When You... Series

“WHEN YOU…” Matthew 6:1-21

FBCF – 10/27/24

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Nov 3 – Sweet celebration

Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5-7

- Kingdom Manifesto – Jesus’ declaration of the principles of the K’dom of God that He introduced into the world as He taught & preached & healed in His earthly ministry.

- Made this clear: If you want to live as a K’dom-minded Christ-follower, this is how you live.

- Teaching us, His disciples – If you want to follow Christ, go after these things!

- “Greatest sermon ever preached. Prove me wrong!” – Hunter Twiford

- Starts w/ Beatitudes – “Blessed are…” – “Blessed” means “spiritually well; fully satisfied & blissful”

- Ends w/ the parable of the wise man & the foolish man – What will be the foundation of your life?

- In between are those truths that ARE the foundation that will totally & radically change the way you view & live your life. Truths like:

o Salt of the earth” (5:13) – Salt preserves, irritates, flavors

o Light of the world…Let your light shine…” (5:14-16)

o Necessity of reconciliation w/ a brother or sister in Christ (5:23-24)

o Radically deal w/ sin in your life – tear out your eye – cut off your hand (5:29-30)

o Love your enemies (5:44)

o Seek 1st the K’dom (6:33)

o Ask – Seek – Knock (7:7-8)

Right in middle, we find 3 “When you” statements:

Matthew 6:1-21 – Of all the things that Jesus could have talked about related to K’dom living, He gave these 3 the greatest prominence – Giving, Praying, & Fasting.

APPLICATION – If you want to live a revived life that matters long after you’re gone, these must be at the center of your life.

The 1st thing He made clear about these 3 practices – Don’t do them to LOOK spiritual! – v. 1

- Not to be seen by others as the greatest giver or pray-er or fast-er.

- Not doing them for show or recognition or accolades.

- Doing them simply b/c of a deep desire for God.

o Desire for stronger passion for God

o Desire for a closer walk w/ God

o Desire for greater use by God in His K’dom work

o Don’t want to live out my life in a “ho-hum” existence, just existing, just taking up space on a church pew, just going through the socially acceptable motions of being a good, religious person

o Don’t want to live out my life expecting others to serve & cater to me. I want to live a life like Jesus & serve others, sacrificing my life, giving my life away for His glory.

- We do these things – give, pray, & fast – b/c we want GOD! We want to make a difference for the K’dom of God w/ the short life that we have been given by God.

o Remember last week’s sermon? 1 Chronicles 29:15 – “…Our days on the earth are like a shadow…”

o James 4:14 – “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” (NLT)

Why did Jesus magnify these 3 practices in the life of His followers?

- Giving shows our dependence on God

- Praying shows our desire for God

- Fasting shows our desperation for God

They are not optional for the Christ-follower. Listening to Bill Elliff teaching on this passage this week. Said it’s like if Jesus wore glasses, He’d say, “When you give…”, then look over His glasses & say, “You DO give, don’t you?...When you pray…You DO pray, don’t you?...When you fast…You DO fast, don’t you?”

They are expected practices for those who truly desire to live for Jesus. We don’t get to alter what He said or do them to suit our desires. We want to try to do things our way, or do just enough to get by & feel good about ourselves – Soothe our consciences – “Well, I’ll give a little, pray a little, but I’m not sure about that fasting thing, except when I’ve got a doctor’s appointment.”

Let’s talk about these 3 “When You” statements:

WHEN YOU GIVE – v. 2, 3 – Not going to spend a lot of time here since I’ve been hitting that pretty strong the last few weeks. Couple of statements:

“When you give…” – The right response to someone who has received Jesus is to be a giver. God gave the greatest gift of all to us. Our response is to give back to Him out of deep heartfelt gratitude.

Drop down to v. 21 – Where’s your heart? Who has your heart? Are you holding on to your heart? Or have you given it to Jesus? B/c whatever has our heart is displayed in our willingness or lack of willingness to release.