Craig Cooper

I want to look at what I call “first stewardship.” Stewardship is a responsibility delegated from one person to another, coming with authority to discharge the responsibility and accountability to do so. As God created people in His image, He made us stewards of His creation as well as with our time, talent, treasure, and testimony. Once we realize that God is our first love (Matt 22:37) and that God and His Kingdom are our highest priority (Matt 6:33), we understand what it means to be His steward.

You may ask, “What is at the heart of believers being able to put God first and as our highest priority, and, therefore, grow in our ability as stewards?” We will look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church

 to answer this question. The Apostle Paul stayed in Ephesus for nearly three years between AD 53-56, making it one of the most extended places he stayed during his missionary journeys. Ephesus was not a place friendly to the gospel of Jesus Christ – but Paul stayed the course, and a church thrived in the city. Paul had a deep love for the church in Ephesus. Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church was written around AD 62.

In Ephesians 3, Paul writes of the prayer he prays for them. What does Paul pray for his beloved Ephesian brothers and sisters? Interestingly, Paul does not pray for greater obedience among them, greater fruitfulness, doctrinal depth, or even the spreading of the gospel. This is not to say that these are not important. They’re very important. But, Paul prays for a strong foundation in Christ that enables and empowers our growth in the Lord and stewardship of our time, talent, treasure, and testimony. Paul prays that believers will know how much Jesus loves them (Eph 3:16-19). Paul realizes that it’s important not just to have the love of Christ but to know the love of Christ.

“Knowing” in the Bible is not merely cognitive. It is profoundly relational. For instance, sexual intimacy in the Bible is described as a man “knowing” his wife. I like how Johnathan Edwards illustrated what it means to know God in a biblical sense. Edwards explained that you can know the exact chemical makeup of honey or taste it. Both are ways we can “know” honey. But, only taste is the knowledge by which honey is experienced. If you have ever seen a child try honey for the first time, you’ll get Edwards’ illustration. Therefore, Paul is praying that believers would taste the love of Christ.

It’s fascinating that the ancient king and songwriter, David, challenges us with these words in Psalm 34:8: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” We’re challenged to taste or personally experience the Lord. We are called to come to the Lord and walk in His goodness. Indeed, knowing God is intellectual, but it is also more. It is also relational, where we realize that the love of Christ, with its “breadth and length, and height and depth” (Eph 3:18), is so expansive because God is boundless, endless, and without limits. This is who God is and how He loves you, me, and everyone else. The love of Christ is as expansive as God Himself.

If we are to grow in Christ and our being His stewards, we must embrace God’s love for us. Our growth in Christ, and as stewards of our time, talent, treasure, and testimony, will go no further than our confidence that God loves us, way deep in our hearts. Think about it. God created You to love you. We will delight in God only as far as we have tasted His love.

 How do we experience God’s love? We experience God’s love as we look to Jesus, being filled with His Spirit, walking with Him.

You might ask, “But how can God love me as messy as I am?” It’s our messiness that makes Christ’s love so awe-inspiring and transforming. God’s love is like a waterfall, and our failings, messiness, and lack of understanding are like a pebble. A pebble can’t slow the falls that make up Niagara Falls. I mean, every minute, 5.9 million cubic feet of water goes over the crest of the falls. This is just a tiny picture of the magnitude of God’s love for us.

When we boil down our lives, we realize that it is not our performance but God’s love at its core. The high point of our life is not our goodness but God’s love. The true destiny of our life is to dive deeper and deeper into the endless love of God – knowing Him and making Him known. We grow in Christ and in being His stewards of our time, talent, treasure, and testimony, as we embrace God’s love for us. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

I can’t think of a topic that makes people squirm more than stewardship. Stewardship is a topic many would rather not tackle, but everyone needs to because we all need Jesus as Lord of every area of our life. Stewardship deals with our time, talent, treasure, and testimony. It begins with an understanding that Christ is to be our first love and that this impacts our priorities in life.

Matthew records these words of Jesus in his Gospel: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt 6:33). Christ is giving a summary of His teaching as found in Matthew 6:19-32. He has been addressing our ambitions, what we seek after. He has shared four alternatives: two treasures, two conditions, two masters, and two desires, all to clarify that Christian ambition is seeking after the things that bring glory to God. This makes sense if Christ is our first love.

When Christ is our first love, His priorities are our priorities. He is our first priority. Therefore, we “seek first the kingdom of God.” In other words, we give God our total loyalty. Seeking God’s kingdom is pursuing the rule of God and His righteousness. This righteousness is what makes available to us, through Christ, our being justified (being made right with God), and the continuing work of Christ’s Spirit to sanctify us (making us more like Christ in His love, character, purpose, and priorities).

When we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” He is our first priority, and His will directs all other priorities in our lives. We surrender all to God, and He moves in our lives, providing for our needs as we trust Him. We do so believing that He will give us the best. With the Spirit’s leading and power, this frees us to act in alignment with God’s kingdom agenda.

It’s important to understand that seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness is not first and foremost about doing better, but being mindful that we are in Christ, part of His kingdom, and covered in His righteousness. The outworking of this reality, the reality of being loved by God and loving Him above all else, is having Him as our first priority. This is seen by His kingdom priorities being ours since we are in Christ and part of His kingdom.

We can make God our first priority, not due to our own goodness and performance, but due to being in Christ. Christian’s often look at their growth and kingdom service in four ways. First, God, then me. This thinking realizes that God does all the work to save me, then I do all the work to show Him how grateful I am. Secondly, God, not me. Here again, is a belief that God has brought me salvation, but then, God, not me, does everything else as well. The problem with these first two understandings is that the Bible clearly states that our growth and kingdom service is a matter of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.

This leads us to the third understanding common among Christians: God plus me. This belief is that we are saved by God and proceed in our growth and kingdom service by living in an equal partnership with Him. Yes, in a sense, we partner with God, but He is the senior partner. But, I believe there is a better understanding.

The fourth understanding, and the biblical one, is God in me. All four understandings get it right that God does everything to save us. The differences occur in how we then grow in Christ and serve as part of His kingdom. The Scriptures teach that by His Spirit, we are united with Christ. We place our trust in God as we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” This allows us to grow and serve by His grace. Our Lord lifts us up in Christ and fuels and fills our efforts by His grace. This happens when we love God above all else, making Christ our first priority.

What we put first in life matters. If we choose to put God first in our living and giving, we will live fuller lives, touch more lives, and reach a greater number of people with the love and message of Jesus Christ. Making Christ our first love and our first priority releases us to be God-honoring stewards of our time, talent, treasure, and testimony in a way that glorifies Him, blesses us, and benefits others. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

Stewardship might be a topic many would rather not tackle, but everyone needs to because we all need Jesus as Lord of every area of our life. Stewardship deals with our time, talent, treasure, and testimony. It begins with an understanding of who is to be our first love.

We discover in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This command was initially recorded in Deuteronomy 6:5. It’s repeated twice daily by faithful Jews. It encapsulates the idea of total devotion to God and includes the duty to obey the rest of God’s commandments.

To “love the Lord your God with all your heart,” “soul,” and “mind” is not a command requiring rigid compartments of who you are as a person but rather together refer to the whole person. Therefore, we are called to love God with all that we are and have. Another way to say this is that God is our first love.

Jesus seeks total devotion from His disciples. The eighteenth-century pastor, theologian, and evangelist John Wesley described this as Christian perfection. He wrote, “What then is the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body?… It is the loving of the Lord his God will all his heart, and with all his soul, and will all his mind. This is the sum of Christian perfection: it is all comprised in one word, Love” (Wesley in his sermon “On Perfection”). Love for our neighbor is the practical outworking of love for God.

Don’t get hung up on the word “perfection.” It’s not that we love perfectly as much as that it’s receiving God’s love, and loving Him genuinely is essential to our being sanctified (becoming more and more like Christ in His love, character, purpose, and priorities). When we have God as the first love in our lives, led by His Spirit, it sets us on the right trajectory to live in alignment with His will for us. Such a life glorifies God, blesses us, and benefits others. What we put first in life matters. If we choose to put God first in our living and giving, we will live fuller lives, touch more lives, and reach a greater number of people with the love and message of Jesus Christ.

Let me give an example. From time to time, I will have a married couple come to see me in the hope of gaining some insight into how to improve their marriage. Most of the time, it’s apparent that they want me to give them a thing to do (i.e., go on a date night) or some magical pill. However, a flourishing marriage takes intentional focus and actual work, but it begins with a growing relationship with the Lord. I can tell this is not what a couple expects when I ask, “How is the condition of your soul?” or, “How is your relationship with God?” and in return, I get a perplexed look.

Remember what I wrote earlier, “Love for our neighbor is the practical outworking of love for God.” Our spouse is not different than any other “neighbor” (“neighbor” meaning all others). If we are to love our spouse, we must first receive God’s love and love Him back. In fact, we must love God above all else. Only then can we see the relationships in our lives flourish.

To grow in our love for someone takes significant time with that person. It requires an awareness of them and intentional prioritization of them. It’s no different with God. Amidst the hecticness of this world, it can be challenging to make loving God first an active priority. This is why we need His help to love Him in this way. Through admitting the depth of our weakness and dependency on His Spirit, we grow in Christ. Our growing in Christ leads us to an ever-growing love for God. The result is a solid base for living in alignment with God’s will for us; we can honor Him as good stewards of all He has entrusted to us for His glory. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, opens with a brief description from Matthew, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying” (Matt 5:1-2). This may be a brief description but leads us to two fundamental questions. The first, “What is the Sermon on the Mount?” I believe John Stott answers this question best when he wrote, “The sermon is the nearest thing to a manifesto that Jesus ever uttered, for it is His own description of what He wanted His followers to be and do. The second question is, “How are we to receive Christ’s teaching?” We are to listen with a willingness to obey.

Of all the teachings in Scripture, the Sermon on the Mount has captivated many, even those who have yet to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Even those who follow other religions value the self-evident truth contained therein. These people see Jesus as a moral teacher. It’s like this account from the Christian missionary, theologian, and author Stanley Jones’ life.  A Hindu professor once said to Jones, “the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount and the cross I am drawn to.” Similarly, a Muslim Sufi teacher told Jones that he could not keep back the tears when he read the Sermon on the Mount. The complication with these statements and thoughts of Christ is that it is impossible to separate the Jesus of the sermon with the Jesus of the Scriptures as a whole. Thus, the main question we are confronted with by the sermon is not so much “What do we think of the sermon’s teaching?” but “How do we understand and receive the teacher?” Here is the question we all need to ask ourselves, “What will my response be to the Sermon on the Mount and Christ?”

Matthew concludes his account of the sermon in a similar brief description as he opened it, “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt 7:28-29). We read that the crowd was amazed. I believe they were amazed for two reasons.

The first reason the crowds were amazed was the content of Christ’s teaching. I propose that the crowd listening to the Sermon on the Mount did not expect what they had just heard. Although the Old Testament prophecies pointed to Christ’s coming as a descendent of David, the child of a virgin, and the suffering Servant, at the time of Jesus’ sermon, there were great misunderstandings about His mission and even the promises of God. When Jesus taught, He dealt with the wrong concept of Himself and the culture of His kingdom. They awaited a warrior king who would overthrow the Romans. Jesus doesn’t teach rebellion against a people, but a revolutionary counter-culture to the worlds based on Christ’s character, love, purpose, and priorities. This is why, by the end of the sermon, the crowd came away amazed and likely stunned. In the Sermon on the Mount, all that the crowd had been wrongly taught, all they had falsely expected about the Christ and His kingdom, had been clearly corrected. Still, today, when people are introduced to the Christ of the Scriptures, they often find Him to be much different than what had been taught and expected.

The second reason the crowds were amazed was the manner of Christ’s teaching. Jesus taught as “one who had authority” and “not as their scribes” or “teachers of the law.” Jesus did not quote other authorities as did the rabbis. He did not even say, “Thus says the Lord,” as did the prophets. Rather He spoke with direct authority, “I say to you” (see Matt 5:18, 28, 44). Jesus called people to be loyal to Himself and declared that He would be their judge (Matt 7:21-23). Jesus spoke as one who knew what He was talking about. A.B. Bruce notes, “The crowd is recognizing that teachers of the law spoke by authority, while Jesus spoke with authority.” In fact, Christ speaks as the authority.

Jesus spoke as the Christ, God incarnate, Savior and Lord. Jesus insisted that He had come not “to abolish the Law and Prophets,” but “to fulfill them.” He asserted that all the statements and predictions of both law and prophets found their fulfillment in Him. Here is an important point to not overlook. Jesus, in varying degrees, in His sermon, teaches that He inaugurated God’s kingdom and had the authority to admit people into it and impart its blessings on them. Jesus makes it clear in the Sermon on the Mount that works, or mere lip-service, does not admit one into God’s kingdom. This only occurs to those who are genuinely devoted to Him. Here is the point, Jesus did not only teach the way to salvation but as Savior and Lord grants it. Therefore, Jesus taught that He was one with God.

Since Jesus claims to be the Christ, God incarnate, Savior and Lord, He can’t be accepted as merely a moral teacher. If Jesus was who He claimed to be, the Son of the Living God, then we have a  personal decision that must be made. As we look at the Sermon on the Mount and Christ Himself, we need to respond with sober seriousness.

The sermon has looked at Christ’s teaching of God’s kingdoms’ counter-culture. It has laid out the standards, the values, and the priorities of the kingdom of God. The crucial question all of us must ask ourselves then is, “What will my response be to the Sermon on the Mount and Christ?” When everything is said and done, we can sum up the Sermon on the Mount’s teaching as a call to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, enter into a genuine lifesaving relationship with Him, and be a part of the Christian counter-cultural. So, will you receive Christ as Lord and Savior? Will you enter into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Will you choose to be a part of the Christian counter-culture? I hope you will. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

In the final words of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, we discover that Christ does not add any new instruction but rather desires for we, the hearers, to make a proper response to the teaching He has already given. In Matthew 7:21-27, Christ confronts us with Himself by setting before us a radical choice between obedience and disobedience. Christ calls His followers to be fully devoted. Now, we are not saved by works. We are saved by grace and grace alone. Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected for our salvation (Rom 4:25). With this understanding, we are not saved by works, but those who are saved participate in kingdom works.

We begin our look into this radical commitment of receiving Christ as Lord and Savior with these words of Jesus: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matt 7:21-23). Christ is not diminishing a verbal profession of faith. A verbal profession of faith is indispensable (see: Rom 10:9-10). He s speaking of lordship. After Christ’s death and resurrection, the early Christians knew what they were doing when they called Him “Lord.” To call Christ “Lord” is to affirm His divinity. It was a divine title, a rendering in the Greek Old Testament of the Hebrew for “Jehovah.”

Those Christ is speaking about made a public profession, and that is good. But, they were not true followers of His. Sure, they did “signs and wonders,” but Christ and Paul both warned that false Christs and false prophets would do these things (Matt 24:24; 2 Thess 2:9-10). Christ’s profession will be like theirs’s in that it is public but quite different in that it is truthful – “I never knew you; depart from me.” This group may claim to do many miracles in their ministry, but in their everyday behavior, the works they did were not good but evil. Jesus was not Lord of their life.

Today as believers, we make a private profession of faith in conversion (coming to Christ for salvation) as well as a public profession through baptism and testimony. We regularly attend worship services, where we sing to praise “our Lord.” We serve as ministry partners in His name. But, this must be done with evidence of our sincerity by doing kingdom works and living in obedience. Again, we are not saved by works, but those who are saved participate in kingdom works.

Here is what we learn from Christ: First, the person who professes faith in Christ, doing the will of God, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Second, the person who professes faith but does not actually follow Christ will be turned away by Christ Himself. Our words will not save us on that day. (Rom 10:9). Our deeds will not save us on that day. (2 Thess 2:9) Genuine faith in Christ is evidenced by our walk from one form of Christlikeness into a greater form of Christlikeness.

Then, Jesus concludes His sermon with these words: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matt 7:24-27). The contrast in the previous paragraph we just looked at was between “saying” and “doing,” here, it is between “hearing” and “doing.” Both the wise man and the foolish man got on with their building. A casual observer would not have noticed the difference between them. Only when a storm beat down on their houses was the difference revealed.

Let’s bring it into our context. In the same way, professing Christians (both the genuine and the counterfeit) often look alike. Both appear to be building lives as believers, but the actual deep foundations of their lives are hidden from view. The real question is whether they will put into practice the teachings of Christ, and only the storms of life will reveal the truth. John Stott rightly proclaims, “Neither an intellectual knowledge of Him nor a verbal profession, though both are essential in themselves, can ever be a substitute for obedience.” But, again, it is important to remember that Scripture is clear that salvation is offered by the sheer grace of God through faith. What Jesus is stressing, however, is that those who truly hear the gospel and profess faith will obey Him, expressing their faith in their works.

Here is what we learn from the wise and foolish builders: First, one put Christ’s words into practice, while the other did not (see: 1 John 2:3-4). Second, one was a wise man, while the other was foolish (see: Prov 8:35-36). Third, one built his house on the rock, while the other on sand (see: 1 Cor 3:11). Jesus is the only way to God and salvation. You can try to build a different foundation than Christ, but like the foolish man, building on sand, the storms of life will bring devastating results. To build a foundation on the rock, Christ, like the wise man, does not make us immune to storms but allows the believer to stand firm amidst them. Fourth, we learn, one’s house remained while the others fell (see: Prov 10:25; 2 Cor 4:8-9). Because God’s power is at work within believers, they may suffer, but they need never be crushed or destroyed. It has been said, “Common trials can bring uncommon grace; God is faithful to His followers.” Overall the point has been made clear that choosing to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior is a radical commitment.

Christ presents us with an alternative, either we follow the crowd, or we follow Him. The prevailing purpose of the Sermon on the Mount is to present us with this alternative, so we will be placed in a position to choose. Here is a decision far more important than any other choice in our life…On which foundation are you going to build? Will you receive Christ a Lord and Savior, being fully devoted to Him? I pray you will. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

I’ve heard people say things like, “I wish there was one place in the Bible that describes what a Christian is to be and do.” To them, I say, “Good news, there is, and it’s called the Sermon on the Mount.” There we can explore  Christ’s words on Christian culture. I’m not saying that other teachings do not exist in Scripture, nor that we have no need to study and apply them, but the Sermon on the Mount offers a powerfully robust picture of what it means and looks like to follow Christ.

In Matthew 7:13-20, Jesus teaches on Genuine Christianity and how to beware of false teachers and identify them. Jesus begins by explaining that genuine Christianity begins with true conversion (Matt 7:13-14). Hence, his first words, “Enter by the narrow gate.” If we look back in the Sermon on the Mount, we can surmise that Jesus is making a contrast between: two kinds of righteousness and devotion, two treasures, two masters, and two ambitions, all of which Jesus spoke of earlier. Now it’s time for a decision. What will it be… the kingdom of the world or that of the Christian counter-culture? There is only one choice because there are only two possibilities to choose from.

Jesus continues by teaching on two gates leading to two different roads. We learn that genuine Christians enter through the narrow gate and travel the narrow road that, although hard, leads to life. On the other hand, the wide gate and road may be easy but leads to destruction. There is plenty of room on the wide and easy road for a variety of opinions and moral laxness. On it, there are no curbs, no boundaries, no rules. The narrow gate and way, in contrast to the ease of the wide, is hard. Its boundaries are clearly marked out in the Scriptures. On the narrow path, it’s not opinions but God’s Word that presents the truth leading Christ-followers down the right road. The entry through the narrow gate onto the right path is a turnstile of sorts, entered one by one, through Christ, who said, “I am the gate,” whoever enters through me will be saved.” It’s difficult to overstate the magnitude of the choice laid before us. The easy way, entered through the wide gate leads to destruction, while the hard way, entered through the narrow gate leads to life eternal. Remember, we must choose.

In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus continues by speaking about two trees producing two different kinds of fruit and the presence of false prophets. We learn that genuine Christians are to watch for false prophets. Why? Because false prophets are dangerous and deceptive. They may look as innocent as sheep, use religious language, and sound spiritual. However, their teaching does not align with God’s Word and leads people down the wrong path. Jesus later in Matthew (Matt 15 & 24) teaches that after His death, resurrection, and ascension, along with the worldwide spread of the gospel, there would be a rise of false teachers who would lead many astray. The history of God’s people is filled with accounts of controversy with false prophets and teachers. Unfortunately, there are still many in the church today.

A quick glance reveals the intent of Christ to make this warning about false prophets immediately after His teaching about two gates, ways, crowds, and destinations in His sermon. False prophets are skilled at blurring the issue of salvation. The good news is that we can assume that in Jesus telling us to beware that there is such a thing as an objective standard of truth by which falsehoods and false prophets can be recognized. In fact, false prophets are recognizable by their fruit. False prophets can be identified by whether or not they bear the good fruit of obedience to Jesus’ teaching. It appears that you may indeed mistake a wolf for a sheep, but you cannot make the same mistake with a tree. The simple truth is that we can test teachers, but it isn’t a superficial estimate of their role, position, or standing in the church, but a close look at their character, conduct, message, motives, and influence.

How are we to respond to false prophets? Jesus declares that like every bad tree bears bad fruit, which is to be cut down and thrown in the fire, believers are to rid themselves of the influence of these false teachers. False prophets are false guides. The church, believers, are to remove the influence of false prophets from their lives as radically as an orchard owner would cut down and burn a fruitless tree. It’s important to note that this warning Jesus gives does not encourage us to be suspicious of everyone or take up the hobby of heresy-hunting. We are simply to be on our guard by drawing close to Him, keeping in step with His Spirit, being rooted in His Word and prayer.

Let me encourage you to choose Christ. Choose His way. As believers journeying on the right path, we can enjoy the fellowship of other Christ-followers keeping our eyes on the goal of life, watchful for those who would lead us astray, washed over with the peace, strength, and joy of our Lord. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

In the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, we discover the most complete description in the New Testament of genuine Christian culture. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Jesus invests time in His sermon to deal with relationships. I came across this quote on relationships from an unknown source. “Love is spending the rest of your life with someone you want to kill but not doing it because you’d miss them.” That’s not funny…but it does draw attention to how messy relationships can be, yet how important they are for each of us. God has created each of us to be in relationship with Him and with one another.

In Matthew 7:1-12, we discover how we are to relate to fellow Christians and our heavenly Father. How are we to relate to fellow believers? Jesus begins in Matthew 7:1-5 with some words that are well known but often misunderstood and misrepresented. Jesus prohibits judging. Some have looked at this passage as a prohibition of all judging. This is not the case. Jesus does not condemn making moral judgments. He is forbidding a harsh, judgmental spirit. Believers are not to be fault-finders who are negative and destructive towards other people; enjoying actively seeking out the failings of others.

Why Shouldn’t we harshly judge others? First, God will judge you the same way you judge others. Second, you should be more concerned about judging yourself. After all, you know your own sin better than anyone else’s (v. 3). Also, it is hypocritical to care about other’s sins more than your own (v. 4). Lastly, you can’t help others with their sin unless you’ve first addressed your own (v. 5a). Therefore, God calls believers to help others rather than harshly judge them (v. 5b).

Jesus continues in Matthew 7:6 using straightforward language as he describes an exceptional situation where individuals belligerently reject the gospel and correction. He answers the question, What about those who refuse to be helped? It is essential to realize that you cannot force the gospel on people. We are not to engage those who treat the gospel with contempt. We are to understand the supreme value of following Jesus and God’s Word. Jesus is not telling us to act impatiently or unloving towards people. Indeed, we need to give people a repeated opportunity to respond to the gospel and correction. Jesus is sharing an exceptional situation where a person has been given plenty of opportunities to respond, and they stubbornly turn their backs on Christ; we are to move on and trust God to do what’s best. Nothing is more deprived than to mistake God’s precious pearl for a thing of no worth and actually tread it into the mud.

Now, Jesus moves from how we are to relate to fellow believers to how we are to relate to God, our heavenly Father? Jesus teaches in Matthew 7:7-8 God’s promise to answer prayer. The believer is to “ask,” “seek,” and “knock.” For every believer who “asks,” “receives,” “seeks,” “finds,” and “knocks,” the door is “open.”

Then, Jesus continues in Matthew 7:9-11 to share God’s principle in answering prayer. First, we must understand that even human father gives good gifts to their children. Then, how much more will God give to those who ask. Jesus uses a couple of illustrations to point out that although fallible and fallen (sinful), human fathers give good gifts. God is perfect, loving, righteous, and our heavenly Father, so we can trust Him to do good. In truth, believers’ prayers are transformed when they remember that they are praying to their infinitely kind and loving heavenly Father.

However, it is crucial to understand this promise in context to seeking, desiring, and asking for God’s will while trusting in God’s love and wisdom. The biblical condition of answered prayer is that believers “ask,” “seek,” and “knock” in confidence, knowing that God will answer their prayers in the best way for them. It is a blessing that God’s answering of our prayers is conditional to what He knows is best for us – He gives us only “good gifts,” meant to glorify Him and benefit us and others.

Then, Jesus shares God’s positive rule for living, the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12. This is a summary of sorts of the love our neighbor taught in Matthew 5:1-7:ll and a capstone statement of this section of Christ’s teachings dealing with relationships. We are to do for others all the things we want them to do for us. Loving others in this way is possible due to God’s gift of His grace given to us, which allows us to show His grace to others. Such love fulfills the true meaning of the “Law and the Prophets.” A person who lives by the Golden Rule will relate to others rightly, in dependence on God. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ’s teaching found in Matthew 5-7, we discover the most complete description in the New Testament of genuine Christian culture. In the first half of Matthew 6 (1-18), Jesus taught on the private life of a believer (giving, praying, fasting).  In the second half of Matthew 6 (19-34), He instructs us on the Christians’ public business in the world (questions of money, possessions, food, drink, clothing, and ambition). It is this second half I want to look at more closely.

Ambition simply stated is what we seek after. Christian ambition is best described as seeking after the things that bring glory to God. Jesus, in Matthew 6:19-34, is going to address Christian ambition by sharing four alternatives: two treasures (9-12), two conditions (22-23), two masters (24), and two desires (25-34).

Let’s dig into our passage together, first looking at two treasures found in Matthew 6:9-12. These are the treasures of earth and the treasures in heaven. It is important to note that Jesus is not banning possessions. He is not forbidding saving for the future or a life insurance policy. In fact, the Bible affirms wise investments and planning for the future. We are encouraged in Scripture to enjoy the good things that God has given to us. What Jesus forbids His followers is the selfish accumulation of goods and materialism, which tethers our hearts to earth, pulling believers away from Him. Jesus teaches that your heart follows your treasure; therefore, we need to store up treasure in heaven (Deut 6:5).

Jesus continues in Matthew 6:22-23, presenting two conditions of our heart: full of light or full of darkness. He uses the eye as symbolic of our hearts (Psa 119:6, 10). As our eyes affect our whole body, our ambition determines our direction in life. When your heart is right, your path is clear (Psa 119:105), and you walk in darkness when your heart is wrong (Prov 4:19). Jesus teaches that the condition of your heart determines your path. If our spiritual vision is correctly adjusted to God and His priorities, our lives will be filled with godly purpose and drive.

Then, Jesus declares in Matthew 6:24 that there are two masters we can serve, God or money. We have a choice between God and money, that is, between our Creator or anything else of our own creation (i.e., money). We can’t serve both. No one can serve two masters. Jesus teaches that you have to choose whether you will serve God or money or anything else. If you’re attempting to divide your allegiance between God or money or anything else, you have already chosen money or whatever else you have tried to place alongside God’s “sovereignty” in your life.

Then, Jesus concludes in Matthew 6:25-34 by presenting two desires we can possess, the false ambition of our own material security and the Christian ambition of God’s rule and righteousness. He explains that pursuing a false ambition, our own material security is unnecessary, unworthy, and unproductive as a Christian. Jesus shares what John Stott calls the trinity of cares: food, drink, and clothing. It is important to note that Jesus never denies or despises the needs of the body. After all, He made it and takes care of it. It is worry Christ denounces. It is not forethought Jesus forbids, but anxious thought. Jesus instructs us to seek first [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness; in the Lord’s prayer, we take this supreme quest and make a request that it will indeed be a reality in our lives. We seek God’s kingdom or rule, which only exists where Jesus Christ is consciously acknowledged. To be in God’s kingdom is the same as enjoying His salvation. God’s righteousness includes individual and social righteousness. Because God is righteous, He desires righteousness in every human community, not just every Christian community.

As God’s people, we must understand Christ’s call. Our ambition is to know God and make Him known. Believers are to desire God’s rule in their life and cooperate with the Spirit to see such rule and salvation established in the lives of others. Christians are to desire personal righteousness while cooperating with the Spirit to see the righteousness of God established in the communities where we live. We are to be everyday missionaries in the everyday mission fields of our lives. Jesus teaches that what we desire produces specific fruit. We either pursue Christian ambition leading to peace or a false ambition leading to worry that is unnecessary, unworthy, and unproductive as a Christian.

Here are the simple truths about Christian ambition: Your treasure determines your heart. Your heart determines the course of your life. You cannot divide your heart between two masters. You will either pursue a false ambition leading to worry or Christian ambition leading to peace and heavenly provisions. You must choose whether or not you will serve God, seek His rule and His righteousness. In short, we can be ambitious either for ourselves or for God. There is no third alternative. Above all else, Christian ambition seeks first God’s glory in all things; nothing else comes close. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

The passage we are about to explore is found in The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7. This sermon of Christ contains some of His best-known teachings. John Stott offers this description, “It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that Jesus ever uttered, for it is His own description of what He wanted  His followers to be and do.” The sermon describes what life looks like when Jesus is recognized and received as Savior and Lord. It is the most complete description in the New Testament of genuine Christian culture.

Within the sermon, in Matthew 6:7-15, Jesus explains how we are to talk to God. We discover in Matthew 6:7-8 that we are to pray thoughtfully, not mechanically. Jesus does not forbid all repetition but verbosity (degrading prayer from an honest and personal approach to God into a mere recitation of words). Jesus forbids prayer that is all lips and no mind or heart.

Jesus then goes on to explain how we are to pray thoughtfully. He offers a model of prayer. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus says, “Pray like this.” He proceeds to lay out a pattern of prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Jesus is not telling us that we need to recite what has become known as The Lord’s Prayer or The Disciples Prayer since He is sharing this prayer with the disciples. However, He is not forbidding us from reciting it. When we are thoughtfully reciting The Lord’s Prayer, it can be quite meaningful.

What does the model Jesus shared with us teach us about praying rightly and thoughtfully? First, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when we approach God as His people. In verse 9, Jesus tells us to address “Our Father in heaven.” What does this teach us about how we are to approach God in prayer? We learn that we are to come to God as His children with childlike trust and with reverence and respect. We are to approach God with the confidence that we are His children, and He is our personal, loving, and all-powerful Father.

Secondly, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when God’s concerns are given priority. We read in verses 9 and 10 that we pray “hallowed be God’s name,” that “His kingdom come,” and “His will be done.” As believers, our top priority is a concern for God’s kingdom and will. We pray for God’s concerns when we pray that God’s rule will overcome the world and for obedience to God’s commands and leading here on earth.

Thirdly, we pray rightly and thoughtfully when we lift up our own needs as well as the needs of others. What needs are we to lift up to God? We are to lift up physical needs asking God to provide (daily bread) what you and others need to sustain life. Keep in mind Jesus meant the necessities rather than the luxuries of life. Next, we pray for forgiveness for the sins we have committed. Note that our sin is likened to debt because it deserves to be punished and, in fact, was, in that Christ paid our penalty on the cross. Jesus assumes that if you have been forgiven, you will forgive others. This does not mean we earn forgiveness by forgiving others. Rather, God forgives the penitent, and a genuine sign of the penitent is a forgiving spirit. Lastly, we pray for deliverance from temptation and Satan’s power. Remember, God never tempts us (Jam 1:13). We ask Him to help us avoid situations where sin becomes hard to resist (Psa 23:3). We all need God’s power to overcome Satan (we can’t make it on our own). The believer who has experienced forgiveness from past sin desires to be delivered from its tyranny in the future.

It is apparent in The Lord’s Prayer that Jesus wants us to be conscious of our day-to-day dependence on God. Some ancient manuscripts (though not the best) end with the doxology, attributing the kingdom and the power and the glory to God to who it belongs. The doxology affirms that God alone rules over creation, has the power to answer our prayers, and is worthy of all the praise and honor. These things will always be true of our God.

Then, Jesus reaffirms, in Matthew 6:14-15, that forgiveness is required of us who follow Jesus. God forgives freely, taking on Himself the loss for our debts (sins). Therefore, it ought not surprise us that He expects those He forgives to demonstrate gratitude for their forgiveness by forgiving others.

Jesus teaches us that the believers’ prayer is God-centered (focused on God’s glory) rather than self-centeredness (preoccupied with one’s own glory). He also instructs us that the believers’ prayer is intelligent (engaging the heart and mind) rather than mechanical (speaking without thinking). When we pray, we are to approach God as His people. We are to pray for God’s concerns as our top priority. We are to pray for our own needs as well as the needs of others. We are to do so affirming to God that His is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. When we allow the Bible to present us with an accurate image of God, trusting in His character and practice His presence, our prayers will be thoughtful and right, like true children of God. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!

We are now over a week into the new year. It’s hard to believe it’s 2022. Time does fly by. This is why the psalmist prays, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). The songwriter realizes that sin has made our days few in this life. Therefore, we ought to be prudent in how we use them.

The old saying is mostly true, “what we genuinely care about we make time for.” I say mostly true because it takes discipline to be intentional with our time. A well-cared-for schedule is an act of love, but one that is made possible through having the discipline to learn and exercise the executive skills necessary to manage our time. If we don’t manage our time, it will manage us. This is why the psalmists sought the Lord’s wisdom. He knew his weakness and failings and, as a result, asked the Lord for His divine guidance.

The good news is that such wisdom is ours for the asking. James writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). So if you are not sure what to do, ask God. James is a book offering a significant amount of practical instruction, and it begins by telling us to pray for spiritual insight. It’s clear from this verse that God is generous in His willingness to answer a prayer for wisdom.

When I see a graveyard, I often wonder how many good intentions are buried there as well. Good intentions don’t get the job done. They’re a good start, but they don’t finish the deal. Once we pray for God’s wisdom on how we ought to use our time, we should also ask for the ability to follow His Spirit’s leading. Wisdom does not just know what to do but wisely does it.

Paul writes, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25). After we have committed ourselves to follow Christ by living by the Spirit, we should also let the Spirit direct the way we live. Thus we “keep in step with the Spirit.” The actual word picture presented to us is that of following in His footsteps, like those left in the sand on a beach or in the snow. You choose which seasonal or destination you prefer in the imagery. We are to put our feet in the footprints of the Spirit. In other words, He is leading, and we do the following.

So, we are to be wise in how we use our days. Good intentions are not enough. We need to acquire and exercise the executive skills required to manage our life well. We can do this by asking and receiving wisdom from God. Then, as followers of Christ, we are empowered to follow His Spirit’s lead in our comings and goings.

Again, let me remind us that we are just over a week into the new year. 2022 has arrived. Don’t let time pass you by. Let each of us number our days and live them wisely. God desires to fill our lives with spiritual blessings so that we can bless others. We are privileged to partner with Him as kingdom builders as we pray, “Lord, Your, kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). I pray this year finds you glorifying God, being blessed, and blessing others in your home, neighborhood, school, workplace, and throughout the world in which we live.

There is a Japanese proverb that says, “Yesterday is a cashed check, tomorrow a promissory note, today is the only cash you have, spend it wisely.” I hope 2022 finds us all seeking God’s wisdom and following His Spirit’s lead as we live our lives for His glory, our blessing, and the benefit of others. Sol Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!