Conference Notes

At salvation, Christians are included not only in the Church of God but also in the kingdom of God. These chapters in Matthew give us the Lord's own words about how we should live as subjects of His kingdom (compare Matthew 5:1-3).

The truths of the kingdom and the Church are never in conflict with each other; rather, they support each other. Christians may be using their spiritual gifts for the blessing of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:16), and by the same acts they are serving the Lord as subjects in His kingdom. We should consider this well because it makes us realize our responsibility for proper service.

Christ's kingdom will be fully seen when He visibly comes back to earth to reign as the King of kings. By remembering that we are subjects of the kingdom of heaven, we display His kingdom now. What the kingdom is going to be then should be seen exactly the same way now among Christians.

The Lordship of Christ suggests ownership, because He is our Creator and Redeemer; supremacy, because He deserves the preeminent place in our lives; and submission, because we should respond to His rights with humility.

The first area deals with acts of charity or kindness. We should not do kind deeds in ways designed to bring attention to ourselves (Matthew 6:2). Otherwise, we will only receive a human reward; but the Father sees in secret, and His rewards are eternal. The Father is the One who evaluates our actions and detects whether we really have the supremacy of Christ as our heart's motive.

Charitable deeds are not limited to giving money. There are many ways we can give of ourselves to help others. At the same time, it's true that giving money is a very significant way for us to show our commitment to God's kingdom. If we are not faithful in handling material things, God cannot entrust greater spiritual things to us (Luke 16:11).

We are not to pray with empty prayers that are frequently repeated by rote, as if we will thereby get God's attention (6:7). The prophets of Baal prayed this way (1 Kings 18:16). Even the model prayer the Lord gave His disciples (6:9-13) is not designed for such repetition; He said we should pray "after this manner" but not that the prayer itself was to be repeated. We never find any of the early Christians in Acts praying these exact words. Yet the principles of this prayer are very helpful.

The state of our own hearts is a key aspect of prayer. The forgiveness of others (6:12) is the only aspect of this model prayer that the Lord elaborates upon (vv.14-15).

There also seems to be a moral aspect of fasting that is not limited to abstaining from food. Anna was an older sister who fasted every day, but it's likely she wasn't giving up food on a daily basis. She was exercising self-denial as she waited for Christ's arrival into the world (Luke 2:36-38).

This part of Matthew 6 emphasizes our priorities. Verses 19-21 asked where we are storing our treasure. The rich farmer (Luke 12:16-21) planned to store up his produce so he could have an easy life, but he forgot his spiritual needs. Only heavenly treasure is safe from corruption and violence, which are two notable features of the world from the time of Noah onward (Genesis 6:11).

By contrast, Moses knew how to evaluate the treasures of Egypt as well as the treasures of Christ, and he was able to refuse the worldly treasures even though it brought greater reproach (Hebrews 11:24). Where did he learn this? No doubt it was at home, during the few years his mother cared for him before he lived in Pharaoh's palace.

In Revelation 19:8, we learn that we are making contributions now to the Church's "wedding dress." The righteous acts of the saints of God form the garment which the Church will display in the future as the bride of Christ.

Storing up treasure is not for our own glory, but for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Therefore we need a "single eye" (Matthew 6:22)---vision that is clear, undistracted, and simply focused on the rights of the Lord Jesus. Then we will be able to discern if our actions are storing up heavenly treasures or not.

We only have one heart. That heart has to be dedicated somewhere. We cannot have two master passions (Matthew 6:24).

Possessions and riches are not wrong in themselves. Loving them and focusing on storing them up, as if we can depend on them for our future security, seem to be the issues warned against.

This is the place to apply the promise, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

Matthew 7 emphasizes our relationships with others. The first lesson (v. 1) teaches us not to judge other servants of the Master (compare Romans 14:4). There certainly are times when we should judge, as in Matthew 7:16 or 1 Corinthians 6:1-2. But in this context, we do not judge.

The Word of God reveals to our own selves the intents of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12), but we are not to try to imagine the intentions of others.

In the context of Matthew 7, we are not to judge because the critical standard we apply in judgment will actually be applied to us. Consider the case of David, who had sinned by taking another man's wife and then arranging the man's death. When the prophet Nathan told a parable about it, David pronounced judgment on the selfish man in the story. Then Nathan said, "You are the man" (2 Samuel 11-12).

The hypocrites in chapter 6 were unbelievers, but here even a believer is a hypocrite (7:5). Imagine the lack of sensitivity in not knowing that a beam is in your own eye! We would not want the help of an eye doctor who himself could not see clearly because of such impaired vision.

Verse 6 talks about keeping precious things away from "dogs" and "pigs." These were unclean animals to the Jewish people, and they represent scoffing unbelievers today. We don't try to force spiritual truths on those who reject them. The owner of these "pearls" is throwing them down; he doesn't seem to appreciate their spiritual value, either.

Prayer is not a blank check. We can count on our Father to give good things to us; and He likes us to ask, as well (v. 11).

In the concluding words of the Lord's message, we ask ourselves, "Where is our foundation?" (7:24-29). There are many things upon which to build, but only the Lord Jesus and His teachings are solid rock. The key thing is to do what He has said (v. 24).

At the Lord's birth, there were wise men who came from the East to bring Him their treasures. If we listen to the Lord ourselves, we can be wise men, too (7:24).