Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6 as we continue our study through the Word of God. And this evening we are going to continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount or the King’s manifesto, the constitution of the King. And then next time we will finish up the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. Now the first 18 verses of Matthew chapter 6 deal with the proper attitude towards spiritual things as compared to the hypocrisy that was actually taking place. And Jesus is going to focus on three areas; our giving, our praying and our fasting. So, with that said, let’s dig into Matthew chapter 6, beginning in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
VERSE 1
1. Now this seems to contradict what Jesus said back in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." One is saying to let your good works be seen, the other is saying not to let them be seen. Which is right? First of all both are right! You see, Jesus is speaking of our motives here, why we are doing something. Some do it for the praise of men, and that is wrong, that is their reward. Others do it unto God, and that is right and they will be rewarded for their service.
2. Let me say this, if you are serving man in a ministry, when things don’t go your way, you don’t get the praise you want, you will be out of there. "I don’t need this! They didn’t treat me right! Where is the praise, the recognition!" And they leave! On the other hand, if you are serving the Lord, it doesn’t matter what happens, because you are not serving man but God! And, sadly, I have seen those who serve man and they are constantly leaving this ministry or that church because their focus is wrong. It is not about you, it is all about Him, the Lord! You see, when you are serving God, nothing will get in your way or stop you from serving Him!
VERSE 2
1. Did the religious leaders really do this? It seems so. You see, on the side of the temple was a courtyard called the Chamber of the Secret, and the poor would go there to receive gifts from this large chest called the Trumpet. It was all done discretely. But then the Pharisees thought it would be easier to go out into the streets to give to the poor. And they would blow this small brass or silver trumpet to call the poor to them, and of course everyone else heard and would look to see what was going on. No longer was it done in secret, no longer was it done discretely. Now when people saw the Pharisees give to the poor, the praises went out! Man today likes to make a noise when they give so everyone will see how spiritual they are. And I hope they enjoy the praise of men, because that is all they will get, that is their reward! Here at Calvary we don’t put names on things people have given to the church, or announce what people give, I don’t want them to lose their reward!
VERSES 3-4
1. Here is the correct way to give, keep the matter between you and God. The reason is simple, where do you want your rewards to come from, God or man? I want to be rewarded by my heavenly Father with eternal rewards instead of the temporary rewards given by man!
VERSE 5
1. Next Jesus focuses on prayer which is talking, sharing with God and listening to Him, allowing His will to become your will. But Jesus says that many are hypocrites or actors who wear a mask and go up on stage to "...be seen..." so that others can see how spiritual they are. And again, if that is how you pray, to impress others, you have your reward, it is paid in full, a completed transaction, and the payment has been made by man and not by God.
VERSE 6
1. God is not coming against corporate prayer but against prayer that is used to impress others. And we also need that time alone with God, listening to Him, sharing with Him those things that are on our heart, and that is not done out in the open, but privately. And I think many times that is the problem. No one see’s us, so we think it is useless, there is no praise of men, and thus, we don’t do it. Prayer alone with God is some of the most beneficial time you can spend, just listening to His voice, having your will conformed into His will!
VERSES 7-8
1. I don’t know why some think that vain repetitions are honoring to God. I can’t imagine going up to my wife and saying, "I love you sunshine! Things went well at work today!" "I love you sunshine! Things went well at work today!" And over and over again I would repeat that. She would not be excited, but she would be on the phone to call the guys in the white coats to come and get me! Thus, if our spouses would not want to hear vain repetition, neither does our heavenly Father.
2. Also, some feel the longer the prayer, the more spiritual they are. Jesus says, "Not so!" It is not the length of your prayer, but the heart of your prayer. Go and study the prayer found in Nehemiah chapter 9 or Daniel chapter 9 and you will see they only last some 2 to 3 minutes and yet they are powerful! And in a minute the Lord is going to show us what prayer is, not some kind of formula, but a model for prayer, and it only lasts some 25 to 30 seconds. You see, it is not that God doesn’t know what you need, He just wants to hear from you. Get to the point and don’t try to impress Him!
VERSES 9-10
1. As I have said, this is a model for prayer, not a formula or some kind of mantra to be repeated over and over again. In saying that, please understand that there are two extreme views in regards to this prayer, and I think they both are wrong. Some say or should I say they never say this prayer for they see that as vain repetition. The other view is that this prayer is said over and over again, in a mindless repetition. The view I tend to take is there is nothing at all wrong with this prayer as long as when you say it you do so in a meaningful way and not in some kind of mindless, vain repetitive way. You should always be thinking about what you are praying about, and the reality is, this is a very beautiful prayer. This prayer has been called "the Lord’s prayer" but in reality, it is a prayer that Jesus was teaching His disciples, and us!
2. If God is not your Father, then this prayer is over for you, it is meaningless. First of all you must be a child of God, which is through Christ, and then you can call God "daddy" which is the English translation of the Greek word ABBA! And it is God who is to be honored, lifted up.
3. Next, our prayer should be for God’s kingdom to come, to right the wrong that is in this world. And that His will, not ours would be established in us and done through us. I don’t want my will to be done, because many times it is selfish, self-centered and I can’t see what the result will be. On the other hand, God knows the beginning from the end, and He knows what is best for us. Thus, having His will done is or should be our desire!
4. Now the focus moves from the Father, getting the correct perspective on things, to our own personal needs, which there is nothing wrong in praying for that. Some make you feel bad if you pray for yourself. I’ll tell you what, I need prayer, as do all of you. And as we are going to see, God is going to tell us there is nothing wrong in bringing our requests before Him. In fact, Peter tells you that you should be, "casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." I Peter 5:7.
VERSES 11-13
1. For many of us, if not all of us, our focus does not tend to be on today, but the future. God does not want us to think about things that way. He wants us to depend upon Him daily for all of our needs. I don’t want to be co-dependent with God, but all-dependent with Him!
2. God also wants us to have hearts of forgiveness. And the reason is simple. He has forgiven us of all our gross, ugly sins and He is saying because of all He has done for us, we need to forgive others when they do something against us. The question for some is "How long can I be mad at that jerk for what he did to me?" We may use more spiritual terms, but that is the essence of what we are saying. Now, before I answer that question, let me ask you one. "How long was God mad at you for all of your sins against Him?" He loved you so much He died for you, can’t you forgive? You see, it is a matter of the heart and the reality it really doesn’t matter who is right and who is wrong. The bigger issue, as I have said, is are you willing to forgive, not tomorrow, the next day, next week, next month, next year, but now? And if you are having a hard time forgiving, Jesus will hit this issue again to re-enforce this point in the next couple of verses.
3. Next we see our weakness and ask God for help, to protect us from Satan. We can’t do it on our own, and if we try, we will fail! And the prayer ends with the worship of God, which our prayers should end that way as we trust in Him and His promises to us.
VERSES 14-15
1. There is no way you can walk in fellowship with God if you can’t forgive others! And these verses are troubling to some, so they water them down. I am not. All I am going to say is that as long as you forgive, you don’t need to worry about what these verses mean in its totality! That is the heart of the ministry of Jesus, and it should be what flows from our hearts - FORGIVENESS!
VERSE 16
1. Fasting was denying your flesh and the idea is that our spirits may be strengthened. There is nothing wrong with fasting to discern God’s will on a matter, or praying for a serious situation. The problem comes when fasting is done to impress others. "Sorry brother, I can’t eat that chocolate cake with ice cream, I am fastinggggggg!!!!!!!" You see, it draws attention to you.
2. The market day in Jerusalem was on Monday’s and Thursday’s, so the city or market area was packed with people on these days. Now, just by chance, the Pharisees fasted on every Monday and Thursday! And as they walked by all these people in the market, they had ashes on their heads, their faces were all disfigured, and everyone knew what they were doing . "Oh, look at so-and-so, he is fasting. What a spiritual man he is!" ‘The problem was, it was all for show, they were acting, it was not true! That is what not to do, and Jesus is now going to show us what to do.
VERSES 17-18
1. Again, who are you trying to impress, people? Or are you trying to please God? Are you doing it to draw closer to Him or get the praise of people? If you are trying to impress people, enjoy your rewards, because that is all you will get. If you are trying to please God, your rewards will be eternal!
2. We are now going to move from this section that dealt with the proper attitude towards spiritual things, Matthew 6:1-18, to the proper attitude towards this life, which we will cover in Matthew 6:19-34. And again, as we are going to see, the focus is having a proper perspective of things, where your faith is really at, or who it really is in!
VERSES 19-21
1. You can tell where a persons heart is at by looking at what consumes their life, what they treasure. In college, long before I was saved, you would find pictures in my room of Alice Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and various other rock bands, that I guess you can say I worshiped because they were the focus of my life at that time. That was then, but you won’t find that today because the Lord is the one I worship. And believe me I do have a long way to go, but the focus of my life is the Lord!
2. And the point Jesus is making here is that earthly riches won’t last. Moths will eat the material away. Rust will destroy the metal on your car. And what is left, thieves will come and take it away. What are you holding on to, or should I say, what has a hold of your life? In Proverbs 23:4-5 we are told, "Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease! Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven." We work so hard for that which is temporary, but for that which is eternal, that which is spiritual, we do noting or far less of an effort is put forth, and that should not be.
3. I want to lay up my treasure in heaven and not save it for this earth, my own selfish pleasures. Maybe you heard of the story of the wealthy man who died, and at his funeral a person asked the lawyer who was handling the estate, "How much did he leave behind?" And the lawyer responded by saying, "All of it!" You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead!
4. Paul, in I Corinthians chapter 3, is speaking of the Bema Seat of Christ or the Judgment Seat of Christ, where Christians will be rewarded or not rewarded for their service. And he says that all our work must be built upon or done in Christ, and thus, "...if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." You can’t lose your salvation but you can lose your rewards depending upon what the motivation of your heart was in what you did, as Paul says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." II Corinthians 5:10. What do you treasure? Whatever it is, that is where your heart is at! A good time to do a heart check and see if you need to change the focus of your life!
VERSES 22-23
1. Be careful what you let into your eye gate! The movie industry, the television industry, the pornography industry knows this all too well and they try to catch your eye with half clothed women or men, or fully naked women or men! Once they have your eye, they are on the way of getting to your heart, and it will consume your life! The idea here is don’t let it in, don’t give it a chance to get a hold of you and destroy you!
VERSE 24
1. Who are you serving? What or who has consumed your life? Is it riches? How about men or women? What about drugs or alcohol? What about job positions? Or is it the Lord? You see, it is very hard, if not impossible to serve two masters, and really, it is impossible! The reason is simple, they are pulling you in opposite directions! So the question remains, "Who are you going to serve?" I like Joshua’s response to the children of Israel, "...But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15. Won’t you do the same!
VERSE 25
1. Not only can a person be drawn in two different directions if he is serving or trying to serve two masters, but also worry does the exact same thing, it pulls you in the opposite direction from God. God is saying that He will provide for your needs, and then worry comes along and takes you in the opposite direction. "What if He doesn’t, what am I going to do?" And Jesus is saying that life is more than eating and dressing up. He is not ignoring those things, but He is speaking of being consumed with them. In America, I think we are consumed by what we eat and what we wear, the latest food craze or clothe craze, we got to have it! And we worry about things that we should not worry about because we are not trusting in the Lord. I can tell you this, my family and I have not gone hungry a day nor have we been without clothes and I think you have been blessed that way also, and yet we worry about that which God has and is providing for, and that is foolish! Trust in His promise.
VERSE 26
1. Jesus points to nature, showing how God cares for the birds of the air. In saying that, man who was created in the image of God, He won’t take care? How foolish that is for us to think that way. If God cares for the birds of the air He will surely care for us, for we are of more value to Him, and we are not a co-equal with animals, sorry you animal lovers!
VERSE 27
1. You can’t add to your life by worrying, but you can surely shorten it! Think of it this way. It takes 60 trillion droplets of fog to cover 7 city blocks. Now those 60 trillion droplets or 7 city blocks worth of fog can cause much trouble, can’t they. They can close airports, cause accidents, and make a mess of things. But, if you were to condense those 60 trillion fog droplets all you would come up with is a half a glass of water! The reality is, that is what worry is all about, it is small to God. But we make it huge, so huge that we can’t see anymore, we are all fogged up! You need to give it to God, He can handle it, and you can’t!
VERSES 28-30
1. Again Jesus looks at nature to show us how God cares for the lilies of the fields or the wild flowers. And if God cares for the wild flowers, how much more will He take care of us and our needs, not necessarily our wants, but our needs! And understand that Jesus is speaking of believers, for He says, "O you of little faith." Unbelievers have no faith! Thus, the idea here is that as we go through life circumstances, it may be difficult, but we need to trust in the Lord! It is as Psalm 37:25-26 says, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed."
VERSES 31-32
1. To put it plainly, worry is the opposite of faith. It is as Paul says in Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." And also, in Romans 4:20-21 we read, "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform." Do you believe in the promises of God? Then trust in Him, don’t worry!
VERSES 33
1. Here is the contrast. In verse 32 Jesus says that the gentiles seek after physical needs and they worry about it. On the other hand, our focus as believers needs to be on the kingdom of God and His righteousness! It is the idea of putting God first. You see, if God is not the center of your life, if He is not the one you are focused on, your life will be off balance. To get it back into balance, put God in the center! It is as Paul said in Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." All of our needs, not our wants!
VERSE 34
1. In the Greek this is a command, "Stop worrying!" I think Jesus hit the nail on the head here. Most of our worrying is about tomorrow, the future. And in doing that, it will do you no good. What did Jesus say as He was teaching us to pray? "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 5:11. You see, a daily dependance upon Him, keeping our eyes upward, focused on Him, trusting in His promises! You see, all worry does is take the life right out of us. What if this happens, or that happens, or if they do this, or they do that? And you can go on-and-on and worry about the future, and it may not come to pass, and if it does, what are you going to do about it. Trust in the Lord!
2. Let me leave you this evening with these words from Isaiah 26:3-4, which says "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength." Let us not lose sight of Him by causing a fog to build in our lives. Look unto Him for your daily needs and He will provide for you! And if you are thirsty, remember, that fog can be condensed into a half a glass of water. You might as well drink it down instead of allowing it to cloud your vision! Look to the Lord to be the strength of your life!