Matthew 6

A Dangerous Calling: Two Ways to Seek Ministry

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boy wearing crown statue

Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.”
– 1 Kings 1:5 – 

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.
– Matthew 6:33 –

There is nothing wrong with seeking the kingdom of God, or in seeking a place in that kingdom. In fact, it is absolutely right. Yet, with every good intention, there is the possibility to go astray, to take something good and to seek it badly. And for this reason, it is not sufficient to seek the kingdom. We must seek the kingdom and his righteousness.

In other words, seeking God’s kingdom is not the whole command. We must seek God’s kingdom righteously, which is to say, we must seek to be righteous in God’s kingdom. And this is the point that I want to pursue here and in the next two blogposts.

Unfortunately, too many followers of Christ have seen ministers who have sought the kingdom without righteousness. Likewise, too many who are now serving the Lord can reflect on the ways (multiple ways?) we have pursued ministry for vain reasons or with wrong motivations.

For instance, I learned of pastor last fall whose church had served as a money laundering front for his financial dealings. Clearly, he was seeking a kingdom, but not the Lord’s. Yet, as he stood in the pulpit each week, his vain pursuits were not seen. It took years for his self-interest to come to light. As Paul writes to Timothy, “The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later” (1 Tim. 5:24).

So too, the fruit of ministry takes time to discover. Sometimes what looks like good fruit is not genuine. Similarly, for every ministry aspiration that is good, there are other aspirations that are corroded by pride, selfish ambition, and vain glory. As Paul David Tripp declared, ministry is A Dangerous Calling. How dangerous? So dangerous that three of the men who endorsed his book are no longer in ministry.

Accordingly, we should both be slow in seeking ministry (James 3:1). And we should be slow to affirm the ministries of others (1 Tim. 5:22). At the same time, we should be quick to learn from Scripture, what God says about seeking the ministry and a place of service in his kingdom. And to help us, I want to return to the book of 1 Kings and the story of Adonijah, the self-promoting son of David. For in him, and in comparison to Solomon, we can learn much about ministry. Continue reading →

The Truth about Treasure (Matthew 6:19–24)

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sermon05The Truth about Treasure (Matthew 6:19–24)

What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem?

This is Tertullian’s famous question contrasting the difference between divine truth and man-made philosophy. And it highlights the challenge of living in this world with our eyes fixed upon another.

In a similar fashion, we might ask the same question about our rewards: What hath dollars to do with eternal destinies?

Indeed, in a world where money motivates, secures, comforts, and corrupts, we are painfully aware of the problems that money (and its lack) bring. Yet, as Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:19–24, our earthly riches also provide an important avenue for discipleship and increasing our eternal joy. The question is how!

With that in mind, Sunday’s sermon considered Jesus’s teaching about earthly and heavenly reward. You can listen to that sermon online. Discussion questions and additional resources can be found below.

Continue reading →

God’s Currency Exchange: How God Funds His Gospel Mission

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pina-messina-465025-unsplashOver the summer, our church considered many of the things Jesus said about money. In a Sunday School series following Randy Alcorn’s The Treasure Principle, we learned much about how to invest our lives in things eternal. This Sunday, in our Sermon on the Mount series, we will again look at Jesus’s words about storing up treasure in heaven and not on earth.

Reflecting on this passage, I am reminded of an article I read more than 15 years ago on the subject of money and how it can be and should be “converted.” “Transmuted,” not converted, is actually the word R.A. Torrey used in his article, “Our Lord’s Teaching about Money,” but converting earthly riches into heavenly gain is the idea.

This article is actually more than 100-years old now, included in the historic 12-volume set The Fundamentals, but the truths contained therein are just as relevant today as they were in 1909. Indeed, God’s truth is eternal and his principles about all of life, including money, are evergreen. Yet, the point about converting currency into earthly treasure is one I haven’t heard often, thus I share Torrey’s point here.

Currency Conversion: How God Funds His Gospel Mission

In Torrey’s article on money, he lists nine “laws” Jesus taught about money. Each are worth considering, but it’s his final point about converting money into eternal rewards that has always stuck with me. And so I share it here: Continue reading →

Are You Going To(o) Fast? (Matthew 6:16–18)

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sermon05

Are You Going To(o) Fast? (Matthew 6:16–18)

Fasting.

If you have read the Bible, you’ve probably come across it. It’s mentioned about 75 times. Maybe you’ve even tried to it. But what is it?

Some testify to the miraculous results of this ancient practice. Others just skip over it, an impossible practice that is for “major league” Christians. And still others may be confused by the whole thing, or practice it for the wrong reason(s).

In Matthew 6:16–18, fasting for the wrong reason is what Jesus is targeting. Still, his words are not just relevant for his first century context; they also teach us important truths about denying ourselves and seeking God’s reward.

The truth is, everyone fasts every week, but I suspect most of us don’t think of it as fasting. Yet, how we deny ourselves and indulge ourselves is one of the most important things about who we are and who we are becoming.

Therefore in this week’s sermon I sought to answer a number of questions related to fasting and how Jesus’s words instruct all of us how to tune our fasting to seek the reward of knowing God. You can listen to this sermon online. Further resources about fasting can be found below, along with a few discussion questions. Continue reading →

Drinking Deeply from Our Father in Heaven: Nine Observations about Giving, Praying, and Fasting (Matthew 6:1–18)

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didin-emelu-329478-unsplashIn the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives instructions about giving (vv. 2–4), praying (vv. 5–15), and fasting (vv. 16–18). In our church we have taken one sermon per “spiritual discipline,” but really in the structure of Matthew’s Gospel, we should read these three disciplines together. And in fact, when we do there are some observations we discover that we might not find on our own.

So here are nine observations about Matthew 6:1–18 and Jesus’s instructions about these critical elements of worship, discipleship, and spiritual communion with God.

1. Giving, praying, and fasting make up the center of the Sermon.

Sermon on the Mount Overview copy

From the structure of the sermon, we discover verses 1–18 should be read as the center of the sermon. Even more specifically, giving (vv. 2–4) and fasting (vv. 16–18) should be seen as a concentric ring around Jesus’s instructions around prayer (vv. 5–15), which itself is centered around the Lord’s Prayer. And that pray too is shaped to put three imperatives on both sides the words “on earth as it is in heaven.”

In other words, the shape observed in the image above continues right to the summit of the mountain, where we discover that prayer in the presence of our heavenly father is the goal of the Law (5:17–48) and the Prophets (6:19–7:11), as well asthe center of Jesus teaching about discipleship (6:1–18).

Moreover, because of this intentional shaping and the balanced presentation of giving and fasting around prayer, we may find that these various disciplines are not as independent as we often think. In fact, to get the full meaning of Jesus’s words we should read them together. Continue reading →

Serving Two Masters: Does Ephesians 6:5 Contradict Matthew 6:24?

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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.
— Matthew 6:24 —

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, . . .
— Ephesians 6:5–6 —

Ephesians 6:5–9 calls “slaves” to obey their earthly masters, which at first sounds like it contradicts Jesus words in Matthew 6:24, where our Lord states that men are not to be divided in their allegiance and service—you can either serve God or money.

A careful reader may ask, Does Paul’s instructions contradict Jesus’ words? Or does he help the worker go further in understanding how our primary allegiance to Christ leads to improved service to earthly masters?

I believe it is the latter.  And on that point, Wolfgang Musculus, a sixteenth-century pastor-theologian, answers well: Continue reading →

God and Money

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In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this about God and money:

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.  Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about you body what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  … But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:24-25, 33).

Addressing the subject of God and money in his blog today, Southern Seminary President, Dr. Albert Mohler reflects on “A Christian View of the Economic Crisis” .  His sweeping conversation about economic theory, materialism, and the Kingdom of Christ is a helpful reminder in a time of economic unrest that the God who clothes the field and feeds the sparrow will take care of his children.  I encourage you to read Dr. Mohler’s article for insight and to contemplate the field and watch the sparrow to remember the provision of our Lord.

Sola Deo Gloria, dss