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True Religion, Part 4: Fasting

May all our hearts be drawn to God as we meditate on that vision of the glory of the new heavens and the new earth. If you have your Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 6. We have been studying in the Sermon on the Mount and in the last few weeks, have been particularly noting Jesus’ contrast between true religion and false religion. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus took issue with the teaching with the theology of the Pharisees. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus takes issue with the practice of the Pharisees. Their manner of living, their displays of religiosity which were without substance. And we have seen Jesus contrast the actions of hypocritical Pharisees with the actions which He desires from His disciples at the beginning of Matthew 6. We saw Him immediately talk…

The Treasure Test

The Lord's Day Morning November 7, 2010 Stewardship Sunday Matthew 6:19-21 “The Treasure Test” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III That is a radical hymn [Take My Life and Let It Be]. Many of us have sung that hymn dozens, if not hundreds, of times. If we really believed what we were singing and lived like it, everybody around us would know it. And that's really what this stewardship message is about today. Our deacon stewardship committee has chosen Matthew 6:19-21 as our theme passage this year and I want to turn your attention to it. So if you’d turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew 6:19-21, I want us to see the treasure test that Jesus speaks about here. And as we look at this passage, I want you to think about this — what we love determines how we live. Your life reflects what…

Is Your Treasure Showing?

The Lord's Day Morning October 29, 2006 Matthew 6:19-21 “Is Your Treasure Showing?” Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III Amen. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Matthew 6, and be looking at verses 16-19. This is the passage from which the theme of the stewardship season comes. Our Stewardship Committee has chosen once again to emphasize that stewardship is a matter of the heart. You’ll see why as we work through this passage today, but the battle hymn of the Reformation, which you just heard the choir sing, admirably points us to this in its very final stanza: “Let goods and kindred go; this mortal life also. The body they may kill; God's truth….” …still stands, doesn't it? Because his kingdom is forever. And so Martin Luther is reminding…

True Religion, Part 5: Holy Affections

If you have Bibles, please open to Matthew chapter 6 and we will continue our study of Jesus' teaching about true religion. In fact, from Matthew 6, verse 1, down to verse 18, we have seen the Lord Jesus Christ address the issue of giving, of praying, and of fasting. And it is interesting in contrast to the Pharisees the Lord Jesus hasn’t said, well to make sure that you don’t get into the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is I am just going to make praying, giving and fasting optional. You…

True Religion, Part 6: Anxiety’s Antidote

Our songs have been songs of hope and trust in the living god, and we come to Matthew 6, and the Lord Jesus’ discussion of anxiety and its antidote. We’ll begin in verse 25, but you’ll notice that the first word, or therefore, points you back to the immediately preceding verses, and so these passages are tied together in thought. Matthew 6, beginning at verse 25, hear God’s word: (Matthew 6:25-34) Our Lord and our God, we know the difficulty with which we struggle with the sin of worry,…

The Justice of the Kingdom, Part 1: To Judge or not to…

Would you please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7. This week we enter into a new section of the Sermon on the Mount. Having addressed the issues of the Christian's character, and his influence and his righteousness, and his piety, and his right ambition, the Lord Jesus now turns His attention to our heart attitudes in a series of relationships. Our relationships with our brothers, our relationships with those who are obstinately wicked. Our relationship with our heavenly…

The Justice of the Kingdom, Part 2: Dog and Swine

If you have your Bibles, I would invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 7. Last week we said that Matthew 7:1-5, was one of the most familiar, but one of the most misunderstood passages in the Sermon on the Mount. Well, today in Matthew 7:6, we come to what is just a plain difficult passage. It is a passage that we often scratch our heads at and I am sure there are some who shake their heads at it. We will begin reading however in verse 1. Because what the Lord Jesus says in…

The Justice of the Kingdom, Part 3: Ask God

Would you please turn with me in you Bibles, to Matthew chapter 7. We come to another passage concerning prayer in verses 7-11, and this passage may seem to have little direct connection with the verses that we have just studied, but in fact, their relationship is obvious if you give it a little reflection. Christ has just been instructing His disciples on how they are to relate to others. How they are to not judge and how they are to judge. In verses 1-5, He has been telling them that…

The Justice of the Kingdom, Part 4: The Golden Rule

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7. We continue our study in our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. We have been for these past three weeks and today concluded, four weeks studying the first verses of Matthew chapter 7. And in this passage, we have learned that our Lord’s righteousness extends to the relationships that we have with others. Our Lord is not simply interested in us, having fellowship, a relationship with Him that has no practical effect on the way we…