Bible Materials

Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18

by Luke Yang   03/15/2015   Matthew 6:1~8

Message


Live Before Your Father God

Matthew 6:1-8;16-18

Key Verse: 6:4b

 

"Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

  In chapter 5 Jesus mainly taught the basic attitude and inner life of a Christian, who is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. In today’s passage, Jesus tells us about three kinds of acts of righteousness: giving to the needy, prayer and fasting. Those were good traditions to the Jews in their life of faith. But, Jesus pointed out their wrong motivations and attitudes when they practiced them. I pray that we learn about the right motivations and attitudes for a life of faith through this passage.

  Look at verse 1. "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." People tend to show off their lives to others. They put make up on their faces, put on good clothes and put a luxurious ring on their finger to show off to others. This era is now calledself-advertisement age.” Then, why do they try to show off to others? It is because they pursue honor, compliment and recognition from others. Even as a Christian, it is easy to live before people. But Jesus repeatedly told us not to live in front of people.

Jesus said, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” Jesus is teaching us through these words what a life of faith should be. A life of faith is that a man lives in front of God and for the glory of God. A life of faith is a secret relationship between God and me. We cannot see God but God is in heaven. Even though God is in heaven, he is almighty and he can see us as we see others. God is in us and among us. So our life of faith should be before God, praise God and give thanks to God. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law practiced their righteousness in front of others rather than God. So Jesus taught us how to practice giving to the needy, pray and fast.

First, giving to the needy (2-4). Look at verses 2-4. Giving to the needy is an important virtue of Christian lives. Christians give to express their thanks to God who saved us by his one-sided grace through Jesus Christ. We received God's salvation free of charge, so we give to the needy free of charge. Jesus told his disciples, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Mt 10:8b). For Christians, giving is not something to boast about. It is a pure expression of the grace that God has given us.

Then, how should we give to the needy? The hypocrites did in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by men. They announced with trumpets so that lots of people might gather when they gave to the needy. This scene reminds us of politicians who take pictures or broadcast on the news when they give to the needy. They are practically announcing, “Look at me. I am giving to the needy. What a generous and compassionate person I am. Please give me praise and honor.”

But Jesus told us not to do that. Look at verses 3-4a. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." Jesus said our left hand should not know what the right hand is doing. This means we should act in secrecy. We don’t need to take a picture to publicize our generosity. We don’t need to blow a trumpet. We should give to the needy secretly.

When we give our money and estate to the needy secretly, we may have a sense of loss. However, there is no reason to do that. Why?

Look at verse 4b. "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" Our heavenly Father sees what is done in secret and will reward us. Our God takes note of what we do in secret and he rewards us in his time. Men praise us for a few minutes when we practice our righteousness before them. But that is all. This does not give us real meaning or lasting joy. So Apostle Peter confessed, "All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Pe 1:24-25). God's reward is eternal; it truly satisfies our souls. We should seek God's reward. God's reward makes our life joyful, meaningful and fruitful. Jesus does not want us to settle for empty human praise, but to be rewarded by God.

Then, what is his reward? His reward causes us to prosper and refresh (Pr 11:24-25). He rewards us to be honored (Ps 112:9). He repays at the resurrection of the righteous (Lk 14:14). At that time, we will be complimented by God “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” These are God's everlasting rewards, which are greater than we can imagine. When we give to the needy in secret, we gain these rewards--both in this life and in the age to come. Therefore we should not be discouraged or have a sense of loss when we give to the needy in secret. We should give to the needy in secret with joyful and grateful minds, believing that God exists and rewards us (Heb 11:6).

My key verse of 2015 is Heb 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” This was also my key verse in 2014. I held this key verse because I wanted to experience God who exists and rewards when I earnestly seek him. Usually I did not ask God to reward me. It was because I felt that I was selfish when I asked something for myself. At the same time, frankly speaking, I did not do anything to be rewarded by God. I was lazy and wicked before God. But I changed my mind. God is still my heavenly father even though I am lazy and undeserving of his reward. When I come to God as a little child who seeks his father, he answers and rewards me. Heb 11:6 says “Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” I pray that I would earnestly seek him by faith and experience that God exists and that he rewards me.

By the way, what comes to your mind when you hear the words, "give to the needy?" Is it a homeless person asking for a few dollars? We certainly should show compassion to such people. However, this is just one small aspect of giving to the needy. Giving to the needy also includes giving spiritual help to needy souls. Sharing the word of life with someone who is perishing, visiting and counseling a person with a problem, and encouraging the downcast are excellent forms of giving. How wonderful it is to spend time and money, and to give our hearts, in order to help needy people in this selfish world! I believe that our one to one Bible study and reaching out to campuses are the most valuable and important giving since they are done to give an eternal life and everlasting Kingdom of God to perishing people. May God bless our spiritual giving to young college students.

  Second, prayer (5-8). Look at verses 5-8. When we pray, we can receive strength and wisdom, and find direction from God. Without prayer, we cannot survive spiritually in this world. However, there is a great enemy in our prayer life, which is hypocrisy.

Look at verse 5a. "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others." The hypocrites went to the synagogues and the street corners to pray. The synagogues and the street corners were places where lots of people gathered. They wanted to show their prayer life to as many people as possible. They wanted to say “Look at me. I am praying. What a holy person I am!” But we do not pray to people, but God. Jesus said that they are hypocrites. Instead of going to the synagogues or the street corners to pray, Jesus said to go into a room.

Look at verse 6. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father; who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”   Prayer is not talking to air; it is a genuine conversation with our Father God, who exists. Our eyes do not see him, but our faith informs us that he is present and he is listening (Heb 11:1). We should go into our room to pray. The room is a secret place where the door to the world is closed and the door for God is open. Jesus also went to pray into a solitary place (Mk 1:35). God wants to have personal and intimate fellowship with us, which is undistracted by anyone or anything.

Look at verse 7. "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words." Babbling is defined as foolish or meaningless chatter. Pagans thought that if they kept babbling long enough, God would listen to them. So they repeated the same meaningless words again and again.

Look at verse 8. “Do not like them, for your father knows what you needs before you ask him.” In verse 8, Jesus implies that our prayer should be based on our need. This indicates that God wants us to ask for what we really need. Hannah cried out for a son, and God blessed her with Samuel (1 Sa 1:10, 20). A leper asked for healing, and Jesus made him clean (Mt 8:2). Two blind men asked for sight, and Jesus enabled them to see (Mt 20:33). God does not want us to be superstitious and ritualistic. God wants us to come to him with our genuine need, as children coming to their Father. God values the depth of our prayer, rather than the length. So, we should not repeat empty words, but pray according to our needs with faith. When we really cry out in faith, God hears us.

 

  Third, fasting (16-18). Look at verses 16-18. What is fasting? Fasting is to abstain from eating food for a spiritual purpose. In the Old Testament the Israelites fasted once a year during the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:29). During that Day, they deeply repented their sins and had right relationships with God. They also fasted when there was a national disaster or on other special occasions.

In the days of Jesus, pious Jews fasted twice a week--every Monday and Thursday. Fasting was the symbol of a pious life. While fasting, they did not wash their hair or trim their beards. They spread ashes on their faces and disfigured them. It was to impress others, who would say, "Ah, you are a holy person." Jesus said this was their full reward.

What does Jesus want us to do? Look at verses 17-18. "But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Jesus wants us to fast before God our Father, not men. Then our Father will reward us.

In principle, fasting is not just abstaining from eating. It is to discipline our body for spiritual life. Worldly people live according to their flesh. But those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24). So we need to control not only our appetite for food, but our sleeping, thoughts, use of time, words, and sinful desires, such as lust, anger, hatred, pride, rebellion, laziness, and so on. We need to discipline ourselves to resist everything that hinders us from living with God. It is self-denial. So Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself..." (Mk 8:34). This, too, should be done before God, not men. When I think about fasting, it is like writing testimony of our meeting. When we deeply repent while writing testimonies, we have right relationship with God. We can come to God while writing testimonies. When we come to God through honest testimony, God will accept us.

In conclusion, I find that Jesus repeated three times the phrase, "...your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you" (4,6,18). Here we learn two things. First, we should do acts of righteousness before God but not man. We should not be hypocrites who act before man. Second, we should seek God's reward. Jesus did not tell us not to seek a reward. Jesus told us to seek a reward from God.

I pray that we may give to the needy, pray, and fast before God who sees what is done in secret. I pray that we might seek God’s reward by faith. Let’s stop our hypocrisy and live before our Father God, so we may be rewarded by God.


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