God knows exactly how we feel as parents, because in this text He shows us this is one of His concerns. Notice, He says to the children of God, in Matt. 6:8, “BE NOT YE THEREFORE LIKE UNTO THEM….”
To understand who He is talking about we have to go back to the previous chapter. Look at Matthew 5:1-2, we read, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them…”
WHAT DID HE TEACH THEM? He taught them a number of things about the SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, about how they did things incorrectly. After He showed them the way they did things, He said, “BE NOT YE THEREFORE LIKE UNTO THEM….”
He taught them they should not be like them in their GIVING, their PRAYING and their FASTING.
Let me show you how God does not want us to be like them when it comes to -
I. THE MONEY
Giving, praying and fasting are things the Bible teaches we should do as Christians. But they did them for the wrong reasons. For example, notice, HOW DID THEY GIVE?
Look at verse 1, we read, “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.”
Did you know that people respond better in their obedience to the commands of God if there is someone watching them? It is the nature of man; he likes to be SEEN! This is true in the secular world and the spiritual world.
Illus: The next time you watch a professional football game, there may be 80,000 people in attendance, and it may be televised before millions on television.
Do you think those men would play with the same fervor if the stadium was empty and there were no television cameras there? I DO NOT THINK SO!
PEOPLE LOVE TO BE SEEN
Illus: Former television pastor, Rex Humbard, once was pastor of a large church in Ohio. Almost every Sunday the church was full, reaching as many as 5,000 a Sunday. When he was preaching, he televised the Sunday morning services. During the services the television cameras were constantly scanning the audience as they prayed, gave, and worshipped the Lord. When he announced he was going to retire and the services were no longer televised, their attendance was cut in half immediately.
It is a statistical fact that if you can provide a forum for people to be seen, THEY WILL BE THERE TO BE SEEN! This is especially true for politicians.
Illus: They say the most dangerous place in Washington is between a politician and a television microphone.
It is not only true of politicians; people like to be seen.
Illus: Have you ever been watching a news program and the person you were watching was sitting by a window, and the people out on the street saw they are on television and they started waving their hands and jumping up and down? Why? They want to be seen. It is a fact of life, people love to be seen.
In Matthew 6:1-4, the Lord is teaching that our motive for giving should not be to be seen by men. Does that mean Jesus was teaching that all our giving should be done PRIVATELY not publicly? No, that is not what the Lord is teaching here.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger received an offering for a foreign mission project. The people responded well and brought their offering down and put it in the offering plate.
After the service, this wonderful Christian man came to him and said, “Dr. Belger, I did not come down this morning, but here is some money I want to give for the mission project.”
Dr. Belger thanked him and said, “Let me ask you something, why didn’t you bring your offering down with everyone else?” He said, “Because I believe the Bible teaches that all of our giving should be done privately.” He then said that the Bible says “...let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:”
Dr. Belger quickly explained that there are times for private giving, but the Bible also teaches public giving. He explained to him that in the New Testament, they literally brought their offerings and laid them at the Apostle’s feet. He further explained that giving, both PUBLIC and PRIVATE, done with the right motive, is pleasing to the Lord.
God has a purpose in having His people give in public. WHAT IS THAT PURPOSE? The answer to that question is found in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
If ALL of our good works, which include our giving, were done in secrecy, how would the lost world see that we love the Lord?
It is critical that some of our good works be done PRIVATELY, but also some must be done PUBLICLY.
Illus: Maclaren said, “The thing to be taken heed of is not the doing it BEFORE MEN... it is THE DOING IT TO BE SEEN OF THEM.”
We can see the GIFT, but God sees the MOTIVE BEHIND THE GIFT. The Pharisees and scribes gave publicly TO BE SEEN OF MEN. Jesus told the people, “BE NOT YE THEREFORE LIKE UNTO THEM...”
GOD IS NOT LIKE MAN. We do not always place a great value on motives.
Illus: If someone gives us a thousand dollars, often we do not care what the motive for their giving is. To us, the MONEY is more important than the MOTIVE.
God is not impressed by the money, no matter how large the amount may be. He is pleased when the MOTIVE IS RIGHT.
Illus: Let me ask you something. Suppose at Valentines Day someone bought you a beautiful valentine. He had the money to spare so he bought you the most expensive valentine gift available.
Then suppose a child who did not have any money came along and gave you a valentine that he had made out of a piece of paper with his own little hands, and wrote “I LOVE YOU” on it. Which of the two valentines would mean the most to you? The one that the child gave, or the one from the person who spent the most, but who had plenty left?
I’m sure everyone here would agree that the one from the child, who had no money, meant the most because he gave all he had and it came from a heart of love.
God is very much concerned with WHY we pray, fast and give!
We see THE MONEY and -
II. THE MOTIVE
Have you ever watched CSI Miami, and CSI New York? Does anybody know what CSI stands for? That’s right – “Crime Scene Investigation.” The thing that they look at in these investigations is THE MOTIVE!
Notice, when it comes to…
• GIVING
• PRAYING
• FASTING
…he Lord Jesus investigates our motives.
Look at verse 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.”
People can have only one of two motives for giving to the Lord.
A. WE CAN GIVE WITH A WRONG MOTIVE
Every time we do something, we have a motive for doing it.
Illus: Some Grandparents had given their six-year-old grandson a birthday gift. His parents watched him open the gift with great excitement. When he had all the wrapping paper off the box and he opened it, he found a king sized water gun that holds a quart of water at one time. He squealed with delight and headed for the nearest sink to fill it.
His dad turned to the child’s grandmother and said, “Mom, I'm surprised …. we used to drive you crazy with water guns."
Mom smiled and then replied....."OH, I REMEMBER!"
People have a motive for everything they do.
Illus: I recently ran across a letter written by a father who wanted to apologize to a certain young man for not allowing him to marry his daughter:
“Dear Marty,
I have been unable to sleep since I broke off your engagement to my daughter. Will you please forgive and forget?
I was much too sensitive about your Mohawk haircut, tattoos and pierced nose. I now realize motorcycles aren’t really that dangerous, and I really should not have reacted that way to the fact that you have never held a job.
I am also very sure that some other very nice people live under the bridge in the park, too. Sure my daughter is only 18 and wants to marry you instead of going to Harvard on full scholarship. After all, you can’t learn everything about life from books.
I sometimes forget how backward I can be. I was wrong. I was a fool. I have now come to my senses and you have my full blessing to marry my daughter.
Sincerely,
Your future father-in-law
P.S. Oh, by the way! Congratulations on winning the twenty million dollar lottery!”
Jesus said that the hypocrites sounded trumpets because they wanted to be seen of men. Some theologians have a hard time believing anyone would do such a thing. They think this is no more than a metaphor.
Listen, I do not have a hard time believing that they actually did that. People will do all kinds of strange things to get attention.
• Why do you think some people repeatedly come to church late….you guessed it!
• Why do you think some people live in houses and drive cars they can not afford …you guessed it!
• Why do you think some people want to wear only name brand clothes even though they can not afford them…you guessed it!
• Why do you think teenagers wear these ridiculous clothes, hair cuts and wear rings all over their body…Yes, you are catching on!
People do all kinds of OUTLANDISH things to draw attention to themselves.
In the light of this fact, I do not have a hard time believing those hypocrites actually did blow trumpets to draw attention to themselves.
The Lord said, “...DO NOT SOUND A TRUMPET BEFORE THEE, AS THE HYPOCRITES DO IN THE SYNAGOGUES AND IN THE STREETS...” According to God’s Word they actually did that.
They WANTED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES when they GAVE, PRAYED, AND FASTED.
God knows that many have given with a WRONG MOTIVE; TO BE SEEN BY MEN.
B. WE CAN GIVE WITH A RIGHT MOTIVE
There are people who do wonderful things for the Lord PUBLICLY and PRIVATELY because they truly love the Lord.
Illus: When Dr. Odell Belger and his wife were in Bible College, his wife became pregnant. They were having a difficult time making ends meet. When their oldest son was born, strapped down with bills already, they made arrangements to pay their hospital bill on an installment plan. For several weeks they paid 10 to 15 dollars. One day he was making his payment at the hospital, and the lady behind the counter could not find his record. They looked and looked but they could not find it. Finally, they looked in the PAID file and found out someone had walked in and paid the bill in full. To this day they do not know who paid that bill.
Our giving, both PUBLIC or PRIVATE, should be done with the right motive.
Look at verse 3, we read, “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.”
We are not to reach in one pocket and pull out the gift with one hand and at the same time raise the other hand up and point to that hand so everyone will notice what we are doing.
Illus: A Christian lady loves the Lord very much. For years she has taken care of some elderly folks. She has done this in a very unostentatious manner. In fact, hardly anyone would guess she did it unless they could observe her daily comings and goings.
Illus: Another Christian lady died. Many knew that she loved the Lord, but not until she died, did they find out how much of herself and her resources she had been giving to help others.
God is pleased when we GIVE out of a HEART OF LOVE FOR HIM and FOR OTHERS with the right motive.
Illus: Matthew Henry commented, “When we take the LEAST NOTICE of our good deeds, God takes MOST NOTICE of them.”
The hypocrites would never give privately because they wanted to buy the attention of others. Every time they placed money in the offering plate, it was for the attention of man, so actually they were purchasing attention. They purchased the PRAISE OF MAN.
This is why Jesus said, in verse 2, “...Verily I say unto you, THEY HAVE THEIR REWARD.”
Many people are going to be told they have no rewards when they stand before the Lord. Why? Because their motive for giving was wrong.
Notice the mysterious things that take place as we give SECRETLY. He rewards us OPENLY.
Look at Matthew 6:4. We read, “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
When it comes to our PRIVATE GIVING and PUBLIC GIVING, we must have the right MOTIVE!
Conclusion:
In Matthew 6, the Lord is telling the children of God not to be like these hypocrites. “Be not ye therefore like unto them...”
Listen, what we do for the Lord PUBLICLY or PRIVATELY is not the issue. The issue is THE MOTIVE for why we did what we did!
• God is glad that you came to church, but the thing that thrills Him is that you came because you love Him.
• God is pleased when you give, but the thing that thrills Him is that you give because you love Him.
We have looked at:
I. THE MONEY
II. THE MOTIVE
