Matthew 6:1-24: Two Ways to Live
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: If you have your Bibles turn to Matthew chapter 6. If you don’t have your Bible, please grab one from the seat back in front of you. The past two weeks we have been learning about who is worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and how they attain their worthiness. This week we will be taking a bit of a turn as Jesus begins giving more specific instructions for how to truly act righteously in spiritual matters and where our treasures should be found. I again encourage you to be reading these three chapters, all at one time, multiple times a week over the next few weeks, but this morning we will be digging into Matthew 6:1-24.
Matthew 6:1–24 (ESV)
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Recently, at a major Baptist denominational gathering there was a pastor of a church with tens of thousands of members who had come under fire for actively working against the denomination’s statement of faith. His church was recommended for removal from the denomination because of their stance and actions. When he was given a chance to explain their actions and defend themselves, the pastor read a “love letter” he had written to the denomination.
To the more than 10,000 people gathered from around the country he said the following statements:
Welcome to Orange County and the 149 churches here, 90 planted by my church
4th gen SBC
Great-grandfather was converted by Charles Spurgeon and sent to America as a church planter
I Served on the boards of both California and Texas state conventions as a teenager
Billy Graham picked me up at 18 and mentored me for 52 years
I was preaching youth revivals in California at 16 years old and I preached over 120 Harvest Crusades before I was 20
I served one church for life and grew it to become the biggest in the denomination
We baptized 56,631 new believers
we have sent 26,869 members overseas to 197 nations
We have had 78,157 members signed membership covenant
We have 9,173 home bible studies in 162 cities
We have 90 church plants in orange county, thousands around the world
In my 43 years of ministry, I’ve trained 1.1 million pastors (“That’s more than all the seminaries put together.”)
Many of these statements were met with applause, and these, along with later actions by the pastor and church, made it clear that they were seeking to sway public opinion toward them and away from the denomination on the basis of their good works and great deeds. They were rightfully criticized and most started to ask, “What was the purpose of those good works? To make the name of Jesus great? Or to make the name of the pastor and church great?”
Now, it is very easy for us to look at a story like this and respond in one of two ways: first, we could see those numbers and be starstruck, or perhaps even a little envious of their success, desiring to see such results in our own work. So we start to change things to look like them, we want to have their purpose-driven model for our lives and our church so that we can see just a little taste of their numerical success.
The second response is that we could respond with ridicule, thinking that those numbers are definitely inflated and aggrandized and then we subconsciously begin to believe that we are better or more faithful than this pastor because we are willing to do the long hard work of building and loving a small rural church. We then could speak poorly of the pastor and his church, ridiculing them in our personal and online interactions in order to communicate our faithfulness over theirs. I must confess, I fell to the second category when I first heard this story.
In each of these scenarios, including the original one with the pastor who listed his achievements, a grave mistake has been made: all are relying upon their works to justify them and seeking to have some earthly glory for their name. Have you ever found yourself doing this? Have you ever done something good for the sake of being noticed and applauded, whether it is before 10,000 gathered representatives of a denomination, or if it is before a small group online, or if it is before your family members or your pastor or other brothers and sisters in your church?
Jesus addresses this tendency of ours to do good works for the purpose of getting praise in our passage this morning.
I. How to Give (1-4)
A. If you give to the needy for attention you are unrighteous and will not receive a reward from God.
i. Have you ever seen a youtuber who videos themselves feeding or giving money to the homeless?
ii. Or how about a church mission trip where we all have to get pictures taken of the work we’re doing or with the people who don’t look or speak like us even though we’re never going to speak with them again?
iii. Or have you ever put some money in the offering plate just so people don’t think you’re stingy and unwilling to give to the Lord’s work?
B. If you give to the needy in humility you will receive a reward from God.
i. Be humble in your giving
ii. Don’t seek recognition for your giving
iii. Don’t seek to avoid negative attention for not giving
iv. Seek to have the Lord look on you with joy, because you are joyfully and sacrificially giving out of an overflow of recognizing how needy you were and how freely he gave to you.
II. How to Pray (5-15)
A. If you pray to be seen and admired that human admiration is the only reward you will get.
i. Don’t pray in public places for recognition (another reason I’m convinced altar calls can cause more harm than good)
ii. Don’t be overly wordy in your prayers (like the pagans!)
B. Pray in humility. God already knows what you need.
C. A model prayer
i. Glory to God
ii. A desire to see God’s kingdom throughout the earth, just like it is in Heaven
iii. Prayer for physical sustenance
iv. Prayer for forgiveness and deliverance from sin and evil and a recognition that we must forgive others as well
v. A small aside:
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
III. How to Fast (16-18)
A. If you look sad when you fast in order to receive admiration for your spirituality, that admiration is the only reward you will receive.
B. If you fast with joy and quiet humility, you will be rewarded by God.
IV. The Two Paths (19-24)
A. Two Treasures (19-21)
i. Earthly treasure that will one day be lost
ii. Heavenly treasure that can never be lost
iii. Matthew 6:21 “21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
In the Gospels, the “heart” represents the core of someone’s being, it is where core convictions lie and it is the device which steers and sets the direction of the entire body. The heart could be compared to the captain on a ship who gets to determine the entire direction of the of the vessel as well as all the crew on board. He determines the end goal and controls the way to get there.
And this leads us to the next verse, which is actually a very difficult interpretation
B. Two Eyes (22-23)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Starts with a physical example of the eye (lamp of the body, healthy eye=full of light (vision), bad eye=full of darkness (blind))
Meshes into a metaphorical example (healthy eye=light=good, bad eye=dark=sin)
healthy eye=goodness
bad eye=sinful desire (Psalm 119:36-37 “36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! 37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.”)
If the heart is the captain, then the eyes are the lookout shouting down to the captain the direction they need to go to get to the desired destination. Our eyes are what our hearts, our desires, we our very selves, use for navigation.
Then he turns the whole passage into a moral example
The eye is the physical organ that allows light “into” the body as well as the metaphorical organ that communicates the way to get what we desire
A healthy eye physically provides the light needed for vision and gives us the ability to navigate our physical world properly. A bad eye physically does not provide light or the ability to navigate.
A healthy eye metaphorically, gives us the ability to navigate right and wrong, good and evil, properly. A bad eye metaphorically means that we cannot navigate good and evil properly. Last week, Jesus made it clear that all of humanity basically has “bad eyes” when he showed how if we want to be good, we have to be good by God’s standard (which is perfection).
So then, if your eye is bad (meaning you can’t navigate good and evil properly) and yet you seem to be doing good works (like giving, praying, and fasting), then the light in you (the thing that is leading to good works) is actually darkness.
And if the darkness in you can fool you and others into thinking it is light, how great is that darkness within you!
In summary: Good works born from bad desire are actually a great evil, because they fool you and others into thinking you are a good person.
C. Two Masters (24)
i. God
ii. Money (Earthly treasures, glory, praise)
Closing:
What are the two ways to live?
The Way of Our Own Glory, The Way our own authority on right and wrong, and the Way our own desires - Which leads to death!
The Way of God’s Glory, The Way of God’s authority on right and wrong, and The Way of God’s desires - Which leads to life!
Can I be honest with you? Pride and a desire for glory is something I have historically struggled with.
The big point of this section is pretty clear:
if you aim for earthly treasures and glory that will be all you get,
but if you aim for heavenly treasures and glory you will be rewarded by God in heaven.
If you do spiritual things in a manner that is self-righteous, you are simply showing your unrighteousness.
Brothers and sisters, I exhort you to be humble in light of who Christ is and what he has done for you. Recognize where pride is rearing its head in your life and seek to kill it and submit it to giving God the glory.
Seek to quietly and steadfastly build your treasure in heaven and the Lord will give you the greatest honor and treasure upon your entrance into His kingdom. May that be the desire of all our hearts and the light by which we navigate.