Into Matthew chapter six, we'll just read a
few verses from that chapter.
Matthew chapter six, verse one, take heed not
to do your arms before men to be
seen of men, otherwise ye have your reward
with your Father who is in the heavens.
Now the better manuscript, the word arms should
be righteousness.
So let's read it again.
Take heed not to do your righteousness before
men to be seen of them, otherwise ye
have no reward with your Father who is
in the heavens.
Verse twenty-four, no one can serve two
masters, for either he will hate the one
or will love the other, or he will
hold to the one and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammoths.
Verse thirty-three, but seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you.
Shall we pray?
Lord, our hearts do rejoice in Thy presence.
We do thank Thee for what Thou hast
done among the children.
We do thank Thee for giving us a
spirit of praise because Thou art worthy.
And we thank Thee for gathering us together
tonight to look into Thy Word.
Lord, we do ask that Thy Holy Spirit
will breathe upon Thy Word and quicken Thy
Word to our hearts, that we may not
just hear with our outward ear, but we
may really hear it with our inward ear.
Lord, we do look to Thee to make
Thy Word real, living, active, practical to our
daily lives, that Thou mayst be glorified.
So we just commit Thy Word back into
Thy hand and ask Thee to break it
to us in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
We were together last night, and we mentioned
that the burden for these two evenings is
how to live in the kingdom of God
today.
We realize that when the Lord saves us,
He has delivered us out of the authority
of darkness.
And has translated us into the kingdom of
the Son of God's love.
In other words, when we believe in the
Lord Jesus, it was more than just a
matter of having our sins forgiven, which is
great.
More than a matter of having the assurance
that one day we will be in heaven,
and that is great.
But, when we believe in the Lord Jesus,
He has done something even greater.
And that is, He has delivered us out
of the authority of darkness.
In other words, before we believe in the
Lord Jesus, we belong to the kingdom of
this world.
And the ruler of this world is Satan,
the adversary, the enemy of God.
And he used darkness to rule over this
world.
And we are under that authority.
We are under that rule.
But thank God, when we believe in the
Lord Jesus, He has delivered us out of
the authority of darkness.
So we are no longer of this world.
We are no longer under the authority of
darkness.
And He has translated us into the kingdom
of the Son of God's love.
Now that is something already done.
Do not think that it is something to
be done in the future.
Just like some people think that eternal life
is something for the future and not for
today.
But we must remember, it has said that
He has delivered us.
It is something that is already done.
And He has translated us out and into
a new kingdom.
The kingdom of God's Son.
The kingdom of the beloved Son of God.
So brothers and sisters, we need to understand
where we are today.
We are today no longer in the kingdom
of darkness.
Even though we still live in this world.
But we are not of this world.
We today belong to the kingdom of God.
To the kingdom of God's Son.
The kingdom of love.
That's where we belong.
And that's where we are today.
So I think first of all we need
to underline it.
We need to reinforce it.
We need to make it so sure and
firm in our conviction.
That this is something that God has already
done.
In Christ Jesus.
We are today in the kingdom of God.
In the kingdom of the heavens.
That's where we are today.
This is our position.
And if we are clear on this.
Then our question will be.
Since He has translated us into the kingdom
of His own.
And that's where we are.
Now we need to learn how to live
in that kingdom.
To be in the kingdom is one thing.
To live in that kingdom is another thing.
We can be in the kingdom and yet
we really are not of the kingdom.
Why?
Because we do not live there.
Our life seems to be still living in
that old kingdom.
Instead of really living in this new kingdom
that we are in today.
So that is our burden for this time.
How to live in the kingdom of God
today?
Now we know that one day.
The kingdom of God shall be publicly manifested
upon this earth.
And we are all looking forward to that
day.
But before that day comes.
So far as we are concerned.
The kingdom has already come.
And we are already in that kingdom.
So we shouldn't wait until in the future
days.
To learn how to live in that kingdom.
We need to learn right now.
Today.
How to live in that kingdom?
We mentioned last night.
That this kingdom of the heavens is so
different.
From the kingdom of this world.
It is heavenly.
It is spiritual.
And it manifests the character of God.
It expresses the very character of our Lord
Jesus.
And for us to live in that kingdom.
We need to have that character built up.
And developed.
And manifested in our daily lives.
But this in a sense.
Is impossible with man.
So when you read the Sermon on the
Mount.
Now if we are honest.
When we read it.
Probably our first reaction will be.
Well I will try.
I will do it.
But.
Maybe the second thought.
Or maybe after you have tried for some
time.
You discover that.
The requirement of that kingdom is so high.
The standard is so high.
That it is impossible with man.
Not only it is impossible with you.
But it is impossible to all men.
No matter who he is.
And you begin to realize.
The only one that can live such a
life.
Of the kingdom.
And the only one that has manifested.
Is our Lord Jesus.
When he was on earth.
He lived in that kingdom.
And he was that kingdom.
The character of God was fully manifested in
him.
And he lived in absolute obedience.
To the Father.
So now we come to see the secret.
Of living in the kingdom of God today.
And the secret is.
Not I.
If we try to live in that kingdom.
By our own life.
You find it is impossible.
No man can do that.
But if we realize.
That it is the life.
Of Christ.
That is in us.
And he is going to relive as it
were.
His life.
In each one of us.
And if we allow him to live in
us.
The result is.
We are living in the kingdom now.
So.
We will not be able to go back.
And cover the whole ground.
But that is what we cover last night.
Now this evening we would like to.
Go a step further.
And that is.
We have known the secret now.
It is the kingdom life.
That enables us to live in that kingdom.
And we must allow that life to live
through us.
Now the way of allowing that life to
live out through us.
Is through the cross.
We have to learn to deny ourselves.
To take up the cross.
And follow the Lord.
And learn of him.
And that is where his character is built.
Up within us.
Now this evening we would like to say.
Now we know we have that kingdom life
in us.
Now how are we going.
To have that kingdom living.
Because.
Even though the Lord has delivered us out
of this world.
And last night we mentioned that.
We are in a colony.
A heavenly colony upon this earth.
And in that colony.
The rule is heavenly rule.
And everything in that colony is heavenly.
Now if we want to use another term.
We can say that.
That is what the church is.
What is the church?
The church is the heavenly colonies upon this
earth.
Here and there you will find those who
are called out of this world.
Gathered together unto the name of our Lord
Jesus.
That is under the authority of God's son.
Now here you will find a colony.
A heavenly colony upon this dirty earth.
So that is what the church is.
And in the church you will find.
The rule is not the rule of this
earth.
It is heaven that rules upon.
And our lifestyle is not following the fashion
of this world.
But our lifestyle is according to heaven.
So in the church you will find that.
Everything is according to the kingdom of the
heavens.
That is what the church is.
But the church is upon this earth.
So in the church.
Probably you can say.
Well in the church we learn to love
one another.
In the church we try to do everything
according to God.
But physically we are still in this world.
Our environment hasn't changed.
This world is as corrupt as it ever
be.
And probably it is more corrupted.
And you will find the pressure upon us
even is greater than probably in the first
century.
Now thank God one day even our circumstances,
our environment will change.
That is when our Lord Jesus shall come
back.
And he shall establish his kingdom publicly upon
this earth.
Now when that day comes you will find
that even our environment is completely changed.
Because when you read the phrase Isaiah.
You will find that in that time you
will find that the lion will eat grass
as the ox.
And you will find that children can play
as the whole of the serpent.
And nothing in the holy mountain hurt anybody.
You know because the knowledge of the Lord
fills the earth as waters fills the sea.
And at that time everything is changed.
But today our environment, what surrounds us hasn't
changed.
We are in the kingdom.
But this kingdom is upon this earth.
So in other words here you will find
we need to live the kingdom living today
in this environment.
Now the word of God is not only
spiritual it is practical.
It is not theological or theoretical.
It is real and practical even today.
So when you turn to Matthew chapter 6.
You will find that whole chapter deals with
our practical daily living.
How do we live our kingdom life in
our common day living?
Now in a sense you will find that
our life upon this earth is composed of
two different areas.
One is what we will call the devotional
aspect of our life.
Maybe we say well that's the spiritual side.
And the other side is the mundane everyday
secular what we call the secular aspect of
our life.
Now as a matter of fact you know
with a believer there is nothing spiritual or
secular.
There is no such difference.
And you will find that these two sides
actually affect each other.
And they are just part of one whole.
But anyway for the sake of convenience you
will find that when we live as believers
as people in the kingdom of God.
We really have these two areas two aspects
of life.
One is devotional we call it our spiritual
life.
And the other is mundane the secular side
of our living.
Now that's what you find in chapter 6
of Matthew.
Matthew from chapter 1 I mean from chapter
6 verse 1 to verse 18 deals with
our devotional side.
And from 19 to the end that is
34 it deals with the mundane the secular
side of our life.
But before we enter into these two sides
I think there is an overall governing principle
that we have to understand first.
And that is in order to live kingdom
living today we have to live in the
presence of God our father.
We say that we live that life we
live because we have that kingdom life in
us.
Thank God for that it already there.
But for that kingdom life to really in
a practical sense to live out today you
really need to be in the presence of
God our father.
Because this life is nourished and is supported,
sustained, maintained, encouraged, strengthened only in the presence
of our father.
Or to put it in another way unless
we are in daily communion with God our
father we will not be able to maintain
a kingdom living today.
In spite of the fact that we already
have that kingdom life in us.
You know so in order to live that
kind of living brothers and sisters there is
a fundamental principle which is basic but is
something that sometimes we forget because it is
too elementary it is too basic.
And that is daily we have to maintain
an uninterrupted communion with God our father.
Look at our Lord Jesus when he was
on earth how did he live that kingdom
living?
You find that in the life of our
Lord Jesus there is an uninterrupted communication, communion
between him and the father.
There was not a moment you find that
communication was cut.
You find that his whole life on earth
was governed by one principle and that is
the pleasure of his father.
His life was very simple he lived for
the will of God.
Lord I come to do thy will and
all he asked is does it please the
father and that is kingdom living.
He did not think of himself he did
not think of what the world would think
of him but all that he was thinking
was does it please the father.
If it pleases the father for him to
go to the cross there he will go.
If it pleases the father to drink that
bitter cup he will drink it.
He will drink it not because it is
a bitter cup but because it is the
will of the father.
It pleases the father.
So here you will find the whole life
of our Lord Jesus is in uninterrupted communion
with his father.
That communing was broken only for a short
time on the cross.
And in a sense you know that hurt
him most.
Because when he was crucified on the cross
from the nine o'clock to twelve o
'clock that three hours.
To us it was a most difficult time.
Why because there he was crucified rejected by
man.
He was mocked by the people.
And the kingdom of darkness was surrounding him
and trying to devour him.
And he suffered physically he suffered mentally.
And he suffered to such a degree but
you find during that three hours he was
able to pray.
Father forgive them for they know not what
they do.
He was able to commit his mother to
John.
He was able to tell that robber that
he will be with him today in paradise.
He was not thinking of himself.
I mean the suffering was tremendous but there
was strength.
Why because his communion with the father was
uninterrupted during that three hours.
But when he came to twelve o'clock
and then you find the sun was darkened.
It was a sign that during that time
starting from that point until his death.
For that three hours he was separated from
the father.
So his cry was not father but say
my God my God why has thou forsaken
me.
In other words during that three hours he
was made the sin offering of this world.
He who knew no sin was made sin
for us.
And because he was made sin for us
therefore God being the righteous God.
He had to turn away from his beloved
son.
In a sense in Isaiah 53 you find
it was God the father who crushed him.
It was the father's hand not man's hand
not Satan's hand.
But it was the hand of the father
that crushed him.
Why because he offered himself to be the
sin offering.
That was the taste of eternal death.
So in a sense our Lord Jesus tasted
eternal death for every one of us.
Separation from God is eternal death.
But thank God when the work was done
he said it is finished.
Then he commit his spirit to his father.
The communion was restored.
So you find that during the life of
our Lord Jesus how is it that he
was able to live that kingdom living.
In whatever circumstances he may be in.
Under whatever condition he might be in.
You find he was able to live the
kingdom living.
It is because not only he was the
son of God.
But also there was that uninterrupted communion.
So brothers and sisters we have to come
back to the basics.
You know sometimes we think well we believe
in the Lord Jesus.
And even some people began to see the
co-crucifixion with Christ.
That we were crucified with Christ.
And we thought well now everything is alright.
We are able to live that kingdom living
from now.
But brothers and sisters unless we abide in
him.
We make our home in him.
Continually be in him.
And he abide in us.
We have no strength.
We cannot bear fruit.
So the important principle here is we have
to be always in the presence of God.
Never for a moment go away from that
presence.
Now it is true.
Sometimes so far as our feeling is concerned
we may not sense the presence of the
Lord.
And that is where we need to exercise
faith.
Because we live by faith not by sight.
But on the other hand you will find
that sometimes there are things that come into
our lives.
That interrupt that communion.
And we know it.
And we need to immediately confess.
And let the blood of the Lord Jesus
cleanse us.
That our communion fellowship with the Father may
be restored.
And I think that is most basic.
It is a daily thing.
And we cannot afford to be forgetful of
that.
Now having said that.
Then we can come into this practical kingdom
living upon this earth.
You know chapter 6 verse 1 actually is
an introduction.
It is an introduction word to what follows.
Up to verse 18.
The Lord said now take heed not to
do your righteousness before man.
To be seen of them.
Otherwise you have no reward with your Father
who is in the heavens.
So you find that the Father.
The consciousness of being in the presence of
God the Father is always there.
Now if it is there.
Then you find you will not try to
live before man.
But you live before God.
So he said now take heed not to
do your righteousness.
Now the righteousness here is not Christ our
righteousness.
You know we had no righteousness of our
own.
And our righteousness were as filthy rags.
You know just like the leaves.
The thick leaves that Adam and Eve put
upon them.
You know they thought they were covered.
But you find the weather changed.
And there was a cold wind coming.
And when it blows you know it does
not cover at all.
So when the Lord came into the garden
Adam said we were naked.
And that is true.
We had no righteousness of our own.
We thought we were righteous but our righteousness
were as filthy rags.
But when we come to the Lord Jesus.
God put upon us the best robe.
When the prodigal returned.
That rags were taken off.
And he was put on the best robe.
Now what is that best robe?
That best robe is Christ our righteousness.
God clothes us with Christ.
And because of that when God look at
us.
He sees Christ and not us.
And that is the reason why we are
justified before him.
As if we have never sinned.
But the righteousness here is not that.
Because he said do your righteousness.
Now we already mentioned we cannot be righteous.
We cannot do anything right before God.
But here you finally said do your righteousness.
Now after we are saved.
After we have Christ as our righteousness.
Then the Lord said you need to do
your righteousness.
In other words the righteousness here is practical
righteousness.
How are we to do righteously before God
every day?
And do you know that?
To do that kind of righteousness.
Is to put on our wedding garment.
You know we have to wear a lot
of garments.
Christ our righteousness is the first garment.
You know.
But if you read Psalm 45 you will
find that.
The Queen is dressed with a golden garment.
But over it is an embroidery.
That's the wedding garment.
The golden garment speaks of Christ our righteousness.
It's all gold.
But over above it there is an embroidered
garment.
And embroidered garment speaks of how the Holy
Spirit.
Who is so patient like an embroiderer.
He is using stitches after stitches to build
into us the character of Christ.
It's a tedious work.
But He is so patient.
And because the life is already there.
Now without a life He has no ground
to work upon.
But with the life of Christ in us.
Now the Holy Spirit comes and begins to
stitch Christ into our life.
You know.
And this is to do right.
Outwardly we are doing righteousness.
But actually it is the Holy Spirit who
is building out the character of Christ within
us.
So it is really Christ Himself and not
us.
But we cooperate.
We allow Him to do it.
We allow that life to be manifested in
righteousness.
And this kind of righteousness is character building.
And that is the wedding garment of the
bride.
That you find in Revelation chapter 19.
The bride has made herself ready.
And He was given that bright, shiny, white
robe.
Linen.
Made of linen.
Which is the righteousness of the saints.
It is considered as the righteousness of the
saints.
But of course we know.
It is Christ being formed in us.
So this is what it means here.
And that is the righteousness that you find
in 1 John.
It says, you know, God is righteous.
Therefore we have to be righteous.
You know.
It is practical righteousness.
Now how are we going to have that
kind of righteousness?
And again you find that.
The Pharisees and the scribes, they have their
righteousness.
But our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of
the scribes and the Pharisees.
So the scribes and the Pharisees, they have
their devotional life.
They do.
And their devotional lives are threefold.
Number one is almsgiving.
They give.
They give alms.
That is part of their devotional life.
And number two is prayer.
They practice prayer.
And number three, they fast.
Now these three things are the devotional life
of the scribes and the Pharisees.
But how do they practice this righteousness?
They give alms.
But they give alms to be seen.
So the Bible says, now do not blow
a trumpet, you know, when you give alms.
Now some people actually try to interpret in
a little way and say that is what
they did in the old days.
When a scribe or Pharisee is going to
give alms, they blow the trumpet so the
poor will come, you know, and then the
alms will be given.
So everybody will see.
And everybody knows who is doing this good
work.
And you receive all the praises from man.
So the Lord said, now, don't do it
that way.
Because if you don't do it that way,
you receive reward from man.
You know, devotional life is between you and
the Lord.
Devotional life is not to be seen by
people, purposely, in order to be praised by
man.
Devotional life is your secret life with the
Lord.
It is the hidden life with the Lord.
And it is for the Lord to know.
It is for the Lord to see.
And when He sees it, He will reward
you.
Now see, doing righteousness will be rewarded.
And the reward, of course, we know, is
the kingdom.
In the Millennium Kingdom, you will rule and
reign with Christ for a thousand years.
That's the reward.
And other people say, well, this is symbolic.
It is really not literally blow the trumpet.
And there is another interpretation saying that blow
the trumpet actually was the offering box in
the tabernacle, in the temple, in the chamber
of the woman, actually has the shape like
a trumpet.
So when they drop their offering in, they
make such a noise, you know.
So everybody knows that who is giving and
how much is being given.
You remember our Lord was watching there, you
know, and probably they will leave it very
high so the drop will be, make a
bit of noise, you know, to be seen
by men.
And the Lord said, well, the poor widow,
she came in and sinfully, because she had
nothing to give and just two pennies, and
she probably stealing and drop it very quietly.
And the Lord said, well, she gave more
than everybody else.
So the Lord said that when you give,
do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing.
Now, to be literal, I think it's impossible.
How can you do something with your right
hand and your left hand doesn't know about
it?
Well, if it is possible, thank God for
that.
But it doesn't seem so possible.
So probably, it is a spiritual meaning.
In other words, when you are going to
give now, do not deliberate so long and
struggle over it so long.
And after a long time, you know, you
reluctantly and unwillingly just give.
And when you are doing that, everybody knows
you are giving.
In other words, when you give, give it
secretly, willingly, before the Lord.
Why?
Because this is what God is.
Our God is the greatest divine.
He gave to such a degree that He
gave His only begotten Son.
He gave His best, He gave His all.
And He gave willingly, voluntarily and generously.
And He gave without asking, demanding for something.
He gave out of His love for us.
Now, that is the kingdom character.
And that is the character of our Lord
Jesus.
He came willingly to this earth.
No man can take away His life.
He laid down Himself for our sake.
And He gave His all for us.
That is what He is.
So, we who are the Lord's, He wants
us to be like Him.
And giving is part of our devotional life.
And He wants us to give willingly, liberally
and voluntarily.
You know, in the early church, giving is
part of their devotion.
You remember in the church in Jerusalem?
That there are many widows there?
And how they took care of these widows?
And you remember that when Paul and Barnabas
came to Jerusalem?
And the pillars of the church in Jerusalem,
John, James and Peter?
You know, they had the right hand of
fellowship.
And said, now you go to the uncircumcised
and we go to the circumcised.
You know, but one thing we want to
remember, that is remember the poor.
And Paul said, that's what we have been
doing.
And you'll find how the Gentile churches?
They gathered money to help the poor in
Jerusalem and in Judea when there was a
famine there.
So in other words, you'll find in the
early church, giving is part of their devotional
life.
And if you read Hebrews chapter 13, you'll
find that in Hebrews chapter 13, in verse
15 it said, By Him that is by
our Lord, therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise continually to God, that is the
fruit of the lips confessing His name.
And we have been doing that, the sacrifice
of praise.
You know, but immediately following it, it said
there is another sacrifice.
But of doing good and communicating of your
substance, be not forgetful.
So a sacrifice that pleases the Lord.
So, giving in the scripture, you'll find that
it is part of our devotional life.
Freely given and freely give.
That is the principle of the kingdom.
We cannot be receiving all the time and
keeping everything and not to give.
That is not the kingdom character.
So if you read 2nd Corinthians chapter 8
and chapter 9, you'll find such giving is
grace.
It is called grace.
Because it is by the grace of God
that we are able to give.
Humanly we want to receive but not to
give.
And it is also called a blessing.
It is a blessing.
So brothers and sisters, part of our devotional
life is in this area of giving.
We give what the Lord has given to
us.
And we give quietly, secretly.
This is part of our hidden life with
the Lord.
We want the Lord to know that's all.
We are not trying to let everybody know.
Now, the righteousness of the Pharisees is giving.
But that giving is for people to see.
And our righteousness has to surpass the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees.
That is one part of our devotional life.
Now the second part of our devotional life,
of course, is prayer.
And I think we all recognize that.
That is part of our devotional life, to
pray.
But how do we pray?
The Lord said, now do not pray as
the hypocrites.
Because they pray to be heard of men.
Now we are told that probably it was
true in the time of our Lord Jesus.
You know the Pharisees, they wanted to show
how pious, how religious, how godly they were.
They not only wear in their body boxes
with the scriptures in it upon their forehead
and tie them upon their arms.
But they go to the temple to pray.
And we were told that some people, they
were so anxious to show how pious they
were.
So on their way, before they arrived at
the temple, they stopped at the street corner
and started to pray.
To show how pious they were.
And actually that kind of prayer is to
be seen by men.
And you remember our Lord Jesus used a
parable in Luke chapter 18.
He said, a Pharisee came to the temple
to pray.
And he probably would march straight into the
temple as far as he could go.
And there he would lift up his head
and said, now God, look at such a
wonderful person.
You know, I gave one camp and I
fasted twice a week.
I was not like that publicans, you know.
And it was not a prayer, it was
a report.
And God never accepted such kind of report.
This is report.
And people heard about it and said, oh
look, how pious, how godly that man lived.
That's hypocrisy.
The Lord said, don't do that.
Don't do that.
Now do not pray as the nations, as
the Gentiles.
Yes, the Gentiles do pray.
You know, when they are in tight situations
and they need help, they know that they
have to pray.
But they pray to their gods and their
gods are very reluctant and very cruel.
So they have to repeat and use long
words and try to persuade their gods to
listen to them.
A short prayer wouldn't do.
You have to do lots of reasonings to
convince your god to listen to your prayer.
The Lord said, now don't do that.
Don't do that.
Because before you pray, your heavenly father knows
what you need.
Don't use vain repetitions.
Your prayer is not praying for man to
see, to hear.
You are praying to your heavenly father.
Now if you are praying to your heavenly
father, you do not need to reason with
him.
He knows, even before you pray, what you
need.
But what is really prayer?
Prayer is not just making our needs known
to God.
Prayer actually is to stand with God and
pray that His needs will be met first.
That's prayer.
Real prayer is, we know the mind of
heaven and we pray that will our heaven
be done upon this earth as it is
in heaven.
And God is so pleased that there are
His children who are in one heart and
one mind with Him.
And God said, well, I'll do it.
Now that's real prayer.
So the Lord said, when you pray, go
into the closet.
Shut yourself in.
Now it may not be literal, but surely
it is spiritual.
In other words, just between you and God.
In the closet.
You cannot put too many people in that
closet.
So just you and your heavenly father.
And you shut off the world outside of
you.
Not to be seen by man, but it
is between you and God.
That is your devotional life.
Between you and God.
And when you pray, you pray for God's
needs first.
And then your need.
Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name.
Your name is sanctified in heaven, but your
name today is being despised, blasphemed on earth.
And may your name be sanctified.
May your name be sanctified in my life,
as it is in heaven.
May your kingdom come.
Your kingdom is in heaven.
It is coming.
And may your kingdom come first to me
today and one day upon this earth.
May your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven.
In me.
And one day in the whole earth.
In other words, you find that is what
prayer really is.
You are one with your heavenly father.
And of course, the Lord said then you
pray.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Our physical need.
Forgive our sins as we forgive the sins
of others.
This is for our psychological need.
Soulical need.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from the evil one.
Our spiritual need on earth.
You know, this is the way that we
should maintain our devotional life with the Lord.
And this is kingdom living.
And we have to live every day.
You know, prayer, prayer life is a daily
life.
And this is part of our devotional life
that we have to maintain every day.
And the third thing is fasting.
Now, fasting in the inward sense means denying.
You know, fasting is more than just abstaining
from food and drink.
Now, abstaining from food and drink is fasting.
But fasting is deeper than that.
It is actually abstaining from yourself.
You know, in the Old Testament, you find
that the children of Israel were commanded to
fast only once a year.
Only on the Day of Atonement.
They were commanded to fast.
In Leviticus chapter 23 verse 27, 29, you
find afflict your soul.
That is fasting.
So on that day, they literally fasted.
I mean, they afflict their soul by abstaining
from food and drink.
And that is the only command you find
in the Old Testament time.
When you come to the time of our
Lord Jesus, you find the Pharisees, they legalized
fasting.
And make it twice a week.
Every week, two times, they fasted.
And you remember that story?
The disciples of John came to the Lord
Jesus.
I think it is in Luke 12.
It said, the Pharisees fasted.
And we fast.
Now, why is it your disciples do not
fast?
Now, the Lord said, when the bridegroom is
there with the chamber people, you know, people,
his companions, they do not fast.
But when the bridegroom is taken away, and
in the original Greek, that taken away is
violently taken away.
Then, they will fast.
So in one sense, you find that in
the New Testament, there is no command for
us to fast.
But the Lord does tell us that there
will be a time and occasion that we
should fast.
To afflict our soul.
To deny ourselves.
Now, the children of Israel, in a time
of national crisis, they fasted.
You know, so there will be occasions in
our life, individually or as a church, that
we have to fast.
You know, for instance, you find in the
book of Acts, you know, they were fasting.
Paul, after he met the Lord on Damascus
road, he was in Damascus three days without
eating and drinking.
He was fasting and praying.
And then you find in chapter 13, you
find the five prophets and teachers, you know,
they minister unto the Lord and fasting.
And after the Holy Spirit said, separate unto
me Paul and Barnabas, and they fasted, and
laid their hands on them, and they sent
them out on that mission.
So, you do find that there were occasions
of fasting in the scripture.
But we need to remember that fasting actually
is part of our devotional life.
Whether you do it physically or not, it
should be a continuous fasting, spiritually speaking.
In other words, if we do not deny
ourselves, where is our devotional life?
We need to deny ourselves constantly before the
Lord, in order to maintain a life with
the Lord.
And there will be occasions, probably, we have
to abstain even from legitimate food and drink,
to afflict our souls, to humble ourselves before
the Lord, to seek His face and His
mind, in order to overcome a certain situation.
Now, there will be occasions for that.
But anyway, you will find that fasting is
also part of our devotional life.
And that is how to live Kingdom Living.
Kingdom Living is in giving, in the way
that is according to the character, the nature
of the Kingdom.
Is to pray the Kingdom Prayer, not just
pray our own prayer, but to Kingdom Prayer,
that is, pray for the Kingdom first.
And then we need to fast, to deny
ourselves, so the will of God may get
through.
You know, this is our devotional.
And then, from verse 19 to 34, you
will find it is the secular part.
Now, we are still living in this world.
Of course, we live in the presence of
God.
And there is a devotional, hidden life with
the Lord, that we have to continually maintain.
But, there is also a public and open
life before man.
We are in this world.
And we touch the world every day.
We touch mammon every day.
It will be nice if we don't need
to touch it.
But unfortunately, we are in this world and
we have to touch it.
And we have to live.
We have to eat, we have to drink,
we have to be dressed, just like the
rest of the people in this world.
So you find that because our circumstance, environment,
this earth has not changed.
Therefore, we who live upon this earth, we
still have to live our normal life, as
everybody else does.
We have to touch mammon.
We have to maintain our living by making
a living, eating, drinking, and to be dressed,
and all these things.
We have to do that.
Like the rest of the people.
And yet we are different.
Now, how can we be different?
The difference is not in that we don't
need to touch mammon.
But in the way we touch it.
The difference is not in that we don't
need to eat or drink or to be
clothed.
The difference is our attitude towards eating, drinking,
and dressing.
That's the difference.
So you find in this section, there are
two key words.
One key word is, we read them, one
key word is verse 24.
No one can serve two masters, for either
he will hate the one or will love
the other, or he will hold on to
the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
In other words, the key word is serve.
Whom do you serve?
God or mammon?
And the second key word is seek, in
verse 34.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you.
Now brothers and sisters, we are still living
in this world.
We have to make a living.
We have to touch mammon.
And as a matter of fact, you know,
as real children of God, our problem is
not lacking of mammon, it's too much of
it.
Are you surprised at that?
You know, people in this world, when they
earn, they spend so carelessly and spend in
sins and in pleasures.
But after you believe in the Lord Jesus,
you are different.
When you earn, you do not spend, waste
money in lots of ungodly things, in pleasures,
in sins.
So invariably, you begin to accumulate.
So you remember John Wesley is very wise.
His advice to the Methodist is, now he
knows, being Methodist, they will work diligently, and
because they work diligently, they will earn a
lot.
So he said, now earn all you can.
Now that's good advice.
And the second is, save all you can.
That's a good advice.
And the third is, give all you can.
You know, that's the advice.
Even with the French, the Quakers, they had
the same problem.
You know, George Fox, the founder and the
leaders, they know that the Quakers, they will
accumulate a lot.
Because being honest, and they don't drink, not
even coffee, and they don't smoke, and certainly,
certainly they will accumulate.
So their problem with mammon is too much
of it, not too little of it.
So the Lord said, now lay not up
treasure for yourselves upon this earth.
Now if you don't have anything, how can
you lay up?
It's you that you are accumulating, right?
Now there's nothing wrong with laying up, that
is saving, nothing wrong with that.
The problem is, where do you lay it?
And for whom you are laying it for?
Now that is the problem.
The Lord said, lay not treasure upon this
earth for yourselves.
Why?
Because on this earth you have rust, and
decay, and thieves, and moth, and all these
things, you know.
In other words, what you have accumulated will
automatically, in a sense, dwindle.
And if you accumulate for yourselves, thinking that
you can depend upon them, you will discover
they are not dependable.
Now does it mean to say we cannot
save for a rainy day?
Or we cannot save for our old age?
I don't think so.
I think what the Lord is trying to
tell us is this.
If you think you are the possessors of
your wealth, then you are in trouble.
You think because these are yours, and you
want to lay them aside for yourself, just
for yourself.
And you remember the story our Lord told
of that rich man.
He had gathered so much, such a good
harvest.
And he said, well, my granary is too
small to put all these things.
So I will carry it off and build
a bigger one, and put all my harvest
into it.
And then say to my soul, be in
rest, because you have enough for your whole
life.
And the Lord said he doesn't know that
that night the Lord would take his life
away.
And all that you have laid aside for
yourself, now who will have them?
That's foolishness, folly.
So in other words, we need to remember
that we are not possessors of wealth that
the Lord has given to us.
But we are stewards.
We are stewards.
If the Lord give us anything, we are
stewards.
And we need to be good stewards of
the Lord.
We need to use mammon, or wealth, wisely.
And we need to use it for the
Lord.
Not just for ourselves.
I remember one sister.
She was a millionaire, and a title lady,
an English woman.
Her physician was the Queen's physician.
And when I met her, I went to
her home in India.
I was a refugee there.
And that's another story.
But anyway, I was a refugee fleeing from
Singapore during the Second World War with my
wife.
And we landed in India, knowing nobody, in
a sense, you know.
But I know of a sister, my fellow
worker, an English lady, who stayed with this
lady in India in a resort place or
something.
I don't even know that place.
I mean, I only know the name.
So I sent that sister a cable and
said, I am here in Madras, in a
hotel, and I want to see you.
I was thinking, if I can see that
sister, then after that I will fly back
to China via Burma, you know.
But when I was waiting for her return
cable, that lady cabled me back.
I never knew him.
I heard of him, her, but never knew
her.
And that cable said, my home is yours.
Come immediately.
And you know, that touched me very deeply.
We were refugees at that time.
So we went there.
And I thought, well, being a wealthy lady
and a title lady, of course, you know.
So when I arrived there, I saw an
elderly lady, very plainly dressed, standing at the
door.
I said, that must be one of the
maids.
Because she has lots of maids and servants,
you know, and that's for her.
And I spent two and a half months
with her.
And she told me, she said, all that
I had belonged to the Lord.
I am a steward.
I have to be very faithful and wise.
She will not spend, I mean, wantonly or
carelessly.
Because she considers herself as a steward.
And that's the way we should live, you
know.
Not lay up on earth for ourselves.
But if we lay up anything on earth,
remember, we are stewards.
And if we take that kind of attitude,
then we will not serve mammon.
We serve God.
So the thing is, whom do we serve?
In a sense, you know, you have a
choice.
You either love the one or hate the
other.
You either hold on to the one or
despise the other.
Now, brothers and sisters, mammon is to be
despised.
We have to handle it.
We have to touch it.
But we should despise it.
You know, the love of money is the
root of all evils.
If you love it, you are finished.
It is the root of all evil.
You should hate it.
It is something you have to touch it,
but you hate it.
You despise it.
And because of that, you find why you
can despise mammon?
Because you hold on to God.
Why you can hate mammon?
Because you love God.
You cannot serve two masters.
And we can use the mammon God has
put in our hands to serve God.
And even in that terrible, that is almost
unexplainable, of that wicked steward.
He used the wealth of his master to
prepare for his future.
And yet, the Lord said he is wise.
He used mammon to provide an eternal habitation.
And we should do that.
That's the way to treasure up our treasure
in heaven.
We serve God.
So that's the way we touch the world.
That's the way we touch mammon.
We touch wealth.
You know?
Whatever comes into our hand, we offer it
back to God for his service.
And then the second thing is eating, drinking,
and clothing.
Now we have to eat.
We have to drink.
We have to be clothed.
We are just like other people.
Today, now one day, when we are raptured,
we are having a spiritual body, then we
don't need to eat.
We can eat, but we don't need to
eat.
You know?
And we don't need to be clothed because
we are clothed with glory.
You know?
But today we are still in this mortal
body and still live upon this earth.
We have to eat.
So you find the other side.
The first part is we have too much.
And how are we going to deal with
that too much?
Now the second part is we are anxious.
We are worried.
It seems that we are lacking.
What should we eat?
What should we drink?
What should we be clothed with?
Now to the people in this world, that
is normal.
That is what they should do because there
is no one to worry for them.
They have to take care of themselves.
But brothers and sisters, we forget we have
an Heavenly Father.
Knowing we have our Heavenly Father, now even
the earthly father would take care of their
children.
How much more our Heavenly Father would take
care of us?
So the Lord said, now don't worry.
Don't be careful about these things.
As a matter of fact, even if you
worry, it worries you to death.
It will not worry you to sufficiency.
And the Lord said, now look at the
birds.
They don't sow, they don't reap, they don't
gather.
And your Heavenly Father takes care of them.
How much more precious you are to your
Father than these birds.
Observe the lilies of the valley.
They do not grow, they do not sting.
And yet the Heavenly Father clothes them with
such beauty that even the glory of Solomon
cannot be compared with it.
How much more the Heavenly Father will clothe
you.
Do not be of little faith, trusting in
God.
But, what is the secret?
We have to eat, we have to drink,
we have to be clothed.
Where will these come from?
Now, of course, there is a difference here.
The birds do not sow, neither reap.
The lilies do not grow, nor sting.
But we are commanded to work.
You know, after man's sin, the Lord said,
you have to sweat to make a living.
Even in the Garden of Eden, the God
put man to work.
So, in other words, it doesn't mean that
because we have a Heavenly Father, therefore we
don't need to work.
He will provide everything for us.
No, He said you have to work.
If you do not work, you do not
eat.
You know, I came from a big family.
Old fashioned Chinese family.
Four generations living under one roof.
And my grandfather took care of everything for
us.
We don't need to work.
My grandmother cooked everything.
And we just eat.
And we just enjoy.
And we go to school.
And grandfather paid all.
We get wed.
And grandfather pay for the wedding.
You know.
But the result was, we do.
It does develop some people who become black
sheep.
You know, you don't need to work.
And where do you spend the time?
Gambling.
Opium smoking.
You know.
So our Heavenly Father knows best.
The Father said you work.
But if you work, don't worry.
But there is a secret.
He said seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness.
And all these things shall be added.
You have to work.
But sometimes you work and it doesn't work.
You find that you still are lacking.
Now why?
It is because you do not seek the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
If you put God first.
If you seek Him first.
His Kingdom.
And His righteousness.
The Lord said, all these things will be
added to you.
Added not without work.
Added with work.
But added nevertheless.
And brothers and sisters, that promise is true.
And that's the way we live.
Our Kingdom living upon this wretched world.
And do you know that when people are
anxious or worried, usually not for today, but
for tomorrow.
You borrow tomorrow's evil for today.
And the Lord said, one day's evil is
enough for you.
Life on this earth is not easy.
Every day has its own evil.
And you will find that His grace is
sufficient for today's evil.
But He does not want you to worry
for the evil that will come, may come.
Live day by day in the presence.
And brothers and sisters, that is the practical
way of living our Kingdom.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank and praise
Thee that Thou has not only put that
Kingdom life in us.
But Thou has also show us the way
to let that life live in this sinful,
corrupted, ruined earth.
That we may truly be different.
We may be light and salt on this
earth.
So we just come and again ask Thee
that Thou will imprint Thy word upon our
hearts.
And by the working of Thy Holy Spirit,
make it our living, daily living.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
Amen.