As the Sermon on the Mount continues into chapter 7, the question remains of if Jesus is still talking about finances? The first 5 verses do not seem to imply that He is, but why did Jesus state what He did in the sixth verse? Matthew 7:6 states, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (NASB). What does this statement have to do with judging another or removing specks from eyes?

Looking closer to the wording of this verse, we are commanded not to give what is holy to dogs. We see here that Jesus is speaking figuratively. The Greek word used for dogs is “kuon” which is generally translated as a dog, but is also generally translated in figurative understanding of a “spiritual predator who feeds off others” (Strong’s 2965, http://biblehub.com/greek/2965.htm ). The reality is that there are those out there who are seeking to take what you have received in faith for their own personal gain.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon goes on to make this statement about throwing your pearls before the swine, “to thrust the most sacred and precious teachings of the gospel upon the most wicked and abandoned men (incompetent as they are, through their hostility to the gospel, to receive them), and thus profane them” (Strong’s 3135, http://biblehub.com/greek/3135.htm ).

This 6^th verse of chapter 7 cannot be separated from the following 6 verses, especially verse 11. God gives good gifts to those who ask Him. He gives Spiritual gifts to those who ask Him in faith. As much as we have been taught to give in such a way that the left hand does not know what the right hand is giving, there are some gifts that are not meant to be given away. Jesus is now sharing a teaching of the spirit that is intended to be heard by those who are spiritual. Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying. It is all about hearing the voice of God.

When we receive from God, some things we are to consume and some things we are to give. However, sometimes God gives even more special things to us because we have found favor with Him. Look how God blessed Solomon with great splendor, and then look how it was all lost by revealing it to the “dogs” and “swine” of that day. So let us revert back to the focus of Jesus’ righteousness and His kingdom (Matt. 6:33). We do not condemn others for an error in their focus. We gently restore when we are instructed to do so, knowing that with our focus on His righteousness there will not be a plank blocking our focus. So as we hear Him properly, we give what we are instructed to give to whom we are instructed to give it to. We consume what we have been given for our own needs. We keep what we are instructed to keep for God to receive the glory in how He blesses us. It is all about hearing His voice.

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

What if Jesus is concentrating the primary focus of the second half of the Sermon on the Mount to finances? If He is, then what is He trying to convey? If you may give me the liberty, allow me to put forth my twist to Matthew chapter 6.

The difference noted is between receiving a reward and receiving payment. When a person gives out of the goodness of their heart, they receive a reward. The one who gives not to be noticed by men also receives a repayment of the gift from the Father as Jesus’s words say, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:4b, NASB). And not just what we give, but when we pray the same applies as, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:6b, NASB). So I ask a question, how many people spend a great portion of their prayer time asking for their needs and/or wants to be met? Whether the prayer is for material items or not, it is financially based focus on the prayer. I add the want section to need because we often stretch our need in today’s society. We need a house for our family to live in. Does this house need to be 2500 square feet on an acre of land and filled with the latest technology? We find a way to stretch our needs into wants and justify it as a need.

Here in this opportunity of our focus on prayer Jesus emphasizes the importance of focusing our time of prayer on our Father and His Kingdom. The most important part of praying is worshiping our Lord and our God. When we are focused on Him, He will provide for our need, so simply asking for what we need today is all we need to do. Though we really don’t need to even ask as Jesus says our Father already knows we need these things. This is living by faith. God will provide today what I need today when my focus is on Him. We request to be delivered from evil and kept from temptation. This is the temptation to return to how our society acts in seeking to provide for ourselves; seeking to put tomorrow’s bread in the cabinet. We forget that the manna was to be consumed that day and not stored for the next day, except on the Lord’s day (Exodus 16:4-5). We must look at how God ended verse 4 by saying, “…that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction” (Ex. 16:4b). It is all about obedience to hearing His voice. It is about where our focus is. Is our focus on the Father, or ourselves?

Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NASB). This is the entire focus of the sixth chapter of Matthew in this Sermon on the Mount. When we seek to meet our own needs; we give incorrectly, we pray incorrectly, we fast incorrectly, we worry about the fullness of our cabinets and closets, and then we fall entrapped by life’s needs. So when we give, we give to the Lord alone. When we pray, we pray to the Lord alone. When we fast, we fast for the face of God alone. When we focus on God alone, the needs we have today will be met today. Our need of finance changes when our entire focus is on God. It is then that our faith continues to increase as we are obedient to the words of our Lord and Savior.

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

On September 30, 2015, I was led to Matthew 6:33. Like many of you, I already had that particular verse memorized as being, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NASB). However, I went ahead and opened my Bible to this passage as I really felt led that I had to open the Word. As I continued in prayer seeking revelation as to why I was led to this particular passage, some of the words on the pages of my Bible started to move.

In my Bible the specific verse listed was in the bottom right corner. As we have segregated the Sermon on the Mount into different topics with headings and titles, I was seeing the titles disappear from the writing. We have the understanding that this was one sermon that Jesus shared on the side of a mountain. In our scholarliness, we have shaped this sermon of Jesus to be that of many different topics that needed to be reshaped in the church. As much as I believe that this is true, I also must look at the possibility that Jesus was sharing one message of one topic that has several facets in fulfilling the one topic.

Essentially, we could place the topic of the sermon to be Kingdom Living, or narrow it to say Living by Faith. To be even more specific, I was seeing the topic of handling our finances by faith. Yes, there is that portion of not storing up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19), but when does the topic of finances start and when does the topic of finances end? What I was seeing was that the topic of finances was actually starting before we enter chapter 6. Even before the topic of prayer and fasting, the topic of finances has already been introduced. So what if the topic of prayer and fasting is inclusive with our finances? What if the topic of finances doesn’t end in Matt. 6:24? What if it continues through the end of the sermon? Chapter 7 talks about judging others. Do we judge how they spend their money? How they give to the poor, or not, like is mentioned in the beginning of chapter 6? The ravenous wolves are typically wearing three-piece suits! The battle between flesh and spirit is great, you cannot have two masters (Matt. 6:24). We must live by faith in order to be led by the Spirit. Does looking at this sermon from the topic of finances alter your understanding of the sermon?

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!