Matthew 6:1-18

We need to find our quiet time to grow with God.

In an average sized house, that is to say about 1,200 square feet, there are about 12,000 nails that are used. During any building project there are times when it can feel like it drags on. People will come by and see it and ask questions. But the time spent measuring and cutting and nailing and remeasuring cause that one board just never seems to be the right size, this all plays into the work of building. People may see steps of the building project, but they won’t know the time the sweat, sometimes blood, and sometimes tears that went into it. The building of our faith comes when nobody else is around to see, they only see the aftermath of the hard work put in.

I. Don’t praise God to be seen.

a. Verse 2 says “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”. Those that seek to be seen in honoring God do not honor God. Our actions need to be done out of right motives. Actions of giving, praying and fasting. These three things that Jesus points out are Pharisaic practices.

b. Jesus says that they will receive their reward. Who’s the “they”? Earlier in the verse it tells us, the Hypocrites. We are hypocrites of we seek praise for praising God. Later on in verse 5 it says that they pray in the synagogue and on the street corners, so that men see them. Their motivation is to be seen. In Luke 18:9-14 it talks about the comparison of prayers of a publican and a Pharisee. In the last verse it says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”.These people that were wanting to be seen giving money and being in prayer and fasting are just doing so that they may be viewed as highly spiritual.

c. Again, in verse 16 it says do not fast like the hypocrites do. In verses 2, 5, and 16 it says that they have their reward. Their reward is earthly praise and that is it. The applause from those around is the only reward that they will receive. A couple of good quotes Alexander Bruce – “There are religious actors still. And they draw good houses”. John Trapp – “Oh, let us rather seek to be good than seem to be so”.

Honor the Lord in quietness that you may grow in your relationship with Him.

I. Seek to honor God in the quietness of solitude

a. When we are honoring God in secret and being faithful, He will reward us openly. This is to say that being faithful in giving and praying and fasting are all things that are to be done in the quietness of solitude. The open reward is a strong faith and relationship with God. The idea of the closet or room is “storehouse” or where privacy happens, or wealth is stored. Our time with God is only something that he can see and were our focus and attitude is on Him not the praise of others. The idea of having this room and quiet time is that we come before the Lord and speak to Him and have our time alone where we can grow our relationship with Him.

b. There is a peace about having this quiet time with God. It’s the feeding of our soul, our time spent with our creator. Prayer is extremely important as Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. Along with that it is giving to others and fasting. In verse 3 it says to that right hand and the left hand don’t know what the other is doing. The idea is that it is secret that even we ourselves are not indulging in thinking of how much we are giving in a prideful way. “Keep the thing so secret that even you yourself are hardly aware that you are doing anything at all praiseworthy. Let God be present, and you will have enough of an audience” – Spurgeon.

c. Fasting became a sense of pride and a way to show off. In verse 16 it says that the hypocrites would disfigure their faces with ashes or something of the sort and they would “have a sad countenance” They made sure that EVERYBODY knew that they were fasting. It was something meant for good but was being used for wrong reasons.

Honor the Lord in quietness that you may grow in your relationship with Him.

Each time we enter that time of quietness and a place of worship; we need to be honoring God in it. Each time it needs to be another nail added into the building of our faith and relationship with the Lord. Our motivation should not be the empty praise of man but the closeness of God. He will reward us. It is not for us to seek out this reward but to be faithful in our time with Him and in our actions and motivations. The hard work of nailing and measuring and the beautiful house that is built is from it is the same idea of the multiple hours and time spent in honoring God in our quietness and time of solitude. Every time there was need, People prayed. Paul prayed when in prison and in exile. David prayed in his quiet time. We should not forget the man that was faithful in pray in quiet and was tossed to the lions only for the Lord to protect him. We can do just like these great men of the faith and find our quiet room to where we can honor God in Prayer. Look not on how much we give just that we do. And that when we fast we make sure that it is not seen on our faces and that we keep these things quiet that we may honor God with a humble spirit.