[T]he constitution of the heavenly kingdom does not yield an inch to our anger, lust, or natural being; neither does it
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 21 THE DECREE OF THE KINGDOM’S CONSTITUTION (9) Bible Verses: Matthew 6:1 But take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 6:13b: For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen [DEALING WITH THE SELF AND THE FLESH] In these verses the Lord uses three illustrations—the giving of alms, praying, and fasting—to reveal how we are filled with the self and the flesh. Man’s flesh, seeking to glorify itself, always wants to do good deeds before men to be praised by them. But the kingdom people, who live in an emptied and humbled spirit and walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom, are not allowed to do anything in the flesh for the praise of men, but must do all things in the spirit for the pleasing of their heavenly Father. Regarding each of the three illustrations, the Lord uses the word “secret” (vv. 4, 6, 18). We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret. In verse 4 the Lord says that our Father sees in secret. The effect of doing our righteous deeds in secret is that the self and the flesh are killed. If people in society today are not allowed to make a show of their good deeds, they will not do them. As long as people have an opportunity to make a public display of their righteous deeds, they are glad to perform them. This is the deplorable practice of today’s degraded Christianity, especially in the matter of fund raising, which provides an excellent opportunity for the donors to make a display. The greater the public show, the more money people are willing to give. [F]or us as kingdom people, a basic principle concerning righteous deeds is never to make a show of ourselves. As much as possible, hide yourself, keep yourself covered, and do things in secret. [T]he constitution of the heavenly kingdom does not yield an inch to our anger, lust, or natural being; neither does it yield any ground to our self and flesh. By the Lord’s mercy and grace, we must do as much as possible in a hidden way. Always try to do those things that are pleasing to God and righteous with man in a secret way. [THE GROWTH IN LIFE] Although the Lord speaks about the matter of reward (vv. 1, 5), the important thing here is not the reward, but the growth in life. The saints who grow openly do not grow in a healthy way. We all need some secret growth in life, some secret experiences of Christ. We need to pray to the Lord, worship the Lord, contact the Lord, and fellowship with the Lord in a secret way. [T]he crucial matter here is not the reward, but the growth in life. Those saints who know only to make a show of the self and a display of the flesh will not grow in life. The genuine growth in life is to cut off the self. Those whose self has been cut off and whose flesh has been dealt with may sometimes speak concerning their deeds. However, I am quite cautious in saying even this. It is not healthy to expose our righteous deeds. Rather, we should pray much, yet not let others know how much we pray. This is healthy. If you pray every day without telling others or letting them know about it, it means that you are healthy and that you are growing. The universe indicates that God is hidden, that God is secret. Although He has done a great many things, people are not aware that He has done them. We may have seen the things done by God, but none of us has ever seen Him, for He is always hidden, always secret. God’s life is of such a secret and hidden nature. If we love others by our own life, this life will seek to make a display of itself before men. But if we love others
by the love of God, this love will always remain hidden. Our human life loves to make a display, a public show, but God’s life is always hidden. A hypocrite is one who has an outward manifestation without having anything within. Everything he has is merely an outward show; there is no reality inwardly. This is absolutely contrary to [262] God’s nature and to His hidden life. Although God has so much within Him, only a little is manifested. If we live by this divine life, we may pray much, but others will not know how much we have prayed. We may give a great deal to help others, but no one will know how much we give. We may fast often, but this also will not be known by others. We may have a great deal within us, but very little will be manifested. This is the nature of the kingdom people in the doing of their righteous deeds. [A PATTERN OF PRAYER] In verses 9 through 13 we find the pattern of prayer. However, it is not the pattern for all prayers. [T]he prayer in Matthew 6 concerns the kingdom. In other words, it is a fighting prayer, a prayer of warfare against God’s enemy for God’s kingdom. Verse 9 says, “Our Father Who is in the heavens, let Your name be sanctified.” Today God’s name is not sanctified; rather, it is profaned and made common. Unbelievers may ask, “What is God? Who is God?” People speak about Jesus Christ in the same way that they speak about Plato or Hitler. They make the name of the Lord Jesus common. We do not call upon the Father or speak the name of the Lord in a common way. Rather, when we say “Father” or “Lord,” we sanctify these holy names. Thus, we need to pray, “O Father, let Your name be sanctified.” Verse 10 says, “Let Your kingdom come.” Although the kingdom is here in the church life today, the manifestation of the kingdom is yet to come. Thus, we must pray for the coming of the kingdom. This matter of the kingdom is clearly related to God the Son. Verse 10 also says, “Let Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.” When the Father’s name is sanctified, the Son’s kingdom has come, and the Spirit’s will is done on earth as in heaven, that will be the time of the manifestation of the kingdom. But we who are in the reality of the kingdom today must pray for these things. Verse 11 says, “Give us today our daily bread.” This prayer is all-inclusive. The patterned prayer firstly cares for God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will; then secondly, for our need. This reveals that in this fighting prayer the Lord will still take care of our needs. Verse 12 says, “And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Thirdly, the patterned prayer cares for the kingdom people’s failures before God and their relationship with others. They should ask the Father to forgive their debts, their failures, and their trespasses, as they forgive their debtors to maintain peace. [A]s we pray to the Father, we must recognize our weakness and say, “Father, I am very weak. Do not bring me into trial.” This implies that you admit that you are weak. If you do not recognize your weakness, you will probably not pray in this manner. Rather, you may feel that you are strong. That will be the very time the Father will bring you into trial to show you that you are not strong at all. Verse 13 also says, “For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” The kingdom is the realm for God to exercise His power that He may express His glory.
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Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 22 THE DECREE OF THE KINGDOM’S CONSTITUTION (10) Bible Verses: Matthew 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? 6:32 For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 6:34 Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself; sufficient for the day is its own evil. [THE CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM BEING BASED ON THE FATHER’S LIFE AND NATURE] The constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is composed with the Father’s life and nature. Although these chapters do not actually use the words “life” and “nature,” from the context we can see that apart from the Father’s divine life and nature, these chapters are in vain. No one would be able to fulfill the requirements of the kingdom of the heavens without having the Father’s life and nature. Every constitution is based upon a certain kind of life. Suppose you intend to make a constitution for dogs. Undoubtedly such a constitution would be based upon the dog life. It would be unreasonable for this constitution to decree that, every morning, dogs should observe morning watch by flying in the air. Because dogs cannot fly, they could not fulfill such a requirement. But if the constitution told the dogs to keep morning watch by barking, there would be no problem. In like manner, the constitution given by the Lord Jesus on the mount was for the sons of God, and it was based upon the life and nature of the Father. Two verses in chapter five indicate this fact. Verse 9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,” and verse 48 says, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Many Christians do not understand this section of the Word because they have not seen that it is based upon the divine life and divine nature. Even many unbelievers have quoted verses from these chapters in their writings, thinking that these chapters are words spoken to all human beings. No, just as the dog life cannot fly, so the human life cannot fulfill the requirements of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. This is a constitution based upon the divine life and the divine nature. [THE LORD TOUCHING THE MATTER OF ANXIETY] In His speaking in chapter six of Matthew, the Lord apparently is dealing with the matter of riches. In reality, however, He is touching the matter of anxiety, the basic problem of our human living. As we have seen, in 6:1-18 He apparently dealt with the righteous deeds of the kingdom people, but actually He was touching the self and the flesh. In the same principle, 6:19-34 seemingly touches our wealth, our riches; actually, the Lord’s intention here is to touch anxiety, the source of the problem of our daily living. The whole world is involved with anxiety. Anxiety is the gear that makes the world move. It is the incentive for all human culture. If there were no anxiety regarding our living, no one would do anything. Rather, everyone would be idle. Thus, by touching our anxiety, the Lord touches the gear of human life. When the young people hear this word, they may say, “Hallelujah! Because the Lord Jesus has touched anxiety, the gear of human life, we don’t need to study or work hard. If we are hungry, we can simply eat some leftovers.” [I]f the Lord were here, I would ask Him, “Do You mean that we should just be like birds soaring in the air, taking advantage of the labor of others? They sow and grow the crops, and we simply come to enjoy them. Is this legal? Is it fair? It seems that all birds are thieves. I have only a small yard, but the birds come
and take advantage of what I am growing in my yard. Are You saying that we should do the same thing?” I ask these questions because I know the psychology of the young people. After spending so many years in school, they may be tired of studying. As they go from junior high to high school, from high school to college, and from undergraduate school to graduate school, the work becomes more difficult. Instead of studying so hard, many of the young people would rather be like birds flying in the air. Does the Lord intend that the young people finish school, or drop out and be like birds in the air? It is wrong to have anxiety, for anxiety does not belong to the divine life. There is no anxiety in the life of God. However, the Lord does not mean that we should not do our duty. When the Lord brought the children of Israel into the good land, they all had to work on the land. That was their duty. Whether or not the good land produced a rich harvest depended on a number of things: the weather, the sunshine, the proper amount of rain, and the right temperature. None of these things was under the control of the children of Israel. Their responsibility was just to labor on the land. To do their duty was right and necessary, but to have anxiety was wrong. Likewise, we must do our duty today, but do it without being anxious about our living. The reason you are so reluctant to give to others is your anxiety. Because of anxiety, you love the material things. If you had no anxiety, you would not care for the material things. Rather, you would let others have them. It is anxiety that causes us trouble. My burden in this message is to dig out this basic point. We all have our duty to do. As we are fulfilling our duty, we should not do anything for the sake of our anxiety, because we have a divine life that knows no anxiety. And we have an almighty and all-inclusive heavenly Father who takes care of us in every way. Today’s world is filled with anxiety, but the kingdom people should not be anxious about anything. We are not able to add one cubit to our stature by our anxiety (v. 27). Concerning morality, we have the life and nature of our Father within us to enable us to fulfill the highest moral requirements. Concerning our living, we have the heavenly Father Himself to take care of us. However, this does not mean that there is no need for us to do our duty. Although we must fulfill our duty, we should have no anxiety. Like the children of Israel who had enough to live on and who gave certain portions away for various purposes, we also should have a harvest and be willing to give a certain amount away for various purposes. Eventually, all we give will be laid up in the heavenly bank, and all our riches will be there. [THE PROPER WAY TO GROW IN THE FATHER’S LIFE] Both sloppiness and anxiety will delay your growth in life. No one who is idle, who does not fulfill his duty, will ever grow in life. Everyone who grows in life is diligent and industrious. Of course, this diligence and industriousness will yield a reward, and some material riches will come to you. All these riches must be used, not for your anxiety, but for your giving. Anxiety must go. Do not allow anxiety to occupy your daily living. Because the life of the Father within you knows no anxiety, you should not have any anxiety. Any surplus you have should not be used for the sake of your anxiety. Use it to build up savings in the heavenly bank. I assure you that if you do this, you will grow in life. The only kind of person who grows in life is one who is diligent, yet who does not use his surplus for his anxiety. You need to study diligently, make good grades, and acquire the highest degree. However, the riches that come to you should not be used for your anxiety. We labor and fulfill our duty, but we have no anxiety. This is the proper way to grow in the Father’s life..
Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
