Kingdom Abundance - Matthew 6:19-34

INTRO

We are continuing on in our Sermon on the Mount series.

Jesus has us look at what it is that we value?

If you come to our house you will find no less that anywhere from 6/7 different ways to hand brew coffee.

From a clever drip, french press, siphon pot, mokah pot, v-60, aeropress and more.

Because at one point and time I was CONVINCED this was the best and most essential way to make coffee.

Do you know what all of those coffee makers have in common?

They’re all collecting dust.

Call it a mix of parenting and getting older but now we just push a button.

Many of us have things that are collecting dust.

Things we once thought we couldn’t live without now are finding their way into a donate pile.

Today we find Jesus transitioning in the Sermon on the Mount.

He comes to speak at how we look at our lives.

What is it we truly prize?

What are we trusting?

What worries us?

What keeps us up at night?

This morning I want you to see that Jesus invites you to freedom.

Big Idea: Trusting an infinitely good father liberates us from worry, drawing us closer to the kingdom’s abundance.

Today if you find yourself worried, indifferent, overwhelmed, or somewhere in between the words of Jesus are for you.

1. Where is your treasure?

What do you love?

Jesus has something to say to us about what we prize.

We're all in the pursuit of something that drives us, that thing which makes us leap out of bed in the morning.

Jesus presents a choice between two masters: earthly gains, which are temporary and fickle, or heavenly rewards, which are enduring and true.

This choice defines our actions, our goals, and ultimately, our allegiance.

He does this by comparing 2 sets of treasures, eyes, and masters

Two Treasures (v.19-20)

Matthew 6:19–20 (ESV)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Have you ever had something you prized just to lose it?

VW Golf

New Bible

Jesus is speaking to this idea of being dominated by things.

That if we hoard possessions, if we there is something that we truly could not give up for the kingdom then we do not own those things they own us.

Hotel - If I started investing a lot in my room you would be very concerned.

Why? Because it is a temporary residence.

That is precisely what Jesus is trying to get us to see.

That when we treasure something temporal it’s a terrible treasure.

One day what we ARE worth will be what we WERE worth.

Who we ARE will travel with you into eternity not WHAT you have.

Jesus tells us to look at our hearts.

The idea of heart was the seat of who a person was.

So when Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be

He means your decision making, your focus, your energy.

So what is that for you?

Where is your treasure?

What occupies our thoughts when we have nothing else to do? What occupies our daydreams?

What do we fret most about?

Apart from our loved ones, what or whom do we most dread losing?

What are the things that we measure others by?

What is it that we know we cannot be happy without?

How different would our lives be if we treasured Jesus?

Two Eyes (v. 22-23)

Matthew 6:22–23 (ESV)

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

It’s been said this way what you behold is what you become.

When Jesus is speaking of the eye he is talking about where we set our gaze.

This has been our predicament since Eden.

Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Eve saw

She wanted

She took

She spread

See, Want, Take, Spread it

Have you ever heard, “Looking doesn’t hurt?”

We think we are stronger than our mother and fathers.

What are your eyes filled with?

Online Shopping - You see an add, you watch a review video on youtube, before you know it…You’ve got a tracking number

John Mark Comer says it this way:

“Put another way, the mind is the portal to the soul, and what you fill your mind with will shape the trajectory of your character. In the end, your life is no more than the sum of what you gave your attention to. That bodes well for those apprentices of Jesus who give the bulk of their attention to him and to all that is good, beautiful, and true in his world. But not for those who give their attention to the 24-7 news cycle of outrage and anxiety and emotion-charged drama or the nonstop feed of celebrity gossip, titillation, and cultural drivel… But again: we become what we give out attention to, for better or worse.” _Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

We become what we behold.

We are being transformed into His likeness by looking intently on who He is.

Jesus is saying turn your gaze to him not there.

Two Masters (V.24)

Matthew 6:24 (ESV)

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Old saying, “The only difference between men and boys is that men buy more expensive toys.”

Now is Jesus saying money is bad?

No, we are.

this word translated money is actually Mammon.

It refers to not only money but possessions.

What Jesus is saying is that too often our possessions posses us.

Mammon means trusted thing.

The name is appropriate because we often trust money.

We look to it to provide security, stability, happiness.

Wisdom has always taught us that money is a good tool but a bad god.

Proverbs 30:8–9 (ESV)

Remove far from me falsehood and lying;

give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is needful for me,

lest I be full and deny you

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

or lest I be poor and steal

and profane the name of my God.

Jesus presents a choice between two ways of life.

Will we store treasure on earth or in heaven?

Will our eyes be light or dark?

Will we serve God or mammon?

This question speaks equally to the rich and the poor, listen because both can look to wealth for security.

Everyone is capable of greed.

Anyone can think that they would be happy if they had just a little more.

This is why Jesus calls money a rival god.

People trust in their trust funds.

They find security in their securities.

They expect wealth to grant them the blessed life.

But like every false god, money disappoints its worshipers.

Jesus shows us that our treasures, eyes, and master will determine whether we have an abundant life or an overwhelmed and anxious life.

Many of us realize we are tired, worried and riddled with anxiety and that leads us to our second questions:

2. Whose kingdom do you seek?

The problem - We are worried and anxious

Matthew 6:25–34 (ESV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

In the new testament the word anxious means to be torn apart.

Do we ever feel that?

Our heads says, it’s going to be ok. Think logically.

Our hearts pull us down saying it’s terrible.

The word worry comes from a root word that means to strangle.

Have you ever felt strangled by worry?

Are you worried about things in your life?

Does it feel like you are being strangled by circumstances, by relationships, by work, or even by your hobbies ?

Maybe it is time to look at these things and start prying their fingers off your throat

It’s been said we are crucified between two thiefs, the regrets of yesterday and the worries of tomorrow.

What do we do with our overwhelming anxiety?

Jesus actually shows us the cure to our anxiety and our worry.

He gives it to us at the end of our passage in three words. Faith, Father, and First

A Faith (v. 30)

Remember we said what we behold we become.

Deep faith isn't about digging deep within ourselves or trying to stir up feelings of trust in God.

Jesus points us in a different direction: look at how God cares for everything around us.

Take a moment to watch the birds flying above or to really see the lilies and the grass under your feet.

They're not just part of the landscape; they're signs pointing straight to God, showing us how He looks after every part of His creation.

When we realize that God dresses the world around us with such care and attention, it's a gentle reminder that He's got us covered too.

And let's face it, even Solomon, with all his wealth and luxury, couldn't come close to matching the effortless grace of a single lily or zinnia (Eccl. 2:1–11).

So, why worry about what we're going to wear?

This week I have enjoyed looking at the life of J. Hudson Taylor - China Inland Mission - Well known missonary - friend of Spurgeon.

Hudson Taylor's life was changed when he received a letter. He had been serving as a missionary and was often wracked by anxiety and worry.

“When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before. “I saw not only that Jesus will never leave me, but that I am a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine is not the root merely, but all—root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit. And Jesus is not that alone—He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of seeing this truth!” _ Hudson Taylor

He discovered that it wasn't by Hudson Taylor trying to be faithful to God, but Hudson Taylor just trusting God's faithfulness.

That's what made the difference, he says, “Not by looking to myself.”

Many believers fall into the trap of self-reliance.

We mistakenly believe that success in our spiritual life is a result of our efforts to do more and try harder.

When we hear sermons about overcoming anxiety and worry, instead of feeling uplifted, we often end up berating ourselves.

Don’t do that friends. Don’t berate yourselves.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jer. 17:9. Learn much of the Lord Jesus. For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely. Such infinite majesty, and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief! Live much in the smiles of God. Bask in his beams. Feel his all-seeing eye settled on you in love, and repose in his almighty arms. Let your soul be filled with a heart-ravishing sense of the sweetness and excellency of Christ and all that is in Him. Let the Holy Spirit fill every chamber of your heart; and so there will be no room for folly, or the world, or Satan, or the flesh.” _Robert Murray McCheyne

Hudson Taylor said, “It's not by my faithfulness by but by looking away to the faithful one I change.”

That's the first secret for victory over worry.

A Father (v.32)

Jesus taught us to pray to our father who is in heaven.

Father

It’s Our Father who is in heaven not our judge who art at thy bench

You have a father who loves you and knows what you need.

My son does not worry all day long whether his house will be there when he gets home or whether his parents will have a meal for him that evening.

Children do not worry about these things, because they trust their parents.

In the same way, we should trust our heavenly Father to supply what is best for us

Conventional wisdom often suggests that hard work and pursuit of material possessions are the paths to success.

However, when we understand that the King of all is also our Father, who is aware of our necessities and actively provides for them,

This allows us to live without the burden of anxiety.

Faith in God dispels anxious fear.

It's easy to get caught up in what the future might hold and let worry take over.

But when we reflect on how God looks after even the birds and the flowers can bring us peace.

The carefree believer is not reckless.

But we are calm as we look at the near horizon, our daily needs, and look ahead to the distant horizon, the eternal kingdom.

Finally

Our First (v. 33)

Seek first the kingdom isn't just an inspiring motto; it's the very heartbeat of following Jesus.

He assures us that by focusing on the kingdom, we align ourselves with a life where our needs are met in ways far beyond the mundane pursuits of everyday life.

Ray Ortlund really helped me understand this idea.

The Lord isn’t saying, “If what you really want is ‘all these things,’ here’s how you get it. Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.”

He can’t be saying that, because seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness first means first.

The word “first” makes the kingdom and righteousness, not the ‘all these things,’ our true goal.

God is generous, but he will not be used as a stepping-stone to something higher.

The Lord is saying, “Make it THE goal of your life, even above necessities, to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness.

Use everything else in your life to make progress toward this goal and to help others make progress toward this goal.

Don’t use God toward the things of this life, but use the things of this life toward God, and God promises he will back you up.

He will give you all of ‘all these things’ that you need for a God-seeking-first, kingdom-advancing-first, righteousness-pursuing-first lifestyle.

Every one of us is either seeking God or using God, moment by moment.

The word “first” reveals the difference.

And God’s promise belongs to all who seek him first.

The only safe place in all the world.

It's about finding our greatest joy and purpose in the expansion of His rule and reign in our hearts and across the world.

CONCLUSION

Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

"Do not be anxious about tomorrow," This means focus on today right now. Jesus is speaking to you.

He is saying do not fret over the future.

Worry has been described as “a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained

A good memory test: What were you worrying about this time last year?

Listen the demands and challenges of today are sufficient to engage our attention fully.

When we dell on "what might happen tomorrow" it can lead us to either stew over potential problems or daydream about possible successes.

Either way, we risk losing focus on our primary mission of serving the kingdom here and now.

The privilege of living in service to the King should be more than enough to occupy our thoughts and actions completely.

Martin Luther in his autobiography says, I have one preacher I love better than any other; it is my little, tame robin, who preaches to me daily. I put his crumbs upon my window sill, especially at night. He hops onto the sill when he wants his supply, and takes as much as he desires to satisfy his need. From thence he always hops to a little tree close by, and lifts up his voice to God, and sings his carol of praise and gratitude, tucks his little head under his wings, and goes fast to sleep, to leave tomorrow to look after itself.

—Martin Luther

Trusting an infinitely good father liberates us from worry, drawing us closer to the kingdom’s abundance.

In what ways have I allowed my possessions or desires to own me, and how can I shift my focus back to serving the kingdom?

How can I adjust my ambitions to align more closely with God's kingdom rather than personal success or recognition?

What specific worry about tomorrow am I holding onto that I need to trust God with today?

What is Jesus inviting me to do or become in regards to my anxious heart?