Sunday Morning Service

Matthew 6:1-15 (Click title for audio access)

The Believer's Private Life • 5.30.10 • Sunday Morning Service

Intro.

- Jesus has called our attention to the righteous character of the His people.

- They will be poor in spirit, mourn their sinful condition, be utterly submitted and merciful. The world will respond to them with insults and persecution. Even here, the believer is blessed.

- At the end of the chapter, Christ shows us how we are to shine in the world and relate to those of the family of God through the law.

- Turning the page, we come to chapter 6, Jesus now speaks towards the righteous actions of His people. He will warn us that there is a right and wrong way to express what we are.

- In our section today, we are going to look at two actions that will accompany the life of believers: Good works and prayer.

Text

• Matthew 6:1 : "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven." : Jesus says "take heed." That means that we are to beware. There is a danger nearby.

- The NKJV translates this word "charitable deeds." The word is more generic and wide in it's application. Many have commented that it means our "righteousnesses."

- The NKJV translators decided on this phrase given the context of the next verse. The NIV rightly has this translated as "acts of righteousness."

- Jesus assumes that His people will act righteously towards other people. They will be ministers, looking outside of themselves, with a desire to bless others.

- Today, this could refer to giving someone a word of counsel, encouraging someone, giving someone a lift or helping to meet a need. In our context, Jesus uses the illustration of charity

- In the days of Christ, there were many that were poor and destitute. Many were so because of physical ailments. There was great opportunity to be charitable or give righteously financially.

- This is where Jesus tells us to beware: Don't do for the sake of being seen by men!

- There is often no choice when it comes to doing a deed "before men." Christ's point is don't do it for that reason.

- The word "seen" comes from the same Greek root for "theatre." When your giving is an act meant to draw the applause of me, that human recognition is your reward.

- Listen to His words: Your Father in heaven. He wants to reward us. He wants to be the one that showers blessing upon us.

- To do something for the audience of another is to forfeit the reward that comes from the Lord!

- Now, something to take note of here. This refers to our motivation. Let's say you have the right motivation, someone sees what you have done and congratulates you.

- The Lord will still reward you simply because you were motivated to please Him. You understood that He alone was your audience.

- What's funny, is that the guy that sees and congratulates to encourage you will likely also get a reward for being so encouraging.

• Matthew 6:2-4 : "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." : This scene that Jesus describes literally occurred on a daily basis.

- The Pharisees, in order to draw the attention of the poor, blew a little trumpet to signal their pending charity. This likely began as a practice by one good hearted Pharisee.

- Later, it became an occasion to receive glory from men.

- Jesus, and the people, knew that this was not the real reason for their trumpets. They craved attention. By the way, this is the origin of the phrase, "Don't toot your own horn!"

- Jesus calls such people "hypocrites." This is the first of 14 times that we see this word employed in Matthew's gospel. The word refers to one who played a theatrical part.

- In those days, emotions would be portrayed on large masks that were worn by the actors and actresses. These masks would be large so that all could see in the large outdoor theatres.

- Jesus is saying that there were people who were acting before the audience of men and their applause would be the reward for their performance.

- Jesus assumes correctly that we will still want to give and to do so in order to bless Him. He tells us, don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.

- To this moment, I have not heard one definitive answer with regard to what this means. I wonder if this was a euphemism of some sort referring to being so quick so as to fool the other hand.

- Jesus leaves no room for doubt: Do your charity in secret! Don't let anyone know about it! Keep it between you and Him.

- The promise here regards two items. First, God sees what takes place in secret. This has a bad connotation when it comes to our sins. Nothing is hidden from Him.

- On the other hand, when that which is good is done in secret, God sees this also!

- The second promise is that the Lord will reward you openly, for all to see.

- The irony is that if you want to be seen by men, that will be your reward. But if you want to be seen by God, then being acknowledged by all will accompany your reward!

- In other words, do you want the few people who might see you to give you a few accolades, or do you want God's acknowledgement before the host of heaven? I'll take that!

• Matthew 6:5 : "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." : There were people who used the occasion of prayer to draw attention to themselves.

- There were several times of the day that one could come to pray. Scholars have differing times, but most point to 9, noon and 3.

- You had to get there in time or else capacity would force you out. Many took to the practice of leaving as late as possible so that they would be forced to make their prayers outside.

- Of course, once on the corner, their prayer could not be simple and quiet. It was an ostentatious display of piety, with wide arms and loud mouth!

- When all who passed noted how "spiritual" they were, Jesus says, "That's their reward!"

• Matthew 6:6-8 : "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him." : "But you." There must be a contrast between the Kingdom person and the hypocrite.

- Jesus tells us to go into our closet! Remember, that this is not to be taken absolutely literally in terms of the word "closet."

- Christ's point is that you would go to this length that ensures that this prayer time is sincerely between you and God.

- Christ promises a reward for praying as well! Your reward will be peace, comfort and wisdom now on earth, but in heaven, who knows what other blessing God has!

- Christ's first corrective is privacy. His second corrective is brevity.

- This one is more subtle, in that sometimes prayer can be just about ourselves as well.

- He is describing a situation where we can become our own audience! We are impressed by listening to ourselves, or perhaps, by the length of our prayers.

- We evaluate the quality of our prayers with time and eloquence. That is not necessarily what God is looking at. By the way, this is good for when we pray as a group.

- "For the first 3 minutes, we are praying with you. In the second 3 minutes, we are praying for you! For the third 3 minutes, we are praying AGAINST YOU!" David Guzik

- "Don't use vain repetitions." The word employed here is thought to be reminiscent of a well known King of that time who had a difficulty in speech. Literally, he babbled or stammered.

- Jesus is not condemning speech impediments, but a heart that comes to God, seeking to impress Him with the use of may words.

- It was taught and believed that the one that spoke many words would indeed be heard. Jesus counters that way of thinking.

- Understand that Jesus is not condemning a great vocabulary or a long period of time in prayer. If that is what He draws you to, that is fine. Just understand that it's your heart He wants.

- The first corrective is privacy. The second is brevity. Here, the final corrective is clarity.

- Let's be clear: He already knows what it is that we need before we even ask Him.

- Does that mean that we should not ask Him? He already knows after all? His omniscience is undeniable. We cannot surprise Him. In fact, before we even are aware of a need, He knows it!

- Prayer is not meant to inform God, it's meant to conform us! It is meant to remind us of who He is and who we are in relation to Him!

• Matthew 6:9,10 : "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." : With these correctives in mind, Jesus offers us an example. This prayer, known as the Lord's prayer, is not a form, but a conceptual marker for prayer.

- You'll note that the first tenets of this prayer have to do with honoring the Lord, His Kingdom and His will. It is His name that is to be reverenced.

- Prayer is meant to remind us of His holiness and greatness. He is wonderful and powerful and worthy of our deepest respect and honor. His name speaks to His character.

- After His name, we are reminded of the desire that we have to see His Kingdom come. Literally, "come now!" Be established now, here in my life. Let your rule be my desire.

- In the now, this refers to the establishment of His reign in and through our lives.

- We are showing the world what it's like to be a Kingdom citizen...or rather, we should be!

- The second part of this is the expansion of His Kingdom to reign universally! We want Him to reveal His reign upon the earth!

- Finally, the believer lives for God's will. In heaven, God's will is done instantaneously. There is no interruption in service.

- To pray in line with this, we are saying, "God, let me be instant in following you. Let me not lag behind, but hear your command and in the same moment, spring forth to do it!"

• Matthew 6:11-13 : "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." : After coming to grips with who God is, what His Kingdom requires and the desire for His will, we are directed to look at our own needs.

- It's interesting that we come to think and pray about our own needs after deep consideration of our Father, His Kingdom and His will for our lives.

- I am really impressed that we can stand to think a lot less about ourselves. Going further, our thoughts about God, His Kingdom and His will are worthy thoughts that we don't consider enough!

- Jesus reminds us to pray that the Lord would provide for us, first, in issues of physical concern. Bread was a staple in the diet of that day.

- Notice He says, "give us this day our daily bread." It's of vital importance in the Kingdom, to be about today and what our needs are for today. To often, we live our lives far in the distance.

- "What will happen 30 years from now? What will I be doing when I'm 60?" Certainly, there is wisdom in planning for the potential future, but there is no value in living for at the expense of now!

- Jesus moves from our physical needs to our spiritual needs. We are to pray for forgiveness of our debts. What debts? The debt of our sins against us.

- Notice this: AS we forgive our debtors! Asking for forgiveness while simultaneously doling it out to others is key.

- Spiritually, we are to forgive and to pray for our protection. "Lead us not into temptation" might be best understood by this euphemism: Keep me on a tight leash! Don't let me wander!

- Save me from the evil one, his schemes, his designs upon my life.

- At the end of the prayer, Jesus brings us back to the reality that we are living for. We have been strengthened and focused from it as well as for it!

- Jesus tells us that we view our lives through the lens of God, His Kingdom and His will. And the end of that life, the goal of that life, is to worship and add value to His Kingdom forever!

- Can we say "amen" to that!? The Kingdom person knows that this is what life is all about.

• Matthew 6:14,15 : "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." : I have pondered this over and over again. What is Jesus saying here? It seems fairly easy: Forgive and you will be forgiven.

- If you choose not to forgive, then you will not be forgiven. Let's leave it there and choose to be men and women who learn to forgive.

- But for those that this is not enough for, let's attempt to explain why it is that a person who is not generous in forgiveness, is not himself forgiven.

- A person who is not willing to forgive denies the power of God's ability to reverse and eliminate a wrong. In essence, by not choosing to forgive, you oppose the heart of God.

- By holding onto your case, you are revealing a heart that does not know mercy. By being unwilling to forgive, you reveal a heart that is a harbor for bitterness and anger.

- Turn with me to Ephesians 4. We'll leave this for now with Paul's words to the first century church, who even then, needed these words.

• Ephesians 4:31,32 : "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

Conclusion

- God is reminding us that there is a reward waiting for us. Living for eternity in the circumstances of today is the continuous challenge of each believer.

- This section of scripture reminds us of the audience of One. Live to be seen by Him. Live to please Him. What pleases Him?

- A life that gives without thought of reward. A life that fellowships with God. A life that consciously let's go of the pain that has been received. There's reward for that life!