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.
2 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.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 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.
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Jesus introduces a concept that was not only foreign to people of His generation, but is still foreign to people of today. It is the concept that:
The entire focus of our faith need to be on God
It is easy to get caught up focusing on so many other things. “Churchy” things can actually distract us from our true focus which should be God alone.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
When we run the race, we are not running for the approval of the other runners nor for the approval for the crowd, yet it seems that we get caught up in worrying about what “they” think or “they” will say there is only one person whose opinion matters.
All we do we do for the audience of One
It is all that Jesus talks about in these verses in Matthew 6. Don’t try to impress those around you… seek to impress God. Serve the audience of one!
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to giving
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.
2 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.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
There were no subjects that were off-limit to Jesus! As personal as you may feel giving is; Jesus had some important things to say about it.
If you do charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them
· You have no reward coming
If you sound a trumpet
· You have no reward coming
If you do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing
· Your Father will reward you openly
If you give in secret
· Your Father will reward you openly
Listen to what Paul teaches about giving:
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
If you give with the right attitude God will bless you back, and it is never equal to what you gave.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
When it comes to giving, God said you can test Him on it!
Malachi 3:10 “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”
Solomon put it this way in the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to how you pray
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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 Therefore do not be like them.”
Not only can we give with the wrong motivation, we can also pray with the wrong motivation!
If you pray standing in the synagogue to be seen by men
· You have no reward coming
If you pray standing the corners of the streets to be seen by men
· You have no reward coming
If go into your room, and shut the door
· Your Father will reward you openly
If you use vain repetitions
· You are wrong
If you think using many words will result in you being heard
· You are wrong
Solomon once again comes through with some important advice:
Ecclesiastes 5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
If you just ramble on and on and what you are saying doesn’t mean anything to you, then it won’t mean anything to God either!
Job 35:13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk, nor will the Almighty regard it.
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to speaking to God
8 For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven
Prayer begins with the phrase “Our Father.” The term “Father” was never used of God in the Old Testament. Prayers were directed to the creator God, the sovereign God, the Lord God, and Jehovah God, but Jesus opens up an intimacy with God that had not been offered to his people before. He is our loving, caring Father.
hallowed be Your name
This means, “May your name be esteemed as holy.” This does not confer holiness upon God; rather, it is praising God for his holiness and praying that everyone will recognize and honor the name of God. In the Bible one’s name is synonymous with one’s character, so this acknowledges God’s character of holiness.
Your kingdom come.
There are two parts to this request. First, is a request is that the Lord would expand His kingdom, and second, that God would come and establish His kingdom and rule here on earth.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
In the heavenly realm everything responds to God’s sovereign rule, and His will is being done. Our longing is for God’s will to be done here on earth. Sometimes we have our own agenda, and we are wanting Him to rubberstamp it. We can miss the heart of God in a situation by not being in submission to his lordship.
Give us this day our daily bread
We learned in the Old Testament that God’s provision was a daily provision. They gathered manna every day. They could not stockpile it, so they had to trust God daily for His provision. Daily trust Him!
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
When we ask God to forgive us we are asking Him to do for us what we are willing to do for others. We need to know that we can always come clean with God about our sin. Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. We have to be willing to confess and forsake.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
We know that God does not tempt us to do evil. But there are times when we are tested, we are asking God to lead is in such a way that we will not need to be tested! And always protect us from the plans and plots of the devil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Be glorified in all things at all times!
The good news is that God hears and answers you when you pray:
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
After you have prayed you have nothing to worry about!
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
If you are seeking God with your whole heart, you will have His attention every time you pray!
Jeremiah 29:12-13 “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Here is near every time you pray!
Psalms 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
God will supernaturally make a way to provide for you!
Psalms 91:14-15 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.”
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to forgiving others
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Later, Peter asks for a little more clarification on this whole forgiveness thing:
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
The important thing to remember is that this is “from the heart” forgiveness!
God not only hears what comes from you mouth. He sees what is happening in your heart!
1 Samuel 16:7 “For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Don’t think that you can harbor unforgiveness in your heart and still have this wonderful prayer life.
Mark 11:25-26 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
The important connection that is pointed out to us is the fact that when I forgive I am in a position where I can receive forgiveness. So, if I don’t forgive I will not be a recipient of mercy!
James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to fasting
16 Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
When Jesus fasted for 40 days He was alone in the wilderness, if you have a choice that is the way to do it…get away. The reason I say that is that when you are fasting people will notice. Just remember there is a difference between answering a question that someone may ask and purposely attracting attention.
Paul wrote these words to the church at Colosse:
Colossians 3:22-24 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
There are some key truths that apply to fasting as well as to other things we do:
· No eyeservice (you can’t do things just when someone is watching)
· No being men-pleasers (don’t get caught up in trying to please everyone)
· sincerity of heart (make sure your heart is pure, honesty and sincerity are big to God)
· fearing God (God is the judge of all things, so we need to make sure that we reverence and respect Him at all times)
· whole heartedly (we have to do everything will our whole-hearts)
· as to the Lord (regardless of what we are called to do, we need to do it to the Lord)
Remember the Audience of One when it comes to…
giving
how you pray
speaking to God
forgiving others
fasting
We want to hear the words from Matthew 25:21 spoken to us, but they will not be spoken by other runners, or by a multitude of people, but by the Lord Himself, our audience of One:
Matthew 25:21 “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”