Sermon Notes Matthew 6:19-34

Matthew 6:19-34

Sermon Notes

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Free As a Bird

July 31, 2016

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         Jesus is still preaching to His disciples. Here he warns the faithful of falling into the snares that the Pharisees had succumbed to. Namely, greed and worldliness.

         Christians can be free from such things but they can also be tempted by and fall to the temptation of such things. So, we have to purpose to serve God in His holiness so that we do not fall into the temptations of worldliness.

         If we do so, the Lord promises to provide for us all and above what we need or even ask.

EXEGESIS

Matt. 6:19   Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 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 that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Jesus now takes the application to a very earthly level. Greediness is a great detriment to godly living. An evil eye is one that is greedy of earthly gain. There is also the application leading back to the previous verses, succumbing to temptations. One of the reasons you would do this is so that you can benefit financially.

Do not take this too lightly. I have seen people whose great sin is that they really want stuff. They are willing to have stuff now and hell later. Seems like a bad trade to me but earthly comforts appeal to us right now and heavenly comforts seem a lifetime away. Jesus is saying that if you are in the light of Jesus and His Church but really you are seeking the things of the earth and not heaven, then you are not really light but darkness.

One warning here is for those who have something financial to gain from the body of the saints. I would put pastors at the top of the list. Are you serving for the sake of financial gain? Do you see your congregants primarily as tithers to support you? Are you more interested in those who give more? Are your people dollar signs?

But there are others in the body who benefit financially from the saints. Are you a real estate agent? Do you look at church people as potential clients? Are you a financial advisor or insurance salesmen? Do new members look like potential new clients? Are you a builder? Do your brothers and sisters in Christ look like dollar signs when you get to remodel their kitchens? Are you an attorney? Do your brothers and sisters look like estates that need planned? There is a host of ways to sin. Beware.

Matt. 6:25   Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Take no thought. Stop worrying about dinner. Stop worrying about your clothes. Stop worrying whether you will have a place to lay your head.

But I have a mortgage. But I have car payments. But I have debt. This is a problem. Once we have become slaves, it is near impossible to not worry. The master keeps worrying us with his demands. So, you must seek to free yourself from that slavery.

You are more than what you eat or drink. You are more than what you wear. You are more important to God than the animals and the plants and yet God feeds and clothes them all. Do you believe this? If so, then take no thought. Take NO thought. Stop worrying, today. Give us this day our daily bread, our monthly house payment, our money to work on debt reduction, our food, our clothes, all of our needs. Take NO thought.

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Is this not monumentally important? Jesus goes out of His way to teach us to take no thought. Solomon was not as glorious as a lily. God clothes the lilies and God will clothe you. To fail to believe this is a crisis of faith.

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Do you worry about clothes? Do you worry about food? Do you worry about housing? Then Jesus says that you have little faith. The word can mean short in stature or short in duration. Is your faith small? Is your faith temporary? If so, confess to God your little faith and ask Him for big faith. Faith that trusts Him fully now and that lasts long.

It is a glorious thing to be free. Debt is a snare but so is failing to see that your Lord is the Lord and master of all things. If you have been foolish with finances, it is burden of weight. Confession and repentance will lift the burden. But you must realize that you can be free now, even while you  are still burdened with the consequences of sin. When you confess, repent and begin to trust the Lord Jesus, He can fix things far faster than you ever imagined. It is good to be free as a bird. That is what forgiveness and obedience does. It makes you free. Give it a try.

EXHORTATION

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

To seek God’s kingdom is to seek God. You are citizens of God’s kingdom. If you seek Him, then all of your needs are provided in Him. Take no thought for the morrow. God is there, too.