Search
Scripture Reading: Matt. 6:19-34
In this chapter we will consider the fifth section of the Lord’s teaching in Matthew 5 through 7, which concerns the material riches of the kingdom people.
After the Lord spoke concerning the righteous deeds of the kingdom people (6:1-18), He spoke concerning material riches (vv. 19-34). Righteous deeds are related to material riches because we must first settle the matter of material riches in order to have righteous deeds. No one has righteous deeds in a proper way without thoroughly settling the matter of material riches. According to a common Chinese saying, “When one takes righteousness more seriously, he takes material riches more lightly.” A person must choose between righteous deeds and material riches. If he thinks more highly of righteous deeds, he will spontaneously lightly esteem material riches. However, if he thinks more highly of material riches, he will lightly esteem righteous deeds.
When speaking about the righteous deeds of the kingdom people, the Lord first spoke of giving alms. This shows that righteous deeds are related to material riches because giving alms is the giving of material riches. If a person has not dealt with material riches, it is unlikely that he will be righteous in the giving of alms (vv. 1-4).
In verses 5 through 15 the Lord spoke concerning how to pray to God. Apparently, praying is not related to material riches; however, our experience shows that prayer and material riches are related. If a person loves material riches, he will depend on them, and his heart will be set on them. Consequently, he will not depend on God or pray to God. Whenever we rely on something other than God, we cannot pray. If we are looking for a job and know a reliable person who has connections, we will stop praying, or at best we will merely go through the motion of prayer. It is when we are hopeless that we are willing to pray desperately. Therefore, it is not easy for us to pray when we are rich, nor is it easy for us to pray when we depend on something or someone other than God. The more we lack and the more difficulties we face, the easier it is for us to pray. Therefore, if we want to pray, we must settle the matter of material riches.
In our human life material riches can replace God. Unbelievers take material riches as their god, and it is easy for Christians also to allow material riches to replace God. If we do not deal with material riches, it will be hard for God to gain ground in us. In order to follow the Lord as His disciples, we need to pay a price. To pay a price means to give up anything that replaces God and to receive God. Material riches are the greatest replacement of God. There is a common Chinese saying: “Loving money as one’s life.” This shows how much material riches can replace God. It is difficult for someone who has not dealt with material riches in a proper way to have genuine prayers. Genuine prayers are for God’s interest. The highest expression of our living for God is that we pray for His interest, not for ourselves. However, a person who loves and relies on material riches cannot pray for God’s interest. In order to be righteous in the matter of prayer, we must address and deal with material riches.
The Lord also spoke concerning the righteous deed of fasting (vv. 16-18). To fast is to deal with a legitimate enjoyment. The principle of fasting refers not only to buffeting our body by not eating but also to our not being loose by limiting our spending on our needs and enjoyments in our living. For example, a brother might be able to spend one hundred dollars for a garment, but for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of his service, he limits his spending to only fifty dollars. This principle can also be applied to eating, housing, and transportation. The principle of fasting is also related to material riches. Therefore, the righteous deeds that the Lord spoke of are all related to material riches.
In His first words concerning the material riches of the kingdom people, the Lord said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on the earth” (v. 19). The basic principle of the Lord’s teaching on the mountain is that we would be delivered from the self and not live for the self. Material riches are the best test for the self and the best expression of the self. Anyone who loves and treasures material riches and who cannot overcome material riches is filled with the self. This is why the Lord began by saying, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures.” The thoroughness of our dealing with the self depends on how thoroughly we deal with material riches. If we do not store up treasures for ourselves, the Lord will gain more ground in our being, and the self will spontaneously decrease.
The Lord said that we should not store up for ourselves treasures on the earth. This shows that the self is related to the earth. The things that we plan for the self are things on the earth, not things in heaven. The more we plan for the self, the more we are earthly, not heavenly.
The Lord said that we should not store up for ourselves treasures on the earth, “where moth and rust consume and where thieves dig through and steal” (v. 19). The treasures that we store up on the earth will be consumed by moth and rust or will be stolen by thieves. To be consumed by moth means that our treasures are consumed by circumstances. To be consumed by rust means that our treasures are consumed of themselves. To be stolen by thieves means that our treasures are consumed by other people. Our treasures on the earth are unreliable. They are ours today, but they may no longer be ours tomorrow. Someone may store up treasures on the earth, but his treasures will be either consumed by rust, consumed by the environment, or stolen by others. Eventually, what we gain on the earth is mere vanity. Hence, the Lord said, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (v. 20).
Why did the Lord ask us to store up treasures in heaven? Is there a need for money in heaven? Of course, there is no need for money in heaven. There also was not a need for money in the garden of Eden. God did not create money. Money did not come from God; it came from the devil and belongs to the fallen and corrupted earth. Therefore, in Luke 16:9 the Lord referred to money as “the mammon of unrighteousness.” Mammon of unrighteousness does not mean that money comes from an unrighteous source. Rather, it means that money itself is unrighteous. If money is unrighteous, why did the Lord ask us to store up treasures in heaven? Furthermore, how can we store up treasures in heaven? The treasures that we store up on the earth are for ourselves, but the treasures that we store up in heaven are for God. The self is related to the earth, but God is related to heaven. The money that we store up on the earth is for ourselves, but the treasures that we store up in heaven are for God. In order for our material riches to be used by God, these material riches must be stored up in heaven now.
In Matthew 6:21 the Lord explained why we need to store up treasures in heaven: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The Lord’s teaching concerning material riches is not merely a matter of our material riches being consumed by moth and rust or being stolen by thieves; it is a matter of our heart. Material riches attract our heart. Wherever our treasures are, there will our heart be also. If we store up our treasures on the earth, it will be extremely hard for our heart to mind the things in heaven. As a result, instead of submitting to the authority of the heavens, we will live outside the kingdom of the heavens. The Lord wants us to live in the kingdom of the heavens and to submit to the authority of the heavens; therefore, our heart must be on the things in heaven. Our treasures must be in heaven.
In verses 22 and 23 the Lord said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Just as our eye is the lamp of our body and can make our body full of light or full of darkness, so also our heart is a lamp that determines whether there is light or darkness within us. If our heart is set on earthly treasures, then our heart is covered, and we are full of darkness. Hence, material riches cause our heart to be full of darkness.
Second Corinthians 3:16 says, “Whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” The children of Israel could not see, because there was a problem with their heart. However, whenever their heart turned to the Lord, the veil on their heart was taken away. Hence, in Matthew 5 the Lord said, “The pure in heart...shall see God” (v. 8). To be pure in heart means to be single and focused in one’s heart. In 6:22 the Lord said, “If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.” Our eyes cannot look at two things at the same time. If we try to look at two things at the same time, our vision will be blurred. If we love the Lord and also love mammon, our eye will not be single, and we will be full of darkness.
Verse 24 says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” This verse speaks of service. Whatever our eyes focus on and our heart desires becomes what we serve. Some people want to love the Lord and the world at the same time. On the one hand, they serve God, but on the other hand, they also serve material riches. The Lord said that we cannot serve God and mammon. If we love God, we have to leave material riches behind. If we continue to carry material riches with us, God will leave us. For this reason the Lord spoke emphatically in this section concerning material riches. If we want to follow the Lord in a proper way and learn to live in the kingdom of the heavens, we must thoroughly deal with our attitude toward material riches. Those who do not thoroughly deal with material riches cannot live properly in the kingdom of the heavens.
Many people store up treasures for themselves and serve mammon because they want to take care of their living; they worry that there might not be something to eat, to drink, or to put on. The Lord touched these practical matters to teach us not to be anxious about these things. He said, “Do not be anxious for your life, what you should eat or what you should drink; nor for your body, what you should put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothing?” (v. 25). The Lord wants us to consider: If God can give us life, can He not give us food? If God can give us a body, can He not give us clothes? Since God has given us life and a body, He will surely give us the food that our life needs and the clothes that our body needs. In verse 27 the Lord asked, “Who among you by being anxious can add one cubit to his stature?” Even though these things are small in God’s eyes, they are not in our hands. Therefore, it is useless for us to be anxious about them.
In verse 26 the Lord asked us to look at the birds of heaven: “They do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father nourishes them.” In verses 28 and 29 He asked us to consider the lilies of the field: “They do not toil, neither do they spin thread. But...not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these.” We are of much more value than the birds of heaven and the lilies of the field. So why should we fear that God would not nourish us?
In verses 31 through 33 the Lord said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The Lord said that we should not be anxious about our food or our clothing. God gave us our life and our body. The length of our life and the stature of our body are ordained by God. Hence, He will surely prepare food to nourish us and clothes to cover us. The Gentiles are anxiously seeking these things, because they are like orphans who do not have a heavenly Father, but we have God as our Father. He knows our every need. Therefore, we do not need to be anxious about these things. We need only to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to us.
The Lord said that we should not be like the Gentiles who seek what to eat, what to drink, and what to put on, but we should seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Because God’s kingdom and His righteousness seem to be hidden, we need to seek and pursue them. God’s kingdom is different from His righteousness. God’s kingdom refers to His authority, but God’s righteousness refers to His ways. To seek God’s kingdom is to seek to obey His authority, but to seek God’s righteousness is to seek to follow His ways. Both God’s kingdom and His righteousness are a matter of subjecting ourselves to God’s ruling. The Lord’s entire teaching on the mountain concerns allowing the kingdom of the heavens to rule. This is a matter of God’s ruling. If we subject ourselves to God’s authority, His kingdom will be with us, and if we follow God’s ways, His righteousness will be with us.
For example, a young brother who is considering marrying a young woman in the world may have an inward sense of disapproval from the Lord. The brother understands that God disapproves of such a marriage, but because he likes her, he does not want to give her up. As a result, he marries her according to his own will, and he disobeys God’s will. Hence, the brother overturned God’s authority, and the kingdom of God is not with him. However, if this brother loves the Lord and is willing to obey the inward sense of disapproval from God by discontinuing his courtship, he will acknowledge God’s authority and subject himself to God’s ruling. As a result, the kingdom of God will be with him.
The emphasis with God’s righteousness is on being in accordance with God’s ways. For example, yet another brother’s marriage may be of God and under God’s ruling, and God’s kingdom may be with the brother. However, the way in which the wedding is carried out may be full of the fashion and flavor of the world, not according to God’s ways. As a result, God will not approve of the brother. Thus, in this matter the brother does not have God’s righteousness.
When a worker of the Lord speaks for the Lord, he first needs to submit to the authority of God and confirm whether God is allowing him to speak. If God is not allowing him to speak, he should obey God and not speak. In this way the brother will not rebel against the Lord but rather allow the heavens to rule. The saints will see that the kingdom of God is with him. But even if he speaks for the Lord, he still needs to ask whether he is speaking according to God’s ways. Are his attitude, expressions, utterances, and mannerisms compatible with the saints? Or are they exaggerated and inaccurate? If his attitude, expressions, utterances, and mannerisms are not compatible with the saints, but instead are exaggerated and inaccurate, he does not have God’s righteousness even though he has God’s kingdom.
Our entire living can be measured by God’s kingdom and His righteousness. On the one hand, we need to submit to God’s authority; on the other hand, we need to be according to God’s ways. God’s kingdom and His righteousness are indispensable to us. The Lord charged us to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness so that we would allow God to rule in our living and conduct. Then people will see God’s kingdom and His righteousness in our practical living.
Many people overturn God’s authority and His ways in order to take care of their daily needs of eating, drinking, and clothing. Many believers do not submit to God’s authority and ignore God’s ways because of their living. In the Lord’s eyes these believers are foolish and pitiful; they have forgotten that their heavenly Father is able and willing to supply all their needs. Therefore, the Lord charged us to put God’s kingdom and His righteousness first. If we care first for God’s kingdom and His righteousness, God will take responsibility for our eating, drinking, and clothing. Some believers do not care about God’s kingdom or His righteousness, because they are anxious about eating, drinking, and clothing. Therefore, they see matters related to eating, drinking, and clothing instead of seeing God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Some believers seem to not care about their eating, drinking, and clothing, but God adds the things that they need for their living. As a result, these believers fulfill God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and they are not lacking in their daily needs of eating, drinking, and clothing.
The Lord’s word is clear and definite. The children of God do not need to store up treasures on the earth, nor should they serve mammon. If we seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness, He will take care of our every need. This is the blessing that God gives to the people of the kingdom of the heavens.
