Bible Study Materials

Matthew 6:19-34

by Paul Choi   03/29/2015  

Question


Seek First His Kingdom

Matthew 6:19-34

Key Verse: 6:33

 

1. Read verses 19-21. Where should we store up our treasures? What happens to treasures stored on earth? Why is it so important to store up treasures in heaven? (21)

2. Read verses 22-23. What does it mean that the eye is the lamp of the body? What is the result of having healthy eyes? Unhealthy eyes?


3. Read verse 24. How does this verse fit the flow of the previous verses? Why can’t we serve two masters? Who are the two masters between whom we must choose?

 

4. Read verses 25-32. To what does “Therefore” refer? What are the things that most people are tempted to worry about? (25) What can we learn from birds, the flowers, and grass? (26, 28-30) Why do people worry? (30b) Why don’t we need to seek what pagans seek?

 
5. Read verse 33-34.What is God’s promise? (33) What does it mean to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness? How can we not worry about tomorrow?


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Message


SEEK FIRST GOD’S KINGDOM

Matthew 6:19-34

Key Verse: 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

  Someone said, “If you want to know who you are, examine what you think most about all day long. What you think most about shows you who you are.” He meant that what we think about and seek most forms our personalities and affects our future. In today’s passage Jesus teaches us about how we put our first priority as children of God. Our priority on this earth determines our destiny. May God give us ears to hear, and wisdom for understanding!

First, store your treasure in heaven. (19-21) Look at verses 19-21. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In December 2008 there was news from Wall Street which shook the world.  Bernard L. Madoff, the former chairman of NASDAQ, admitted to the largest investment scandal in history. The amount of his fraudulent Ponzi scheme was more than 50 billion dollars, and damaged more than 5,000 clients such as banks, hedge funds, universities, charities, and celebrities including Steven Spielberg and Larry King. We call this largest Ponzi scheme scandal in history the ‘Madoff  Investment Scandal’, and he was sentenced to 150 years in prison and $ 17 billion in restitution. This scandal reminds us of Jesus’ teaching today, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,…where thieves break in and steal.” People on this earth invest their money in stock or real estate for their future security. But there is no secure and safe place on this earth for their investment.  Many credit card users are warned about credit card identity theft. There are victims among us!

  In the beginning when God created this world, he made all things perfect. God made men in his own image and said, “It is very good!” (Ge 1:31) God planted the Garden of Eden (joy) for men’s happiness, and planted the tree of life for eternal life. But sin came to the world through Satan. In the Bible sin is compared to moths or vermin, and Satan to a thief. Sin makes men sick and disfigured. Satan came to kill and destroy. This world was cursed by sin and Satan. But God so loved the world and sent his Only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. Jesus came to save sinners and restore the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the secret of the kingdom of heaven.

People are wicked and evil. Like in the days of Noah, every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil all the time. (Ge 6:5) Last week we heard more shocking news from Europe. A German plane crashed into the Alps and 150 passengers and crew were killed. The French investigators said that the German co-pilot, who had been mentally ill, deliberately crashed the plane. In whom we can trust and to where can we travel without any anxiety? What can you do in a plane while flying over 30,000 feet high? We are helpless for our safety. After 9/11 we have installed the Department of Homeland Security, developed airport security systems, tightened passenger rules, and so on. But without changing people’s hearts and removing their evil, no one and nothing guarantees our safety.

  We live in this era of uncertainty and insecurity on this earth. No one has his or her safety guaranteed for tomorrow. Day by day we depend on God and ask for his protection and guidance. Jesus knows our weakness. He knows that there is no safe place on this earth. What does he teach us today? Let us read verse 20. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Jesus teaches us to put our hope in the kingdom of God. He encourages us to invest our life, time, money, efforts, and labor for heaven, where there is no fraud or termites or terrorists. The kingdom of heaven is the most reliable, the safest, and the eternal dwelling place we desire and seek while living on this earth. The kingdom of heaven is where God rules us with his justice, righteousness, love, and peace. The kingdom of heaven is where our Lord Jesus reigns. There is no darkness at all in heaven. There is no death in heaven. We will live eternally with our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our life on this earth is a pilgrimage, like living in a tent or a temporary apartment. Our eternal dwelling place is the kingdom of heaven. Someday, in God’s appointed time, we will put away our earthly tents, which is our physical bodies, and leave for our eternal home, the kingdom of heaven. Our life on this earth is very short, like a second, compared to our eternal life in heaven. Who is wiser, the one who invests his or her life for temporary places, or the one who does for an eternal home? Those who are in Christ store up their treasure in heaven, the kingdom of God, not on this temporary and perishable world.

  Look at verse 21. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Treasure is what we think is most valuable and important. In 13:44 Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a treasure hidden in a field. He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Do you think the man who found the treasure forget it after he left the field? No! He never forgets the treasure! All day long he thinks about the treasure. He can’t sleep because of the treasure. He works hard to make money to buy the field for the treasure. He is full of thoughts of the treasure. He is happy with the treasure. The day when he gains the treasure, he gains the whole world.  His security is guaranteed. The kingdom of God is like the treasure which we must think about all day long. The kingdom of God is our treasure which we value and seek most. The kingdom of God is what we must put our hope, heart, mind, and soul, more than anything else. Those who put their hope in the kingdom of heaven always make God and his kingdom their priority. Their prayer topics are always “Thy kingdom come and thy will be done…”  I want to ask you, “where is your treasure?” For whom and for what do you think most about, seek, and desire? Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What you desire most will make you who you are.

Second, we serve only one master (22-24)  Look at verse 22-24. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”  Why did Jesus suddenly change the topic from treasure to eyes? When we study the meaning of the word ‘healthy’, we understand why Jesus inserted this parable between the topics of treasure. The word “healthy”, Haplous in Greek, means good or single or generous. The word ‘unhealthy’, poneros, means evil, double-minded, and selfish.  The eye is the lamp of our body. If our eyes are healthy, our whole body is full of light. If not, the result is opposite.  The eye is the equivalent to the ‘heart.’ When our heart is good, our whole body is full of light. When our heart is evil, our whole body is full of darkness. When we are generous to others, we are full of joy. On the contrary, when we become selfish, darkness fills our soul.  In the same token, when we serve the Lord God with a single and undivided loyalty, we are full of light. When our hearts is divided by the things of the world, we are full of darkness. God gave us only one heart, whereas he gave us two eyes and two ears. God wants us to love him and serve him with this one heart. A slave cannot serve two masters. Either he hates the one and loves the other, or he devotes himself to the one and despises the other. He cannot serve two masters because he has only one master whom he must serve and obey.

  Look at verse 24. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Here Jesus teaches us that we have only one master whom we serve and obey. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Tim 6:10) Money is mamona in Greek and mammon in English, which means wealth or property. Money cannot be our God. It is not our object of worship. If we love money more than God, money become our idol. We have only one master who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has the Lordship over our lives. In Deuteronomy 6:4, God says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one”, which means we have only one master, one Lord, one object of worship, who is God.

  Some may ask why we can’t love both God and money. They are like those who put one leg on the train and the other on the ground. When the train begins to move, they must decide whether they put themselves on the train or stay on the ground. They can’t put their legs on both sides. We cannot put one leg in heaven and the other on this earth. We must decide on only one. If not, our legs will be torn off. Jesus wants us to serve God and obey him with undivided loyalty. He is our King and master. Joy comes when we love him and serve him whole-heartedly. Amen.

Third, but seek first his kingdom. (25-34) Jesus’ disciples left everything and followed him. When Jesus called them, they experienced heavenly joy and had great expectations. But the life of following Jesus was not easy. Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Mt 8:20, Lk 9:58) They confronted cold reality. They began to worry about their future security. They did not understand Jesus’ teaching about treasures in heaven. They needed a lot of bagels right now for their hungry stomachs. They began to worry about what to eat, what to drink, and what to wear.

  Jesus knew his disciples very well and said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” (25) While Jesus was teaching, some birds were flying over him and his disciples. Jesus pointed to the birds and said. “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” We wonder how our neighbors the squirrels survive in the cold winter. God feeds them. They are safe unless they run across the street while we are driving and not paying attention. We are children of God. We are much more than birds in the air and squirrels in our front yard. God will feed us and provide us, more surely than he does for these animals.

In verses 28-30 Jesus reaffirms God’s care for his children with the story of flowers and Solomon’s glory. Look at verses 28-30. “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you---you of little faith?”  Jesus saw their worry as a lack of faith. What, then, we should not worry?  By worrying nothing can be changed or improved. Look at verse 27. “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” When we worry, we shorten the span of our lives. This is because worry causes all kinds of mental illness and diseases. We also should not worry because our Heavenly Father God knows what we need. Look at verses 31,32. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat? or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Little Joshua and Victoria do not worry about their food or clothes. This is because their parents know what they need and provides all necessary things all the time. Our Father God knows what we need more than we know. Therefore, we don’t have to worry about our future security. For the last ten years I have never seen starving people here among our church members, whether they are young or old, poor or rich. God feeds us and takes cares of us. Amen.

What does God want us to do instead of worrying? Let us read verse 33. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us how to pray, “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (10) Jesus teaches us to seek God’s kingdom first. We must pray that God’s kingdom may come into our hearts first, then to others, and to the whole world. Seeking God’s kingdom implies both a personal and a missional task. What does it mean to seek God’s righteousness? It is not to seek justification as Paul indicates in the book of Romans. (Ro 1:17) To seek God’s righteousness means to seek righteousness of life in full submission to the will of God. (D.A. Carson: Expositor’s Bible Commentary) This is the same prayer topic as ‘Your will be done’.  In other words, it means to change from a self-centered life to a God-centered life.  Jesus teaches us to have a right relationship with God by seeking his kingdom and following his will. This is a matter of priority. This is a matter of choice which is done by a decision of faith. The three main topics in the Sermon on the Mount are: purity, prayer, and priority. Jesus teaches us to put God first and seek his kingdom first. Jesus wants us to choose the kingdom of heaven rather than treasures on this earth. If a chance to choose only one is given to you between God and Money, what are you going to choose? God or Money?

Look at verse 34. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Please do not worry in advance. We don’t have to worry about tomorrow because we really don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Instead, let us trust in God and seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. Especially let us pray for the coming Easter Bible Conference. Amen.


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