Let us please Lord only---
Matthew 6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have
no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of
men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth:
4 That thine alms
may be in secret: and thy Father which
seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5 And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for
they love to pray standing in the synagogues and
in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto
you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast
shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray,
use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be
heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for
your Father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before ye ask him.
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which
art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in 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 lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you:
15 But if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they
disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto
you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint
thine head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast,
but unto thy Father which is in secret: and
thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly.
Mathew one of the 12 disciples who is also
called the tax collector, wrote the Gospel of Mathew. Most scholars believe the
gospel was composed between AD 80 and 90, with a range of possibility
between AD 70 to 110; a pre-70 date remains a minority view.
The Gospel According to Matthew
consequently emphasizes Christ's fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies
(5:17) and his role as a new lawgiver whose divine mission was confirmed by
repeated miracles.
In the context of Matthew 6, Jesus continued
His Sermon on the Mount. He taught that righteous acts of devotion should
be done for the right reason and emphasized that they should be done to please
our Heavenly Father.
The common theme through these paragraphs will be
easy to identify. Jesus was warning people not to do righteous acts (Verse 1)
for the purpose of being seen by people. He was instructing people that if a
righteous act was done for God alone, and was not tarnished by this desire for
recognition and applause, it would be rewarded by God. That is genuine piety.
But if it was done to be seen by other people, then that acclaim was all the
reward that would be received. So, His instruction was that it is best to hide
any righteous acts that may lead to ostentation and thereby ensure that they
will be done for God.
Verse 2 then gives the first case, giving to the
poor, with a warning not to do it like the hypocrites do. Then verse 3 gives
the positive instruction, to do it secretly, and verse 4, the reward. There are
many reasons people can come up with to avoid this spiritual duty. Prosperity
theology fits into the reasoning as well, teaching that if people had faith
they would have wealth, because God wants His children to be rich. This is not
the place to deal with this theology, other than to say it is unbalanced at
best. What is most disturbing is to see the wealthy and the successful being
paraded on Christian talk shows on television or on stage in services as if
they were the spiritual ones, blessed by God.
So, Jesus said that when people try to give money
to the poor they should not “sound the trumpet” as the hypocrites do in order
to be recognized and honoured by others (6:2-4). There are a number of ideas
about the meaning of “sounding the trumpet” in the literature, none of which
can be established with certainty from primary sources. But the point is clear
that the hypocritical almsgiver was more concerned about being noticed for his
deed than for helping the poor. One very plausible suggestion is that this form
of giving was connected with the public fasts that were proclaimed by trumpets.
At such times of fasting, prayers were recited in the streets and alms were
given to ensure the efficacy of the prayers and fasting. This would mean that
such folks were choosing the most opportune moment to display their
“generosity,” so that others would consider them to be truly spiritual. Such
individuals were also deceiving themselves into thinking that they were acting
in the best interests of God and man--the large gifts would be well received by
the needy, and their praise and gratitude would feed their egos, and everyone
else would see them as the “pious” in action. But Jesus was saying not to
do this. Those who do this would receive no reward from God, because it was all
hypocritical.
Rewards. Sooner or later, you will have to
deal with the theme of “rewards” in the Bible. This is really difficult to get
right. On the one hand the Bible warns people not to do these things for the
praise and honour you would get from other people; and on the other hand, it
instructs people to run the race for the reward. There is nothing wrong with
doing a righteous deed for the sake of receiving a reward, or praise, as long
as the praise you seek is of God. On occasion people will say that true piety
means doing something without any consideration of reward. That would have to
be qualified, because when we are instructed in the Bible to do acts of
righteousness there is always a mention of reward from the Father in heaven.
There has to be a motivation for the righteous deeds, and at the bottom of all
this discussion would be that our chief Now this is very different than doing
something so that others in the church will praise you or think more highly of
you than they should.
The third matter the Lord told in Verse 5 to
15, regarding meaningful prayer, Jesus taught to pray with sincerity and
avoids vain repetitions. Heavenly Father knows our needs before we pray. We can
follow Jesus Christ's example by praying for Heavenly Father's will to be
accomplished. We can receive Heavenly Father's forgiveness as we choose to
forgive others. The part of the prayers Jesus taught;” let the God’s Kingdome
come and let God’s will be done on earth, both just like it is in heaven. This
means we will pray like this for all people to live in peace and love with each
other, the way it is in heaven. It reminds us that we should live the way God
wants us to live every day.
This is the longest of all the sections because it
includes the Lord’s Prayer. The case of praying with a warning,The hypocrites
do (v. 5), instruction on spiritual prayer (v. 6), a second warning not to pray
like the pagans (v. 7), and an explanation of spiritual prayer (v. 8).
The next section, verses 9-15, is the Lord’s. Jesus taught this prayer. The Case of Praying
like the Hypocrites. Jesus said that the hypocrites love to stand in the
synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others (Matt. 6:5). Here too
the Lord was describing someone who may or may not be sincerely praying, but
certainly wants everyone to know he prays. Jesus was not ruling out public
prayer; rather, He was criticizing the motivation of the hypocrite.
Prayer is a spiritual matter between the one praying
and God. To do it for show is to pervert what it is all about. So, in verse 6
Jesus instructed to make it private by going into your room (not on the
streets), and to keep it personal by praying to your Father (not to be seen by
others). A good test to use would be this: if someone prays frequently in
public, on stage, in front of gatherings, but not at home in private, then
there is probably something wrong with the motive.
In another place Jesus took this a step further. He
spoke of the Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray. He stood up “and
prayed to himself not to God: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other
men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast
twice a week and give a tenth of all I get’” (luke 18:11). This one Jesus said
would not be justified by God, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
People like this have their reward in their public show. But God does not
consider this to be righteous.
God also does not require or honor such devices to
break through to Him. Nor does He need endless detailed information. Jesus said
to avoid these practices, or thinking that the longer prayers or additional
muttering would “work.” Jesus said, “Your Father knows what you need before you
ask him.”
The first request is Hallowed
be your name.” Here you will have to study two things: the meaning “holy”
and the meaning of “name.”
The second request is “Your
kingdom come.” This request logically follows the previous, for when the
kingdom fully comes God will be seen as the one whose word can be trusted. So
this request ultimately looks forward to the consummation of the age.
