Many years ago- King of Egypt employed an architect to build a watchtower. When Kings had buildings built- they would have their name engraved on the buildings to be remembered in history. When the architect finished the building he engraved his own name in the cornerstone of the building. Then he took some lime/mortar- covered up his own name and wrote- name of the King in large gold letters. Outwardly- appeared the architect was honoring the King. However, he knew in time the rain/elements would wear off the name of the King and his name would live on in history. Contributed by Randy Aly
Many today- outwardly appear- live godly lives, but if you examined their motives- would be self-seeking
Going to be looking at this as continue w/SOTM.
Mtt 6:1 A Warning
Righteousness- exhibiting the character of God in our lives, living a godly life before men/God.
Christian righteousness- not just outward appearance, but is more concerned- w/condition of the heart.
Jesus tells us how to be righteous in three areas … giving, praying, and fasting- V2, 5, 16
In each case- it is assumed- that we give, pray, fast.
Mtt 6:2-4 Giving (read)
Giving- speaks of showing mercy and compassion.
Lk 6:35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. NASU
Giving is good- however- God- concerned w/motives.
V2- hypocrite- an actor.
Gk/Roman actors would become various characters by holding masks in front of their faces.
Actors- lay aside- true identity- assumes a false one.
The religious hypocrite does the same …deliberately deceive people to think something about them that is not true.
If we give/pray/fast w/incorrect motives- we received our reward in full- no other benefits from God.
Vandals cut down 6 huge royal palms along a major Miami Blvd. The city was not sure they had the money to replace palms that large. But someone donated 6 trees …even taller ones. The original ones- 15 ft. high- nice foreground to a billboard which said, ‘Fly Delta’. The new ones- 35 ft high- completely hiding the sign. The new donor: Eastern Airlines! (Pastor Jerry Shirley)
Not only are we not to brag to others about our giving, we should not be overly conscious of it ourselves.
V3- do not let- left hand know what- right hand doing.
Easy to feel good about ourselves- praise ourselves- when we give- can become self-righteousness.
Our giving is to be for an audience of one- not others, not even ourselves, but God alone.
We give because God asks us to give.
True giving always involves a sacrifice …
If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving.” Mother Teresa
Sir Henry Taylor said …
… the essence of generosity is in self-sacrifice.
God has called us to give and to give cheerfully …
2 Cor 9:7 … God loves a cheerful giver.
It may be better to not give than to give grudgingly.
A mother wanted to teach her daughter about giving. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. She told her to put whichever one she wanted in the offering plate and keep the other for herself. On the way home, the mother asked her daughter what she had done. ‘Well,’ said the little girl, ‘I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the pastor said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I would be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did. (John Shearhart)
When we learn to do good before God alone then we will be led by His Spirit, not natural inclinations.
Our motives will be driven by God’s heart, not ours.
Be careful not to become overly legalistic in this.
I do not believe this precludes giving w/check.
The issue is the motive of our heart when we give.
The average church giver in the US gives- 1.5-2.5%.
I would leave us with this question …
Am I a generous giver?
The question is not, did we give or did we tithe, but are we generous givers.
Mtt 6:5-8 Praying
The Jews would pray three times a day.
Dan 6:10 … Daniel … entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. NASU
Nothing wrong with praying on the street corner or in a public setting, depending again on our motives.
Praying- no different from giving- both authentic acts before God, but ulterior motives destroy them.
We must be careful- when pray- who is our audience?
Even in a public setting, our audience must be God.
We are not praying to impress men w/our spirituality.
V6 … pray to your father who is in the secret place NKJV
God is waiting in that secret place for us to come-
not with the accolades of men, or
even pride in ourselves- but to Him alone.
He stands ready to welcome us into that secret place.
We should be praying in that secret place before we pray in public- not wrong to pray in pubic … 9/10ths of iceberg below water and out of sight. Pastor Jerry Shirley
Public prayer should- overflow from- private prayer.
Again we must be careful not to become Pharisaical.
There is a place to pray in the church, with your family, and in other public settings.
Jesus prayed in public, but we have more times recorded when He prayed in private …
Lk 6:12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. NASU
V7 Our prayers are not measured by the number of words that we pray.
The more words that we use in our prayers does not mean an increased probability God will answer.
Why do I pray? What is my motive?
Little boy saying bedtime prayers w/ mother- bless mommy, daddy, and God, GIVE ME A NEW BICYCLE!!!’ [shouted] Mom: God’s not deaf, son. ‘I know, but Grandma’s in the next room, and she’s hard of hearing!’
Our primary motive in prayer should be to know God.
Additional thought on prayer: Be patient!
If you pray- answer is delayed, avoid misjudging God.
Do not think He is unjust/indifferent- keep praying.
Lk 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, NASU
V8 If this is true, why should we pray?
As a young believer much of our prayers are getting things from God.
As we mature- purpose of prayer- more about drawing near to God than getting something from Him.
We pray because we have a heavenly Father that we can talk to, not because it makes us feel good.
He hears us because of Jesus Christ work on the cross.
God does not hear our prayer because we are earnest.
Heb 10:19-22
God is not impressed with our earnestness.
Mtt 6:16-18 Fasting
The Pharisees fasted twice a week.
In our current cultural climate, outward bodily disciplines like fasting- not very popular.
Jesus Himself fasted for 40 days.
What is fasting?
In its simplest form it is going without food.
Breakfast- comes from the notion of breaking the fast of the night before during which did not eat.
To fast is a way to humble ourselves before God.
Psa 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting … NASU
We have many examples of fasting in the Bible …
Moses, Jonah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Esther, Paul
One reason for fasting is to turn aside from food to seek God for some particular direction or blessing.
Another reason is that hunger is a basic human appetite and greed is a basic human sin.
Fasting helps to teach us self-control/self-discipline.
These are very unpopular concepts in a culture that so pampers the flesh/withholds nothing that it wants.
A lack of physical discipline can hinder true spiritual devotion to God-fasting helps to tame the appetites
1 Cor 9:24-27
However, we must never fast to show off our spirituality to others.
Fasting is a demonstration of not only our humbling ourselves before God, but our dependence on God.
Ja 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. NASU
Summary
In these verses Jesus has contrasted two different approaches to our walk with God.
On the one hand there is …
practicing these disciplines before men to receive their praise, on the other hand,
practicing these disciplines secretly before God and receiving His reward.
To pray is to seek God, to give is to serve others, to fast is to discipline oneself. John Stott
Whenever we give, pray, or fast, we are being watched, but not by men, but by God.
We can bluff men and make ourselves appear to be something we are not, but we cannot bluff God.
We must avoid acting on the stage of life w/mask over our face trying to look like something we are not.
Let me encourage us w/practical application we can all do- Give generously, pray always, fast regularly
Additional
Faith sees the invisible,
believes the incredible and
receives the impossible!
