Generally, one of the ways you can tell a LIBERAL CHURCH from a CONSERVATIVE CHURCH is THE APPROACH they take in caring for people. Liberal churches often are only concerned about the PHYSICAL needs of the people. For example:
Illus: They will send missionaries abroad to:
-Teach lost people how to plant corn.
-Teach lost people how to install wells for drinking water.
-Provide “soup lines” to feed the people.
Then they will video tape all these good things they have done and bring the videos back to show the people who are providing the money for these things what they have done. Everyone views the videos and leaves feeling they are doing everything God would have them do.
The truth is, they are doing only part of what God would have them to do. In a sense they are really doing about the same thing many hog farmers do.
Illus: Hog farmers build stalls to place pigs in. Then they put a pig in each stall. Then they pour the feed to them for a set period of time. The poor pig eats all those goodies thinking all the time, “This old farmer certainly is good to me.” What the pig does not know is that the old farmer is fattening him up all right; but the reason he is fattening him up is to be slaughtered.
God did not place the church here to “fatten” sinners up for a Christ-less eternity.
On the other hand, many CONSERVATIVE CHURCHES take a complete opposite approach. They feel the Lord placed the church here to assist ONLY in spiritual matters. IF IT DOES NOT RELATE TO THE SPIRITUAL PART OF MAN, THEY DO NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!
These are the two APPROACHES that the LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE churches take.
The Lord Jesus took the right approach. He is our example in all things. He had a perfect balance in His ministry in dealing with mankind.
For example, in some passages of scripture we see He dealt with the PHYSICAL needs of people, and in other passages we see He dealt with the SPIRITUAL needs of the people.
Jesus’ words in our text express His strong concern with the SPIRITUAL needs of His disciples. He warned His disciples about TWO practices that hypocrites often use to get attention.
He let the disciples know those who did these things just to gain attention were the BIGGEST PHONIES who ever lived.
If you look up the word “phony” you will find a “phony,” is: “Not SINCERE or GENUINE.” A phony pretends to be something he is not. ACTORS and ACTRESSES that you see on the screen or in theater pretend to be something they are not. There is a real danger in living a pretense.
For example, have you ever watched a reporter interview an actress or actor? Often you find those folks do not only act on the big screen, they put on an act twenty-four hours a day. They have pretended to be something they are not for so long that they actually think they are the heroes they pretend to be in the parts they play in the movies.
They have egos bigger than the screens they play on.
Why do you think the divorce rate is so high among the Hollywood crowd? Could it be that once they marry each other they discover that they both are phonies and they cannot stand to live with each other?
Listen, no one likes a “phony”! The Lord does not like one either. This is why, in our text, we see He warned them, and us, “BE NOT YE THEREFORE LIKE UNTO THEM...” He does not want us to be like them in...
I. THEIR PHONY PRAYERS.
Look at Matthew 6:5-8. We read, “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. 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. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
In these verses we see THREE things. First we see...
A. Something He assumed.
Verse 5 mentions the first thing the Lord ASSUMED His disciples would do. He said, “And WHEN thou PRAYEST...” We would think that we could safely assume that a genuine Christian will pray. However, not only will a genuine Christian pray, so will hypocrites, like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day. We have to commend them for doing it, even though they did do it for the wrong reason.
Illus: Many SERMONS and SUNDAY SCHOOL lessons have dealt with the manner in which the hypocrites, scribes, and Pharisees GAVE offerings and PRAYED. However, this one thing we can say for them -- AT LEAST THEY DID PRAY AND GIVE! That is more than we can say for some who profess to be Christians.
Have you ever met a person who said, “I am not a hypocrite”?
Illus: That is, he will point his finger at someone who professes to be saved and say, “At least I am not like so-and-so. I do not go to church and pray hypocritical prayers and give hypocritical gifts.”
People like that may be right in their assessment of themselves. They are not hypocrites -- THEY ARE WORSE THAN HYPOCRITES. At least hypocrites will DO GOOD DEEDS. That is more than most critics are doing.
Jesus ASSUMED that His disciples would pray -- “And when thou prayest...” Also, notice, in verse 5, there is...
B. Something He insisted.
He said, verse 5, “...thou SHALT NOT BE AS THE HYPOCRITES...” These are strong words, “...THOU SHALT NOT BE AS THE HYPOCRITES ARE...” I have a feeling if we had been there when those words were spoken we could have felt that they were spoken with GREAT AUTHORITY!
Illus: Jesus was not like some parents who will say, “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” then allow the child to keep on doing what he was doing. Why does that child continue? Because he is not a “Genie” who grants wishes. If the parent asks that child why he did not stop, he will remind the parent that he was not specifically told not to do it. The parent simply said, “I wish you would not do that!”
Illus: Can you imagine the chaos that would result if the U S Army operated with those kinds of “commands”? Just suppose a sergeant stepped up to the soldiers under his command and said, “Fellows, what do you think about our getting up at 5:30 in the morning and doing PT? I wish you would all get up and join me. Let me know what you think.” Do you know what would happen? Hands would begin to shoot up. As a choir many voices would blend in saying, “Sarge, I am sorry. I do not think I wish to join you at 5:30. If you will do it around 10:30 we might try to be there.”
Listen, Army commanders know from experience that you must give CLEAR AUTHORITATIVE COMMANDS.
Jesus spoke with AUTHORITY. He said, “...thou SHALT NOT BE AS THE HYPOCRITES are...”
He insisted. THAT WAS NOT THE WAY HE WANTED THE DISCIPLES TO PRAY! Also, notice...
C. Something He acknowledged.
Look at the last half of verse 5. We read, “...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.”
He ACKNOWLEDGED three things about their prayers:
1. Their posture. “...for they love to pray standing...”
The Lord was NOT CONDEMNING:
• Their STANDING, nor
• Their PRAYING in PUBLIC.
In fact, when He stood before the tomb of Lazarus, He did the same thing (John 11:41).
In I Tim. 2:8, Paul says men are to PRAY EVERYWHERE! That would include PUBLIC and PRIVATE praying.
People have different ideas about how to pray. For example, some believe, when you pray you should kneel, or stand, or you should be prostrate on the floor. Your eyes should be closed, and your hands should be folded. This may shock some of you, but it MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER TO THE LORD what position you are in when you pray.
He is concerned about your MOTIVE, not your POSTURE. Nowhere in God’s Word does It state a preference when it comes to a position when praying.
Illus: Many parents mistakenly teach their children a certain method, or position is correct for prayer. That is, they place much emphasis on POSTURE instead of MOTIVE. You often hear parents correct their children, saying, “Johnny, you did not have you eyes closed. The Lord is not pleased with that.” The child, not realizing this is simply a way to cut down on distraction, grows up thinking if you just shut your eyes and fold your hands then God will answer your prayer. The emphasis should be on OPENING ONE’S HEART, not the CLOSING OF THE EYES.
Jesus also acknowledged...
2. Their motive.
The reason the hypocrites chose to stand while they prayed was so they could be SEEN MORE EASILY.
That was the MOTIVE for their standing as they prayed. They did not care if God saw them. They wanted men to see them.
That was why Christ commanded, “...THOU SHALT NOT BE AS THE HYPOCRITES ARE...”
Illus: You see, if we are not careful, we can pray to the people in the CONGREGATION at church instead of praying TO GOD!
Illus: Arthur Pink said, “Would not our public prayers often be simpler and shorter if we were alone with God?”
Certainly they would! But, when people pray with the wrong motive they are not talking to God, they are just saying words to try to impress other people. The Lord shows us something else about their prayers.
3. Their reward.
Look at verse 5 again, “...Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
What was their MOTIVE? To be seen by man!
What is their REWARD? They were seen by man!
For example, many seek the sympathy of anyone they can find. You have found this out because you have learned that there are some people that you do not make the mistake of asking how they feel. You know if you do you will need an hour or two because they will start telling you the condition of their little toe and work their way up to the crown of their head, telling you how they feel.
Illus: Such was the case with one Christian man who died in his late sixties. The preacher went to console the widow. After the traditional expressions of sympathy she looked the pastor in the eye and said, “Well, pastor, he finally did it!” The pastor was confused. He said, “What do you mean, ‘He finally did it’”? She said, “Pastor, my husband has been talking about dying for sixty years and he finally did it!”
Some people do this same thing when they talk to the Lord. They call it praying, but all it amounts to is a “pity party.” They will cry and boo-hoo for hours, wanting God to feel sorry for them because things are not going to suit them.
When they get through, the only reward they receive is the pity they had for themselves because God does not feel sorry for them.
They pray PHONY PRAYERS. The Lord tells us that those who do this are perfect examples of what we SHOULD NOT do. Then, in verses 6-8, Jesus reveals the prayer that pleases Him.
II. THE PLEASING PRAYER.
Before we can ever expect any spiritual results in our prayers, we need to make sure we have the proper motive for praying.
Look at verses 6-8. We read, “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. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
In verse 6, the Lord told the people that they should go into “...thy closet, and...shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret...”
That is not to be taken literally today. The word translated “closet” means: “Secret chambers.”
Look at these words in verse 6. We read, “...pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It simply means this: God says, “I want you to love Me enough to meet Me in secret. I am a jealous God. I want you to meet Me and love Me, and I will show you that I love you.”
Then, if we love God that much, look what this God of secrecy said He would do. He said, “...And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
God said, “If you love Me enough to meet Me in SECRET, I will reward you OPENLY and soon everyone will know about our love."
When the Lord spoke those words they had much deeper meaning to the Jews than they do to us as Americans.
That is, when Jesus spoke of a place to be ALONE WITH GOD, the Jew would naturally think of that place called “the HOLY OF HOLYS,” which was in the temple. That was a place of seclusion and quietness with God. There was one important condition in meeting God there. That high priest had to be right with God!
Once Christ died on the cross the localization of worship was completely abolished.
Remember the account of the woman of Samaria who wanted to know where was the right place to worship God, Mt. Gerizim, or at Jerusalem? Remember also, Jesus told her the time would come when the emphasis should not be placed on A PLACE, but on THE PERSON.
Because of His atoning blood we have the privilege of entering into God’s presence, into the very HOLY OF HOLYS! Look at these startling words at the end of verse 8. We read, “...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
Illus: Jesus was telling them, and us, that never has anyone ever prayed a prayer and when God heard it, He said, “I did not know that!”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT MOTIVATES REAL PRAYER?
Listen, this can be life changing. Prayer is coming before God with the RIGHT MOTIVE in our hearts. REAL PRAYER IS MOTIVATED BY THE DESIRE TO HAVE GOD HEAR US, NOT TO HAVE MAN HEAR US!
The Pharisees and scribes wanted men to recognize how “religious” they were. They did not care if God heard them.
God tells us, “BE NOT YE THEREFORE LIKE UNTO THEM.” If we do not come to God with the right motive, we may as well NOT COME AT ALL! When we have the right motive, we can COMMUNE WITH GOD and we can ask whatsoever we will and it will be granted because our motives are right.
Illus: The apostle Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He probably had prayed many long, ostentatious prayers before he was converted that perhaps were with the wrong motive. If that was the case, then God did not recognize a one of them as a prayer. But, after his conversion, when God spoke to Ananias and told him to go to Paul, who was then a new convert, God said of Paul, “Behold, he prayeth.”
It is very difficult for people in an age like ours to be HONEST with ourselves, with others, and with GOD.
Illus: Have you ever considered why a person might tell a lie. It is very simple. He does not want to look bad so he tells a lie when he thinks to tell the truth might cause someone to think badly of him. To be honest, sometimes we have to BE WILLING TO LOOK BAD. If you are not willing to look bad, then you will tell lies.
When we come before God we have to be honest with ourselves and with God. We have to be willing to confess that our motives are not right if they are not. Then, after CONFESSING our sin, we have to ask God to help us have right motives. The Lord already knows what our needs are before we pray, but until our motive is right, God is not going to answer. As we enter into a time of prayer we need to ask the Lord to search our hearts and reveal what He is not pleased with.
Conclusion: It is obvious that Jesus assumed that His disciples would pray. He wanted them to pray in the right way. Have you ever prayed prayers like the hypocrites Jesus mentioned? If you have, you have received the same results they received. In verse 8, Jesus said, “Be not ye therefore like unto them...” Let us not forget! MOTIVE determines RESULTS.
There are two kinds of prayers:
-PHONY PRAYERS (That do not please Him)!
-PLEASING PRAYERS (That do please Him)!
I. THEIR PHONY PRAYER.
A. Something He assumed
B. Something He insisted
C. Something He acknowledged
II. THE PLEASING PRAYER
