Matthew 06: Kingdom Living 201

What does authentic Kingdom living really look like? In this powerful exploration of Matthew 6, we dive deep into Jesus' challenging teachings on prayer, giving, and overcoming worry.

Jesus makes a striking contrast between religious performance and authentic faith. He warns against the empty practice of public piety – those who pray loudly on street corners or announce their charitable giving with trumpets. Instead, He invites us into a more intimate experience with God: "When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private." This invitation to secrecy isn't about hiding our faith, but ensuring our motives remain pure.

The Lord's Prayer serves as our model for approaching God – not with endless repetitions or impressive words, but with simple, kingdom-focused requests. What's particularly fascinating is Jesus' reminder that "your Father knows exactly what you need before you ask him." Prayer isn't about informing God of our needs, but about cultivating fellowship with Him.

Perhaps most convicting is Jesus' teaching on worry and trust. Through vivid illustrations of birds and wildflowers, He reminds us that if God cares for these temporary creations, how much more will He care for us? When we allow worry to dominate our thoughts, we're practicing what might be called "functional atheism" – a practical denial of God's goodness and provision, even if we intellectually believe in Him. The antidote? "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

Ready to experience the freedom of Kingdom-focused living? Join us as we discover that God's love language is our trust in Him, and learn how to release tomorrow's worries into His capable hands.

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Chapters

• 0:48 Kingdom Living 201 Introduction
• 3:40 Authentic Giving and Prayer
• 7:29 Jesus' Teaching on Money and Treasures
• 9:07 Overcoming Worry and Trusting God
• 11:52 God's Love Language is Trust
• 14:01 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, matthew chapter 6, and today's title is Kingdom Living 201. So we've been in this situation where God is talking to us about what it is to live in the kingdom of God. Jesus is kind of taking us through some college classes. Yesterday, matthew 5 was Kingdom Living 101, and today he takes it even further into 201. So we're going to dive into that and he is going to talk about a proper way to pray. And he is I'm telling you, listen, he's going to get like old school Pentecostal, talking about worry. It's going to hurt my feelings, he might hurt yours, but we're going to be all right.

Speaker 1: 1:05

So, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Matthew chapter six. If you're new around here, while you're doing that, make sure you also take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help, and I would love to know from you if you are engaging with God's word. What is it about engaging with God's word that you are really getting something from? I want you to put that in the review, because we want to get better, and if you are telling us that something is working, we want to then do more of that. So make sure you do that and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. One last thing before we get into that dig, the more we find One last thing before we get into that. I know some people don't do Facebook. You've gotten all Facebook social media in general, and if that's the case, you can go to thebiblebreakdowncom. We've also got devotions there. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:58

Well, if you've been with us for the past few days, we have been diving into this idea of Matthew being all about King Jesus. Now, one of the great things about that is is there are four gospels Matthew, mark, luke and John. And Matthew is primarily written to the Jewish nation and he is just telling them that Jesus is the rightful king. And in chapter one he brings receipts and he's saying listen, I can prove at least that he has got a claim to the earthly throne. And then he spends chapter two through 28 saying not just the earthly throne, he owns it all, and it's been amazing to watch how the narrative of Jesus is building and then yesterday in chapter 5, he started talking about kingdom living and in chapter 5, it was really a lot of how we relate to the overall world being salt and light in the world and really getting back to a heart posture before God. Well, today, in chapter six, we could talk about this one being not all of it, but a lot of it being how we relate to God, and there's other parts in there about how we worship God, how we pray to God and then how we relate to his goodness. So it's going to be really really good and it's the ending that I'm telling you. It's really beautiful and hard to do at the same time. So let's just get there and we'll see what God's Word has to say. You ready?

Speaker 1: 3:16

Matthew 6, verse 1 says this. He says Watch out. Don't do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others, for you will lose your reward from your Father in heaven when you give to someone in need. Don't do as the hypocrites do, blowing trumpets at the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity. I tell you the truth. They have received all the reward they will ever get. When you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts privately and your father, who sees everything, will reward you. Pause, can you imagine somebody like you go to church and somebody blows a horn? You know, I just gave $10. Like well, good for you, buddy, you know, but that literally was saying that they make big, like draw great attention to themselves. Hey, I just gave in the offering today. Well, there you go. And God says great. Well, that attaboy you just got from your neighbor is all the gift you're going to get, all the rewards you're going to get. But when you do things for the right reasons, then it blesses people. All right, verse 5.

Speaker 1: 4:29

When you pray, notice he's not saying if you pray, but there is an assumption here that you are going to pray. So when you pray, don't pray like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth that is all the reward they're ever going to get. But when you pray once again, assuming you're going to pray go away by yourself, shut the door behind you and pray to your father in private, then your father, who sees everything, will reward you. And when you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do, for they think their prayers will be answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need before you ask him, pause. Therefore, what Jesus is saying is your Heavenly Father already knows what you need. Therefore, prayer is not intended to be a business meeting with agenda items, like we're not informing God about what's going on in our life. He is saying it's fellowship. It's talking to God about something he already knows about. And he says do it like this, you ready.

Speaker 1: 5:39

Verse nine pray like this Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sinned against us. And do not let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. And then he continues and he says if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you refuse to forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive your sin Now pause. That doesn't mean that God is unable. It just means that if you're in a heart posture where you are unwilling to be forgiving, then you're probably going to be in a heart posture where you're not going to sincerely ask God for forgiveness as well.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Verse 15, or, excuse me, 16. And when you fast? So once again, he is assuming you're going to fast. When you fast, don't make it obvious as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they ever going to get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face, then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your father, who knows what you do in private and as your father sees everything, he will reward you. He keeps going.

Speaker 1: 7:06

He says Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is there, the desires of your heart will also be. Your eye is like a lamp that provides light to your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is.

Speaker 1: 7:43

No one can serve two masters. You will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. That is why I tell you do not worry about everyday life. Now pause.

Speaker 1: 7:58

He's about to say the part that is extremely convicting. But before that, notice how he also says you have to be so very careful with money. There are so many things he could have talked about, but the number one thing he talks about is finances. And you know why? I think the reason why, of all the other things he could have talked about, he talked about money. I think that it's probably the hardest for us to deal with, because we try to get from money what only God can provide. We try to get safety, security, significance, acceptance all of that from our finances and our possessions. Well, all of that can only come from God. That's why he is saying it's like serving two masters You're either going to serve God or you're going to serve money. You've got to decide, and he wants you to decide on him. And then I love this. He says this about worry and fear.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Here we go. That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They do not plant or harvest or store in barns, for your Heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing. Yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don't worry about these things saying what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of the unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. So seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. See what I mean? That's terribly, terribly wonderful.

Speaker 1: 10:14

I heard someone say one time that fear and worry is functional atheism. I won't let that hurt your feelings as much as it did mine that fear and worry are functional atheism. In other words, we say we love God, we say that we trust God, but we don't really mean it Functionally, we don't believe God's. For us, when we worry Now, there's a difference between having a care and being consumed by worry. Now, caring about something such as, let's say, you have small kids and they're getting ready to go to school for their first day and you have this natural worry of, hey, I hope they have a good day today. But then when you become consumed by it, where you can't think about anything else and nothing else will satisfy, then you just hyper-focusing. That's worry, being consumed by worry. And what we are supposed to do is we pray, we talk to God and we say God, I have no idea what kind of day they're going to have today, but I trust that you're going to be with them and you leave it with him. That's what we're supposed to do, and if we don't, then it's almost like we're saying God, I don't trust you. That's hard, but that's the wonderful opportunity that God lays out for us.

Speaker 1: 11:28

In chapter 6, jesus is telling us that it's all about our heart posture. Again, chapter 5 is a heart posture toward the world. Chapter 6 is a heart posture toward God. Notice how, at least two different times, he said your heavenly Father already knows. Therefore, when we relate to him, we're not doing something for him he didn't already know, wasn't aware of. We're relating to him as a form of fellowship.

Speaker 1: 11:54

And can I tell you, you ever taken the five love languages test? It's this wonderful thing If you've ever taken it before. There's the. The test says that there are five different ways we give and receive love, and I'm going to mess these up, but it's like gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch and one more that I can't remember. There's a total of five and the test says that we receive, give and receive all of these and you can go to like fivelovelanguagescom and you can see. It's all free.

Speaker 1: 12:21

And the best thing is is if you're married, you're a significant other. You should let them take the test, because you want to give them a form of love that they're going to appreciate right, and I heard someone say one time God's love language is trust. The number one thing that God loves is when we choose to trust Him. That doesn't mean that God doesn't appreciate it when we offer up praise and all these other things. Of course he does. But the number one thing that God says over and over in his word that we are to do that brings great pleasure to him is when we trust him.

Speaker 1: 12:59

So I want to ask you this question when is the last time that you were in a difficult situation and didn't make sense? You had no idea what God was doing, but you just said God, I choose to trust you. I don't feel it. To be honest with you, I got no idea how you're going to do it, but that's not my business, it's yours. I trust you. That's hard, isn't it? That's kingdom living.

Speaker 1: 13:24

And so what I want to do as we end our time together is I want to pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes and give you a greater trust in him. Let me pray for you right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you are worthy of our trust, god. You have proven yourself to us over and over again and we are not going to hold you hostage to our next prayer request.

Speaker 1: 13:42

No matter what you do, we trust you. You are trustworthy. You don't have to prove yourself anymore to us, but I pray Holy Spirit, you'll open our eyes to get a bigger picture of you and remember just how trustworthy you are. I'm thankful for you today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen and remember what God's Word says in Matthew 28, verse 19. It says All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. My hope and prayer is that you will become a disciple and you'll become a disciple maker in your life every day. I love you. See you tomorrow. I almost said Hebrews, matthew, chapter 7.