Matthew 6:11

Matthew 6:11

Humans fear many things, and one of the greatest of all fears is the fear of death, and closely related to the fear of death is the fear of losing what it takes to survive: losing one’s income or one’s employment. It is very interesting that these things that Jesus told us to pray about, the Lord has already promised to provide. David said in the Psalms, "I was young and now am old, but I have not yet seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread." This is better than any insurance policy, and this is better than any bank account. If God has promised to take care of you, you have nothing to fear. You may lose your job, but God will provide something else or some other way. He will not forsake His children that He loves so dearly and for whom He died.

He will provide our daily bread. That’s what He promises. He promises to supply us the basic necessities of life, but He does not emphasize material things beyond that. The most important things in life are not material anyway. No one can buy peace, love, forgiveness, contentment, or eternal life.

The best things in life are free:

To see a beautiful tree,

To think about the one you love,

To be blest from God above.

Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw yourself. But godliness with contentment is great gain."

"Give us this day our daily bread." The emphasis is on today and not the future. The future holds many uncertainties and always will. The old saying “to live one day at a time” is very consistent with scripture, and each day we can be assured of at least one thing; that God will take care of us. As far as one’s financial security is concerned, sometimes we think that if only we could inherit some large some of money, enough to be financially secure for the rest of our lives that then some great thing will have happened to us: Never again to worry that our needs will be supplied! In such a case we would put the money in the bank and take out just enough of the interest earnings to live off of. But is it any less security if God promises to give us just enough each day for our needs? Actually, it is much greater security, because we could possibly lose great sums of money even when wisely invested; but the great, eternal God will never break His promises.

In Matthew 6:12 Jesus told us to pray, "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." Forgiveness is a wonderful thing and of course we will always include praying for forgiveness as an integral and very important part of our prayers. We are sinners and we need to be forgiven. We fail so easily and we so often need to be forgiven. One of the best of God’s characteristics is that He so wondrously and graciously forgives sin. Everything that God does for us is based upon the fact that He forgives us through the mercy that is in Christ Jesus. All true Christians have this one thing in common: the fact that their relationship with God is based upon being forgiven of their sins. The most faithful followers of Christ will not be those who are the strongest and the best at obeying God, but will be those who are the most consistent at asking God to forgive them when they fail. Never give up. No matter how many times you fail; never give up. Proverbs says, "A just man falls seven times, and yet rises again." When you first come to Christ, you turn from your sins and turn to Him. You must also learn to live a life of repentance. You must learn to turn daily from your sins and to Him.

Let’s read First John 1:7-9 on this subject of being daily cleansed from our sins by Jesus. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Jesus taught the same thing by the washing of the feet of the disciples in John chapter 13:10 when He said, "He that is washed needs only to wash his feet, but is clean every bit, and you are clean." Washing is symbolic of being forgiven. They were clean because they were forgiven, but their feet would still get dirty each day walking through this world, especially wearing sandals on the dusty roads of Palestine. Even though they were clean, they still needed to have their feet cleaned each day. You may have received the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ and are therefore cleansed of all guilt of all sin, yet you still need to be cleansed on a daily basis from your sins in order to walk in fellowship with Christ.

There is one thing that will keep you from following God each day and that is your sins; and there is one thing that will allow you to keep following God, and that is the daily confession of your sins. And so Jesus told us to pray, "Father, forgive us."

But Jesus also said to pray, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." If you want to be more like God, learn to be merciful. Learn to forgive. Don’t be vengeful, don’t get even, and don’t be bitter. Find a way of having a heart that is capable of forgiving. You like it when God is merciful to you. As a matter of fact, do not expect God to forgive you if you do not forgive others. This idea of you forgiving others is so important, that it is the only idea out of all of these teachings on prayer that Jesus expounded upon at the end of what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Notice that in verses 14 and 15 Jesus said, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Just because God is merciful and we can be sure of His mercy and forgiveness, we must not take His mercy for granted. It must still be our goal each day to avoid sin and to do what is right. Even though Jesus told us to be confident in God’s mercy and to pray, "Father, forgive us our debts", Jesus also told us in Matthew 6:13 to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Each one of us has within us the potential seeds of our own destruction. Never forget how weak you are without God’s help, and never forget the power of your own sinfulness to shame you, or to bring great sorrow to you or to those that you love. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." If you are not walking with God, you are headed into a greater and greater association with evil. No one is standing still. Everyone is heading in a certain direction. The only way to make sure that you are headed in the right direction is to seek God’s help. We know that He is well equipped to help us as Jesus also said in verse 13, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever."

When Jesus told us to pray in verse 13, "But deliver us from evil", He is also reminding us that the greatest of conflicts going on right now are the spiritual conflicts. Other humans are not your spiritual opposition, no matter how much they appear to oppose you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that people are your spiritual foes, no matter how bad they appear to be. Jesus emphasizes that we are to be forgiving to our fellow men. Remember in Matthew chapter 5; He said to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek, and to go the extra mile. We are not to think of government officials as our opposition, or tax collectors, or unbelievers in any capacity as our opposition. But even though we are not to think of other people as opposing us, we do have spiritual opposition: the forces of evil. If we rely upon God through prayer, as Jesus taught us to do, that will be the key to our success. Paul wrote of this very idea in Ephesians chapter 6 and said, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

If you are not walking with God you have much to fear. You can be destroyed at any moment by the forces of evil. But if you are relying upon God and His strength, you have nothing to fear.

Jesus started this teaching on prayer by saying, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name", and thereby reminds us of holy attributes of God and the fact that as a Father, God gives us life and provides for us. He ends the teaching on prayer by saying, "for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever", and again we are reminded of some of the attributes of God: the eternal nature of God, the omnipotence of God, and the wonderful kingdom to come that God has prepared for us.

It is interesting to note that the only material thing or thing having to do with physical life mentioned by Jesus was that of seeking the basic necessities of life from God when Jesus said, "Give us this day out daily bread." Everything else is spiritual in nature. No doubt this reveals to us the priorities that Jesus expects us to have in comparing the material things of this life with the spiritual.

These few verses in Matthew chapter 6 that we call the Lord’s Prayer are truly some of the greatest words ever spoken. It contains only 5 verses and just a few words spoken, but what a tremendous depth of meaning. It is no wonder that these words have been memorized by millions of people. We should return to them again and again, and compare our prayers to these things that Jesus told us to pray about. Let’s read again what Jesus taught us in Matthew chapter 6:9-13. "After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus said, "Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; that you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father who is in secret: and your Father who sees in secret, shall reward you openly."

In Matthew 6:16-18 Jesus talks about the third thing that should never be done to be seen of men or to receive glory from men: fasting. In verse 1 of this chapter Jesus told us to not do our good deeds before men in order to be seen of them. He warned us of the pitfalls of giving or praying with the intention of being seen of others. Now He warns us about fasting for the same reason. Do you remember when the Pharisees criticized Jesus because Jesus did not fast and did not require His disciples to fast?

Fasting is a reduction in eating or drinking for a short period of time, supposedly for the purpose of concentrating more completely during that time on the things of God. It is interesting that Jesus does not tell us that we should fast. As a matter of fact, He just got finished teaching us that to request "our daily bread" was a valid and normal desire to express to God. But Jesus does tell us that if we choose to fast, make sure that we do not do it to be seen of men.

Fasting is a type of self-sacrifice, even if only done temporarily. There are other kinds of sacrifices that people sometimes do in the name of Christ. Something that comes to my mind is the modern missionary movement. When people become involved in this missionary movement, they sometimes give up opportunities for careers and homes in America, and go off to live and work in another country across the ocean. Sometimes in these situations there are sacrifices made. I wonder if some of these individuals ever wear their sacrifices as a badge to be seen of men, or if they ever use their sacrifices as advertisement to gain money? If they did so, where would they fit in relation to this teaching of Jesus?

In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust do corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." We have already seen in this chapter that according to Jesus, the spiritual is much more important than the material. Jesus emphasizes this same idea again. There is nothing wrong with being rich. Money of itself is neither good nor evil, but if the pursuit of riches kept you from the kingdom of heaven, you would be poor indeed. The reason that the treasures of this earth are not to be compared with the treasures of heaven is because the treasures of this earth are temporary but the treasures of heaven are permanent. It’s kind of like asking someone which would they prefer: to be a millionaire for one second and to be poor for the rest of their life, or to be poor for one second and to be a millionaire for the rest of their life?

Material things are temporary because our lives on this earth are temporary. We are all one day closer to the day that we will leave this earth, and for some of us that day is probably much closer than we think. But material things are also temporary because of the nature of material things. When we acquire material things, it requires almost constant attention and expense to keep them in decent condition. Every homeowner realizes this. If we go very many weekends without a hammer, a saw, or a paintbrush in our hands; then our home will start deteriorating around us. We realize this when we buy a new car. When we first buy it, it is so shiny and clean and beautiful. But before many months are gone by, there are nicks, scratches, scrapes and the newness is completely gone.

Revelation 21:18 says of heaven, "And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass." Sometimes you will hear someone say that the streets of heaven are paved with gold. That reminds me of a story I read once in Reader’s Digest, of a rich man who loved his riches very much. This man had heard that you cannot take anything with you when you die, and he was very troubled but he thought that at least he would ask God to make an exception in his case. Therefore, he prayed and to his surprise God agreed to make an exception and allow him to bring his riches with him. To prepare for his death the man sold all of his possessions, emptied all of his bank accounts, had everything changed into gold bars and put the gold bars in a suitcase. When he died, he took the suitcase with him, but Peter stopped him at the gates of heaven and told the man that he was not permitted to bring anything with him. Of course the man explained that he had special permission from God to bring this suitcase. Peter went back and checked on the man’s story, and sure enough the man did have permission to bring his suitcase. Peter allowed the man to pass through, but before doing so told the man that he had to let Peter see what was in the suitcase. Peter looked into the suitcase, and with a very quizzical look on his face said to the man, "Why would anyone go to all the trouble of bringing a suitcase full of pavement up here?" Money is of no value in heaven, and it is of much less value in this life than many people think.

How wonderful will be the eternal kingdom of heaven, in contrast to this principle of deterioration that now rules life as we know it. By the way, this idea of the deterioration of the universe is based upon sound scientific observation. The sun is slowly burning out, we are slowly using up the available source of energy, etc. Things are proceeding from a higher organization to a lower organization, from the original perfect creation to what we have now. Evolutionists base some of their theories on the opposite of this idea. They claim that we started with chaos and that we are slowly evolving to that which is better and better. Of course, they are wrong because they have ignored the teachings of scripture and have misinterpreted observable phenomena.

Another example of this kind of misinterpretation by the evolutionists is how they interpret the existence of the cavemen. Cavemen are not our ancestors from whom we evolved, but they are simply groups who split off from more civilized peoples and then deteriorated. It is the law of the deterioration of the physical and material world. Be careful or you also will deteriorate both morally and spiritually. Make sure your priorities are right and your sins are confessed.

Not only can material things wear down and wear out, but Jesus points out that they can also be stolen. If you have things of much value, you can be certain that when others find out, it will be the goal of some of them to obtain your possessions through dishonest means. I remember hearing of the case of a well-known singer and Hollywood actress, who had trusted her estate into the hands of a family attorney. When she eventually found out that he had been siphoning off millions of dollars, it was almost too late. It took her many years of legal battles to get her fortune back. Others have not been so fortunate.

Jesus gives the most important reason to seek spiritual treasure instead of earthly treasures when He said in verse 21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Proverbs 3:13-15 says something very similar to this, "Happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding, For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies; and all the things you can desire are not to be compared to her." The danger of having a passion for riches and material things is that it might consume us and keep us from seeking God.

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