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The Prophecy Revealed In Matthew
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Lesson Fourteen: by turtle
A lot of what we do and what we say effects how others see us. However it is more important how God sees us. It matters little
if the world knows what we do for the Lord, accept when it comes to tax right offs to charitable church. It seems to me very
few business people when asking for your income and your ability to pay something care very little if you pay regularly or not,
but more on how much can they squeeze your pocket book to get their money which by all means is theirs by reason they
performed a service. However God not like business world, if you do not fast, he not going to squeeze you into a fast, unless
you want to count a stomach bug. Then you have to prove that stomach bug was from God.
Jesus speaks as hiding what you do for God is that scriptural in the Old Testament. Is the teaching of not being like the heathens
on fasting provable by the Old Testament. Purpose is to see if what Jesus taught the same as what God instructed the prophets
of old.
Matthew 6:16-18 KJV
(16) Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may
appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
(17) But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
(18) That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly.
If one fast for any length of time, people are going to notice. However Nehemiah does not speak of why there as been a change
in him except to tell of his sorrow, but not his prayer and fasting before the Lord. God gave Nehemiah opportunity to express
his sorry to the king, without hearing of his prayer.
Nehemiah 1:4 KJV
(4) And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and
prayed before the God of heaven,
Nehemiah 2:2-3 KJV
(2) Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of
heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
(3) And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my
fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
There is a difference between corporate fasting and individual fasting. If you corporately fast others know it, To individually fast
it should be done in away as not to brag. The reason for a fast should be to petition God, not to see how thin you can get. I
heard a few people brag that how they lost weight and they were ministers. However if you are overweight it might be a benefit
of the fasting, but it should never be a reason to fast.
The next verse in Matthew speaks of not laying up earthly treasurers. Considering there is a lot of dignitaries in the Old
Testament who seem to have wealth or nations wealth. However their were wealthy kings. Solomon being one of the richest for
his wisdom.
Matthew 6:19-21 KJV
(19) Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal:
(20) But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break
through nor steal:
(21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Zephaniah 1:18 KJV
(18) Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be
devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Psalms 39:5-7 KJV
(5) Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best
state is altogether vanity. Selah.
(6) Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who
shall gather them.
(7) And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
Habakkuk 2:4-20 KJV
(4) Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
(5) Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell,
and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
(6) Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth
that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
(7) Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?
(8) Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the
violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
(9) Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from
the power of evil!
(10) Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.
(11) For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
(12) Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
(13) Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves
for very vanity?
(14) For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
(15) Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou
mayest look on their nakedness!
(16) Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD'S right hand
shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory.
(17) For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's blood,
and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.
(18) What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the
maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
(19) Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and
silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
(20) But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Very first verses in Habakkuk is the key verse for believers. The rest is about what is stored up by the heathens. The Just shall
live by faith. It is faith in Christ that will allow us to stand. We are justified by Christ, we are made righteous by Christ. There
not one treasure or thing on earth that we can store up to give to God for forgiveness of sins. It is only through accepting Christ
as Savior are we saved and then after salvation we must continue on in faith.
Isaiah 33:5-6 KJV
(5) The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
(6) And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his
treasure.
Next verses in Matthew is about the light of the eye. The vision of a person. Is a persons vision about the light of the world,
light of self, or does one see the light of God that is worth more then anything else.
Matthew 6:22-23 KJV
(22) The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
(23) But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how
great is that darkness!
Psalms 27:1 KJV
(1) A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of
whom shall I be afraid?
Deuteronomy 15:9 KJV
(9) Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine
eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
Proverbs 7:2 KJV
(2) Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
The light of the eye is the Lord. He should be our delight. However some do not worship God or try to serve to masters. You
can not serve the world and serve God. Yet it not speaking about working and earning money for living but speaking about
spirituality here. You can not worship other gods and worship God.
Matthew 6:24 KJV
(24) No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Genesis 35:1-4 KJV
(1) And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto
thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
(2) Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be
clean, and change your garments:
(3) And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress,
and was with me in the way which I went.
(4) And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and
Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
The story of Jacob was an up and down battle of faith in God until God came and told him to return to Bethel. Jacob goes and
when he gets there he makes a choice to get rid of all the pagan idols in his family position. He had promised God after his
dream.
Genesis 28:19-21 KJV
(19) And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
(20) And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to
eat, and raiment to put on,
(21) So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
It is important to realize Jacob did not make his decision till God brought him back to the land of Bethel. Have you made your
decision on who you will serve. God or some statue?
If you should choose God, then he speaks not to worry about what we should eat or drink, or what we will wear. God promises
to provide it. Now how He provides and what He gives is not always liked. The children in the wilderness complained of manna
provide and God gave them quail. I am sure the quail helped. It does not mean fine dinning. It means provision of our needs
being meet. However we also suffer the consequence of the world if we living in a famine area, we can expect to have to deal
with these things. Yet I am reminded of the story of the widow with her last bread and the prophet Elijah.
Matthew 6:25-32 KJV
(25) Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body,
what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
(26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they?
(27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
(28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
(29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
(30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
1 Kings 17:10-15 KJV
(10) So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there
gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
(11) And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
(12) And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse:
and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
(13) And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto
me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
(14) For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day
that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
(15) And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
God way of providing is not necessarily our way. Yet if we are in obedience God provision will come. However what are we
doing to do our part. The widow had to obey what God spoke to her through the prophet Elijah to receive abundance. Are you
trusting God?
Matthew 6:33 KJV
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
We are told to seek God first and everything will be added. However many people struggle that claim to trust God. One has to
ask do they trust God. For example this week the refrigerator goes out. I am hoping that defrosting it will solve the problem but
if it does not it will be awhile before I get a working refrigerator. However God provides, He gives us creative to survive.
Making our ice box into a cooler and using deep freeze for the freezer completely. Often when we think there is not a solution
God provides. However we got to seek Him first and allow Him to work things out.
Psalms 34:8-9 KJV
(8) O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(9) O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
Proverbs 3:5-8 KJV
(5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
(6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
(7) Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
(8) It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
The last verse follows the last several verses thoughts so I am not going to repeat. However in closing I will say why worry
about those things we can not change, trust God and He will keep you for the day He richly and freely promised us the hope of
heaven.
Matthew 6:34 KJV
(34) Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof.
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