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Living Faithfully Unto Death Part 4


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Living Faithfully Unto Death Part 4
 
For the past few weeks, we have been studying to learn whether or not we are faithful servants of our Lord. He told us that we are to live a life faithful to Him unto death, no matter the cost to us. 
Revelation 2: 10

We must make sure of this, because it shows us whether we are walking in the light. This must be done in order to remain in fellowship with God and to have our sins washed away. 
I John 1: 7
 
Last week, we looked at part of His Sermon on the Mount to see whether or not we were living up to His teachings of living faithful lives. We are going to continue there this week by picking up in Matthew Chapter 6.
 
Matthew 6: 1 - 4
Do you give to the needy? Do you donate to charitable causes? If so, do you make that fact known globally, or do you keep it to yourself?
Clearly, we can see that giving to the needy or to charity just to be seen as doing so is not doing it out of faith. Instead, it is doing it in an attempt to gain favor with your fellow man. We see many corporations that give to the poor or to charities. What do they do? They make commercials about how generous they are. That is not giving out of faith. We see many people boasting on facebook and other sites about all the good works they do. What did Jesus say about giving alms? When we give to charity, or to the needy, the Lord told us clearly in this passage of Scripture that we shouldn’t tell anyone. We should make our charitable contributions anonymously. That way, we know that we are not doing it just to garner favor from other people.
 
If we give in order to garner favor from other people, we have our reward. If we give secretly, God still knows that we did it. Thus, we are laying up treasure for ourselves in Heaven, not on Earth.
 
Matthew 6: 5 – 15
Prayer is another thing that we do to live faithful lives. However, just like charitable giving, we can pray for the wrong reasons. 
When we pray, we shouldn’t be seeking to garner the good views of our fellow men. We shouldn’t be praying just to look good to other people. We should be praying because we want to speak to our Creator. People gripe and complain about prayer being abolished at football games and school events. Most of the people who want to pray at those events simply want to be seen by their fellow men as being religious. They have their reward.
 
The faithful, instead, carry on the vast majority of their prayer life in secret. At home, while driving, during breaks at work. The faithful don’t need to be seen by other men to garner praise from them for being religious. The faithful are laying up their treasure in Heaven by praying to seek the good graces of God, not men. 
 
The example for prayer that our Lord gave to us was a simple prayer. It praised God. It asked Him to bless His kingdom and for HIS will to be done, not ours. It asked God to provide for us. It asked God to forgive us of our sins and to protect us from temptation. It closed by praising God once again. Simple and to the point. 
No words added so that we can seem to be saying a lot when we aren’t really saying anything at all. People who do that are doing so to garner the favor of man, not God.
 
Matthew 6: 16 – 18
Most of us don’t fast. In fact, probably none of us do. Fasting is a healthy practice according to new medical research. We can fast if we choose to, or we can choose not to. However, whatever we choose, we should do it with the proper attitude. Once again we are warned against doing it simply to gain favor with other people. If we do fast, we are to do it privately and not let anyone know we are doing it. This demonstrates that we are doing it for the right reason. God sees and knows, even when we keep it private.
  
Matthew 6: 19 – 24
This probably sums up best the the main way to make sure that we are living a faithful life. Lay up your treasures in Heaven. The place you have placed your treasures is the place you will focus your thoughts. If you care about material possessions, you are going to try to keep them safe. 
You will waste time, money, and effort in doing this, because material possessions rust, break, burn, or get lost or stolen. You would be much better off not even paying any mind to material possessions. Sure, we all have things that make life more enjoyable. Solomon told us in Ecclesiastes that it's a gift from God. However, we shouldn’t spend every waking moment worrying about gaining more possessions or keeping the ones we have safe. They are here one minute and gone the next.

Instead, we should focus on laying up treasure in Heaven. We do this by living faithful lives. We do this by taking care of the poor. We do this by DOING WHAT GOD SAID TO DO.

When we lay our treasures up in Heaven, we are more inclined to be focused on doing the Word. We are more focused on living that faithful life in service to Him.

Matthew 6: 25 – 34
When we live faithful lives in service to Him, we have no need to worry about anything, especially material things. God takes care of His children.
Romans 8: 28
 
If we are living faithful lives in service to Him, He will take care of us with His Divine Providence. He will see to it that we have something to eat, a place of shelter, clothes to wear. We may not have what we WANT, but we will have what we NEED.
 
Worrying about things is a waste of time. Many people go through life worrying about things they have absolutely no control over. They worry about the weather. They worry about traffic. They worry about this and that, and they don’t have a single iota of control over them. They even get mad at those of us who don’t worry, because we’re not worrying. Their worrying is wasted time and useless if they are a Christian. Instead of worrying about things they have no control over, they should focus on things they can control, such as their attitude toward one another. They should focus on the Word, and let everything here on Earth sort itself out. They should seek first the Kingdom and the things of the Kingdom. God will take care of His children. 


If you are one of His children, you have nothing to worry or be anxious about. So lay your treasures up in Heaven. Focus on the Word. Put the things of God first and let the material things sort themselves out. Live a faithful life.

If you are not one of His children, you need to become one. Do you believe? If so, you need to obey. Repent, confess, be immersed in water, then live the faithful life we've been looking at. 
 
 
 
 

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