Most of you know this but it bears remembering that chapter and verse designations are man-made.  They were placed throughout the text of the Bible as a means to navigate through the Bible.  In many cases they do make a clean break in the thoughts of the authors.  In the Sermon on the Mount however, this is not the case.

Chapter 6 continues the explanation of Jesus on what constitutes true righteousness.  He has contrasted true righteousness from false righteousness by using the religious leaders of His day.

Jesus makes the point in this chapter that what people do is a direct result of the righteousness they possess – whether their own, or the righteousness God gives us through faith in Jesus Christ.

That was certainly the intent behind what He said in 5:17-20.  Up till that point Jesus had taught the people how godly righteousness was first of all apprehended and secondly how it was manifested.  In that passage verse 20 is a pivotal verse in helping us understand exactly what Jesus was saying.

Matthew 5:20 – “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

This verse is a key to the Sermon on the Mount. This verse contrasts the spiritual and the self-centered.  It distinguishes having a relationship with God as opposed to working toward God religiously.  A disciple’s relationship with the Lord must exceed the man-made religious system.

The central problem with religious rules, regulations, and traditions is that they are all show; they are an external attempt at conforming the fleshly nature of a person.  While religious systems may change a person’s actions from time to time, it will never bring life to a dead spirit.  Jesus said it like this:

Matthew 23:25-28 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Jesus is teaching that the Pharisees externally focused religion was totally useless because it didn’t get to the heart of the problem.  This reality was and is essential for us to grasp. Jesus wants our hearts, not just our bodies or what’s on the outside. How important is this? When Jesus uses the word “unless,” in 5:20 (Greek EAN ME) he means that this is a requirement for entry into the kingdom of heaven. A disciple must exceed religious understanding of God.

In teaching on the grace of God working in the hearts of people, Jesus moves from the heart-attitude to the life-attitude.  From what transpires on the inside to what the outward manifestation of the inner transformation will be.  That is at the heart of what He meant in 5:48 when He said that we are to be “perfect.”

We must have a mature understanding, a true disciple’s understanding of what constitutes saving faith. Once the transformation occurs on the inside there will be visible fruit on the outside

We begin this study with 6:1.

“Beware” is obviously a warning.  It’s as if Jesus is saying “listen up,” “pay attention,” or even “you need to grasp this truth.”  What is Jesus warning us about?  He is warning us about our motivation for doing things.

Earlier in the Beatitudes (5:8) Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart.”  Who are the pure in heart?  They are every person who seeks to obey God by doing all things out of a heart of love for Him.  That speaks directly of motivation.

The Bible says:

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”

Colossians 3:17, 23-24 – “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.  Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Notice that it says “beware of practicing your righteousness before men.”  It is important to understand the distinction here.  We can not help being seen “acting” godly.  In fact Jesus is not telling us here that we are to never do anything publicly.  He is telling us that we are to give no thought to doing something because people are watching.

If we do succumb to this temptation Jesus says we will receive the reward our motivation seeks – the applause of people.  In the process though, you lose the applause of God.

The Bible explains it this way in 2 Corinthians 3:10-15; notice the warning contained in the passage:

“According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.

If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

The point in this passage is that only those things done for Christ – out of a heart of love, motivated to the action by love for Christ – will survive the believer’s judgment.

What will this look like in practice?  That is the subject of the rest of chapter 6.  Beginning in verse 2 Jesus illustrates the outward expression of the heart transformation.

6:2-4

Notice that Jesus says “when” and not “if.”  Clearly we are to do our part to help people overcome difficulties in life.  But, when we do these works of righteousness we are not to broadcast it.

In the courtyard of the Temple was an area referred to as the Chamber of the Secret.  This was a place within the Temple compound where people who wanted to help the poor could come and leave their gifts anonymously.  Likewise the poor could also come and receive help without drawing attention to themselves.

Jon Courson, in his commentary on this passage says that over time the Pharisees began to feel it wasn’t practical to travel all the way to the Temple and Chamber of the Temple to give gifts for the poor.

So they devised an alternative way to give to the poor. They tied a small silver or brass trumpet to their garments and whenever they wanted to give to the poor they would go to a street corner and blow the trumpet so the poor could come and receive gifts from them. This of course drew attention to the poor and humiliated them, but it also drew attention to the Pharisees.

The Pharisees would blow their trumpet and the poor would surround them and the Pharisee would distribute gifts to the poor. And everyone who looked on would say or think, “Oh! How generous and giving Pharisee so-and-so is!” The Pharisees paraded and flaunted their deeds in this way and did it to receive glory from the onlookers. They blew their trumpet and became the center of attention. It was clear that the Pharisees weren’t giving with a genuine concern for the poor, but, “that they may be honored by men.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

Jesus says this is the attitude of hypocrites.  They do things for the sole purpose of being seen.

C.H. Spurgeon rightly said “There is no reward from God to those who seek it from men.”

Jesus is obviously speaking of motive.  Why this continued emphasis on motive?  Because motive drives action and motive reveals the heart in a way nothing else can.

When our actions are dictated by the desire to be honored by other people we will begin to feed the monster called ego.  How sad that we would even consider trading the blessings of God for the honor of men.

I’ve heard people say that all acts of kindness or righteousness should be done secretly based on the wording of this passage.  Is this what Jesus meant?  I don’t think so.

What Jesus is teaching us here is that our giving should be out of love for Him and must be unpretentious; not looking for recognition, appreciation, or honor.  When we give it should be done as simply, directly, and discreetly as possible.

Theologian A.B. Bruce once said, “We are to show when tempted to hide and hide when tempted to show.  The principle seems to be this: if we remember our acts of kindness, God will forget; but if we forget, God will remember.

Next Jesus illustrates what the prayer life of His disciples will look like.

6:5-7

Pastor Steve Heartsill shares a story about a young man who wanted a job with a railroad company as a switchman.  For the interview the young man was told to meet the conductor at the control center of the train yard.  Once there the conductor began asking a series of questions.

• What would you do if you realized that 2 trains were heading toward each other on the same track?

Young man – That’s easy.  I would switch the points for one of the trains.

• What if the lever broke?

Young man – Then I’d run to and use the manual lever over there.

• What if the manual lever didn’t work?

Young man – Then I would run back to the control center and phone the next control center and let them know what was happening.

• What if the phone was busy?

Young man – Well, in that case, I would rush over to the public phone.

• What would you do if the public phone didn’t work?

Young man – I’d run into town and get my uncle Virgil.

With a puzzled look on his face the conductor asked the obvious question – “And why would you go get your uncle Virgil?”

Young man – “Because he’s never seen a train wreck before.”

Some people treat prayer just like that.  They frantically run around trying to make life “work” and when it finally gets to the point where there’s going to be a big “train wreck” they turn to God and cry “where are you.”

I wish just once when someone does that God would audibly say, “Right here waiting for you to quit messing everything up.”

Notice again that Jesus says “when” and not “if” you pray.  And once again He contrasts the self-centered, hypocritical, external righteousness of the religious people of His day with the true disciple’s way.

Over the years the Jews had developed several traditions that governed their prayers.

• They turned it into a ritual. Certain words and entire sentences were memorized and then repeated over and over again.  Thus prayer became a meaningless exercise of repetition with no thought given to the meaning of the words or to the relationship of what was being said to whom it was supposed to be said to.
• There developed prescribed prayers for every object and occasion.
• Prayer then became limited to specific times. We read about this all the time – “And then so and so went up at the 9^th hour to pray, or the 3^rd hour to pray.”
• Long prayers came to be esteemed as people believed that a prayer’s effectiveness was related to the amount of time it took to recite.
• And the one that Jesus directly addresses in this passage – praying to be seen and heard by other people.

I have to tell you folks, I don’t see any difference between what Jesus condemned the Jews for and what we see going on today.

Jesus says don’t be like that.  Prayer is much more than the average person understands it to be.

6:8

If God knows what we need before we ask then why pray?  Much has been written over the years on this very important subject.  For example . . .

John Stott in his book “The Message of the Sermon on the Mount” wrote:

“The purpose of prayer is not to inform or persuade God, but to come before Him sincerely, purposely, consciously, and devotedly.”

Martin Luther said: “By our praying we are instructing ourselves more than we are God.”

John MacArthur says about prayer:

“To pray rightly is to pray with a devout heart and with pure motives.  It is to pray with a single attention to God rather than to other men.  And it is to pray with sincere confidence that our heavenly Father both hears and answers every request made to Him in faith.  He always repays our sincere devotion with gracious response.  Prayer is sharing the needs, burdens, and hunger of our hearts before our heavenly Father, who already knows what we need but who wants us to ask Him.  He wants to hear us, He wants to commune with us, more than we could ever want to commune with Him – because His love for us is so much greater than our love for Him.  Prayer is our giving God the opportunity to manifest His power, majesty, love, and providence.”

That is why Jesus said “pray this way.”

6:9-15

The very first thing we see is that prayer recognizes the greatness of God.  God is our Father, He is in heaven, and His name is to be “hallowed” or honored.

I have heard over the years some well-meaning but deceived Christians say over the years that picturing God as everyone’s “Father” is not really helpful.

The argument goes something like this – “God as Father disenfranchises women who would relate far better to a feminine deity.”

• The result is the re-emergence of the several varieties of goddess worship today, as well as gender neutral Bible translations.

I’ve listened is amazement as some Christians said, “Well, some folks had a lousy earthly father so comparing God to our father is not a good idea.”

What’s the problem with this kind of thinking?  The problem is this kind of thinking starts with a human perspective based on human experiences and transfers those onto God.

The truth of the Christian life however, is that God becomes our Father positionally when we are born-again and experientially as we learn to trust Him and experience the riches of His blessings, mercy, and grace.

Jesus said, “As many as receive Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

We read in Romans 8:15: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out Abba, Father.”

Abba is an Aramaic word that means “daddy” and obviously is a term of endearment.

Then we pray for God’s authority to be manifested in our lives – v10.

Some people believe that this statement means we’re praying for God’s reign at some point in the future.

Luke records this conversation Jesus had:

“Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Look here it is! Or There it is! For behold, the kingdom, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

In Matthew Jesus tells the Pharisees who accused Him of performing miracles by the power of the enemy:

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

We are praying for God’s will to be increasingly manifested in the here and now.

Verse 11

Speaks of the basic needs of life.  One of the most basic needs today is forgiveness – verse 12-15.

An unknown author sums up Jesus’ instructions on prayer this way:

I cannot say “our” if I live only for myself.

I cannot say “Father” if I do not endeavor each day to act like His child.

I cannot say “who art in heaven” if I am laying up no treasure there.

I cannot say “hallowed be they name” if I am not striving for holiness.

I cannot say Thy kingdom come” if I am not doing all within my power to hasten that wonderful event.

I cannot say “in earth as it is in heaven” if I don’t serve Him here and now.

I cannot say “give us this day our daily bread” if I am dishonest.

I cannot say “forgive us our debts” if I harbor unforgiveness.

I cannot say “lead us not into temptation” if I deliberately place myself in its path.

I cannot say “deliver us from evil” if I do not put on the whole armor of God.

I cannot say “Thine is the kingdom” if I do not give the King the loyalty due Him from a faithful subject.

I cannot attribute to Him “the power” if I fear what men may do.

I cannot ascribe to Him “the glory” if I’m seeking honor only for myself.

I cannot say “forever” if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time.

Verses 16-18

The final manifestation of righteousness that I want to cover deals with fasting.  The point that I want to make about this is the same as the previous 2 – we are expected to practice this discipline.

What is fasting? It is a specific period of time dedicated to God where we take no solid food and in some cases no fluids.

Reasons for fasting could include seeking the Lord’s guidance for a decision, for someone else’s decision, for health issues, or anything else.  During the fast, our thoughts of food remind us to seek God for His provision and guidance.

One of the principles to fasting that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not do was that it was meant to be done in secret.  In other words when you fast it is between you and God.

Scholars tell us that in Jesus’ day the religious leaders would apply dark colors to their face to make them look haggard and drawn, and thus draw attention to themselves for their fasting.

And the same principle applies here – seeking the applause of man robs you of the blessings of God.

Prayer.