Since God Sees Us Every Moment...
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 6:1-8
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - May 8, 2013
(Revised February 13, 2021)
MESSAGE:
*Tonight, in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount we are in Matthew 6:1-8. Here, Jesus teaches us some important lessons about giving, praying, and relying on God. But the essential truth that ties these lessons together is that Almighty God sees us. Every moment of every day, God sees us.
*Many Scriptures confirm this truth. After God appeared to Hagar, in Genesis 16:13 she "called the name of the LORD who spoke to her "El-ro'-i," which means 'You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees.'"
*God sees us, and not just on the outside. God sees into the deepest parts of our hearts. A thousand years after Hagar lived, the Lord wanted a new king for Israel, and He chose David to be the king.
*At first, the prophet Samuel only knew that the new king was going to be one of Jesse's 8 sons, and Samuel invited them to a sacrifice. But the prophet did not know that young David was off taking care of the sheep. Samuel assumed that one of the sons at the sacrifice would be the new king, and he started with Eliab, the oldest.
*1 Samuel 16:6-7 tells us, "So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him.' But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'''
*God looks at our hearts, and He sees us all. Psalm 33:13-15 says: "The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth; He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works."
*God sees into our hearts. King David knew this, and in Psalm 69:5-6 David prayed, "O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel."
*Please focus on this truth tonight: God sees me. He sees us all, all the time. He even sees the secret places of our souls. But what does this mean for us in tonight's Scripture?
1. FIRST, IT MEANS THAT WE SHOULD BE GENEROUS GIVERS.
*Jesus Christ surely wants us to be generous givers. He wants us to help people less fortunate than we are. That's why in vs. 1-3 Jesus assumed that His followers would be doing charitable deeds.
*Here the Lord said:
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."
*In vs. 2-3, Jesus did not say, "IF you do charitable deeds." He said, "WHEN you do charitable deeds." -- Not "IF" but "WHEN."
*God certainly wants us to give to help other people. And King Duncan said, "Our giving is a spiritual matter simply because there are some things in this world that only money can do. Think about it. Money can help send medical missionaries to places where they are desperately needed. Money can help feed the hungry. It can also help provide clean drinking water to the 844 million people in the world who don't have it."
*Money can also help organizations like The Gideons International keep spreading God's Word around the world. By God's grace and His people's generosity, the Gideons have already been able to distribute over 2 billion Bibles and New Testaments!
*And King Duncan noted, "You probably have enough money in your wallet right now to feed a hungry child for several days. Think of the power that gives you." (1)
*God wants us to be generous givers, because HE is a generous giver. He wants us to generously give our time, our talents, our tithes and our offerings. In short, God wants us to give our lives and our love to help other people every way we can. They will be blessed, and so will we.
*Sometimes even a small gift can make a giant difference. In 1992, a teacher named Jeff Leeland and his wife Kristi found themselves in a desperate situation. Their 9-month-old son, Michael needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life. But the health insurance at Jeff's new job did not cover the cost of $200,000.
*Jeff taught an Adaptive PE class that included a 325-pound 7th grader named Dameon Sharkey. Dameon was in special-ed classes, and walked with a limp. You can imagine how some of the other children made fun of him. But Dameon had a compassionate heart, and he helped out in Jeff's class every day.
*After hearing about his teacher’s crisis, Dameon emptied his bank account. Then he went to visit the Leelands, and he brought his whole life savings to give for Michael’s medical expenses. It was only $60. But Dameon's generosity started a chain reaction of compassion by the kids and staff at Kamiakin Junior High.
*The community rallied behind the students and in just four weeks an astonishing $227,000 was raised. Michael received his lifesaving transplant, and is still going strong today.
*The sad part of the story is that 8 years later, Dameon died from a rapidly spreading staph infection. But the great news is that through his friendship with the Leeland family, Dameon gave his life to Jesus Christ. And he is in Heaven right now.
*But that's not all. Michael's dad was so inspired by Dameon's example, that he started a school club to help other children in need. They called it the Sparrow Club. It spread to other schools. So far, they have been able to help over 1,250 families, and they are still helping people today.
*So much good came from Dameon's generosity. Michael Leeland's life was saved. Thousands of people have been inspired to help others in need. And best of all, Dameon Sharkey was saved! (2)
*That's the kind of thing God can do through us! And since He sees us every moment, we should be generous givers.
2. WE ALSO SHOULD BE PEOPLE OF PRAYER.
*Three times in vs. 5-8, Jesus said not "IF you pray," but "WHEN you pray," "WHEN you pray," "WHEN you pray."
*God wants His people to pray! Billy Graham once said, "Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask." God wants us to ask. And since God sees us every moment, we should be people of prayer. (3)
3. BUT WE ALSO MUST PAY ATTENTION TO OUR ATTITUDES.
*Here the question is: Are we giving and praying for the right or wrong reasons? Jesus reminds us that it is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason. This was the Lord’s main point in vs. 1-5. What is our motive? What’s in our heart?
*Listen again to the Lord in vs. 1-2:
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."
*Eugene Peterson put it this way in "The Message" paraphrase of Scripture:
1. "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding.
2. When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure -- 'play-actors' I call them -- treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get."
*In vs. 3 Jesus went so far as to say, "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."
*John Gill explained that this phrase could mean the people sitting next to you on your left or right side. But since there's no way for you to keep your right hand from knowing what your left hand is doing, the Lord might have been using hyperbole. (4)
*In other words, Jesus could have been intentionally exaggerating to make the strongest case that we should give as privately as possible. And we should generally give as privately as possible. But this does not mean that we should never publicly celebrate someone’s giving.
*One example is in 2 Corinthians 8:1-4. There Paul talked about the love offering given by the Macedonian churches for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Paul was trying to motivate the Corinthians to give as well, and he said:
1. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:
2. that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
3. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,
4. imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
*Here in Matthew 6, Jesus does not mean that we always have to be super-secret about giving. His point is for us to examine why we are giving. Are we giving with the right attitude?
*The same attitude question comes up about prayer. Listen to the Lord again in vs. 5-6. Jesus said:
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 (or closet), 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."
*Of course, the Lord is not criticizing public prayer in these verses. We see public prayer all over the Bible. A great example is found in Acts 4. The story started in Acts 3, where the Lord used Peter to heal a man who had been lame since birth.
*That pitiful beggar was over 40 years old when he was healed, so the miracle drew great attention in the Temple. Peter and John preached about Jesus, and 5,000 people were saved! But they were arrested and threatened to keep quiet about Jesus.
*Acts 4:23-31 tells us what happened after Peter and John were released:
23. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
25. who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?
26. the kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'
27. For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28. to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
29. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
30. by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.''
31. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
*Public prayer is certainly permissible and encouraged by God. But here in Matthew 6, the question is our attitude. Jesus wants us to know that if we are praying to impress people, then we are not really praying at all.
*God wants us to pray and give and live with a humble, godly attitude, and sometimes that’s hard to do. As John Ortberg once said with a smile, "I know I’m supposed to be humble. But what if nobody notices?" (5)
*We want people to notice our goodness. But God wants us to focus on an audience of one, and that is Him. He cares about our attitudes as well as our actions. And since God sees us every moment, we should pay attention to our attitudes.
4. WE ALSO SHOULD REJOICE IN OUR REWARDS FROM GOD.
*Jesus promised these rewards in vs. 3-4 where He said, "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."
*Then Jesus promised more rewards for us in vs. 6. There our Savior said, "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."
*Nothing in the universe is more certain than the promises the Lord makes to us here in God's Word. If we give and pray with the right audience in mind, our Heavenly Father will surely reward us.
*And both places here, the Lord promises that our Heavenly Father will reward us "openly." The word picture in the original language is something that is shining, something that's clear to see. We will see God’s rewards in our lives, and some of the people around us will be able to see them too.
*There was an unusual example reported in the "Houston Post" back in January of 1995. It happened during a morning worship service, when a young single lady named Ellen noticed a nice looking man sitting on the back pew by himself.
*Ellen was very friendly, so she walked over to him, stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Ellen." That young man took one look at her, and he ran out the door without saying a word!
*But the following Sunday he came back to the church, and this is what he told Ellen: "My name is Bob Price, and I owe you an apology for my rude behavior last Sunday. You see my deceased wife's name was Ellen.
*And just before you walked up to me, I was back there praying: 'Dear God, please send me another Ellen.' -- When you said, 'Hi, I'm Ellen,' I lost it."
*At the time the paper reported their story, Bob and Ellen had been married 12 years, and they were most thankful for the way God answered Bob's prayer. (6)
*I can’t tell you how our Heavenly Father will choose to reward you. But I do know this: If we give and pray with the right audience in mind, our Heavenly Father will surely reward us too. And since God sees us every moment, we should rejoice in our rewards from God.
5. WE ALSO SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE CAN ALWAYS RELY ON GOD.
*The Lord Jesus made this truth clear in vs. 7-8, where He said:
7. "But 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."
*Church: Our Heavenly Father knows the things we have need of before we ask Him. He knows us. Our Heavenly Father knows us inside out. He knows our deepest needs. And He meets those needs, not because of how many times we say a certain prayer, and not because we deserve His blessings, but because by faith in Jesus Christ, we are His children, and He loves us!
*Christians, we can fully rely on God, because He is our Heavenly Father, and He cares about the needs of His children.
*David Jeremiah reminded us of this truth in a story about his professor and mentor, Howard Hendricks. It happened when a highly intelligent, but stuffy professor came to lecture at the seminary. The guest professor ate supper with the Hendricks family, and then stayed for their little family devotion. When it came time to pray, the children, in typical, childlike fashion, thanked Jesus for the tricycle and the sandbox and the fence.
*Later this big-headed professor began to complain to Dr. Hendricks, "You don’t mean to tell me that you’re a professor in a theological seminary and you teach your children to pray for things like that?" -- "I certainly do," said Dr. Hendricks.
*Then Dr. Hendricks asked a question of his own: "Do you ever pray about your Ford?" (Dr. Hendricks knew the man did, because faith was about the only thing holding that old car together.)
*"Oh, of course I pray for my Ford,” said the guest teacher, "but that’s different." -- "Oh, really?" replied Dr. Hendricks. "What makes you think your Ford is more important to God than my boy’s tricycle?"
*Then Hendricks pressed the professor further: "You’re on the road a lot. Do you ever pray for protection?" He responded, "Bro. Hendricks, I never go anywhere but that I pray for the Lord’s journeying mercies."
*And Hendricks said, "Well, safety is essentially what my boy is praying about when he thanks Jesus for the fence. That fence keeps out those big dogs on the other side. Is it any different for him to pray for safety than it is for you?"
*Of course, the man couldn’t argue with that, David Jeremiah said, "For prayer is not only about high-powered theological concerns, but about tricycles and fences and childlike requests made in simple faith. Jesus tells us to ask, to seek, and to knock, in the simplicity of childlike prayer. And He promises that our prayers will be heard." (7)
*TONIGHT, I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT WE CAN FULLY RELY ON GOD! He has proved that countless times to the people in this room. And best of all, He proved it on the cross.
*God the Father loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for us! And Jesus loves us so much that He was willing to suffer and die on the cross for us. Jesus Christ died for our sins. And then He rose again to save everyone who will receive Him as Lord and Savior.
*The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ prove forever that we can fully rely on God. We can fully rely on God in every situation of life. God the Father knows our needs, and He will meet them.
*So, in Romans 8:31-32, Paul could ask, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
*Christians: We can always rely on our gracious God. By His Holy Spirit, He is here right now, and He surely sees us every moment, so we can always rely on Him. Please focus on this great truth as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Sources:
-Adapted from Sermons.com sermon "Rich through Giving" by King Duncan - 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
-World Vision - "Global water crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help" - https://www.worldvision.org/clean-water-news-stories/global-water-crisis-facts
-World Vision - "Global poverty: Facts, FAQs, and how to help" - https://www.worldvision.org/sponsorship-news-stories/global-poverty-facts#extreme-poverty
-The Gideons International - "Changing Lives for More than 100 Years" - https://www.gideons.org/about
(2) Sources:
-Adapted from Jeff Leeland, "ONE SMALL SPARROW" - Multnomah, 2000 - Cited in LEADERSHIP, Fall, 2001 - Source: "A PLATFORM FOR LIFE" - Romans 8:26-39 - "DYNAMIC PREACHING" - July, Aug, Sept, 2002 - 4th Sunday in July
-"Eye on the Sparrow" by Paul Coughlin - Copyright 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International / Today's Christian magazine - http://www.christianity.com/11622722/
-"Original Sparrow joins regional Sparrow Club as director" By Megan Kehoe The Bulletin Published Oct 4, 2014 at 12:01AM / Updated Oct 4, 2014 at 06:10AM - http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/2460713-151/original-sparrow-joins-central-oregon-sparrow-club-as
-https://www.sparrowclubs.org/
-https://www.sparrowclubs.org/about-us/
-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCULvlr45WKdyrfVG4Pe40Ow/videos
(3) SermonCentral illustration Contributed by D. Greg Ebie
(4) JOHN GILL'S EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE by Dr. John Gill, D. D. - 1697-1771 - Published in 1746-1766, 1816 - Matthew 6:3 - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2000-2019
(5) SermonCentral sermon "Covet God’s Approval" by Michael Luke - Matthew 6:1-4
(6) "Houston Post," January 2, 1995, p. C-4 - Source: Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net - Topics: Prayer, Religion, Answered Prayer
(7) Jeremiah, David: PRAYER: THE GREAT ADVENTURE - Sisters, Or. - Multnomah Publishers, 1997, S. 24
