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In this message we come to the fifth section of the King’s decree, Matt. 6:19-34, which concerns the dealing of the kingdom people with riches.
In verses 19 and 20 the King decrees that the kingdom people should not lay up for themselves treasures on earth, but treasures in heaven. To lay up treasures in heaven is to give material things to the poor (19:21) and to care for the needy saints (Acts 2:45; 4:34-35; 11:29; Rom. 15:26) and for the Lord’s servants (Phil. 4:16-17).
Verse 21 says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The kingdom people must send their treasure to heaven so that their heart can also be in heaven. Before they go there, their treasure and their heart must go there first.
Verse 22 says, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be illuminated.” Our eyes can focus on only one thing at a time. If we endeavor to see two things at once, our sight will be blurred. If we focus our eyes on one thing, our sight will be single, and our whole body will be illuminated. If we lay up our treasure both in heaven and on earth, our sight will be blurred. If we would have single sight, we must lay up our treasure in one place.
Verse 23 says, “But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great the darkness!” To see two objects at one time is to make our eye evil. Thus, our whole body will be dark. If our heart is fixed on treasure laid up on earth, the light that is in us will become darkness, and great will be the 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.” The word mammon is an Aramaic word signifying wealth, riches. Here mammon, standing in opposition to God, indicates that wealth or riches is the opponent of God, robbing God’s people of their service to Him.
Verse 25 says, “Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life, what you should eat and 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?” In this verse the Lord tells us not to be anxious about our life. The Greek word translated “life” here is soul, in which is the desire, the appetite, for food and clothing (Isa. 29:8). Our life is more than food, and our body is more than clothing. Both our life and our body came into existence by God, not by our anxiety. Since God has created us with a life and a body, surely He will care for their needs. The kingdom people do not need to be anxious about these things.
Verse 31 says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed?” Here we come to the crucial matter in verses 19 through 34. Apparently, in this section of the constitution, the Lord is speaking about the dealing of the kingdom people with material riches. Actually, He is dealing with the matter of anxiety. The Lord is wise. After touching our temper, lust, natural being, self, and flesh, He goes on to touch our anxiety. In these verses the word “anxious” is used six times (vv. 25, 27, 28, 31, 34). It may also seem that the Lord is touching our heart, for where our treasure is, there our heart is also. However, our heart is related not only to riches, but to many other things.
The constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is composed with the Father’s life and nature. Although these chapters do not actually use the words “life” and “nature,” from the context we can see that apart from the Father’s divine life and nature, these chapters are in vain. No one would be able to fulfill the requirements of the kingdom of the heavens without having the Father’s life and nature. Every constitution is based upon a certain kind of life. Suppose you intend to make a constitution for dogs. Undoubtedly such a constitution would be based upon the dog life. It would be unreasonable for this constitution to decree that, every morning, dogs should observe morning watch by flying in the air. Because dogs cannot fly, they could not fulfill such a requirement. But if the constitution told the dogs to keep morning watch by barking, there would be no problem. In like manner, the constitution given by the Lord Jesus on the mount was for the sons of God, and it was based upon the life and nature of the Father. Two verses in chapter five indicate this fact. Verse 9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” and verse 48 says, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Many Christians do not understand this section of the Word because they have not seen that it is based upon the divine life and divine nature. Even many unbelievers have quoted verses from these chapters in their writings, thinking that these chapters are words spoken to all human beings. No, just as the dog life cannot fly, so the human life cannot fulfill the requirements of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. This is a constitution based upon the divine life and the divine nature.
There is no anxiety in the divine life and the divine nature. Anxiety is not of the divine life, but of the human life, just as barking is of the dog life, not of the bird life. Our human life is a life of anxiety, whereas God’s life is a life of enjoyment, rest, comfort, and satisfaction. To God, anxiety is a strange term. With Him, there is no such thing as anxiety. Do you think that God has ever been anxious? Has He ever been afflicted with anxiety? Although God has many desires, He has no anxiety. Our human life, on the contrary, is virtually composed of anxiety; it is constituted with it. Take anxiety away from a human being and the result will be death. A dead man has no anxiety. A figure in a wax museum or a statue in front of a Catholic cathedral has no anxiety, but as long as you are a living person, you cannot escape from anxiety.
If we consider the style of the Lord’s speaking in the New Testament, we shall see that it is absolutely different from the speaking of the Apostles. The Apostles, especially Paul, wrote many spiritual books. Although Paul spoke of many divine, spiritual, and heavenly things, his style is nonetheless human. It is the same with the writings of Peter and John. No matter how much the New Testament writers spoke of spiritual and divine things, their style remained human. But the style of the Lord’s speaking in the New Testament is unique. It is utterly impossible to describe it. If you read Matthew 5, 6, 7, 13, 24, and 25 and John 14 through 17, you will see that the style of the Lord’s speaking is extraordinary. It is not human or common; it is profound, yet brief, simple, and to the point. This is the divine speaking with the divine style. When I was young, I read a statement written by a certain great French philosopher who said that if the four Gospels were falsehoods, then the person who wrote them was qualified to be Christ. I agree with this word.
In His speaking in chapter six of Matthew, the Lord apparently is dealing with the matter of riches. In reality, however, He is touching the matter of anxiety, the basic problem of our human living. As we have seen, in 6:1-18 He apparently dealt with the righteous deeds of the kingdom people, but actually He was touching the self and the flesh. I came to know this not by reading books, but from my experience in the church life. Through my experience I have learned that making a display of righteous deeds is certainly of the self and of the flesh. If we remain on the cross, we would never make such a display. In the same principle, 6:19-34 seemingly touches our wealth, our riches; actually, the Lord’s intention here is to touch anxiety, the source of the problem of our daily living. The whole world is involved with anxiety. Anxiety is the gear that makes the world move. It is the incentive for all human culture. If there were no anxiety regarding our living, no one would do anything. Rather, everyone would be idle. Thus, by touching our anxiety, the Lord touches the gear of human life.
When the young people hear this word, they may say, “Hallelujah! Because the Lord Jesus has touched anxiety, the gear of human life, we don’t need to study or work hard. If we are hungry, we can simply eat some leftovers.” This concept is wrong. In 6:26 the Lord Jesus says, “Look at the birds of the heaven, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father nourishes them.” If the Lord Jesus were here, I would ask Him, “Lord, You liken us to birds. The birds neither sow nor harvest; they just fly in the air and do nothing. Lord, does this mean that we should not do anything? The birds feed on human labor. Lord Jesus, do You mean that we should take advantage of others? Should we forget about working and simply be birds in the air, enjoying life and taking advantage of the labor of others?” I would also ask the Lord, “Lord, You also liken us to lilies. Lilies don’t do anything, but are clothed in more glory than Solomon (vv. 28-30). Are You saying that we should not do anything, that we should simply enjoy the air, the sunshine, the soil, and the water?” This is the concept held by many young people who quote these words of the Lord Jesus. They say, “Let’s be birds in the air and lilies in the valley.” There is a difficulty in understanding the Lord’s word here. Again I say, if the Lord were here, I would ask Him, “Do You mean that we should just be like birds soaring in the air, taking advantage of the labor of others? They sow and grow the crops, and we simply come to enjoy them. Is this legal? Is it fair? It seems that all birds are thieves. I have only a small yard, but the birds come and take advantage of what I am growing in my yard. Are You saying that we should do the same thing?” I ask these questions because I know the psychology of the young people. After spending so many years in school, they may be tired of studying. As they go from junior high to high school, from high school to college, and from undergraduate school to graduate school, the work becomes more difficult. Instead of studying so hard, many of the young people would rather be like birds flying in the air. If the young people are honest, they will admit that they have such a concept.
Let us now consider the Lord’s intention in verses 19 through 34. Does the Lord intend that the young people finish school, or drop out and be like birds in the air? It is wrong to have anxiety, for anxiety does not belong to the divine life. There is no anxiety in the life of God. However, the Lord does not mean that we should not do our duty. When the Lord brought the children of Israel into the good land, they all had to work on the land. That was their duty. Whether or not the good land produced a rich harvest depended on a number of things: the weather, the sunshine, the proper amount of rain, and the right temperature. None of these things was under the control of the children of Israel. Their responsibility was just to labor on the land. They labored not only for themselves, but also for the birds. If they did not do the work of farming, it would have been difficult for the birds to live. To do their duty was right and necessary, but to have anxiety was wrong. Likewise, we must do our duty today, but do it without being anxious about our living. The reason you are so reluctant to give to others is your anxiety. Because of anxiety, you love the material things. If you had no anxiety, you would not care for the material things. Rather, you would let others have them. It is anxiety that causes us trouble.
In God’s economy we all must labor. We are not like the children of Israel, for we cannot literally work on the good land. Instead, the young people today must study and acquire a good education. Studying is equal to tilling the ground, and graduating from college is equal to reaping a harvest. Young people, studying is your duty, and you must do it. In ancient times, the children of Israel had to labor by tilling the ground, sowing the seed, watering, and harvesting. This was their duty. But whether or not they received the harvest depended upon God. Their responsibility was to labor without having any anxiety. If they were anxious, that would have been an offense to God. There was no need for them to be anxious. They simply had to do whatever God asked them to do. For example, according to Deuteronomy, God required them to set aside one tenth for Himself, another tenth for the Levites, and still another tenth for a different purpose. They were not permitted to keep all the produce for their enjoyment. They were not to have any anxiety. If they had no anxiety, they could be generous, willing to give to others and put their material things into the hand of the Lord.
We need to read 6:19-34 in such a light. Under God’s sovereignty, the children of Israel had to labor on the land. Under God’s sovereignty, the young people today must study and finish school. If we are to have the proper church life, all our young people must finish college. Failing to finish college is like sowing without having a harvest. The requirement for making a living today is much different from what it was hundreds of years ago. Today the young people must till the ground, sow the seed, and water the crop by studying diligently and graduating from high school and college. But they must not do this because of anxiety. We must differentiate anxiety from duty. Your duty is to finish your work of farming, that is, to graduate from high school and college. Otherwise, it will be difficult to live. To live on this earth for God, you must finish your education. But as you are studying and completing your education, you must be different from the worldly people. The worldly ones study for the sake of their anxiety; you should not study for anxiety, but to fulfill your duty. If you do not see this point, this portion of the Word will simply be a legal matter to you.
Boaz, a forefather of David, is an example of one who did his duty without anxiety. Boaz was a rich farmer; he was very productive. However, this man was not productive for the sake of anxiety, but for the sake of fulfilling his duty. When the time came, the Lord told him to give a certain amount away, and he did it. Certainly Boaz treasured the things in heaven. Through the overcoming of anxiety, he laid up treasures in heaven.
After a number of years, many of our young people will have college degrees. I believe that under the Lord’s sovereign blessing, many riches will come in. At that time you will need to remember that you have gone to school not for anxiety, but to do your duty. Therefore, the riches that you bring in should not be used for your anxiety, but for your duty. Your duty is to give, to lay up treasures in heaven. Do not aspire to be a millionaire. Do not endeavor to have a savings account of a million dollars. Rather, learn to give and lay up treasures in heaven. Transfer your treasures from the earth to the heavens. In this way you will not be a millionaire on earth, but a millionaire in the heavens. Your duty is to earn your degree and then to make riches. But do not seek to become a millionaire. Instead, be a good giver according to the life and nature of your heavenly Father. This is the meaning of this portion of the Word.
My burden in this message is to dig out this basic point. We all have our duty to do. As we are fulfilling our duty, we should not do anything for the sake of our anxiety, because we have a divine life that knows no anxiety. And we have an almighty and all-inclusive heavenly Father who takes care of us in every way. Today’s world is filled with anxiety, but the kingdom people should not be anxious about anything. We are not able to add one cubit to our stature by our anxiety (v. 27). Concerning morality, we have the life and nature of our Father within us to enable us to fulfill the highest moral requirements. Concerning our living, we have the heavenly Father Himself to take care of us. However, this does not mean that there is no need for us to do our duty. Although we must fulfill our duty, we should have no anxiety. Like the children of Israel who had enough to live on and who gave certain portions away for various purposes, we also should have a harvest and be willing to give a certain amount away for various purposes. Eventually, all we give will be laid up in the heavenly bank, and all our riches will be there.
This also is related to our daily growth in life. Both sloppiness and anxiety will delay your growth in life. No one who is idle, who does not fulfill his duty, will ever grow in life. Everyone who grows in life is diligent and industrious. Of course, this diligence and industriousness will yield a reward, and some material riches will come to you. All these riches must be used, not for your anxiety, but for your giving. Anxiety must go. Do not allow anxiety to occupy your daily living. Because the life of the Father within you knows no anxiety, you should not have any anxiety. Any surplus you have should not be used for the sake of your anxiety. Use it to build up savings in the heavenly bank. I assure you that if you do this, you will grow in life. The only kind of person who grows in life is one who is diligent, yet who does not use his surplus for his anxiety. You need to study diligently, make good grades, and acquire the highest degree. However, the riches that come to you should not be used for your anxiety. We labor and fulfill our duty, but we have no anxiety. This is the proper way to grow in the Father’s life.
In verse 32 the Lord says, “For all these things the nations are seeking; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” The kingdom people have the divine life of their heavenly Father as their strength to keep the new law of the kingdom. They also have their heavenly Father to care for their material needs, so that they need not be anxious about them. Their heavenly Father is the source of their strength and supply. Hence, they need not be weak or lacking in anything.
Verse 33 says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The Father’s kingdom is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today and the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age. The Father’s righteousness is the righteousness by keeping the new law of the kingdom, as mentioned in 5:20 and 6:1. Since the kingdom people seek first the kingdom and righteousness of their heavenly Father, not only will His kingdom and His righteousness be given to them, but also all their necessities will be added.
Finally, verse 34 says, “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own evil.” The kingdom people should never live in tomorrow, but always in today. The word “evil” here denotes trouble and affliction. This indicates that the King of the kingdom has made it clear to the kingdom people that their days on earth for the kingdom will be days of trouble and affliction, not of ease and comfort.
