God's Social Security Program — William MacDonald

Treasures in Heaven Rather Than Security on Earth

Read Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 19 -34. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The body is the eye. If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 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? No man can serve, 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. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought 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?

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? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

For if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?

For all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall come unto the day is the evil.". This portion of Scripture has to do with God's social security. Now, we have all been brainwashed to believe that it is our duty to provide our own security for the future.

We speak of it as prudence to lay up for the future. Jingles, wise bees save honey, wise men save money, and we somehow have the idea that if we just saving bank policies that we can actually guarantee most of our lives is spent in the accumulation of what we consider to be adequate reserves for our future.

The Prohibition Against Earthly Treasures

Now, in the kingdom of God, the program for here the Lord Jesus freshly forbids the laying up of treasures upon earth. He says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, and where thieves break through and steal.

And if this verse says that treasures on earth do not bring security, in fact, it seems to me that I can see three nervous breakdowns in verse 19. Just think of the time and money that are spent in our country today seeking to guard against these three enemies, moths and thieves.

The truth of the matter is that treasures sooner or later, we will have to learn that the only security we have in this world is the Lord himself. We must have lived through oppression years when accumulated wealth was wiped out practically overnight.

Children who had been taught to save saw the banks close and all their savings, and here the Lord Jesus tells us there is no security in the treasures of this earth, and I expressly forbid you to lay up treasures on earth.

Laying Up Treasures in Heaven

Instead of that, lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust can feed. How can you lay up treasures in heaven? The only way to lay up treasures in heaven is to lay up material things in the work of God down here.

In order to lay up treasures in heaven, we have to lay down treasures here for Satan. If the praise of God there in heaven, our treasures are beyond, Jesus then adds the illuminating statement for where you are there with your heart, be also.

We know as a matter of practical fact, we can easily tell what to speak about most enthusiastically. Can I speak more enthusiastically about the stock market, knowledgeable of what is going on, be also.

And it really is, but can either be in heaven or in a safe deposit. Now, in the next two verses, there's a change in the subject. He says the light of the body is the eye, and so forth, and in reading the Gospels, it's often easy to think that there has been a complete change in the flow of thought, but that is not the case here.

The Single Eye and Pure Motives

Here the Lord Jesus is speaking about our motives. He says, the lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full. Of course, this is figurative, designed to express truth.

In the natural realm, it is true that the eye is the lamp of the body. In a marvelous, mysterious way, the light enters the body, being about him, he sees where he is. If his eye is healthy, his whole body is in a healthy condition, he can see pitfalls, he can see ditches, he can see things that otherwise he might not.

A healthy eye enables him to avoid the dangers. On the other hand, if his eye is evil, that is, if it is diseased, if it is not, his whole body will be full of darkness. The evil eye here is the eye that has mixed motives.

It is the person who is trying to live for this world, and trying to live for the world to come. It is the person who is trying to lay up treasures on earth, and also trying to lay up treasures. Jesus says, if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness.

That is, if a person, he tries to, his whole being is going to be filled with darkness. Darkness as far as the word of God is concerned. Darkness as far as guidance. Then Jesus says, if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.

That is, if a Christian has received a certain ability to accumulate treasures on earth, and provide for his own, Christ says, that kind of darkness, if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.

Serving God Rather Than Mammon

And then the Lord says, as a matter of fact, you can serve two masters, and the two masters here are obviously the Lord, who loved the other, or else he will, the Lord Jesus says. Then the Lord comes to the pits of the earth, and he says, therefore I say unto you, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on your body.

And the Lord here thinks about men and women whom he has placed on the earth for a purpose, and that God never made us in order that we might be connoisseurs of fine food, or that our bodies could sustain the ceaseless, enormous amount of time and money that are spent, so that I have a higher purpose for you.

And I wish as you go along the road of life, I had said how I wish you would hear it. For the first preachers are, 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? It's an interesting thing, as we see the sparrows scratching out in the yard to get their daily time gone for them. These little creatures, they don't sow, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't sow or reap.

We have that ability, the birds do not. But they do work hard for the supply of their current needs, and then they trust God for the future of this planet. An interesting thing is that if you study birds' nests, you will never find a barn.

Jesus says that here, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Of course, the lesson is that we are much better than they in the sight of God, and if God is interested in the food supply of little birds, how much more is he interested?

And what this suggests to us, and what I believe to be the general burden of the teaching of the New Testament, is this, that we as believers should work hard for the supply of our current needs, everything above that, in the work of the Lord, and that we should trust the Yet, it seems to me that this is the burden of the teaching of the New Testament, that we should work hard for the supply of our current needs, as the needs of our family should we be able.

The Limits of Human Planning

Then the Lord Jesus says in verse 27, Which of you, by taking thought of the little birds, you'll find that word translated, age, or length of life. By taking thought, and add a cubit to the length, it seems to be about 18 inches, about the length of the Lord Jesus says, Now, can you, 18 inches, because if years, it's more, and here he says, Think hard now, and try to add to the length of your life, the journey of life.

If you can't do that, that's absolutely impossible. Now, the point here is, that it is far easier, 18 inches, to the length of your life, than it is to arrange your future. That's the whole point. Let me give you an illustration of the abilities of a human being, so that he would be taken care of in his old age.

The thought used to, you're taken care of, and by the Lord's people, but what about that coming day, when you will be arthritic, perhaps, and rheumatic, and you won't be able to travel around anymore?

Who's going to take care of you then? And then, of course, a light bulb went on in my brain, and all my business training came back to me, and I said, Ah, yes, I should be setting aside reserves for that future.

But then, a tremendous difficulty faced me, and the difficulty was this, how much is enough? Let's say that I will no longer be able to preach in fifteen, or how much money should I have set aside by then?

But nobody knows. If I say, a hundred thousand, a great inflation, a hundred thousand dollars, might not be worth anything. And I might not be able to live off the principal, let alone the interest. A hundred thousand dollars.

If you really examine the question carefully, you'll realize that it's really impossible to provide for your future, because the future is too uncertain. We don't know how long we're going to live, even after we retire.

We don't know how many years are left to us, and we don't know how much money is due us by that time. And that's exactly what the Lord means when he says here, which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature, can add eighteen inches to the length of his life?

The Lilies of the Field and God’s Provision

And then, he says, and why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon said that we don't have to, now he says we don't have to take anxious thought as far as clothing.

He speaks about the lilies of the field, these are not lilies as we think of them, they're the wild, and the Lord Jesus says as you walk through the field, and as you see these little wildflowers, just remember that they're preaching a sermon to you.

We never just call up all clothing, God takes care of that. And we are so beautifully clothed that regal apparel couldn't even compare. If you know that's true. It's a wonderful thing to study the flowers of the field, and the more closely you study them, the more beautiful they are.

The centerpiece on the dining room table is made up of wax. I sat at the table, I said to the host, and he's a man who works a great deal with very powerful machines, and he asked, they're beautiful, he said, but don't look at them under a microscope.

He said, if you want to see real beauty, he said, look at a flower, a real flower, under a microscope. He said, there's nothing but perfection in that real flower, but if you look at these wax flowers under a microscope, he said, they don't come out.

And so the Lord, there are infinite these lights, and Jesus adds, wherefore if God so clothes the grass of the field, tomorrow is cast into the oven. Bible land, in many of the Bible lands, at least, there is a community bake shop, and it usually is an open heart.

The individual housewives, they don't bake their own bread, they make the dough, and then they carry the dough down to this community bakery. As I say, it's an open heart, there are a couple of men tending it, and by the side of the heart, there's a big pile of grass from the field, and it has all kinds of wild flowers mixed in with it, they just go out and gather, and every once in a while, one of those attendants will take a handful of that grass, and he'll just throw it into the.

And, of course, it enlightens the point of what the Lord Jesus is saying here, that those wildflowers, beautiful and more beautifully than Solomon, in all his glory, are killed today, and the next day they're cast into the oven.

If God takes such infinite for the details of the clothing of the wild anemones, don't you think he'll clothe you? Why do you take anxious thoughts about such a thing as the Lord Jesus? Therefore, take no thought saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal.

Seeking God’s Kingdom First

The Lord Jesus is saying it's needless to take anxious thoughts, directly contrary. The main point of the Lord Jesus put us, this is our vocation to become for the future. It's such laying up treasures to provide for our future needs.

The work of the Lord is pushed up no time if anybody offers them some to do for Jesus. They immediately protest that they couldn't possibly do it, indeed, for the corporation. And so, the Lord Jesus is saying here, it seems to me, look, I know that if you have to make the future your concern, you will have no time left to go on to make an agreement with God.

That agreement is this, and his righteousness. In other words, I believe the Lord Jesus is making a solemn contract with every believer here, that if we live first and, as I said before, work hard for the supply of our current needs and the needs of our families, plunge everything above that in his words, then we can afford to trust him for the future, and he'll never let us down.

Isn't that what it says? To take no thought, take no anxious thought, saying, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, wherewithal shall we do all these things do the Gentiles do? Well, that's certainly true.

The Gentiles here stand for the nations, the unconverted nations of the world, and Jesus is simply making the unconverted people. No higher aim than that. But he's saying that should not be characteristic of those your heavenly Father who knoweth that he have needs of all these things.

Then, of course, the central verse of the whole passage is verse 33. Ye first, the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. If you underline portions of your Bible, you might underline two words in this verse, the word first and the word God, and that teaching of the whole Bible puts God first.

Isn't that the way the Bible begins? In the beginning, Matthew 6, 33, seeking first the kingdom of God, that all these things shall be added unto you. And so, here the Lord is indeed making a covenant with his people, telling them not to waste the best years of their life, to lay up for a future that is uncertain at best, but to put his interest for the future.

And he says here, I will guarantee for the necessity. Now, somebody might say to me, yes, but in a practical way, how would this ever work out? Here's a man, let us say, and he does, he lives primarily for the Lord.

He just has a job to provide his bread and butter, but the principal aim of his life is to serve the Lord Jesus. And now he gets old, he has nothing, he has no bank account, he has no social security perhaps, he has no insurance, no annuity, thinking what's going to happen to a man like that?

Mutual Care Within the Church

Well, of course, the answer to that is that the New Testament takes care of the members of the church, that is, the believers take care of one another. This is the whole emphasis in the New Testament.

For instance, Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says that in urging them to share with one another, to care for one another, he doesn't mean that there should be an inequality, but an equality. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 14, but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their one, that their abundance also may be a supply for your one, that there may be equality.

And this is, of course, the way it should be in the Christian fellowship. Wherever there is a need, the money should flow to meet. This is what would happen to that man. He lives for the Lord, it should be the local church's highest joy and privilege to care for him.

And then those who are now caring for him, in a coming day, will also be made the care of the local church. Now, you know, because we are so clever with our security schemes and all our plans for taking care of our future, there are really portions of the Bible that are not too meaningful for us today.

For instance, in 1 Timothy chapter 5, there is a section there on the care of widows, and there it's clearly taught that a widow who has lived for the Lord should be taken care of by the church when she is no longer able to take care of herself.

But, for all practical purposes, that passage might just as well not be in the Bible today. It's meaningless for us today because we are so clever in taking care of the same kind of that which is central.

Dependence, they would recoil in horror at the thought by the local assemblers of sin. Actually, the Bible teaches dependence. The Lord wants us to be dependent upon himself, and as someone has said, the Christian's life should be a perpetual crisis of dependence upon the living God.

Living by Faith Instead of Anxiety

What we have in this portion of the Word of God, the Lord Jesus says, You put me first. It's not always about future financial security. Just serve me today with all your heart. I make a covenant. I make a contract to do that for you.

God will probably do it through his beloved people sharing with one another. So, then, the Lord just closes the passage with each word. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the sins of itself, sufficient unto the day of the evil thereof.

Don't be anxious. Don't be forever taking anxious thoughts for the morrow. Live for God today, and you'll find your need will be met tomorrow, if God attends the funeral of every sparrow, and he does.

Do you think he's going to let you down? No, he won't. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereon. It's a 24-hour-a-day job to live for the Lord Jesus. Now, don't try to borrow tomorrow's problem.

God has never promised us grace for tomorrow's problem. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, as by day shall thy strength be. Now, I realize that all of this is completely contrary to all that we feel as men in the flesh, and to all that we've been taught.

Faithful Stewardship and the Worldwide Gospel

This is another example of the revolutionary teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, how radical it is, how unlike the ways of men it is, but it's God's way. And, just think what would happen in the world today if Christian people took these words of the Lord Jesus literally, and if Christian people used their secular occupations, if I may use that expression, you know what I mean, to get money for their currency.

That's all, and the work of the Lord, and then gave themselves wholeheartedly to the service of Christ, and trusted God's assistance. What that would mean to the worldwide spread of the gospel, the whole trouble is that in many cases we are afraid of a blessing.

God is holding us to a walk of faith. He's called us to walk by faith, and not by sight, and most of us are afraid, and we'd rather see a balance in the bank book than have the naked promise of God to supply all of our needs.

May the Lord speak to our hearts and show us that our real security for the future is found in him, and that our real responsibility to the present time is to live for him first, foremost, and always.