February 10, 2019 Do not ask for Worthless Things (Matthew 6:8-13)
Sermon Outline
God
is the Righteous Father.
He
sent His Word to the world
in order to give us faith (John 10:35).
God gave us faith
so that we would no longer be deceived by anything other than God (Exodus 20:3).
The things that belong to God are in Heaven, that is, in the Spiritual World (Matthew 6:13).
There is nothing in this created universe that is eternal (Revelation 20:14).
God knows all the things that will come into our possession.
However, we must know
that what the devil can give will only remain in this world.
What the devil tells us and seduces us with is a lie (Matthew 4:9-10).
We did not ask Him before we believed.
But now we ask for the things belonging to Heaven by faith.
This is the promise of God (John 14:13-14).
When God had given us the Son of God,
it was the eternal promise that He had given all things (Hebrew 1:4).
God gave His Name to the Son,
and He gave His Son to us – who believe in Him – as an Inheritance.
Jesus is our Everlasting Inheritance.
○ The Holy Spirit witnesses to what we believe.
He gives us an Eternal Guarantee of what is now ours.
Let us stand firm in faith by the Holy Spirit.
○ The things that the people of the world yearn for will only remain in this world.
They do not seek for those things that are in Heaven – the Spiritual World.
We have received, as an Inheritance, those things that belong to Heaven.
○ Let us be spiritual. Let us be spiritual through faith.
The one who is spiritual will live according to the Bible.
He will live his life of faith through the Holy Spirit.
※ Let us pray and pray,
that God will truly accept our prayers,
and let us ask for those things that only belong to Him, Amen.
Semuon’s Letter
‘In the beginning, the earth was without form and void, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the spirits of God – that is, the angels – were hovering and keeping their positions over the surface of the waters.’ God created the light amongst the darkness and called the light ‘day’ and called the darkness ‘light’. Furthermore, He separated those things contained within the darkness, distinguishing the upper waters from the lower waters. He called that separation ‘the sky’ or ‘heaven’. In scientific terms, we call this, ‘the universe’. In spiritual terms, we call this, ‘Hades’. God made the land appear out from the lower waters, and this is the current earth that we dwell upon.
When God created the heavens and the earth, there was the presence of both the light and the darkness, the night and the day, life and death, blessing and misfortune, freedom and oppression, hope and curses. God had created them all. If one has been born, there will surely also be death. God has destined all created beings to experience death once, and He has destined all to surely face judgement after this. Therefore, within this created universe, there is no eternal possession, no sure authority, and no sure glory. When one has received, God has destined that all will be taken away.
However, those things that will not be taken away are those things that come solely from Heaven. It is written, “For the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory belong eternally to our God alone”. One must not seek for those things that will be taken away, be destroyed, and decay. One must not seek what to drink, what to eat and what to wear. Instead, God had commanded that we should seek His Kingdom – that Kingdom of Light, in which there is no night, no darkness or no curses. In this Kingdom, there will eternally be no misfortune. We are commanded to ‘seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness’.
When we seek for the desires of the flesh, they all pertain to those things that are within this created universe. But if one seeks for things pertaining to the spirit, they all pertain to those things belonging to Heaven, which is the Spiritual World. What is it that we are currently yearning for? Are we seeking for those things that are within this created universe? Or are we seeking for those eternal things that are outside the created universe – Heaven, which is also the Spiritual World? Even though we may try to love each other, if it is according to the love found within this created universe, there will only be separation and sadness. If we seek for those things that are in Heaven, which is the Spiritual World, these things are eternal. The Kingdom of God is eternal, His Power is eternal, and His Glory is eternal. His Love is truly eternal.
If we have received the Name of God – which is the Name of Jesus – and yet use this Name to seek for things that are only in this created universe, we will depart from the Will of God. Instead, we are commanded to use this Name to seek for those eternal things that are in Heaven. Heaven is the Spiritual World. In these things, there is found no death, no darkness, and no night. We are commanded to seek these things. When we hear the word, “Love one another”, and yet love each other with the love coming from this world, remember that you will be tempted to become enemies in the pursuit! But the ‘love’ that the Lord had spoken of and had commanded has no night, has no darkness, and is truly eternal. We are commanded to regard even our enemies in eternal love.
I have been a man of prayer my whole life. And since, in my prayers, I have always been seeking for those things that pertain to the Eternal Kingdom, the answers that I have received have always been eternal. Let us live for the sake of our souls. Ask yourselves the question: “Where is My Soul going?” Is your soul only to remain within this created universe, or is it to go to Heaven? Heaven is the Spiritual World. Let us ponder on these things, and thus respond by giving thanks to God.
Semuon