As we move into the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus begins to deal with some practical areas of Christian living. The focus still seems to be having a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). Having corrected some of the more prevalent teaching errors of the religious leaders, Jesus not proceeds to point out their erroneous actions and attitudes in regards to giving, praying, and fasting. While Jesus specifically mentions these three aspects of Christian living, His words and warnings extend to all areas of the Christian life.
I. SOME COMMENDABLE ACTIONS
A. The Expectation
1. Giving
a. It is made plain that Jesus expects those who belong to Him to be involved in almsgiving or giving in order to meet the needs of others. This is evident from His words "when thou doest thine alms."
b. Jesus expected the Christians of His day to be involved in reaching beyond themselves and helping those who needed their help, and we have no reason to believe that He expects any less from those of us today who claim to be His children.
c. The Word of God has always spoken of the importance of doing good to those in need. Consider Deuteronomy 15:11; Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 14:31, 19:17; 31:20; Ephesians 4:28; Hebrews 13:16; Titus 3:8; James 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17-18.
d. While our giving is to be characterized by compassion, it is also to be conducted with caution (Psalm 112:5). We must not let our sentiment overrule our sense. We must exhibit good judgment in our giving. Because some people have no conscience, God’s people must be aware of professional con men and scam artists.
e. The Bible is clear in its teaching of our responsibility to give to those in need, and to fail to do so puts us in direct disobedience to the commands of our heavenly Father.
2. Praying
a. Once again it is made unmistakably clear that Jesus expected His followers to be involved in the practice of prayer as He said, "And when thou prayest..." To no lesser degree does He expect modern day believers to be involved in this all-important spiritual exercise.
b. The Scriptures abound with references which command and commend the practice of prayer. Consider Psalm 55:16-17, 86;3; Proverbs 15:8; Daniel 6:10; Luke 18:1; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:8.
c. Prayer is the most wonderful opportunity we have to fellowship with God and the most powerful weapon we have at our disposal in our fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Neglecting prayer displeases God, diminishes our effectiveness, and decreases our ability to defend ourselves spiritually.
3. Fasting
a. Biblical fasting is undoubtedly one of the most, if not the most, neglected practices in all of modern day Christianity.
b. As was the case with giving and praying, Jesus indicates by His use of the word "when" (Matthew 6:16) that He fully expected His followers to be involved in fasting.
c. Men and women in both Testaments are said to have fasted for various reasons and periods of time. Among those spoken of are Hannah (1 Samuel 1:6-7), David (2 Samuel 1:12), Ahab (1 Kings 21:27), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:3), Ezra (Ezra 8:21-23), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:4), Esther (Esther 4:16), Daniel (Daniel 9:3), Anna (Luke 2:37), the workers at Antioch (Acts 13:2), and Paul (2 Corinthian 11:27). This is not to mention that Jesus Himself fasted for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:2).
d. Nowhere in the Scriptures is fasting, when done properly, discouraged, but it must also be noted that it is nowhere commanded, though it is commended. From both the Old and New Testaments it is clearly seen that there are occasions when fasting is both needful and helpful.
e. Fasting is a personal matter much like the taking of the Nazarite vow was a personal matter. Except for a few unusual cases (Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist), no one was ever commanded to take the vow of the Nazarite, it was a free will vow made by individuals who desired to go beyond the required duties of the law. Fasting is the same. It is something that one must be led by God to do, and in such cases, the benefits many.
B. The Compensation
1. Jesus was very clear to teach that when done properly, giving, praying, and fasting would be duly compensated by our heavenly Father.
2. Read Psalm 58:11; Proverbs 11:18; and Hebrews 6:10.
3. We are rewarded in this present life on nearly a daily basis as we become the recipients of God’s favor and if not in this life, then surely in the life to come as we stand before Him in glory.
II. A DESPICABLE ATTITUDE
In this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus not only celebrates the proper practice of giving, praying, and fasting, but He also castigates the perversion of the same. It is quite obvious from the Lord’s teaching in these verses that it is possible to misuse and abuse those practices that are meant to be a means of honoring God and helping men.
The despicable attitude that is categorically condemned by the Lord is that of spiritual arrogance, better known in the Scriptures as pride. Pride in giving, praying, and fasting, while fostering personal recognition, forfeits eternal rewards. Anyone who participates in any of these three practices, or any proper spiritual practice as far as that goes, solely for the praise of men and the exaltation of self, "have their reward." There is to be no reward whatsoever from God in eternity. The individual who chooses the reward of man over God’s reward has chosen the poorest of all rewards. Not only that, but they have also cheated themselves. There is no hope of having anything in respect to rewards beyond this world. What a terrible fate!
Note carefully the Lord’s use of the word "hypocrites" (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16). The Greek word hupokrites means "an actor who puts on a show, who plays a part on stage." The hypocrites spoken of by the Lord in these verses are those who "play to the crowd." While this type of arrogant acting may gain the applause of man, it does nothing to merit the approval of God.
A. Arrogant Giving vs. Acceptable Giving
1. Good deeds may be done in an ill way as is illustrated by the hypocritical almsgiving of the people of Jesus’ day.
2. The use of the phrase "do not sound a trumpet before thee" tells us that we are not to do what we do in order to get people’s attention. We should not be guilty of "blowing our own horn" or calling attention to ourselves in any way in the area of doing good to others.
3. Far from being noticed, our good deeds are to be done, as much as possible, without others knowing about it. It is not always wrong to give alms when men see us, but it is always wrong to give alms so that men may see us.
4. We should strive to be so secretive and unnoticed in our giving that even our left hand doesn’t know what our right hand is doing, which is a descriptive way of saying that we are to keep our mind on the need and not what we’re giving. Our giving ought to be done out of a sincere desire to help. It ought to be motivated by genuine concern and intense love.
5. In doing good to others, we are to do so secretly and quietly, keeping a low profile, and staying out of the center ring of applause. By doing so, our "Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward" us openly.
B. Prideful Praying vs. Proper Praying
1. Is it possible to pray and never be heard by God? Is it possible to pray and to be speaking only to ourselves? The story of the publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14) indicate that these things are definitely a possibility. The Lord’s teaching in this sermon also suggests that these things are quite possible. When the hypocrite prays (Matthew 6:5) he prays to men and is heard of men. When the genuine believer prays to His Father (Matthew 6:6) He is heard by His Father.
2. Prideful praying is praying that focuses more on the one doing the praying that on the One to whom the prayer is being addressed.
3. Prideful praying is praying that uses vain repetition. This is, praying that is nothing more than the repeating of the same words and phrases over and over again without putting one’s heart and thought into what is being said. Pride comes into play in this type of praying when the one praying thinks that God is more apt to hear them because their prayers are long. The number of minutes spent in prayer means nothing if the motive is not right. One can spend hours praying and never honor God.
4. In essence, Jesus tells us to cut to the chase. There is no need to use flowery words and elaborate phrases when praying. God already knows what our needs are and all we have to do is go to Him and simply ask Him to meet those needs.
5. In contrast to the hypocritical prayers offered by some, Jesus tells us how to pray properly. In His instructions He mentions the place, the privacy, and the privilege of proper praying.
a. Place
(1) We are to enter into our "closet." That is, we are to find a place to pray that is set apart and that allows us to get alone with God and Him only.
(2) Mark 1:35
b. Privacy
(1) The phrase "and when thou hast shut thy door" suggests the need for privacy.
(2) It is important that we have a place to pray where we can avoid interruptions and disturbances.
c. Privilege
(1) The privilege mentioned by Jesus is the privilege of knowing that when we pray properly our heavenly Father will hear us and answer us.
(2) God openly rewards proper praying by meeting our needs from day to day.
C. Spurious Fasting vs. Scriptural Fasting
1. Like giving and praying, hypocritical fasting is done for recognition.
2. When the hypocrites fasted everyone knew they were fasting because of their sad countenances and disfigured faces.
3. Jesus said that a proper fast is one that is done unto God, not men. When observing a Scriptural fast nothing is to be done to draw attention to ourselves. Every effort should be made to appear normal both in dress and behavior.
4. Scriptural fasting, though done in secret, will be rewarded openly. Whether we are rewarded openly before men in this life or in eternity is up to our heavenly Father, but we can be reassured that the reward will come.
