
A man cannot serve two masters. You either love the one or hate the other; you either hold to the one or let go of the other.
The Lord makes it very clear to us: a man cannot serve two masters.
What are we going to do with mammon? Mammon should not be our master. We should use unrighteous mammon to prepare for eternity.
That is the way it should be. Then we are released, so that our heart may be in heaven.
For this cause, the Lord says:
Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?
Why do we worry about food, drink, and raiment? It is because our heart and our treasures are not in heaven.
The more you hold on to your treasures, the more you worry about what you eat, what you drink, and what you will be clothed with. There is no end to your anxiety.
The more treasure you have laid up for yourself, the more worried you become.
But if you lay up your treasures in heaven and your heart is with God, then you do not need to worry what you eat, what you drink, or what you will be clothed with.
Why? The Lord says, “Look at the birds.” This looking is not just a casual glance; it is intense looking. Look carefully at how our heavenly Father takes care of them.
Consider carefully how beautiful and glorious the Lord has clothed the lilies, more than the glory of Solomon. They are here today, and tomorrow they are thrown into the fire, and God gives them such clothing.
How much more valuable are you than the lilies? Do not be anxious about these things. Your heavenly Father knows everything. You can trust Him.
So the Lord says:
But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
This is the way we should live. We should seek the kingdom of God. We should seek His righteousness.
If we do seek, all these things shall be added unto us. If we do not seek the kingdom of the heavens and His righteousness, then we have to seek all these things ourselves.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what is living in the kingdom of the heavens? What is kingdom life?
The kingdom life within us is a life that lives in heaven, even though we are upon this earth.
Dear Lord, we thank Thee because Thou hast given us this life, and that life is in us. May Thou draw us ever nearer to Thyself.